Keywords
narratives
autobiographies
complexity
agency
How to Cite
Number of views: 1108
Number of downloads: 468
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.References
Allwright, D. (2003). Exploratory practice: Rethinking practitioner research in language teaching. Language Teaching Research, 7(2), 113-141. doi:10.1191/1362168803lr118oa
Barkhuizen, G. (2011). Narrative knowledging in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 45(3),391-414. doi:10.5054/tq.2011.261888
Bell, J. S. (2002). Narrative inquiry: More than just telling stories. TESOL Quarterly,36(2), 207-213. doi:10.2307/3588331
Benson, P. (2005). (Auto)biography and learner diversity. In P. Benson & D.Nunan (Eds.), Learners’ stories: Difference and diversity in language learning (pp. 4-21). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Benson, P. (2011). Language learning careers as an object of narrative research in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 45(3), 545-553. doi:10.5054/tq.2010.256793
Benson, P., & Nunan, D. (Eds.). (2005). Learners’ stories: Difference and diversity in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Charmaz, K. C. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage.
Chik, A., & Breidbach, S. (2011). Identity, motivation and autonomy: A tale of two cities. In G. Murray, X. Gao, & T. Lamb (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning (pp. 145-159). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2004). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Cotterall, S. (2000). Promoting learner autonomy through the curriculum: Principles for designing language courses. ELT Journal, 54(2), 109-117. doi:10.1093/elt/54.2.109
Dewaele, J. (2005). Investigating the psychological and emotional dimensions in instructed language learning: Obstacles and possibilities. The Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 367-380. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.2005.00311.x
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The psychology of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dörnyei, Z. (2011). Researching complex dynamic systems: ‘Retrodictive qualitative modelling’ in the language classroom. Language Teaching, FirstView, 1-12. doi:10.1017/S0261444811000516
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
Egan, K. (2010). An imaginative approach to teaching (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Ford, K. (2011). Taking a narrative turn: Possibilities, challenges and potential outcomes. OnCue Journal, 6(1), 23-36.
Goodson, I. F., Biesta, G., Tedder, M., & Adair, N. (2010). Narrative learning. London: Routledge.
Hanauer, D. I. (2012). Meaningful literacy: Writing poetry in the language classroom. Language Teaching, 45(1), 105-115. doi:10.1017/S0261444810000522
Hsieh, P.-H. (2012). Attribution: Looking back and ahead at the ‘why’ theory. In S. Mercer, S. Ryan, & M. Williams (Eds.), Psychology for language learning: Insights from research, theory and practice (pp. 90-102). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Jackson, C. (2003). Transitions into Higher Education: Gendered implications for academic self-concept. Oxford Review of Education, 29(3), 331-346. doi:10.1080/03054980307448
Kalaja, P., Menezes, V., & Barcelos, A. M. F. (Eds.). (2008). Narratives of learning and teaching EFL (1st ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kohonen, V. (2000). Student reflection in portfolio assessment: Making language learning more visible. Babylonia, 1, 13-16.
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Leppänen, S., & Kalaja, P. (2002). Autobiographies as constructions of EFL learner identities and experiences. In E. Kärkkäinen, J. Haines, & T. Lauttamus (Eds.), Studia Linguistica Et Litteraria Septentrionalia. Studies Presented to Heikki Nyssönen. (pp. 189-203). Oulu: University of Oulu.
Löschnigg, M. (2005). Autobiography. In D. Herman, M. Jahn, & M.-L. Ryan (Eds.), The Routledge encyclopaedia of narrative theory (pp. 34-36). London: Routledge.
McAdams, D. P. (1997). The stories we live by: Personal myths and the making of the self. New York: Guilford Press.
Menezes, V. (2008). Multimedia language learning histories. In P. Kalaja, V.
