Education Commons^™

A Critical Interpretation Of Study Abroad, Participant Identity, And Second Language Learning, Laura Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

In this study I explore the history of study abroad as a sojourn for the privileged, notions of whiteness, institutional racism and inequality, and nationality and linguicism, and apply theory from critical applied linguistics and post-colonialism to analyze and interpret data collected from five participants of either a semester or year-long study abroad at the Centre International d’Études Françaises (CIDEF) in Angers, France. The principal research questions are: What is the nature of how students negotiate their identities (racial, national, and gender), L2 learning, and engagement (or lack of) with various communities of practice while studying abroad in a non-English …

English Language Investment: A Qualitative Study On Transitioning Adult Language Learners To Postsecondary And Career Certificate Programs, Colleen Collins Stribling

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study elicited and examined the narratives of 15 adult immigrants

learning English in a grant-funded program. The purpose of the study was to listen to student

voices to understand persistence and investment from the perspectives of the students. The study

utilized a process called reciprocal ethnography whereby participants analyzed their journeys

with the researcher to determine what factors in their life histories, experiences, and identities

had led them to invest sufficiently in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in order to

reach levels of achievement that would allow them to transition into post secondary and career

certificate …