TY - JOUR
T1 - Discourse and identity among ESL learners
T2 - A case study of a community college ESL classroom
AU - Chang, Yueh-ching
AU - Sperling, Melanie
PY - 2014/8
Y1 - 2014/8
N2 - While research in L2 language and literacy in academic contexts has shed light on learning language per se (e.g., students' development of syntactic complexity), classroom situations, in which ESL students engage in English and make it meaningful to them, have received far less attention. With a sociocultural perspective, this qualitative case study examined the discursive practices of a face-to-face community college ESL classroom and of its online discussion forums. We found that the discourse in the face-to-face classroom tended to prioritize shaping students' academic knowledge and identity, pushing aside knowledge and identities that were peer- or lifeworld based. In contrast, the online forums afforded discourses through which students displayed peer-based, life-world, and academic knowledge and identities, while negotiating responses to academic assignments. The study suggests that classroom-based online forums can provide a space for the legitimate display of students' nonacademic discourses in the service of academic work.
AB - While research in L2 language and literacy in academic contexts has shed light on learning language per se (e.g., students' development of syntactic complexity), classroom situations, in which ESL students engage in English and make it meaningful to them, have received far less attention. With a sociocultural perspective, this qualitative case study examined the discursive practices of a face-to-face community college ESL classroom and of its online discussion forums. We found that the discourse in the face-to-face classroom tended to prioritize shaping students' academic knowledge and identity, pushing aside knowledge and identities that were peer- or lifeworld based. In contrast, the online forums afforded discourses through which students displayed peer-based, life-world, and academic knowledge and identities, while negotiating responses to academic assignments. The study suggests that classroom-based online forums can provide a space for the legitimate display of students' nonacademic discourses in the service of academic work.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84906503276&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84906503276
SN - 0034-527X
VL - 49
SP - 31
EP - 51
JO - Research in the Teaching of English
JF - Research in the Teaching of English
IS - 1
ER -