The ideology of learner agency and the neoliberal self

Miller, Elizabeth R.

doi:10.1111/ijal.12129

Cited by 40 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Biesta and Tedder () contribute an ecological perspective to their discussion of agency. They posit that agency is not a power that one has (see also, Miller, ), but rather is something one achieves by means of an environment, not simply in an environment (Biesta & Tedder, , p. 137). The distinction between by means of and in is important because it reinforces the theme that agency is not something independent from structure.…”

Section: Complex Dynamic Systems Theory and Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

On Language Learner Agency: A Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective

Larsen‐Freeman

2019

The Modern Language Journal

187

113

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Agency has attracted considerable attention, especially of late. Nevertheless, perceptions of language learners as nonagentive persist. In this article the Douglas Fir Group's call for a transdisciplinary perspective is heeded in a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory's (CDST) conceptualization of agency. It is suggested that CDST maintains the structure–agency complementarity while bringing to the fore the relational and emergent nature of agency. Coordination dynamics is identified as a possible mechanism for the phylogenetic and ontogenetic emergence of agency. CDST further characterizes agency as spatially–temporally situated. It can be achieved and changed through iteration and co‐adaptation. It is also multidimensional and heterarchical. In this era of posthumanism, an issue that is also taken up is whether it is only humans who have agency. The article then discusses educational practices that could support learner agency. Finally, the article closes with a discussion of agency and ethical action.

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Section: Complex Dynamic Systems Theory and Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

On Language Learner Agency: A Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective

Larsen‐Freeman

2019

The Modern Language Journal

187

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…They are distributed in, over and through person. Keeping this perspective in mind can help us avoid taking a too simple approach to language teachers as a priori agents who are merely influenced by local, external affordances and constraints (see also Davies, 1990;Miller, 2012Miller, , 2014Miller, , 2016. Approaching language teacher agency in this way can help to disrupt popular views of teachers as "saviors" of students, or as professionals who must effect change primarily through their individual capacities (Morgan, 2009), or, as we discuss in this article, as individuals whose emotion labor in the classroom derives solely from individual efforts.…”

Section: Language Teacher Agency and Emotions As Relational Phenomenamentioning

confidence: 99%

Language teacher agency, emotion labor and emotional rewards in tertiary-level English language programs

Miller

Gkonou

2018

System

Self Cite

148

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Research on language teacher agency and language teacher emotions has demonstrated that both are central components of teacher identity and practice. However, few researchers have explored the co-constitutive effects of agency and emotion for language teachers or the role of emotion labor in producing emotional rewards. This article addresses these underexplored components of language teaching through reporting on the findings of a qualitative study with language teachers in tertiary settings in the U.K. and the U.S. The study drew on language teachers' questionnaire (n=30) and semi-structured interview (n=25) responses in identifying the most common emotions experienced by these teachers and how their relationships with students engendered emotion labor as well as emotional rewards. We consider these aspects of teacher experience in terms of discourses of teaching-as-caring and Foucault's (1983) concept of ethical self-formation.

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“…This implies that Saudi female students’ gender identity is deeply rooted in and mediated by their religious identity. Additionally, these students’ application of a shared religious framework to justify their individual viewpoints and practices suggests that the freedom of individual female agency is always mediated through social and cultural histories (E. Miller, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“She Needs to Be Shy!”: Gender, Culture, and Nonparticipation Among Saudi Arabian Female Students

Song

2018

TESOL Quarterly

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This article examines Saudi female students' socialization process in mixed-gender interactions during their study abroad, focusing on how they negotiate culture-specific gender expectations of women's deference and modesty. Findings reveal that Saudi women's deference to maintaining an ideal image of Saudi womanhood makes shyness and fear of judgment predominant aspects of their gender identity. Saudi women's adherence to these norms often leads to their nonparticipation in classroom and social interactions, and a deeper ambivalence is indicated when they seek social and academic opportunities through active participation. Findings also demonstrate that Saudi women use religion to both justify and challenge gender identity norms. Women who comply with Saudi gender norms assert that these norms are prescribed by the tenets of Islam; those who resist these norms argue their irrelevance with respect to Islam. Saudi women's religious interpretations serve to empower their own sense of gender identity, which signifies their agency founded on ideological and cultural constraints in the context of religion. This study offers implications for second language learners' nonparticipation in relation to gender, highlighting how gender norms intersect with other discursive categories, particularly ethnicity, culture, and its central aspect here, religion.

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The ideology of learner agency and the neoliberal self

Cited by 40 publications

References 45 publications

On Language Learner Agency: A Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective

On Language Learner Agency: A Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective

Language teacher agency, emotion labor and emotional rewards in tertiary-level English language programs

“She Needs to Be Shy!”: Gender, Culture, and Nonparticipation Among Saudi Arabian Female Students

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