Working with language learner histories from three perspectives: Teachers, learners and researchers

Abstract

Recent developments in SLA, such as learner-centredness, social constructivism, the postmethod era, and complexity perspectives, have highlighted the need for more localized, situated understandings of teaching and learning and greater recognition of learner individuality and diversity. In this article, I suggest an effective way of meeting these needs is to employ learner histories. This powerful form of writing allows learners to use their L2 to engage in authentic, personally meaningful communication with others about their identities, experiences, perceptions and emotions related to their language learning histories. As a text type, they are able to facilitate a more holistic perspective of the learner's life and reveal the unique interconnections that an individual makes across various domains. They also enable the situated, contextualised and dynamic nature of their learning experiences to become apparent and provide learners with a genuine, motivating purpose for writing. Exploring data generated in Austria with tertiary-level EFL learners, I seek to illustrate some of the rich potential of these text types from three perspectives, namely, those of the teacher, learner and researcher.

‘A Puzzle that Needs to be Fitted Together’: The Beginning of My Autoethnographic Journey of Learning French Through Music

“…In writing a language learning history (LLH), one looks at their own past learning in an introspective way (Oxford, 1995). It gives insight into a learner's thinking and how they interpret their experiences (Mercer, 2013). By reading about their collective experiences, students can see what peers have done and find ways to identify with others' learning (Deacon et al, 2006).…”

Conceptualizing learner characteristics in a complex, dynamic world

“…The notion of 'narrative' has been well known to the field of SLA: Narrative inquiry as a research method has had its advocates for over a decade (e.g., Barkhuizen, 2013;Barkhuizen, Benson, & Chik, 2014;Bell, 2002;Benson & Nunan, 2004;Mercer, 2013;Pavlenko, 2002), and the value of narratives and stories as efficient classroom tools for language learning and teaching has also been widely recognized (e.g., Kalaja, Menezes, & Barcelos, 2008;Wright, 2009). More broadly, the social sciences as a whole have witnessed a narrative turn -or even narrative turns (see e.g., Hyvärinen, 2010) -over the past two decades, and according to Hyvärinen, © 2017.…”

Adversity and redemption: Learning and teaching in the language learning histories of two EFL student-teachers

“…Dörnyei (2014b) has recently persuasively argued that a better understanding of the complex makeup of language learners can be achieved through the study of their autobiographical LLHs. As Mercer (2013) notes, "as such, narratives represent a valuable form of qualitative data which can challenge simplistic, reductionist, abstracted, static, linear thinking about language learning processes and learners themselves" (p. 167). In many recent SLA studies, the multifaceted experience of language learning is indeed approached through narrative inquiry (cf.…”

“…In many recent SLA studies, the multifaceted experience of language learning is indeed approached through narrative inquiry (cf. Benson & Nunan, 2005;Coffey, 2013;Kalaja, Menezes, & Barcelos, 2008;Mercer, 2013;Norton, 2000;Oxford, 1995;Pavlenko, 2001Pavlenko, , 2003Pavlenko, , 2007Tse, 2000). The stories reveal the complexity, diversity and situatedness of language learners and language learning, and their inherently temporal structure foregrounds the essentially dynamic character of the language learning process.…”