“Stories from No-Man’s Land?”

“Stories from No-Man’s Land?” Narrative interpretations of the language acquisition experiences of students in international higher education. Dr Kevin Haines University of Groningen, the Netherlands k.b.j.haines@rug.nl

“Painting with metaphor #1: The language learner in No-Man’s Land? “For a long time, I’ll thrash around like a fish thrown from sweet into salty ocean waters”. Hoffman, Lost in Translation, 1989: 160

Wâldfries: Maaike’s story: an anecdote? “I always try to hide this accent when not being in the North of the Netherlands because people always have associations with my accent and living in Friesland which I try to avoid.” Maaike’s reflection on speech communities, 2004 This opened a dialogue between the student and her teacher, but: “…I lacked a frame of reference from which I could make a thorough definition of the problem...” KH 2008: 2 “I am a relative latecomer to the use of a second language and the participants are the ‘experts’.” KH 2008: 64

Preface… • How did I come to be using narrative? • Narratives in second language acquisition (SLA) research: stories of situated learning. • Research: context; data; interpretations; recommendations. • Narrative linguistics? How might narrative inquiry contribute to SLA research?

So how did I come to ‘narrative’? - complication-resolution (Labov); - biographical disruption- narrative reconstruction (Williams); - performance (Goffman) relates to the interaction between an individual and a perceived audience; - narrative as the construction and/or performance of meaning (interpretive; relativist; poststructuralist) - performance involves identity (re)construction (Kinginger); - identity reconstruction is to do with significance or ‘what matters’ (Lantolf & Pavlenko 2001); - ‘identity work’ is the continuous making or remaking of who we are or ‘wrighting’ (Ivanič 2006); - narrative is (potentially) transformative: accidental (?) ‘narrative therapy’ (Speedy 2008).

Simona’s experience “I have previously been to interviews where interviewers have been calling me: "not a native and not a native" (when referring to the fact that I am not a native English speaker nor a native Dutch speaker)… However, in this hard learning process of finding my place in a specific branch or company, I experienced that because I learned English as a so called "second language", I find it very easy to understand others that speak English as a foreign language. This is actually a strength when you think that some native speakers find it harder to understand non-native English speakers… I gave a free of charge English lesson to a Russian girl I met and she complimented me… • Simona, email correspondence, March 2008

What kind of questions did I have about narrative? - does an anecdote like Maaike’s count as narrative? - is Simona’s story, gathered in a research context, qualitatively different in some way, and therefore ‘narrative’? - is the narrative already out there to be recorded and analyzed, or do we construct it? - through which research/social processes do we construct it? - what do we do with our ‘intuitions’? - when we construct identities with/for people in this way, how do we make their stories credible to our readers/audience? - once produced, can the narrative stand alone, or does it require further explanation to be understood as valid ‘research’? - what responsibilities do we have as researchers when (co-) narrating/representing people’s (our own) lived experience?

Situated Language Learning: self and context “In applying a narrative analytical approach to language research, the use of cases (for example, Hoffman 1989; Kinginger 2004; Morita 2004) has demonstrated that language socialization is also a process involving complications and resolutions, and that language learners consequently have a tale to tell.” KH 2008: 21

Language Learning narratives? Kinginger 2004 personal stories of language learning 220 a long-term dialogue between Alice and me 223 an account of her experience 230 her journey thus far 240 sketching Alice’s history 241 Morita 2004 learners’ perspectives 575 learners’ lived experiences 578 retrospective accounts 579 learners’ inner voices 598 contextualized interpretations of learners’ voices and actions 579 “Now what are we going to do with us?” (Smith and Deemer 2000: 878)

Painting with metaphor #2: The researcher in No-Man’s Land? “Beyond the dike lie the contested spaces between land and sea… as the seascape retreats, the landscape re-emerges, the whole unchanging, its details subtly revised.” KH 2008: 164

Narrative… the self and the other “Like Clough, I am struggling to ‘explore ways of researching/writing which could do a rich justice at the same time to my ‘subjects’ as to myself as the organizing consciousness’ (2002: 17, my emphasis).” KH 2008: 12 “Narrative studies … position the investigator as part of the field, mediating and interpreting the ‘other’ in dialogue with the ‘self’”. Riessman 2008: 17 “I use the word collation rather than collection to make explicit my own subjective involvement in the co-construction of these narratives.” KH 2008: 57 (cf Oxford 2001, who collected 473 narratives)

