Visualising Multilingual Lives: More Than Words 9781788922616

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Visualising Multilingual Lives

PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING Series Editors: Sarah Mercer, Universität Graz, Austria and Stephen Ryan, Waseda University, Japan This international, interdisciplinary book series explores the exciting, emerging field of Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching. It is a series that aims to bring together works which address a diverse range of psychological constructs from a multitude of empirical and theoretical perspectives, but always with a clear focus on their applications within the domain of language learning and teaching. The field is one that integrates various areas of research that have been traditionally discussed as distinct entities, such as motivation, identity, beliefs, strategies and self-regulation, and it also explores other less familiar concepts for a language education audience, such as emotions, the self and positive psychology approaches. In theoretical terms, the new field represents a dynamic interface between psychology and foreign language education and books in the series draw on work from diverse branches of psychology, while remaining determinedly focused on their pedagogic value. In methodological terms, sociocultural and complexity perspectives have drawn attention to the relationships between individuals and their social worlds, leading to a field now marked by methodological pluralism. In view of this, books encompassing quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies are all welcomed. All books in this series are externally peer-reviewed. Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com, or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.

PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING: 2

Visualising Multilingual Lives More Than Words

Edited by

Paula Kalaja and Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS Bristol • Blue Ridge Summit

DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/KALAJA2609 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Names: Kalaja, Paula, editor. | Melo-Pfeifer, Sílvia, editor. Title: Visualising Multilingual Lives: More Than Words/Edited by Paula Kalaja and Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer. Description: Bristol, UK; Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Multilingual Matters, 20019. | Series: Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching: 2 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018046183 (print) | LCCN 2018051178 (ebook) | ISBN 9781788922616 (pdf) | ISBN 9781788922623 (epub) | ISBN 9781788922630 (Kindle) | ISBN 9781788922609 (hbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781788922593 (pbk: alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Multilingualism—Psychological aspects. | Second language acquisition—Psychological aspects. Classification: LCC P115.4 (ebook) | LCC P115.4 .V57 2019 (print) | DDC 404/.2019—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018046183 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-1-78892-260-9 (hbk) ISBN-13: 978-1-78892-259-3 (pbk) Multilingual Matters UK: St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK. USA: NBN, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, USA. Website: www.multilingual-matters.com Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/multilingualmatters Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com Copyright © 2019 Paula Kalaja, Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer and the authors of individual chapters. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned. Typeset by Nova Techset Private Limited, Bengaluru and Chennai, India. Printed and bound in the UK by the CPI Books Group Ltd.

Contents

Tables and Figures Abbreviations Contributors Foreword 1

vii xi xiii xix

Introduction Paula Kalaja and Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer

1

Part 1: The Multilingual Self 2

Becoming and Being Multilingual in Australia Alice Chik

3

Children’s Multimodal Visual Narratives as Possible Sites of Identity Performance Nayr Ibrahim

33

Integration as Portrayed in Visual Narratives by Young Refugees in Germany Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer and Alexandra Fidalgo Schmidt

53

From the Migration Experience to its Visual Narration in International Mobility Muriel Molinié

73

4

5

15

Part 2: The Multilingual Learner 6

Looking but Not Seeing: The Hazards of a Teacherresearcher Interpreting Self-portraits of Adolescent English Learners Kristiina Skinnari

7

Looking at Language Through a Camera Lens Liss Kerstin Sylvén

8

Using Multimodal Analysis to Explore Language Learner Identity Construction So-Yeon Ahn

v

97 115

134

vi

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Visualising Multilingual Lives

Multimodal Language Learning Histories: Images Telling Stories Vera Lúcia Menezes de Oliveira e Paiva and Ronaldo Correa Gomes Junior

10 Study Abroad in Pictures: Photographs as Data in Life-story Research Tae Umino and Phil Benson

151

173

Part 3: Multilingual Teacher Education 11 Imagining Second Language Teaching in Brazil: What Stories Do Student Teachers Draw? Ana Carolina de Laurentiis Brandão 12 Plurilingual Education and the Identity Development of Pre-service English Language Teachers: An Illustrative Example Ana Sofia Pinho 13 Awareness of Plurilingual Competence in Teacher Education Mireia Pérez-Peitx, Isabel Civera López and Juli Palou Sangrà 14 ‘The Class of My Dreams’ as Envisioned by Student Teachers of English: What is There to Teach about the Language? Katja Mäntylä and Paula Kalaja 15 Conclusion: Lessons Learnt With and Through Visual Narratives of Multilingualism as Lived, and a Research Agenda Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer and Paula Kalaja Index

