From self-study to studying the self: a collaborative autoethnography of language educators as informal language learners

Abstract

This article reports on an autoethnography by two authors who analysed the interrelationship of their experiences as foreign language learners, educators, and researchers. Both participant-researchers had taken advantage of the accessibility of online learning resources to learn new languages, had incorporated digital tools into their teaching practices, and had researched how technology could be used as a learning aid for students inside and outside the classroom. In this collaborative autoethnography, they turned the research lens upon themselves and each other to develop understandings of the way their experiences as language learners and researchers impacted upon their teacher cognition and teaching practices.

Why I Utilize Autoethnography to Promote Learner Development: A Reflexive Narrative of English Teacher Development

“…The education field, specifically, has seen a shift in the focus of this method from largely professional development purposes for educators (Bayne et al, 2005;Lee et al, 2020;Long, 2008;Spenceley, 2011) to inquiry around learner development. For example, Mynard (2020) recommends autoethnography as a method to investigate student self-access language learning; Alm & Ohashi (2020) use autoethnography to analyze the interrelationship of their experiences as foreign language learners, educators, and researchers; and Sah's (2019) critical autoethnographic study explores his English language learning and adjustment difficulties in the UK. Aoki (2012) explains above that a teacher's professional knowledge is said to be storied.…”