1.Introduction
Inrecentyears,someuniversitiesinChinahavesetupEnglish-relatedblendedlearningMAprogramsforthosewhocannotparticipateinthefull-timeones.Incontrastwiththosefull-timestudents,thepart-timestudentsfromtheseblendedlearningprogramsmayhavemorepersifiedlearningandworkingbackground,weakerEnglishlanguageproficiency,limitedstudytime,feweropportunitiestotalktotheirsupervisorsface-to-face.Thisstudyaimstoexplorehowthesepart-timegraduatesconstructtheirself-identitieswiththeirlearningprocess.Itishopefullytobenefitboththeprogramadministratorsandthefuturestudentsparticipatinginthesimilarprograms.
Differentscholarshavecontributedtheirideasaboutidentity.“Itisconcernedwithhowpeopleunderstandtheirrelationshiptotheworld,howthatrelationshipisconstructedacrosstimeandspace,andhowpeopleunderstandtheirpossibilitiesforthefuture”(Norton1997:410).Horowitz(2012:2)said,“Identityexistsinpast,present,andfutureframes.Iam‘theme’thatwasandmypresentcontainsafocusonmybecomingevenmoremeinthenearfuture.”Asfarasself-identity,Gaoetal.(2003:69)describeditwasapsychologicalconcept:“peopleconstructtheirself-identitiestounderstandtheirpersonaltraits,potential,characteristics,interestsandsocialdemandsandtofindtheconnectionbetweeninpidualsandthesocietysoastopositionone’sownidentities.”
Lambert(1979)wasthepioneerinthestudyoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandidentitybyproposingasocialpsychologicalmodelofsecondlanguageacquisition.Inhisopinion,theachievementinforeignlanguageproficiencyinvolvednotonlycognitivefactorssuchasaptitude,butalsoaffectivefactorssuchasattitudesandmotivation.Furthermore,hearguedthatthedevelopmentintheproficiencyinasecondlanguagehadimplicationsfortheinpidual’sselfidentity,andinturn,theinpidual’sself-identityhadimplicationsforsecondlanguageacquisition.Andwheninpidualsbegantodevelopproficiencyinthesecondlanguage,theymightbegintoexperiencethechangesofself-identity.
Regardingtothechangesofself-identity,Lambert(1979)proposedtwoterms:“additivebilingualism”and“subtractivebilingualism”.Gaoetal.(2003)arguedthatwhenlearninganewlanguage,thenativelanguage/cultureandthetargetlanguage/culturearenotsimplytherelationshipof“either…or”or“both…and”;twolinguisticandculturalsystemscanhelptopromoteeachotherinsteadofsimply“addingto”or“subtractingfrom”oneanother.Thereshouldbeanintegrationandinterdependencebetweenthetwo.Thusanewterm“productivebilingualism”wasproposedbyGao(1994).
Gao(1994)remarkedthattwolanguagesandtwoculturalidentitiescouldcoexistandplayapositiveroleinthelearners’communicativeactivities.
Previousstudieshavepaidmuchattentiontotheself-identitiesconstructionanddevelopmentoffull-timeundergraduatesandgraduatesofEnglishandnon-EnglishmajorsinChina(Gaoetal.,2003;Lietal.,2003;Ren,2008;Zhang,2012;Xu&Gao,2014).FewstudieshavebeenconductedonthebasisofChinesepart-timegraduates.
Theresearchquestionsareasfollows:1)TowhatextentandinwhatwaydoesEnglishlearningprocesscorrelatewiththepart-timegraduates’constructionofself-identities?2)Arethereanyconnectionsamonglearners’motivationsandthemacrosocialcontexts,andthemicrolearningcontexts?Ifyes,whatarethey?3)Whatfeaturesdotheself-identitiesofthesepart-timelearners?
2.ResearchMethods
BothparticipantsarefromablendedlearningTEFLMAprogramofakeyuniversityofChina.Theywereenrolledin2015.Thequalitativeresearchapproachisproposedforthisstudy.Asthiswasapilotstudy,onlytwoparticipantswereselectedrandomlyfromthisprogram.
InterviewshavebeenconductedinaninformalconversationalstyleeitherbyWechatorQQ.Theseinterviewsvariedinlengthfrom40minutesto60minutes.Havingadoptedthebottom-upanalysistothetranscriptsfromtheinterviews,thefollowingcommonthemeswerefound:1)Backgroundbeforeparticipatinginthisprogram;2)inpidual’sendeavorandinteractionwiththefellowstudentsduringthefirsttermofthisprogram;3)contradictionsandclashesoccurredintheprocessofself-identityconstruction;4)theintendedplansforthefuture;5)thepredominantorientationsbetweenEnglishlearningandself-identity.
3.Twoinpidualcases
Thisstudyaimstoexplorestudents’identityissuesaboutEnglishlearninginapart-timepostgraduateprogramofferedbyakeyuniversityinChina.ThetwoparticipantswerefromGrade2015,Blended-LearningMAProgramforEnglishLanguageEducation.
StudentA,inherearlytwenties,obtainedherbachelordegreeofEnglishliteraturein2014,besidesshehaspassedTEM-4andTEM-8.Sheoncesucceededinthewrittenexaminationyetfailedinthefinalinterviewwhenapplyingforafull-timepostgraduateprogramofoneoftheforeignstudiesuniversitiesinChina.Then,sheworkedforawell-knowneducationalinstitutionasanEnglishteacher,whereshefoundthatshefelllovewithbeingateacherandreallyenjoyedthetimespendingwithherstudents,yetmeanwhilelackingteachingmethodologytheoriesimpededhercareerdevelopment.Finally,thisprogramprovidedherachancetofurtherherstudybyfullysatisfyingherintendedmajorandfuturecareerrequirements.
