English as a foreign language students' tales of their language learning

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura CorrespondenteBearing in mind the recent research concern with individual lives, this study reports a biographical investigation of sixteen tertiary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students from the state of Rio Grande do Norte/Brazil. The research study aims at capturing the specificities and complexities in the developmental processes of two groups eight undergraduates and eight graduates of EFL students. language learning approaches, in an attempt to understand (a) how they conceive their own English learning as well as (b) how they view themselves as English students. Both groups voiced their past English learning experiences in different settings through semi-structured interviews. Students. biographical accounts were organized into learning stories and analyzed through a narrative approach. Their accounts revealed that students. adopted learning approaches are particularly influenced by the impact of the different learning settings to which they have been exposed throughout their educational process. The research results indicate that the two sets of learning approaches seem to be highly concerned with (a) teacher-as-a-transmitter; (b) job-orientedness; (c) self-reliance; and (d) English-course-orientedness in the undergraduate group; and (e) book-centeredness; (f) self-effort; (g) teacher-reliance; and (h) reticence in the graduate group. The results also suggest that these approaches are flexible, fluid and subject to constant shifts, thus being capable to interweave among themselvesConsiderando pesquisas recentes que se preocupam com o estudo do indivíduo, este estudo relata uma investigação biográfica de dezesseis alunos universitários de Inglês do estado do Rio Grande do Norte/Brasil. O estudo objetiva capturar as especificidades e complexidades nos processos desenvolvimentais de dois grupos de alunos de Inglês como língua estrangeira: oito alunos de graduação e oito de especialização. Assim, a pesquisa tem o intuito de compreender (a) como esses alunos concebem suas próprias aprendizagens de Inglês e (b) como eles vêem a si próprios enquanto alunos de Inglês. Os dois grupos de alunos verbalizaram, por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, suas experiências passadas com a aprendizagem de Inglês em diferentes contextos. A biografia dos alunos foi organizada em estórias de aprendizagem e analisadas sob uma abordagem narrativa. Essas biografias revelaram que as abordagens de aprendizagem adotadas pelos alunos são particularmente influenciadas pelo impacto dos diferentes contextos de aprendizagem sob os quais eles estiveram expostos durante o processo educacional. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que os dois grupos de abordagens parecem estar altamente vinculados ao (a) professor-transmissor; (b) orientação para o trabalho; (c) auto-dependência; e (d) orientação para cursos de Inglês no grupo da graduação; e (e) centralização no livro; (f) auto-esforço; (g) dependência no professor; e (h) passividade no grupo da especialização. Os resultados também sugerem que essas abordagens são flexíveis, fluidas e sujeitas a mudanças constantes, e que, portanto, são capazes de se entrelaçarem uma com as outra

Investment and imagined communities: A narrative analysis of the identity construction by student-teachers of English

The objective of this article is to discuss an exploratory study about the identity construction of eight student-teachers of English as learners of English as an additional language in the region of Vale do Açu, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil using some of the concepts developed by Bonny Norton, that is, investigating the types of investments made and the imagined communities aspired to by those student-teachers. For the exploratory study, a narrative perspective was adopted as identities are socio-cultural narratives constructed in time. The analyses showed that construction of the identities of the student-teachers investigated revolves around two types of investment: those which lead to learn and use the language, and those which lead to learn the English language to teach it. The results have shown that in the analyzed group of studentteachers, the learner-as-user and learner-as-teacher identities seem to confl ate and, in most cases, the learner-as-teacher identity seems to override the learner-as-user identity. Also, since many of the studies carried out on learner identity using Bonny Norton’s theoretical approach had immigrants in contexts where English is used by the community they are living in, this work is expected to contribute to Norton’s approach as the participants of this study are learning English as an additional language in contexts where the community members do not use English and English is mainly learnt in formal environments.Keywords: learners of English, identity, investments, imagined communities.</p

Investimento e comunidades imaginadas: uma análise narrativa da construção da identidade de alunos-professores de inglês

The objective of this article is to discuss an exploratory study about the identity construction of eight student-teachers of English as learners of English as an additional language in the region of Vale do Açu, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil using some of the concepts developed by Bonny Norton, that is, investigating the types of investments made and the imagined communities aspired to by those student-teachers. For the exploratory study, a narrative perspective was adopted as identities are socio-cultural narratives constructed in time. The analyses showed that construction of the identities of the student-teachers investigated revolves around two types of investment: those which lead to learn and use the language, and those which lead to learn the English language to teach it. The results have shown that in the analyzed group of studentteachers, the learner-as-user and learner-as-teacher identities seem to confl ate and, in most cases, the learner-as-teacher identity seems to override the learner-as-user identity. Also, since many of the studies carried out on learner identity using Bonny Norton’s theoretical approach had immigrants in contexts where English is used by the community they are living in, this work is expected to contribute to Norton’s approach as the participants of this study are learning English as an additional language in contexts where the community members do not use English and English is mainly learnt in formal environments.Keywords: learners of English, identity, investments, imagined communities.O objetivo deste artigo é discutir um estudo exploratório sobre a construção identitária de oito alunos-professores como aprendizes de Inglês como língua adicional da região do Vale do Açu, Rio Grande do Norte, utilizando os conceitos desenvolvidos por Bonny Norton, isto é, os tipos de investimentos realizados e as comunidades imaginadas pelos participantes do estudo. Também, uma abordagem narrativa de pesquisa foi adotada, já que as identidades são narrativas socioculturais progressivamente construídas. A análise mostrou que a construção da identidade dos alunos-professores investigados gira em torno a dois tipos de investimentos: aqueles que os levam a aprender a língua para usá-la e aqueles que os levam a aprender a língua para ensiná-la. Os resultados mostram que no grupo de alunos analisados, a identidade do aprendiz como usuário da língua e a identidade do aprendiz de professor parecem se misturar, e em muitos casos, a segunda se sobrepõe a primeira. Também, como a grande maioria dos estudos realizados acerca da identidade de aprendizes na perspectiva desenvolvida por Norton foram realizadas com imigrantes em contexto de segunda língua, este trabalho pode contribuir com a área, já que seus participantes são alunos, aprendendo inglês como língua adicional no Brasil.Palavras-chave: aprendizes de inglês, identidade, investimentos, comunidades imaginadas