Crystallization “Crystallization provides us with a deepened, complex, thoroughly partial, understanding of the topic. Paradoxically, we know more and doubt what we know.” Janesick 2000, 392, citing Richardson “Crystallization incorporates the use of other disciplines… Too often we become comfortable in our worlds and, to paraphrase Goethe, sometimes the most obvious things are hardest to see because they are right in front of our eyes” Janesick 2000, 392 “Narratives do not speak for themselves or have unanalyzed merit; they require interpretation when used as data in social research.” Riessman 2004: 706 (see also Riessman 2008: 3) “The field of narrative studies is cross-disciplinary, a many-layered expression of human thought and imagination.” Riessman 2008: 13

Research (stage 2) Might language providers (in the Netherlands) play a role in building a Higher Education environment in which a community of international students can prosper?

The lens: Situated language learning “We can consider second language learners who demonstrate a change from limited to fuller participation in social practices involving their second (or additional) language as giving evidence of language development.”(Zuengler & Miller 2006:41) ‘Communities of Practice’ provides a theoretical framework for the investigation of the tension between the individual learner and the group. In the case of Higher Education, the concept of community is epitomised by the learning community, which “includes learning … at the very core of its enterprise”. (Wenger 1998: 214-215)

Leonie’s experience “Due to the intense group work … and due to the fact that speaking English is always connected to work and not to socializing and using it for “pleasant” conversation, I noticed that I try to minimize speaking English, talking German most of the time to my fellow students and almost avoid speaking English, because it is more connected to work than to enjoyment!” • Leonie, Journal NCR, Communities, Potential for Exclusion, p5

What do I mean by ‘international students’ in the context of Higher Education in the Netherlands? • Their programme is taught entirely through English • Fellow students in their cohort come from a culturally and linguistically diverse set of backgrounds: hence an authentic need to use English • Students will cross borders and be expected to function in mixed cultural and linguistic environments.

Case study participants (stage 2: 2005-2008) Name Gender Nationality 1st Language(s) Mark M Dutch Dutch Ilana F Israeli Hebrew/Dutch Leonie F German German Simona F Romanian Romanian Katerina F Russian Russian/German

Identification with community Strength of identification with learning community: size of the cohort and the time they have been together: “we all identify ourselves with the programme strongly” (Leonie) “we all have known each other for four years now” (Ilana). This ‘all-ness’ is reflected by the feeling of being “in the same situation” (Katerina) and in use of the same language: “Because here I speak English” (Katerina)

Identities and multiple communities: “A mosaic composition of identity…” (Fisher 1994) The networking of identity through participation in a range of practices in different domains. (Ivanič 2006: 23) “Identity is today generally imagined as discontinuous, shifting and polycentric.” (Brockmeier 2000: 69)

Inclusion: Simona’s story • At the time of the interview, Simona had just returned from a study trip as part of an educational exchange with a Chinese university: • “I want to mention meetings in China... I started asking questions on a regular basis. Somebody had to take the initiative. I got a lot of positive feedback. ‘How do you come up with all those questions?’ asked my classmate. I never knew I was good at that. But I like to watch CNN all the time and I have role models.” • Simona, Interview DCR, Social Status, Role Models p4

Learning through participation: Inclusion

Exclusion: Leonie’s story At the time of the interview, Leonie was working on a project in a group of six international students. She chose to work through German in collaboration with a fellow German student, Renate: “… I can see that some people are not as good at writing as others. So then for me it’s natural that then the people who are willing to do it, or who think they are better at doing it also take it up and then make it one style.” Leonie, Interview DCR, Agency, p3

Learning through participation: Exclusion

Katerina’s Language Learning History: intentions “I hope that after my graduation I have a good academic level of English and am able to use all the knowledge which I gained about how to learn a language effectively on the new task of learning another language in the same format. This is the case since I am planning to write my thesis in a Spanish company in Barcelona and also to continue there with my professional working life.” Katerina, Language Learning History DCR, Self-initiated intentions p1

Katerina’s experience: inclusion “Because now I’m going back [to Spain] and I just remembered that actually the last time I came back [to the Netherlands] the only thing I was happy about was ‘finally I can express myself really perfectly again so that people are not misjudging me’. Especially those moments where you get angry and you just cannot talk more, and you have to accept those looks…” Katerina, Interview DCR, Communities, Inclusion p3

