Learning as A Social Participation: Six adult learners’ English acquisition journey

Abstract

Language socialization proposes language learning is a type of social participation, in which language serves as a medium to help learners gain identity and membership in the community of practice. Based on the framework of situated learning, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the six adult learners’ learning trajectories in a cross-disciplinary English learning course, particularly their newborn identity and the influence they exercise. Employing multiple data (interviews, field notes, and reflection sheets), the qualitative case study shows the distinct teaching/learning context facilitates these six adult learners to acquire their identities and the new way they situate themselves to the English-speaking world during the process of legitimate peripheral participation. Their constant interaction with the old-timers nurtures the reciprocal learning relationship between the two parties. Over the course of time, their perceived contribution and the gradually dissolved hierarchical structure not only earn them the right to speak, but also prompt the reorganization of the community. The findings of the study demonstrate how a new type of teaching and learning scenario can be and how it can be implemented in a course with students from different disciplines. Suggestions are also made to further studies in this regard