Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL is a collection of research reports on lived experiences of the English language with a focus on the subjective meanings and emotions involved in English-as-a-Foreign-Language contexts of learning and teaching, including Japan, Brazil, and some European countries. Contributors make use of fresh theoretical frameworks and innovative methods of data collection and analysis (including verbal and visual narratives). It works as a kaleidoscope, providing a variety of perspectives on learning and teaching EFL through narrative research. The intended audience consists of experienced scholars and also students about to begin their careers as researchers. The idea is to encourage others to try out some of the theoretical frameworks or narrative methodology in their own contexts of EFL or other foreign languages or by extending these to contexts of second languages. Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL can thus function as a source of ideas – and also as a tool kit.
'This is a very enjoyable and highly original book. Narratives from EFL learners and users from Brazil, Finland, Japan, Spain and Hong Kong provide kaleidoscopic images of unique individual experiences. Yet, from this multiplicity of views a more general picture emerges of learners/users as actors and witnesses of their learning process.' - Jean-Marc Dewaele, University of London
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
PART I: INTRODUCTION
Narrativizing Learning and Teaching EFL: The Beginnings; P.Kalaja, V.Menezes & A.M.F.Barcelos
PART II: WRITTEN NARRATIVES
The Seeds of Agency in Language Learning Histories; T.Murphey & C.Carpenter
Learning English: Students' Beliefs and Experiences in Brazil; A.M.F.Barcelos
Self-Observation and Reconceptualization Through Narratives and Reflective Practice; D.P.Dutra & H.Mello
Brazilian EFL Teachers' Experiences in Public and Private Schools: Different Contexts with Similar Challenges; L.Miccoli
PART III: SELF-NARRATIVES
Turning the Kaleidoscope – EFL Research as Auto/Biography; L.Karlsson
'To Speak English Is Tedious': Student Resistance in Japanese University Classrooms; K.Sakui & N.Cowie
PART IV: ORAL NARRATIVES
Passion and Persistence: Learning English in Akita; S.Cotterall
Communities of Practice: Stories of Japanese EFL Learners; G.Murray
EFL Narratives and English-Mediated Identities: Two Ships Passing In The Night?; D.Block
Frequent Flyer: A Narrative of Overseas Study in English; A.Chik & P.Benson
PART V: MULTIMODAL NARRATIVES
Using Photographs to Access Stories of Learning English; T.Nikula & A.Pitkänen-Huhta
Self-Portraits of EFL Learners: Finnish Students Draw and Tell; P.Kalaja, R.Alanen & H.Dufva
Multimedia Language Learning Histories; V.Menezes
PART VI: CONCLUSION
Narrativizing Learning and Teaching EFL: Concluding Remarks; V.Menezes, A.M.F.Barcelos & P.Kalaja
References
Index
PAULA KALAJA is Full Professor of English in the Department of Languages at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She is an expert on second/foreign language learning and teaching. She is co-editor (with Ana Maria F. Barcelos) of Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (2003), among others, and co-author (with Hannele Dufva) of a textbook on language awareness.
VERA MENEZES, former president of ALAB (Brazilian Association of Applied Linguistics), is a Full Professor at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, in Brazil, where she teaches and carries out research on second language acquisition and computer assisted language learning. She is also the editor of Revista Brasileira de Lingüística Aplicada.
ANA MARIA F. BARCELOS is Assistant Professor of English at the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil. Her research interests are beliefs about language learning and teaching. She is co-editor (with Paula Kalaja) of Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (2003), and of a book on beliefs about language learning and teaching in Brazil.
Description
Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL is a collection of research reports on lived experiences of the English language with a focus on the subjective meanings and emotions involved in English-as-a-Foreign-Language contexts of learning and teaching, including Japan, Brazil, and some European countries. Contributors make use of fresh theoretical frameworks and innovative methods of data collection and analysis (including verbal and visual narratives). It works as a kaleidoscope, providing a variety of perspectives on learning and teaching EFL through narrative research. The intended audience consists of experienced scholars and also students about to begin their careers as researchers. The idea is to encourage others to try out some of the theoretical frameworks or narrative methodology in their own contexts of EFL or other foreign languages or by extending these to contexts of second languages. Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL can thus function as a source of ideas – and also as a tool kit.
Reviews
'This is a very enjoyable and highly original book. Narratives from EFL learners and users from Brazil, Finland, Japan, Spain and Hong Kong provide kaleidoscopic images of unique individual experiences. Yet, from this multiplicity of views a more general picture emerges of learners/users as actors and witnesses of their learning process.' - Jean-Marc Dewaele, University of London
Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
PART I: INTRODUCTION
Narrativizing Learning and Teaching EFL: The Beginnings; P.Kalaja, V.Menezes & A.M.F.Barcelos
PART II: WRITTEN NARRATIVES
The Seeds of Agency in Language Learning Histories; T.Murphey & C.Carpenter
Learning English: Students' Beliefs and Experiences in Brazil; A.M.F.Barcelos
Self-Observation and Reconceptualization Through Narratives and Reflective Practice; D.P.Dutra & H.Mello
Brazilian EFL Teachers' Experiences in Public and Private Schools: Different Contexts with Similar Challenges; L.Miccoli
PART III: SELF-NARRATIVES
Turning the Kaleidoscope – EFL Research as Auto/Biography; L.Karlsson
'To Speak English Is Tedious': Student Resistance in Japanese University Classrooms; K.Sakui & N.Cowie
PART IV: ORAL NARRATIVES
Passion and Persistence: Learning English in Akita; S.Cotterall
Communities of Practice: Stories of Japanese EFL Learners; G.Murray
EFL Narratives and English-Mediated Identities: Two Ships Passing In The Night?; D.Block
Frequent Flyer: A Narrative of Overseas Study in English; A.Chik & P.Benson
PART V: MULTIMODAL NARRATIVES
Using Photographs to Access Stories of Learning English; T.Nikula & A.Pitkänen-Huhta
Self-Portraits of EFL Learners: Finnish Students Draw and Tell; P.Kalaja, R.Alanen & H.Dufva
Multimedia Language Learning Histories; V.Menezes
PART VI: CONCLUSION
Narrativizing Learning and Teaching EFL: Concluding Remarks; V.Menezes, A.M.F.Barcelos & P.Kalaja
References
Index
Authors
PAULA KALAJA is Full Professor of English in the Department of Languages at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She is an expert on second/foreign language learning and teaching. She is co-editor (with Ana Maria F. Barcelos) of Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (2003), among others, and co-author (with Hannele Dufva) of a textbook on language awareness.
VERA MENEZES, former president of ALAB (Brazilian Association of Applied Linguistics), is a Full Professor at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, in Brazil, where she teaches and carries out research on second language acquisition and computer assisted language learning. She is also the editor of Revista Brasileira de Lingüística Aplicada.
ANA MARIA F. BARCELOS is Assistant Professor of English at the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil. Her research interests are beliefs about language learning and teaching. She is co-editor (with Paula Kalaja) of Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (2003), and of a book on beliefs about language learning and teaching in Brazil.
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