The 'Third Place': Investigating an ESL Classroom Interculture

Abstract

This study focuses on a multicultural ESL classroom with the purpose of exploring the creation of new individual and cultural identities and the formation of interculture. Through on-site observations and interviews with second-language learners and their teacher, the study presents findings about the dynamics, quandaries, complexity, and diversity of classroom interculture. The metaphor of the 'third place' (Kramsch, 1993) aptly captures the nature of this interculture in its fluidity and ambiguity. Perceiving language-learning in this way allows one to look beyond the traditional dichotomous views and approaches to culture and identity in ESL settings and to describe properly the enriching process of creating new identity and new cultural space that is greater than the sum of individual cultures.

International Students in China: Cross-Cultural Interaction, Integration, and Identity Construction

“…This conception of the goal of language-teaching and learning would not only take away the impossible and irrelevant burden of becoming "native", but it would acknowledge the language learner as a multicompetent (Cook, 1992) individual who has the potential to be more than simply the sum of two cultures. (Li & Girvan, 2004) This line of thought in the field of language teaching is consistent with Bhabha's (1994) conception of the cultural third space. Said (1991) warned that the university is no shelter from "the political intercourse of a given society and culture" (p. 15).…”

“…Language learners get to this place through a dialectical process, rather than an additive process. Kramsch's conceptualization of interculturality is endorsed by Li and Girvan (2004) study, which demonstrated the existence, creation, and fluidity of the "sphere of interculturality" (Kramsch, 1993) in the ESL classroom. They asserted:…”

“…The gap in different expectations of the professor and student roles is not insurmountable. Further studies looking into the negotiation of classroom "intercultures" (Kramsch, 1993;Li & Girvan, 2004) may provide efficient communication tools for both instructional staff and international students. What is important to see, just like what the positive experiences of the participants indicate, is that an open attitude toward differences, an unbiased attitude, and a non-judgmental environment will benefit both the international students and local communities.…”

Creating Joyful “Third Space” for Young Dual Language Learners via Family-involved Chess Playing Project

“…Third Space was also referred by Kramsch (1993Kramsch ( , 2004 to take a new look at multilanguage learning as a confrontation of culture and a process involving the creation of new identities. As suggested by Kramsch (1993Kramsch ( , 2004, Roessingh (2011) advanced a framework for early language development and undertook a dual-language book project for young DLLs to create a shared context between their first and second languages and cultures for them to -negotiate language, culture, and identity‖ (Roessingh, 2011, p. 141) and -develop linguistically, culturally and intellectually‖ (Li & Girvan, 2004).…”

Multilingualism in Educational Contexts: Ideologies and Identities

“…In particular, the idea of teachers and students not being passive recipients of ideologies but as having agency and the ability to challenge and resist hegemonic values is present in this literature. One way of resisting is the use of minority languages for official purposes that lend them authority and legitimacy; another is the use of codeswitching as a means of constructing a ‘third space’, a concept credited to Bhabha (1994), but also used in bilingual and ESL education (Kramsch 1993; Hadi‐Tabassum 2002; Li and Girvan 2004). Nero (2005) points out that despite the theoretical position about the dynamic construction of identity found in sociolinguistic research, educational programs are based on positioning students in static positions with regards to their linguistic proficiency and identity.…”