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Social inclusion and the ‘reduced personality’: Migration, identity and language learning Lynda Yates

Macquarie University

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Research Questions

• How are these migrants positioned and how do they position themselves in their new communities?

• How do they experience the renegotiation of their identities in English?

• What is the role of the AMEP in this renegotiation process and how can it best facilitate these transitions?

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Overview• Motivation for paper• Theoretical frameworks• Study• Insights from case study of 8 women in

first three years in Australia• Reflections on:

– Development of their English-speaking identities

– Understandings of learning and language use

– Role of language classes

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Motivation for paper

Lucia Q1my boyfriend or and here his family. Everybody’s

wah wah wah What talking laughing and I’m just sorry shy and he say-

The shy Columbian yes.And I’m not like that!

Kaye Q1Kaye: …and people thinks I’m really quiet.Do they?Kaye: But in Japanese, no, I’m really talkative,

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Theory: Focus on the individual

• Personal costs of developing transnationalism– Rebuilding social, cultural and economic

capital • Language anxiety (Oxford, 1999)

– Self-esteem (Horowitz et al 1986)

• ‘Reduced personality’ (Harder, 1980) – Late-acquired language – Frustrations re self-expression (Winch, 2005)

• Motivation– L2 motivational self (Dornyei & Ushioda 2009)

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Theory: Identity in context • Power differentials and structures of

participation– Positioning– Peripheral participation/ communities of

practice– Affordances & investment (Norton-Pierce, 1995)

• Motivation - interaction intentionality & social context (Ushioda 2009)

– People-in-context view of motivation– Engagement of ‘possible selves’

• English speaking identity– Migrant identities (Miller 2000)

– Transportable identities’ (Zimmerman 1998; Richards 2006)

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Language use and English speaking identity

Positioning (affordances)

ELL motivation(Ideal L2 self)

Past self-esteem(cultural capital)

+ ve- ve

Use of English

Engagement of possible selves:Transnational

English-speakingIdentity

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Language use and developmentof L2 identity

TransnationalEnglish-speaking

Identity

Engagement of possible selves

+ve or –ve experiences

Use of English

+ ve

- ve

Language anxiety

Reduced personality

Successful self expression

investment and confidence in language learning

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Language training and settlement success• DIAC funded project• 152 migrants (134) studying in AMEP• 11 centres around Australia• Different levels/ backgrounds/ ages/• A range of data:

– Interviews– Fieldnotes, observations, materials,

assessments– Digital recordings of goal-oriented and

social interactions inside and outside the classroom and the centre

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Language training• AMEP - national program

– all eligible new arrivals who lack functional English– free– three different certificate levels to those– Certificate III– preparation for further study or improvement in

employment prospects. • Beyond most urgent need for basic English• Language-related settlement issues• Negotiate social and professional identities

through English • C1 linguistic expertise / economic capacity • Australia: Struggle to draw on this capital

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Participants

Name C1 Yr Status Ed Occup C1

OccupAus

Lucia Col 1:1 De facto– Anglo-Aus

17 Telemarket/sales

Trammie

Lila Col 1:4 M /Col.-Aus

16 Student/ Microbiol

Pharmac. factory

Tobi Jap 1:5 De facto – Anglo-Aus

11 Office admin.

Jap. travel agency

Kaye Jap 2:3 M/ Anglo-Aus

16 Language teacher

Jap. lang. teacher

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Participants

Name C1 Res Status Ed Occ. C1 Occ. Aus

Sally PRC 2:5 M/ Chinese

14 Self-empl Home-maker

Jean PRC 2:9 M/ Fr-Aus

15 Primary teacher

Family store

Anna PRC 2 M/ Chinese

16 Landscape designer

Chin. paper /landscaper

Karen PRC 1:2 M/ Chinese

17 Ophthalm ologist

Glasses factory QA

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Social inclusion and settlement success:

Some commonalities• Social isolation and loneliness• Frustration at ‘reduced personality’• Insufficiency of workplace or partners

for English development• Goal of more challenging work• Underestimation of language learning• Tendency to self-blame• Desire to improve English• Desire for speaking and feedback

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Social isolation and loneliness

Frustration at:• Lack of friends

– Sally and son (playgroup), Anna (curfew), Tobi

• Inability to relate/ express E.g. – Formal phone conversations (Sally)– Parents (Kaye)– Partners’ friends (Lila)– Every day conversation at work (Karen)– Anybody (Anna)

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Insufficiency of routine work interactions• Robot - Lucia Q1

Lucia: I’m just- ah feeling totally like stuck. Like- like when I know- you know it’s like I’m feeling like I’m expressing myself always in the same way or always- [….] Using the same words and using the same-

Yes, so it’s a restricted range of things-that you can say and do and you want to expand that, yeah.

Lucia: Exactly because I feel like robot, you know?

• Sally (take-away)/ Lucia (café)/ Karen (office)/ Anna (factory)

• But increases confidence? (Sally/ Karen cf Tobi) (also Miller 2000)

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Karen Q2:

Yeah (laughter) because I think if I work for an Aussie company at least I have a good- good situation and every time I listening, every time I- I read I- I writing something, always learning English, so is good.

……………………….

I think I- I can- … I so before- before this job I don’t dare to talk with some you know Western people. But now I can, I can do this.

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Goal - more challenging work

Desire to build on cultural capital:– portray fuller range of skills - professional

identity– Participate more centrally

Lila Q1: So I was and I was and at uni they know me because I was good at uni.

