Deconstructing learner identities in the ESP context. A critical discourse analysis of the language ideologies of international business students

Description

Although the significance of context is generally appreciated in theorising on language teaching, the full extent of the role of context in the formation of language ideologies has remained underresearched. Accordingly, the variety of situations that are typically subsumed under the learners' context of situation' tend to be approached from the individual's perspective, the learner self. While it is true that the beliefs of the learning individual have indeed a considerable impact on language learning, the success of learning is, however, also due to the students' ability to construct their identity as learners against the backcloth of prevailing language ideologies. Yet the fact that language ideologies comprise more than individual speakers' attitudes to language(s) tends to be overlooked. In contrast, this present analysis puts forward a twofold argument. On the one hand, it will be assumed that students construct their identity as learners of a given language by virtue of contextual factors derived from their interaction with the immediate context of their learning environment, their schooling histories and their present institutional context. On the other hand, students will be shown to depend on language ideologies, i.e. certain values, practices and beliefs associated with the target language. Drawing on the relevant literature as well as a corpus-based analysis of the transcripts of business student interviews, this study proposes a critical analysis of the discourses that construct values and beliefs associated with language(s) at the institutional, supranational and global levels. For this purpose, a corpus was compiled on the basis of data obtained from focus groups. The results from a both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data will be discussed with respect to their impact on the construction of learner identities in the context of language ideologies.

Period	13 Sept 2010 → 15 Sept 2010
Event title	The third international conference of CADAAD (Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across Disciplines)
Event type	Unknown
Degree of Recognition	International