I hate the ESL idea!: A Case Study in Identity and Academic Literacy

Waterstone, Bonnie

doi:10.18806/tesl.v26i1.390

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Yet that identity work was at times read too simplistically as lack of cultural adjustment or academic readiness, which led to questions on the part of the instructor about whether these students in fact belonged in developmental literacy (or in the academy itself). Our interpretation does not intend to overlook or downplay the real academic, cultural, and linguistic challenges that these students faced; rather, we wish to shed light on identity dynamics that impacted how students responded to the instruction and resources that were intended to address those challenges (Norton, 2013;Waterstone, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They may refuse to complete particular assignments or may make linguistic or rhetorical choices that subvert expectations of the instructor, genre, or discipline (e.g., Leki, 1995;Liu & Tannacito, 2013;McKay & Wong, 1996;Parks, 2000). Students may also resist labels that they view as problematic, such as "English as second language" (ESL) or "non-native speaker" (e.g., Ortmeier-Hooper, 2008;Waterstone, 2008), or may make decisions against the advice of instructors or administrators, including withdrawing from classes (e.g., Norton, 2013).…”

Section: Contextualizing Resistance As Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Resistance can also be a way to assert ownership of the target languagei.e., to push back against the identity of non-native speaker or language learner. This often manifests in students' negative responses to the "ESL" label, which they see as invoking assumptions of linguistic deficit, academic underperformance, and outsider status (Harklau 2000; see also Shapiro, 2014;Waterstone, 2008). Harklau (2000) documented how immigrant-background students who had been successful in U.S. high schools were repositioned as foreigners and/or newcomers in community college settings.…”

Section: Contextualizing Resistance As Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Premièrement, nous devons remettre en question nos suppositions premières Student resistance has become an important focus of inquiry in TESOLparticularly in English for academic purposes contexts. Extant scholarship includes examples of how multilingual/English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students "push back" against inaccurate or marginalizing institutional labels (e.g., Harklau, 2000;Waterstone, 2008), irrelevant or unchallenging curricula (e.g., Canagarajah, 1993;McKay & Wong, 1996), and unfair or inappropriate expectations for classroom behaviour (e.g., Norton & Toohey, 2011;White, 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making Sense of Resistance: How Adult Immigrant Students Pursue Agency Through Identity Work in Higher Educational Contexts

Suh¹,

Shapiro²

2020

TESL Canada

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Student resistance in the language/literacy classroom has been an important focus of research in TESOL and applied linguistics. This article examines resistance by two adult-arrival immigrant students in a developmental literacy classroom, drawing from a larger ethnographic case study focused on students’ transition into community college. The students’ behaviours seemed puzzling or self-defeating to some college personnel, but when viewed through the theoretical framework of identity work, they can be read as attempts to counteract institutional marginalization. Findings from this analysis illustrate how an understanding of the histories, identities, and investments of adult immigrant learners can help educators respond to “difficult” moments in the classroom and beyond. This study has several implications for higher education practitioners: First, we must question our initial assumptions about student behaviours, so that we interpret those behaviours accurately. Second, we must be explicit about the norms of the academic culture, so that students can more effectively enact their desired identities and display symbolic capital in college courses. Finally, we must build curricula, policies, and pedagogies that are more inclusive and relevant for adult immigrant learners. These findings add to scholarly conversations about immigrant students’ funds of knowledge and agency enactment within postsecondary education. La résistance des étudiants dans la salle de classe de langue ou de littératie est devenue un point focal de la recherche en TESOL et en linguistique appliquée. Cet article examine la résistance de deux étudiants immigrants adultes récemment arrivés dans une classe de développement de la littératie, en s’appuyant sur une étude de cas ethnographique plus large qui se concentre sur la transition des étudiants vers un collège communautaire. Aux yeux de certains membres du personnel du collège, le comportement des étudiants semblait déroutant ou semblait nuire à leur réussite; cependant, quand on utilisait la perspective du cadre de travail identitaire, le comportement peut se comprendre comme des tentatives de contrecarrer la marginalisation institutionnelle. Les résultats de cette analyse illustrent comment la compréhension des histoires, des identités et des investissements des étudiants immigrants adultes peut aider les éducateurs à répondre aux moments « difficiles » dans la salle de classe et au-delà. Cette étude a plusieurs implications pour les praticiens de l’enseignement supérieur. Premièrement, nous devons remettre en question nos suppositions premières à propos du comportement des étudiants de façon à l’interpréter correctement. Deuxièmement, nous devons expliquer clairement les normes de la culture universitaire, afin que les étudiants puissent entrer plus efficacement dans leur identité recherchée et montrer leur capital symbolique dans les cours collégiaux. Pour conclure, nous devons créer des programmes, des politiques et des pédagogies qui soient plus inclusives et plus pertinentes pour les apprenants immigrants adultes. Ces résultats s’ajoutent aux conversations universitaires sur le fonds de connaissances des étudiants immigrants et leur capacité d’agir au sein de l’enseignement postsecondaire.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contextualizing Resistance As Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contextualizing Resistance As Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making Sense of Resistance: How Adult Immigrant Students Pursue Agency Through Identity Work in Higher Educational Contexts

Suh¹,

Shapiro²

2020

TESL Canada

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“…The goal is to move towards a notion of advanced literacies which value students' linguistic repertoires(Stille & Cummins, 2013), recognize the link between language learning and identity construction(Séror & Weinberg, 2015), and question and counter deficit models(Waterstone, 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

On Blind Men, Elephants, and Immersion Programs

Séror

2018

OLBIWP

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On the 11th and 12th of May 2017, the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute at the University of Ottawa hosted the symposium: “Immersion in higher education: Where do we stand today?” This symposium was a wonderful opportunity to review the richness, complexity and plural dimensions associated to the concept of immersion. Indeed, the goal of the symposium was to not only mark the 10-year anniversary of the launch of the Régime d’immersion en français (RIF) at the University of Ottawa but also to bring together key stakeholders and specialists from various regions of Canada and the world to faire le point and review what has been accomplished in recent years when we refer to the application of content-based language teaching to the context of post-secondary education.

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