Portraits of second language learners: agency, identities, and second language learning

343 Pages·2016·2.38 MB·English

University of Iowa
Iowa Research Online
Theses and Dissertations
Summer 2013
Portraits of second language learners: agency,
identities, and second language learning
Chie Muramatsu
University of Iowa
Copyright 2013 Chie Muramatsu
This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/4885
Recommended Citation
Muramatsu, Chie. "Portraits of second language learners: agency, identities, and second language learning." PhD (Doctor of
Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2013.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.yfdp3g6g
Follow this and additional works at:https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd
Part of theFirst and Second Language Acquisition Commons
PORTRAITS OF SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS: AGENCY, IDENTITIES, AND
SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING
by
Chie Muramatsu
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in Second Language Acquisition
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
1
August 2013
Thesis Supervisors: Professor Yukiko A. Hatasa
Associate Professor Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro
Copyright by
CHIE MURAMATSU
2013
All Rights Reserved
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Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
_______________________
PH.D. THESIS
_______________
This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of
Chie Muramatsu
has been approved by the Examining Committee
for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy
degree in Second Language Acquisition at the August 2013 graduation.
Thesis Committee: ______________________________________
Yukiko A. Hatasa, Thesis Supervisor
______________________________________
Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro, Thesis Supervisor
______________________________________
Sue E. K. Otto
______________________________________
Carol Severino
______________________________________
Bonnie S. Sunstein
To my parents and in memory of my grandmother

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Ultimately, every language learner is alone with a unique experience, an experience
tailored to, by and for that individual.

Livia Polanyi
Language learning and living abroad: Stories from field
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This dissertation would not have been completed without supports from a number
of people. First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my
dissertation directors, Professors Yukiko Hatasa and Judith Liskin-Gasparro, who guided
me from the beginning to the end of my dissertation study. When I first came to the
University of Iowa, I was a graduate student in the master’s program in Japanese
language pedagogy, where I met Professor Hatasa. She opened my eyes to Japanese
language teaching and taught me what it means to become and be a Japanese language
teacher. After teaching Japanese at a liberal arts college for five years, I came back to the
University of Iowa in 2006 as a doctoral student in second language acquisition, where I
met Professor Liskin-Gasparro. She welcomed me to the Foreign Language Acquisition
Research and Education (FLARE) and introduced me to the field of second language
acquisition research. I am privileged and humbled by her dedication and devotion to the
FLARE program and its students. Professors Hatasa and Liskin-Gasparro are my true
inspirations, mentors, and the very reasons who and what I am today. I will never forget
the time I spent at the University of Iowa, and I am proud to be a member of FLARE.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Professors Bonnie Sunstein
and Carol Severino, the two most amazing writing teachers I have ever known. Professor
Sunstein opened the door to the world of ethnographic methods and writing for me. She
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taught me what it means to be a field researcher and reminded me of the joy of
composing text. Her words of encouragement and professional advice sustained me
throughout this dissertation project and remain a valuable asset in my life. She did not
have any doubt that I could carry out this dissertation study even when I thought I could
not. I am sincerely grateful for her faith in me. Professor Severino generously provided
me with variable comments and suggestions from her indepth knowledge of research on
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writing. Her insights and perspectives helped me deepen my analyses of the data. I am
truly thankful to her.
I am also thankful for Professor Sue Otto for her continuous support for my life as
well as my dissertation. I have never met anyone like her, who always looks at the best
qualities of students, encourages them to pursue their goals, and provides help when
needed. She is my mentor and role model as an educator.
Aside from my committee members, I would like to thank Professors James
Pusack and Kathy Heilenman, who both passed away during my graduate study, for
being so important in my academic life at the University of Iowa. I am truly sorry that I
am not able to thank them in person. Their guidance, their spirits, and my memories of
them will remain with me for the rest of my life.
My dissertation study could not have been completed without the supports of the
Greenville Summer Language Schools. First of all, I would like to thank Dr. McDowell,
the vice President for Language Schools, Schools Abroad, and Graduate Program at
Greenville College and Dr. Kitano, the director of the Japanese School, for allowing me
to conduct the data collection for this dissertation study. Dr. Kitano generously provided
all the support I needed to collect the data from the beginning of this dissertation project.
I would also like to thank Miyamoto-sensei, Ishida-sensei, and Noda-sensei for allowing
me to observe their classrooms. Miyamoto-sensei kindly opened his course for my data
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collection and helped me in every way to collect data. I regret that the need for
anonymity prevents me from thanking the people from Greenville using their real names.
Furthermore, my data collection would not have been possible without the study’s
participants. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my focal students, Parker,
Alison, Naiya, and Danielle, whose names regrettably cannot be revealed, for sharing
their time with me, patiently explaining their perspectives, and helping me understand
what it meant to learn Japanese at Greenville in the summer of 2010. I am sincerely
thankful for the opportunity to step into their world of learning Japanese. I would also
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the instructors, staff, and students in the Japanese School for making my data collection
possible.
During my graduate study at the University of Iowa, I met a number of wonderful
people with whom I shared the same passion for teaching and studying. It was my true
privilege to get to know them and call them friends. I thank all my friends for helping me
during this dissertation project.
Finally, my sincere gratitude goes to my parents and late grandmother, who taught
me the value of diligence, patience, and persistence and encouraged me to work hard to
pursue my goals in life. I would like to dedicate this dissertation to them with my deepest
gratitude and appreciation. I would also like to thank my partner, Steve, who, in a sense,
accompanied me on this dissertation journey. Thanks to his unwavering support, I have
been able to complete this dissertation project.

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ABSTRACT
This study is a qualitative examination of second language (L2) learning
processes by four advanced learners of Japanese in the community of a summer intensive
full-immersion program in the United States. Using L2 socialization theory as a
theoretical framework, this study conceives of L2 learning as a process of social
participation in a community of practice and examines L2 learning processes by four
learners, focusing on the dynamic interplay between the affordances of the social
community and the agency of the individual learners. The purpose of this study is
twofold: (a) It investigates the ways in which the four learners exercise their agency to
pursue their goals of learning Japanese and (b) it documents how the different ways in
which the four learners exercise agency form different trajectories of learning and create
different experiences of L2 socialization.
This study has adopted an ethnographic case study approach to the investigation
of research inquiries. Through the analyses of data obtained from multiple sources,
including interviews with the four learners, observations of their engagement in the
community of practice of the summer intensive full-immersion program, their audio-
recorded conversations with other members of the community, and various artifacts, this
study explores the role of L2 learner agency in the process of L2 socialization and
describes in depth their experiences of learning Japanese from their emic perspectives.
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The case studies of the four learners have highlighted the different ways in which
they engaged in the community of practice, understood their tasks of learning Japanese,
interpreted the affordances of the social community, negotiated the meaning of their
participations, defined and redefined their sense of self, and eventually achieved their L2
learning goals.
The findings suggest that the richness and effectiveness of a social environment
are not characterized by the physical and academic affordances of a social community
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