Early Study Abroad Experiences and Meaningful Literacy of International Female High School PDF
Preview Early Study Abroad Experiences and Meaningful Literacy of International Female High School
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Knowledge Repository @ IUP Theses and Dissertations (All) 5-2014 Early Study Abroad Experiences and Meaningful Literacy of International Female High School Students Studying in the United States Rossella Chiara Williams Indiana University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at:http://knowledge.library.iup.edu/etd Recommended Citation Williams, Rossella Chiara, "Early Study Abroad Experiences and Meaningful Literacy of International Female High School Students Studying in the United States" (2014).Theses and Dissertations (All). 1234. http://knowledge.library.iup.edu/etd/1234 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Knowledge Repository @ IUP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (All) by an authorized administrator of Knowledge Repository @ IUP. For more information, please [email protected], [email protected]. EARLY STUDY ABROAD EXPERIENCES AND MEANINGFUL LITERACY OF INTERNATIONAL FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS STUDYING IN THE UNITED STATES A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Rossella Chiara Williams Indiana University of Pennsylvania May 2014 © 2014 Rossella Chiara Williams All Rights Reserved ii Indiana University of Pennsylvania School of Graduate Studies and Research Department of English We hereby approve the thesis of Rossella Chiara Williams Candidate for the degree of Master of Arts March 26, 2014 Signature on File David I. Hanauer Ph.D. Professor of English, Advisor March 26, 2014 Signature on File______________________ Gloria Park, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English March 26, 2014 Signature on File______________________ Curtis Porter, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of English ACCEPTED Signature on File _____________ ________ Timothy P. Mack, Ph.D. Dean School of Graduate Studies and Research iii Title: Early Study Abroad Experiences and Meaningful Literacy of International Female High School Students Studying in the United States Author: Rossella Chiara Williams Thesis Chair: Dr. David I. Hanauer Thesis Committee Members: Dr. Gloria Park Dr. Curtis Porter Through a qualitative narrative based design, this study aims to explore early study abroad experiences described by 14 to 18 year old, international, female, high school students studying in the United States. Findings indicate an overall positive perception of early study abroad experiences as all participants reported confidence, a sense of accomplishment through lessons learned, personal insight with a sense of inner transformation, and independence. Reported challenges included learning and speaking in L2, homesickness, and being dependent on others. While exploring the use of meaningful literacy instruction in second and foreign language classrooms, promoting student agency, self-exploration, and a contextualized learning experience, this study benefits a wider community of scholars, educators, parents, and students interested in early study abroad programs by focusing on participants’ experiences at an earlier age. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you God, I couldn’t have done it without You. Grazie/Thank you Mamma and Dad, Tommy and Maria, Nonna Erminia and Nonno Tony, Grandma Louise, Zia Aurora, Mary Alice, Chiara, Marta, Peony, Tseegy , Dr. Goldstein, Ferruccio, Don Giuseppe, and Dr. Roush for your inspiration and encouragement I would like to thank Dr. Hanauer for his guidance and advice throughout this process, for making research seem like fun and allowing occasional humor to brighten the day Thank you Dr. Park and Dr. Porter for your insightful comments and for being my committee members, your advice was greatly appreciated Thank you Tati, Muna, and Catherine for being the voice of support and for your sound advice during our group meetings, for making me smile, laughing together as we were told “no sleeping…” I thank all of my cohorts for being a source of profound intellectual conversation as well as laughter during the past two years and I wish you peace, joy, and success v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page ONE INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................... 1 Why Study Abroad ................................................................................................ 3 A Personal Perspective ........................................................................................... 3 A Theoretical Perspective ...................................................................................... 4 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................. 5 Research Questions ................................................................................................ 5 Significance of the Study ....................................................................................... 6 Overview of the Chapters ....................................................................................... 6 TWO LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 8 Study Abroad Literature and Critical Literacy ........................................................ 8 Meaningful Literacy and Personal Narrative ......................................................... 13 Multicultural Feminism and Adolescent Transformation ...................................... 18 Contextualized Learning Without Limitations ....................................................... 22 THREE METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................. 26 Overview ................................................................................................................ 26 Research Design ..................................................................................................... 27 Participants and School .......................................................................................... 28 Data Collection ....................................................................................................... 30 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................... 31 Stage 1: Data Preparation. .................................................................................. 32 Stage 2: Developing Two Coding Categories. .................................................... 32 Stage 3: Coding All the Data. .............................................................................. 32 Stage 4: Conclusion from the Coded Data. ......................................................... 33 Stage 5: Trustworthiness. .................................................................................... 33 Final Remarks ........................................................................................................ 34 FOUR RESULTS .............................................................................................................. 35 Challenges .............................................................................................................. 36 Academic Challenges .......................................................................................... 37 Social Challenges ................................................................................................ 40 Personal Challenges............................................................................................. 42 Differences in Table 1 ......................................................................................... 44 Expectations of Women in Home Country ............................................................ 44 vi Chapter Page Abilities ............................................................................................................... 46 Social Expectations ............................................................................................. 49 Character.............................................................................................................. 53 Differences in Table 2 ......................................................................................... 57 Successes ................................................................................................................ 57 Academic Successes ............................................................................................ 59 Social Successes .................................................................................................. 62 Personal Successes .............................................................................................. 64 Differences in Table 3 ......................................................................................... 69 Meaningful Literacy ............................................................................................... 70 Shared Transformations among the Meaningful Literacy of Female Students................................................................................................... 72 Students’ Individual Experiences with Narrative Graph ..................................... 72 Amanda’s Individual Experience .................................................................. 72 Amy’s Individual Experience ........................................................................ 74 Ashley’s Individual Experience .................................................................... 75 Beth’s Individual Experience ........................................................................ 76 Danielle’s Individual Experience .................................................................. 78 Janet’s Individual Experience ........................................................................ 79 Katie’s Individual Experience ....................................................................... 81 Mary’s Individual Experience ....................................................................... 82 Meagan’s Individual Experience ................................................................... 83 Michelle’s Individual Experience.................................................................. 85 Rose’s Individual Experience ........................................................................ 86 Samantha’s Individual Experience ................................................................ 87 Summary ................................................................................................................ 89 FIVE DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................................... 90 The Impact of Facing Challenges and Achieving Successes as Young Women Studying Abroad ....................................................................................... 90 Challenges ............................................................................................................90 Expectations of Women in Home Country ......................................................... 92 Successes ............................................................................................................. 93 The Impact of Meaningful Literacy and Narratives in ESL Class to Capture Personal Insight and Transformation ..................................................................... 95 Implications ............................................................................................................ 98 Limitations of the Study ........................................................................................ 100 Future Studies ........................................................................................................ 100 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 101 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................ 102 vii Chapter Page APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................110 Appendix A- Parents/Guardian Informed Consent Form ...................................110 附件B- 家长／监护人知情同意书 .....................................................................113 Appendix C- Child’s Assent Form .......................................................................116 附件 D- 学生知情同意书 ....................................................................................119 Appendix E- Writing Prompts ...........................................................................121 Appendix F- RTAF Approval Form ....................................................................123 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Frequency of Participants’ Narrative Essays Variables About Their Study Abroad Experience in the Aspect of Challenges .......................................................... 36 2 Frequency of Participants’ Narrative Essays Variables About Their Study Abroad Experience in the Aspect of Expectations of Women in Home Country ........ 45 3 Frequency of Participants’ Narrative Essays Variables About Their Study Abroad Experience in the Aspect of Successes ............................................................ 58 4 Frequency of Hanauer’s Meaningful Literacy Principles Across Participants’ Early Study Abroad Experiences .................................................................................. 71 ix
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