Menezes, & A. M. F. Barcelos (Eds.), Narratives of learning and teaching EFL (pp. 199-213). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Menezes, V., Barcelos. A. M. F., & Kalaja, P. (2008). Narrativising learning and teaching EFL: Concluding remarks. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes, & A. M. F. Barcelos (Eds.), Narratives of learning and teaching EFL (pp. 217-232). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mercer, S. (2011a). Language learner self-concept: Complexity, continuity and change. System, 39(3), 335-346. doi:10.1016/j.system.2011.07.006
Mercer, S. (2011b). Understanding learner agency as a complex dynamic system. System, 39(4), 427-436. doi:10.1016/j.system.2011.08.001
Mercer, S. (2012). The complexity of learner agency. Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies, 6(2), 41-59.
Mercer, S. (2013). Re-imagining the self as a network of relationships. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Mercer, S., & Nunan, D. (2013, April). Language learning histories in teaching, learning and research. Paper presented at IATEFL Liverpool 2013.
Mercer, S., & Ryan, S. (2010). A mindset for EFL: Learners’ beliefs about the role of natural talent. ELT Journal, 64(4), 436-444. doi:10.1093/elt/ccp083
Mercer, S., Ryan, S., & Williams, M. (Eds.) (2012). Psychology for language learning: Insights from research, theory and practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillian.
Murphey, T., & Carpenter, C. (2008). The seeds of agency in language learning histories. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes, & A. M. F. Barcelos (Eds.), Narratives of learning and teaching EFL (pp. 17-34). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and educational change (1st ed.). Harlow: Longman.
Nunan, D. (1990). Using learner data in curriculum development. English for Specific Purposes, 9(1), 17-32. doi:10.1016/0889-4906(90)90026-9
Nunan, D. (2013). Learner-centred English language education: The selected works of David Nunan (pp. 204-215). New York: Routledge.
Oxford, R. L. (1995). When emotion meets (meta)cognition in language learning histories. International Journal of Educational Research, 23(7), 581-594. doi:10.1016/0883-0355(96)80438-1
Pavlenko, A. (2001). Language learning memoirs as a gendered genre. Applied Linguistics, 22(2), 213-240. doi:10.1093/applin/22.2.213
Pavlenko, A. (2002). Narrative study: Whose story is it, anyway? TESOL Quarterly,36(2), 213-218. doi:10.2307/3588332
Pavlenko, A. (2007). Autobiographic narratives as data in Applied Linguistics. Applied Linguistics, 28(2), 163-188. doi:10.1093/applin/amm008
Polkinghorne, D. E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(1), 5-23. doi:10.1080/0951839950080103
Randall, W. L. (2007). Narrative and chaos acknowledging the novelty of livesin-time. Interchange, 38(4), 367-389. doi:10.1007/s10780-007-9037-9
Ryan, S., & Irie, K. (in press). Imagined and possible selves: The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. In S. Mercer & M. Williams (Eds.), Multiple perspectives on the self in SLA. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Ryan, S., & Mercer, S. (2011). Natural talent, natural acquisition and abroad:Learner attributions of agency in language learning. In G. Murray, X. Gao,& T. Lamb (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning (pp. 160-176). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Silverthorn, N., Dubois, D. L., & Crombie, G. (2005). Self-perceptions of ability and achievement across the high school transition: Investigation of a state-trait model. The Journal of Experimental Education, 73(3), 191-218. doi:10.3200/JEXE.73.3.191-218
Thomas, D., & Seely Brown, J. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of change. Createspace.
Tse, L. (2000). Student perceptions of foreign language study: A qualitative analysis of foreign language autobiographies. The Modern Language Journal, 84(1), 69-84. doi:10.2307/330450
van Lier, L. (2008). Agency in the classroom. In J. P. Lantolf & M. E. Poehner (Eds.), Sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages (pp.163-86). London: Equinox.
Woodrow, L. (2012). Goal orientations: Three perspectives on motivation goal orientations. In S. Mercer, S. Ryan, & M. Williams (Eds.), Psychology for language learning: Insights from research, theory and practice (pp. 188-202). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
License
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.