[….]Lila: Yeah so that why here that’s why now oh I

don’t have and I would say to my sister I just came here and I’m no-one, nobody.

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Under-estimation of challenge of language learning

Anna Q2: before I came here I- I never I never think English is so hard because hhmmm, we in China we just do reading, especially in our field I found that this is- is not difficult. So before I came here I think oh, English is- is easy to me I can- (laughter) I can I can learn English quickly and fast but after I came here I found not

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Positive about AMEP class

Lucia Q1: … they’re [English classes] great it’s just, you know, it’s, yeah, some of my first English classes here in this, yeah

Karen Q2: I think … ahh, we can, we can learn some some- some words and I think we can- we can spend long time in Engla- English situation.

Anna Q1: I enjoy the class-, the class because I can- I can meet and know differ different classmates from different country the-

(NB Sally/ Anna - stretching)

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Some commonalities

Tendency to blame self (Lila, Anna, Tobi)

Okay. And you said last time to Jackie that you were feeling a little bit alone.

Lila Q2: Yeah.How do you feel now?Lila Q2: Ahm … I try don’t think about it

(laughter) yeah.Still a little bit lonely then?Lila Q2: Yeah, I think maybe my personality, I

don’t know.

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Language use and English speaking identity

Successful self expression

investment and confidence in language learning

Reduced personality

Language anxiety

+ ve- veL2 identity and

Use of English

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LuciaQ1• 50% English• Repetitive café to • Cute Spanish-speaker• Frustrated with

‘reduced personality’• Class useful for:

– structure and practice (pron and writing)

– Space to speak– Make friends– Organise her English

Q3• 80% English• Sociable trammie• Independent lover• Settled• Job as transition• Developing new

strategies to communicate

• Still frustrated at ‘inability’ to join in and limited identity in English, but….

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Lucia Q3:Lucia: I, you know, but it's just … I think the English

is- is, I, I remember I felt really isolate, my first-Yeah.Lucia: -months here. I didn’t have friends, I didn’t, I

was only with <partner’s> family and with, I can start to talk with anyone and that’s normal. You know I'm doing that with contacts-

Yeah, yeah.Lucia: -I'm making friends-on the tram, making

friends. I'm just--Yeah.Lucia: -I'm talking with people.Yeah, yeah.Lucia: And this is good.

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TobiQ1• 20% English• Japanese travel agency • Planning children• Frustrated but some

support• Class useful for:

– Place to speak English– Place for feedback

Q3• 15% English• Soon unemployed • Relationship breakdown• Feels old (30), worries

about health • Lost interest in studying

English: ‘I don’t like study English.’

• No support, maybe returning home

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Anna

Q1(2)• 40% English• Silenced / factory QA • Diligent but unrealistic• Came for opportunity• (misses professional

talk)• Class:

– Useful for ‘answers’– To meet people/ engage– Feedback/ correction– (wants to make NS

contact)

Q3(4)• 60% English• Quit job for more

speaking• Diligent -frustrated with

progress• More understanding and

confidence• Wants more Anglo talk• Refocusing goals -

optician• Considering returning• (confident assertive cf

mistakes /stupid in English)

• (lonely / husband)• (toughened / more

determined)

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JeannieQ1• 95% English• Family store • Believes in speaking

out • Proud of her English• Came for

opportunity/husband

Q3• 98% English• Wants to study• Disappointed can’t be a

teacher• Husband wants her to

work• Stays for son not

husband

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KarenQ1• 15% (50%) English• Chinese to English • Wants to improve

speaking • Came for husband/

opportunity• Class:

– Safe place to speak– Not laughed at

Q4• Return from work away• More confident about

English, but still afraid of mistakes

• Different ‘place’ from last yr:– Content, happy, lucky– Plans to settle– More confident with clients

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Role of language training

• Source of:– Structured language information– Feedback (handling of misconceptions)– Non-language information– Practice– Referral (plausible action plans) (Dornyei 2009)

– Peer group / network

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AMEP class - safe place to:

• Use English without being considered ‘stupid’

• Develop of English speaking identity which reflects their ‘transportable identities’

‘engage directly with their possible selves as users of the L2, but within the current scope and security of their current communicative abilities, interests and social contexts’

(Ushioda: 2009: 225)

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References Dornyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (Eds.). (2009). Motivation: Language identity

and the L2 self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Harder, P. (1980). Discourse as self-expression – on the reduced

personality of the second language learner. Applied Linguistics, 1(3), 262-270.

Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125-132.

Miller, J. M. (2000). Language Use, Identity, and Social Interaction: Migrant Students in Australia. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 33(1), 69-100.

Oxford, R. L. (1999) Anxiety and the language learner: New insights. In J. Arnold (Ed.) Affect in Language Learning (pp 58-67). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Norton-Pierce, B. (1995). Social identity, investment and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9-31.

Richards, K. (2006). 'Being the teacher': Identity and classroom conversation. Applied Linguistics, 27(1), 51-77.

Ushioda, E. (2009). A person-in-context relational view of emergent motivation, self and identity. In Z. Dornyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, Language identity and the L2 self (pp. 215-228). Bristol: Mulitlingual Matters.

Winch, S. (2005). From Frustration to Satisfaction: Using NLP to Improve Self-Expression. Paper presented at the 18th Annual EA Education Conference

Zimmerman, D. H. (1998). Discoursal identities ad social identities. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in talk (pp. 87-106). London: Sage.