Katerina’s experience: exclusion • Potential for Exclusion: Absence of directed help: • “I’m wondering to which extent I can just produce a good paper. I want it, but I don’t know where to get help how to make it.” Katerina, Interview DCR, Communities, Potential for Exclusion p2 • Exclusion from Communities: • “But for instance with the Spanish it was really like I’m really facing the problem of people not understanding me for example. That I feel like that they’re judging me that I’m a bit like stupid or something. You know, they behave like that. ‘What are you talking about?’” • Katerina, Interview DCR, Communities, Exclusion p1

Researcher’s experience: exclusion KH: “But I would be interested in the way you’re trying to overcome that challenge... How can you make that, because it’s very difficult. It’s something I recognize with my Dutch. I mean I’m very much confronted with that now because where I work now there’s a lot of Dutch spoken. And I’m involved in projects where meetings go on in Dutch and I’m supposed to contribute to that in Dutch. Nobody minds if I speak English, but …” Leonie: “… You feel more comfortable..?” KH: “It would enhance my status if I speak in Dutch. So I’m in a similar position to you in that my Dutch is pretty good after all these years, but it’s still a step to be sitting in some sort of project meeting with other universities and, you know… You don’t want to sound stupid, do you? So I can really recognize this.” Excerpt from interview with Leonie 13th December 2006 (KH 2008: 47)

Empathetic resonance “Our personal history, when it is known to us and processed in ways that allow us to remain in contact emotionally and bodily with others whose stories remind us of our own, can enrich our role as researcher. Our ‘empathetic resonance’ (Spiro et al. 1993) allows us to hear the others’ experiences without the need to defend ourselves against that knowing.” Etherington 2004: 180, citing Spiro et al

Katerina in No-Man’s Land? #1 “I’m not going to be in Holland, not going to be in Germany, I’m going to be in Spain. So basically all on my own…” Katerina, Interview DCR, Communities, Potential for Exclusion, p2 “She seemed to be falling into a no-man’s land between two communities with different expectations and requirements.” KH 2008: 116: Katerina’s story: Interpretive narrative based on Katerina’s interview with KH 12.12.06 “I can tell you that my story of "no-man´s land" ;) (I like this metaphor a lot) is continuing....” Katerina, email correspondence February 2008

Katerina in No-Man’s Land? #2 Re-interpretation: “I have used the metaphor of no-man’s land above to describe Katerina’s dilemma. However, this conjures up an image of a vacuum, and in the absence of social contact, participation cannot exist.” KH 2008: 116 Discussion: “Finally, if students are judged by others in terms of their language, this may make them disenchanted with the community to the extent that they may come to mistrust it, as happened to Katerina when on study placement in Spain.” KH 2008: 124

Observations: These international students… … bring their own personal histories with them to the programme (only part of which is ‘cultural’) … seek to resolve problems through their own agency when resolutions are not provided (which may result in partial exclusion of themselves or others). … learn strategies to find their own resolutions to problems through their own agency if solutions continue not to be provided.

Recommendations: The role of language providers… Greater transparency regarding forms of participation throughout the curriculum would increase the awareness of the role of language in performing and nurturing identities. Greater inclusion of the student voice: and not just those with a dominant voice. Provide forms of negotiation to break down the informal power structures within and alongside the curriculum. Opportunities should be provided for the sharing of students’ linguistic experiences and expertise in such a way that these experiences are beneficial to the learning community as a whole.

Postscript… narrative linguistics? Discussion: How might narrative inquiry contribute to SLA research? Encouraging the use of a variety of lenses (a multidisciplinary approach); Placing the focus of the exploration on the performance of identity (-ies) i.e. finding out ‘what matters’ to people; Making subjectivity transparent i.e. dealing with the question “Now what are we going to do with us?” (Smith and Deemer 2000); Making co-construction central in the processes of data-gathering, data interpretation & writing research; Encouraging ongoing/long-term research dialogues between researchers and participants; Empowering researcher subjectivity by encouraging “painting with metaphor” (aesthetic validity); Making the potential for transformation explicit (Speedy 2008: 84).

Questions Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions: k.b.j.haines@rug.nl

“Stories from No-Man’s Land?”