Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

English

Committee Chair

Evelyn Wright Fogle

Committee Member

Rebecca Adams

Committee Member

Ronald Fuentes

Committee Member

Sage Graham

Abstract

Language learners identity construction and language learning through narratives (Norton 2010; Johnson 2015) and multimodal technologies (Lam 2006; White 2007) have been found to be effective ways to facilitate ESL learning. Additionally, Multimodal pedagogies and narrative practices in the language classroom facilitate L2 learning, investment in language learning, and learners identity and agency construction (Crandall 2018; Johnson & Kendrick, 2017). Further, racism and linguicism are aspects of language learners lives that affect their language learning trajectories (Corona & Block, 2020; Dovchin, 2019). Few studies, however, examine how multimodal narrative practices in L2 classrooms can foster learners investment in language learning and allow adult L2 learners space to negotiate identity, racism, and linguicism to become legitimate members of the target community. This study investigates the pedagogical role of multimodal narrative practices in negotiating difficult experiences outside the classroom and the subsequent investment in language learning.The study was conducted in a beginning intermediate ESL class in the mid-south, USA. The class comprised five immigrant women participating in a multimodal narrative based language teaching approach designed by the instructor. The learners each wrote ten multimodal narratives in a shared Google Docs over the period of 10 weeks about their English-speaking experiences with host nationals and retold those narratives in the classroom. The learners also participated in interviews with the researcher. The class sessions and interviews were transcribed, and the data were coded for themes and language use. Model of investment (Darvin & Norton, 2015), narrative analysis, and Critical Narrative analysis were used to analyze learners range of investment, identities, and language development.The findings showed that multimodal narrative practiceslinguistic, visual, and oralhelped learners enter the external community by allowing them to monitor their investment and negotiate racism and linguicism. The practices were also found to help learners become aware of their right to speak and motivate for continuous investment leading to identity construction. This pedagogy in ESL classrooms can help learners develop their right to speak in the safe space of the language classroom and enter the target community by negotiating racial and linguistic challenges.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

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