197

214

232

254

275 285

Tables and Figures

Tables

Table 3.1 Table 6.1 Table 10.1 Table 10.2 Table 10.3 Table 10.4 Table 10.5 Table 10.6 Table 13.1

The children’s family background and languages Selection of the drawings Summary of major topics covered in the semi-structured interview Iwan: Proportion of subject groupings by academic year Lala: Proportion of subject groupings during preparatory years Lala: Proportion of subject groupings during university years Iwan: Four phases of study abroad in Japan Lala: Three phases of study abroad in Japan Changes on the plurilingual competence axis and change/maintenance in the type of narrative

39 107 178 179 179 180 181 185 250

Figures

Figure 2.1 Figure 2.2 Figure 2.3 Figure 3.1 Figure 3.2 Figure 3.3 Figure 3.4 Figure 3.5 Figure 3.6 Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2 Figure 4.3 Figure 4.4 Figure 4.5 Figure 4.6

Sophia’s Italian hand gestures Jessica’s language communities in Sydney Ada’s emotional reaction to language learning A grey Lada, Victor’s and Edwin’s object representing Russian Keiko’s map of linguistic space Kiana’s drawing representing English Tala’s multimodal drawing representing English and French Kiana’s music box (drawing and photo) Anaka’s multimodal drawing Today: Focus on Lernen (‘learning’) Today: Focus on school In a year’s time: Focus on career Today: ‘Me today’ In a year’s time: ‘Me in a year’s time’ In a year’s time: A bright future? vii

20 23 25 42 43 44 44 45 46 62 62 63 64 64 64

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Figure 4.7 Figure 4.8 Figure 4.9 Figure 4.10 Figure 5.1 Figure 5.2 Figure 5.3 Figure 5.4 Figure 5.5 Figure 5.6 Figure 5.7 Figure 5.8 Figure 5.9 Figure 5.10 Figure 5.11 Figure 5.12 Figure 5.13 Figure 5.14 Figure 6.1 Figure 6.2 Figure 6.3 Figure 6.4 Figure 6.5 Figure 6.6 Figure 6.7 Figure 7.1 Figure 7.2 Figure 7.3 Figure 7.4 Figure 7.5 Figure 7.6 Figure 7.7 Figure 7.8 Figure 8.1 Figure 8.2 Figure 8.3 Figure 8.4 Figure 8.5

In a year’s time: Accessing university Today versus in a year’s time: Focus on assessment in the L2 Today: From language learning … In a year’s time: … to the university Having a place in the world? Noelia’s drawing Having a place in the world? Ana-Caterina’s drawing Having a place in the world? Brigitte’s drawing Having a place in the world? Julia’s drawing Having a place in the world? Agniseska’s drawing Having a place in the world? Maria’s drawing Having a place in the world? Jane’s drawing Having a place in the world? Samir’s drawing Having a place in the world? Katja’s drawing Having a place in the world? Wilhelm’s drawing Having a place in the world? Marta’s drawing Having a place in the world? Toni’s drawing Being in a dynamic relation with the world. Ana’s drawing Being in a dynamic relation with the world. Isabel’s drawing Showing a fi nger Kekkone, Kekkone, Kekkone Trousers falling down Englishenglishenglish Multiple voices Contradictory voices Manga style L1 Swedish: Mahela and Santa Claus doll L1 Swedish: Mahela and her class L2 English: Mahela’s various social media L2 English: Mahela and her friend in London L2 English: Mahela at an airport L1 Swedish: Felicia’s milk carton L1 Swedish: Felicia’s morning paper L2 English: Felicia’s speech bubble A female student with a psychological and physical transformation A male student’s relational and experiential transformation A student’s drawing with a globe A student’s drawing with a globe with arrows A female student’s drawing with additional dimensions to support her narrative

65 66 67 67 81 81 82 82 83 84 84 85 85 86 87 88 89 90 104 104 105 105 106 106 111 122 123 123 124 125 126 127 127 140 142 143 144 146

Tables and Figures

Figure 9.1 Figure 9.2 Figure 9.3 Figure 9.4 Figure 9.5 Figure 9.6 Figure 9.7 Figure 9.8 Figure 9.9 Figure 9.10 Figure 9.11 Figure 9.12 Figure 9.13 Figure 9.14 Figure 10.1 Figure 10.2 Figure 10.3 Figure 10.4 Figure 10.5 Figure 10.6 Figure 10.7 Figure 10.8 Figure 10.9 Figure 10.10 Figure 10.11 Figure 10.12 Figure 11.1 Figure 11.2 Figure 12.1 Figure 12.2 Figure 12.3 Figure 13.1 Figure 13.2 Figure 13.3 Figure 13.4 Figure 13.5 Figure 13.6 Figure 13.7 Figure 13.8 Figure 13.9 Figure 13.10

