A Cross-Cultural Journey into Literacy Research

Autor/in	Tour, Ekaterina
Titel	A Cross-Cultural Journey into Literacy Research
Quelle	In: English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 11 (2012) 2, S.70-80 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1175-8708
Schlagwörter	Sociocultural Patterns; Language Research; Research Methodology; Foreign Countries; Reflective Teaching; English (Second Language); Research Design; Epistemology; Constructivism (Learning); Technology Uses in Education; Photography; Ethnography; Personal Narratives; Teacher Education; Teaching Experience; Researchers; Australia; Belarus; USSR + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Soziokulturelle Theorie; Sprachforschung; Research method; Forschungsmethode; Ausland; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Forschungsdesign; Erkenntnistheorie; Technology enhanced learning; Technology aided learning; Technologieunterstütztes Lernen; Fotografie; Ethnografie; Erlebniserzählung; Lehrerausbildung; Lehrerbildung; Researcher; Forscher; Australien
Abstract	A significant body of literacy and language research over the last two decades has been informed by a sociocultural perspective and an associated qualitative design, which are often seen as valuable and appropriate for researching literacy. As an emergent researcher, whose understanding of language education was mostly informed by individualistic psychology and linguistics, I encountered a significant challenge in designing a project for my Masters research undertaken in Australia in which I aimed at examining international students' technology use in English as a second language (ESL) and their challenges. Researching the experiences with technology, which might be so unique and personal, required a major shift in the way I viewed the world and thought about literacy and technology. Informed by autoethnography, this paper is written in a form of a narrative in which I draw on my educational and teaching experiences in the USSR and, after its collapse, in the newly independent country Belarus, to explore the origins of my early positivist views on language teaching and technology use. I discuss how these understandings have been challenged and changed through a major epistemological shift during my Masters research and how this shift has influenced the research methodology of my current doctoral study. Some reflections about the value of autoethnography to explore research experiences are discussed. Finally, I argue that such reflective practice may help emerging scholars to understand who they are, how they are positioned and what their goals as researchers are. (Contains 2 footnotes.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wilf Malcolm Institute for Educational Research, University of Waikato. PB 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. Tel: +64-7-858-5171; Fax: +64-7-838-4712; e-mail: wmier@waikato.ac.nz; Web site: http://education.waikato.ac.nz/research/journal/index.php?id=1
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10