In order to answer the first research question, the data were analyzed via open and focused coding (Dyson & Genishi, 2005), followed by discourse analysis (Gee, 2005) informed by Critical Applied Linguistics (Pennycook, 2001) and Positioning Theory (Davis & Harré, 1990). To answer the second question, all instances in which the interns implemented communicative strategies were analyzed based upon the categorization repertories established by Dörnyei and Scott (1995a, 1995b, 1997), Lafford (2004), and Tarone and Yule (1987). To go beyond understanding what the interns were saying to why were they saying it, discourse analysis was used (Gee, 2005).
The findings show that Petra, Penélope, and María appropriated their SSP internship to engage distinct, yet interrelated language- and ethnic/racial-based identity work. Each intern utilized language (and extra-linguistic elements, such as corporeal expression) to position themselves in different ways within social discourse. Furthermore, this identity work influenced which CSs they utilized, as the social function of many of these strategies was to maintain and/or protect their desired identities.
Drawing on these insights, a variety of implications are offered from four viewpoints: implications for (i) EX-LL-based research: colonized versus humanizing research, (ii) critical community collaboration inside and outside of EX-LL, (iii) CSs and communicative competence, and (iv) EX-LL/Languages for Specific Purposes pedagogy and internship design.
This study investigates the emergence of aspectual morphology by testing the DPTH and the effect of adverbials at interpreting grammatical aspect in this process of acquisition. Twenty-eight English-speaking learners of Spanish (beginning, intermediate and advanced) and twenty native-Spanish speakers are tested with two written comprehension tasks that assess the interpretation of habitual/imperfect and episodic/preterite readings of eventive verbs. The truth-value judgment task incorporates forty short stories with two summary sentences, from which participants must choose one as true. The grammaticality judgment task presents sixty-four sentences with temporal adverbials of position and duration, thirty-two are grammatical and thirty-two are ungrammatical. Participants must accept or reject them using a 5-point likert scale.
The findings indicate that the DPTH is partially supported by the statistical data showing a default marker, imperfect for beginning learners, and preterite for intermediate learners. This provides support to the argument of unsteady aspectual checking of [-bounded] in the spec of AspP and not necessarily by only checking [+past] in the TP for intermediate learners. The influence of the lexical aspect value of the verb is partially evident with advanced learners. Temporal adverbials play an important role at interpreting grammatical aspect with intermediate and advanced learners. Results show that beginning learners are not influenced by the presence of adverbials due to their inexperience with the Spanish aspectual morphology.
The findings also allow the confirmation of prior results about factors that influence the interpretation of preterite and imperfect. First, the instruction of aspectual morphology co-indexed with specific temporal adverbials, and second, that learners rely on lexical cues at the sentential level, while native speakers rely on discursive ones.
The majority of trust research has focused on the benefits trust can have for individual actors, institutions, and organizations. This “optimistic bias” is particularly evident in work focused on institutional trust, where concepts such as procedural justice, shared values, and moral responsibility have gained prominence. But trust in institutions may not be exclusively good. We reveal implications for the “dark side” of institutional trust by reviewing relevant theories and empirical research that can contribute to a more holistic understanding. We frame our discussion by suggesting there may be a “Goldilocks principle” of institutional trust, where trust that is too low (typically the focus) or too high (not usually considered by trust researchers) may be problematic. The chapter focuses on the issue of too-high trust and processes through which such too-high trust might emerge. Specifically, excessive trust might result from external, internal, and intersecting external-internal processes. External processes refer to the actions institutions take that affect public trust, while internal processes refer to intrapersonal factors affecting a trustor’s level of trust. We describe how the beneficial psychological and behavioral outcomes of trust can be mitigated or circumvented through these processes and highlight the implications of a “darkest” side of trust when they intersect. We draw upon research on organizations and legal, governmental, and political systems to demonstrate the dark side of trust in different contexts. The conclusion outlines directions for future research and encourages researchers to consider the ethical nuances of studying how to increase institutional trust.
The goal of this research is to increase understanding of the experience of foreign language anxiety (FLA) of Saudi Arabian students who are studying English as a Second Language (ESL) in the United States. Anxiety has been shown to significantly influence foreign language learning. Researchers have reported a negative correlation between academic achievement and anxiety. A growing body of research has provided greater insight into anxiety associated with learning foreign languages. In the 1980s, researchers began to focus on the connection between anxiety with foreign language learning, sometimes referred to as foreign language anxiety (FLA). Many studies aimed to identify the underlying factors associated with FLA. However, researchers studying FLA have argued a need for more research. Due to the significant number of Saudi students studying English in the United States at the time of this study, more research is needed to better understand these students’ experiences and the influences of FLA among this population. Therefore, the research question addressed in this study is: What are the factors that influence FLA among Saudi learners who are studying English in ESL classrooms in the United States? The study was conducted as a qualitative research design involving semi-structured interviews with 30 Saudi ESL students in the United States. My findings showed that these themes feeling unfamiliar with classroom activity, feeling unprepared for classroom activity, having unsuccessful attempts at communication, being judged negatively by others and having a negative perception of one’s own language reflect the general view of FLA as consisting of these three components (e.g., communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation). However, my findings also include some themes that do not fit neatly into the three-part model of FLA. The themes that emerged are: having a perception that English language is important, interacting with other sex from the same culture, encountering unfamiliar cultures, having teachers who behave in a negative way, and having teachers with negative characteristics. The findings of the current study suggests that the three component view of FLA might be insufficient for understanding FLA among Saudi Arabian ESL learners. So, I proposed three additional categories. The first category is teachers’ role that contains two themes: having teachers who behave in a negative way and having teachers with negative characteristics. The second category is cultural influence that contains two factors interacting with the opposite gender from the same culture and encountering unfamiliar culture. The third category is learners belief about language learning which has the factor having a perception that English language is important