Traditional classroom (perspective 1) Traditional classroom (perspective 2) Contextual metaphor Hybrid metaphor Pictorial simile Multimodal metaphor Word Cloud I love English I love English plus flags Learning artefacts Example of non-directional transactional action Student using her computer Lingo games logo The Wenger giant Swiss Army knife Iwan: Tea ceremony lesson (Phase 1) Iwan: In front of a historical palace in Kyoto (Phase 1) Iwan: Bowling tournament (Phase 2) Iwan: Watching a baseball match (Phase 2) Iwan: Fishing (Phase 4) Iwan: Playing with a ball near the beach at shellfish picking (Phase 4) Lala: At a shrine (Phase 1) Lala: Firework display (Phase 1) Lala: Skiing (Phase 2) Lala: Amusement park (Phase 2) Lala: Trip to Okinawa (Phase 3) Lala: Rock climbing (Phase 3) Kelly’s visual narrative Marcela’s visual narrative Drawing 1 of Pre-service Teacher A: Tourist guide Drawing 2 of Pre-service Teacher A: Tourist guide Drawing 1 of Pre-service Teacher B: Octopus Plurilingual competence Example of symbolic representation Example of sequence Example of mind map Example of collage Amira’s 2016 visual narrative Amira’s 2017 visual narrative Nora’s 2016 visual narrative Nora’s 2017 visual narrative Noemi’s 2016 visual narrative

ix

154 155 156 156 157 158 162 162 163 163 164 166 167 168 182 182 183 183 184 185 186 186 187 188 189 189 205 208 223 226 228 234 240 240 241 241 243 244 245 245 246

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Figure 13.11 Figure 13.12 Figure 13.13 Figure 14.1 Figure 14.2 Figure 14.3 Figure 14.4 Figure 14.5 Figure 14.6 Figure 14.7 Figure 14.8

Noemi’s 2017 visual narrative Lena’s 2016 visual narrative Lena’s 2017 visual narrative Communication and interaction (Manu) Language in connection with culture/authentic situations (Simo) Metaknowledge about language/analysing language (Pinja) English as a medium for content (Noora) Language as discrete elements to be learned (Heidi) Pirjo: Pedagogical studies completed, some teaching experience Mikko: Pedagogical studies completed, no teaching experience Aino: Few pedagogical studies, no teaching experience

247 248 249 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270

Abbreviations

CEFR EFL ELT ESL FFL L1 L2 L2/FL PLLT SES SLA

The Common European Framework for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment English as a foreign language English language teaching English as a second language French as a foreign language fi rst language second language second or foreign language psychology of language learning and teaching socio-economic status second language acquisition

xi

Contributors

So-Yeon Ahn ([email protected]) is Assistant Professor at the City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong), where she conducts research on language teacher and learner identity, language play and awareness, and social and cultural approaches to language learning. Her recent work has appeared in Language Awareness, Journal of Language and Intercultural Communication and Humor – International Journal of Humor Research. Phil Benson ([email protected]) is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Macquarie University (Australia). His main research interests include autonomy and language learning in and out of the classroom. Pursuing these interests has recently led him into research projects on study abroad, language learning and new digital media, and the roles of popular culture in second language learning. Phil’s preferred research methods are qualitative, and he is especially interested in narrative inquiry as an approach to language learning research. He is the author of Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language Learning (2011), co-author of Second Language Identity in Narratives of Study Abroad (2012) and Narrative Inquiry in Language Teaching and Learning Research (2013), and co-editor of Beyond the Language Classroom (2011). Ana Carolina de Laurentiis Brandão ([email protected]) is Assistant Professor of English at the State University of Mato Grosso, UNEMAT (Brazil). She has recently been awarded a PhD in applied linguistics from Birkbeck, University of London. She has coordinated and collaborated in PIBID (Teaching Initiation Scholarship Programme) projects since 2011. Her research interests include second language teacher identity, language materials development, teacher development and technology, narrative inquiry and visual methods. Alice Chik ([email protected]) is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University (Australia). Her research interests include language learning in informal contexts, narrative inquiry as a research method and multilingualism in online environments. Isabel Civera López ([email protected]) is Senior Researcher and Senior Lecturer at the University of Barcelona (Spain). With more than 25 years of experience in the field of education, her main topics of interest concern xiii