StudentB,anEnglishteacherfromakeysecondaryschoolofBeijing,isgoingtocelebrateherbirthdayoffortysoon.Outofherownoccupationdevelopment’sconsiderationandpersonalinterest,shechosethisprogram.
Thetwostudentswerehighlycontentedwithallthefourcoursesinthefirsttermofthisprogramincludingtheircoursedesign,instructors,teachingmethods.StudentAstatedthatalthoughsometasksaredemandingandeventorturingbuttheyallturnedouttobeinstructiveandbeneficial.StudentBsaid,“SinceI’manEnglishteacherofthejuniormiddleschool,thisprogramisalmosttailor-madeforme.Eachandeverycourseispracticalandusefulformyownteaching.”StudentAthoughtthetwomostsalientproblemswere:thegreatamountofreadinglistsrequiredforeachcourseandlackingsystematictheoriesfoundation;andstillasabusyteacher,StudentBwasregretfulthatshecouldnotyetsolvetheproblemoflackingreadingtime.Thetwoagreedthatthisprogramhadimpactedthempositivelyinmanyways.Throughthisprogram,theywereabletosurfinthestate-of-the-artTEFLresearchandlearnmoreskillsotherthanEnglishalone.StudentAwasimpressedbyoneofprofessors’argumentthatonecanonlyspeakoractwithsolidfoundations.StudentBwasespeciallyexcitedtohavefoundthetheorybasisforherpreviousteachingpractice.Theybelievedthatonewouldbereturnediftheyworkhardenough.Whendealingwithalltheassignmentsandtermpapers,StudentAwasquiteconfidentwiththeformerbutnotwiththelatter;bycontrast,StudentBwasfullyconfidentwiththebothsinceshewasacompetentEnglishteacherforyears.Whenansweringthequestionof“Howdoyoumangetobalanceyourwork,learningandlife”,StudentAwasrelativelyeasytosolvethissinceshewasfreetowork;andStudentBregardedthatworkandlearningwereallforbetterlife,soshequiteenjoyedintheprocess.Uponcompletionofthisprogram,StudentAwouldliketoapplyforateacher-relatedjobwhileStudentBwouldapplyallshehadlearnedfromthisprogramtoherteaching.AsstudentsofTEFLmajor,StudentAthoughtEnglishnotonlyhelpedherbecomemoreconfidentbutalsomadeherrealizewhatshewantedinthefuturecareer.
Fromtheinterview,wecanclearlyseethatbothparticipantshaverelativelycompetentEnglishlanguageproficiencybeforeparticipatingin“thisprogram”.Inspiteoftheirdifferentbackgroundintermsoftheirages,education,workingexperiencesandintendedgoalsforthisprogram,theydosharesomecommonsenseabouttheirEnglishlearningandaboutthisprogram:averagely,theyspentaround20hoursaweekinthelearningofthisprogram;theyfurtherunderstandwhatTEFLmeansafteraterm’slearning;theyagreethatafteryears’learningofEnglish,theylovetheirowncountriesandculturesmoreandmoreandtheyarewillingtoembracethepersityofothercultures;theyacknowledgethattheyhaveadvancedintheirmothertongueespeciallytheirwritingskillsastheirlearningofEnglish;theyboththinktheuniversityisaprestigiousoneofforeignlanguages,whichattractthemtoparticipateinthisprogram.What’smore,theyarefullycontentedwiththeprogramitselfandhavetrulyfelttheirownimprovement.Therefore,theywouldliketorecommendthisprogramtotheirfriends.
Noticeably,theyhavedifferentsolutionstoaddresstheirownproblemsintheirlearningprocess.StudentAistryingtofindpeers’assistanceandsupervisionwhileStudentBismoreindependent.Whendealingwiththegreatamountofassignments,StudentBismoreconfidentthanStudentAbecausetheformerisgoodattime-managementandself-management.
4.Conclusion
Thetwostudentsareoneswhoareunderalmostthesamemacroandmicrocontexts,yettheyhavetheirownself-identities.Nevertheless,theparticipantsdoindicatesomesimilarities.
4.1Languagelearningandself-identities
Theresearchmayindicatethatlanguagelearningcouldimpactlearners’developmentoftheircharacteristics,interests,values,spokenstylesandfutureoccupation,whicharesimilartothefindingsofGao(2003),shearguedthat“intheforeignlanguagelearningcontext,Englishlearningcouldbegreatlyinvolvedintheself-identityconstructionbyexceedingtheinstrumentallanguageknowledgeandskillmastery.”
4.2Learner’smotivations
Intheforeignlanguagelearningcontext,beingconfinedbythemacroandmicroconditions,theinpidual’smotivationsaredependentonthelearners’understandingandevaluationontheirowncapacities.
4.3Featuresoftheself-identitiesofthesepart-timelearners
Generally,theyareconfident,extrovertandeasy-going.AfteryearsofEnglishlearning,theyarewillingtolearnfromthemeritsofthewesterncultureandareabletohaveacriticaljudgmentontheirowncultures.Theycherishtheiropportunitiestostudyinthisprogramandwanttobeanindispensiblepartoftheuniversity.
Itisassumedthatthoseelderlearnerswithsomeworkexperiencesarebetteratmanagetheirtimeandbalancetheirlifeandareliabletobetteradaptthemselvestothedemandinglearning.
Duetothelimitednumber,backgroundandthelearningcontextoftheparticipants,thisstudymayhavesomelimitations.
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