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language learning, specifically the academic training of elementary school teachers, specialising in teaching English. She is a member of the Plural research group (Plurilingualism and Language Learning). Nayr Ibrahim ([email protected]) is Associate Professor of English Subject Pedagogy at Nord University, Bodø Campus (Norway). She previously worked as the Head of the Young Learners and Bilingual Section for 20 years in Paris. She holds a PhD in trilingualism, triliteracy and identity from the University of Reading. Nayr’s most recent paper published in The Encyclopaedia of Language and Literacy (2017) gives an overview of research on identity construction and literacy development over the last 60 years. She has also co-authored the book Teaching Children How to Learn (2015), which won an ESU English Language Award in 2016. She contributed to a project on the EU’s policy on multilingualism between 2016 and 2018 and is an Associate Partner for the Inspiring Language Learning and Teaching in the Early Years project at the ECML in Graz. Nayr’s research interests include early language learning, bi/multilingualism, language education, multiple literacies, language and identity and learning to learn. Ronaldo Correa Gomes Junior ([email protected]) received a PhD in applied linguistics and is Adjunct Professor of English and Applied Linguistics at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil). He is a sponsored researcher of FAPEMIG (Minas Gerais State Agency for Research and Development). His main research interests include language and technology, metaphors of language learning and teaching, and pedagogical affordances of digital tools. Paula Kalaja (paula.kalaja@jyu.fi) is Professor Emerita of English in the Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä (Finland). She specialises in second language learning and teaching. Paula has co-authored and co-edited Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (2003), Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (2008) and Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (2016), as well as locally published introductory books on research methods in applied language studies and learning to learn skills, and some EFL textbooks. Katja Mäntylä (katja.mantyla@jyu.fi), PhD, is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä (Finland). She has carried out research on language awareness of second language learners, language assessment, vocabulary learning and multilingual learners. Katja has developed several new courses for language students, such as Developing Teaching Materials and Using Popular Culture in Language Teaching. In addition to teaching pre-service teachers, she is involved in developing a training program for in-service teachers.

Contributors xv

Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer ([email protected]) is Associate Professor in the Department of Education, University of Hamburg (Germany). She is also a member of CIDTFF (Research Center for Didactics and Technology in Teacher Education, Portugal). Her research interests include multilingual and intercultural interaction, plural approaches to the teaching and learning of foreign languages and heritage language education. Sílvia is currently a research member of the European projects SPIRAL (School-teacher Professionalization: Intercultural Resources and Languages), Koinos (European Portfolio of Plurilingual Literacy Practices) and EVAL-IC (Evaluation des compétences en intercompréhension: réception et interactions plurilingues). Vera Lúcia Menezes de Oliveira e Paiva ([email protected]) was awarded a PhD in linguistics and is Full Professor of English and Applied Linguistics at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil). She is a former president of ALAB (Brazilian Association of Applied Linguistics) and is a sponsored researcher of CNPq (the Brazilian National Research Council) and FAPEMIG (Minas Gerais State Agency for Research and Development). Vera’s main research interests include language and technology, second language acquisition, narrative research, metaphor and metonymy. She has regularly published in Brazil and abroad and has supervised PhD and MA students in Brazil. Muriel Molinié ([email protected]) has been working in France and abroad on two main issues since the 1990s: the training of trainers and the management of interdisciplinary action research in the field of biographical study in education and multilingual contexts in different parts of the world. In her PhD thesis (1992), she developed a relational approach to intercultural communication. Since then, Muriel has continued to promote ‘pluri-littératies’ biographical practices and reflective training tools in languages and cultures. The purpose of her research or interventions is to understand identity negotiations as experienced and verbalised by mobile students in both migration and integration languages in contexts of international education. Her approach is multi-modal, using video correspondence, drawings, photographs and texts. Juli Palou Sangrà ([email protected]) is Senior Researcher and Senior Lecturer at the University of Barcelona (Spain). He is the Principal Investigator of the Plural research group (Plurilingualism and Language Learning) and its research projects, including a national research and development program and an Erasmus + one (as a partner). His dissertation concerned in-service teachers’ beliefs and his main areas of research include teacher education, both pre-service and in-service, and language learning in multilingual environments. Mireia Pérez-Peitx ([email protected]) is a Junior Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the University of Barcelona (Spain), as well

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as an elementary school teacher. In her dissertation (2016), she traced pre-service teachers’ beliefs during a four-year period of teacher education. Mireia’s research interests include teachers’ beliefs and language learning in multilingual environments, especially initial literacy. She is a member of the Plural research group (Plurilingualism and Language Learning). Ana Sofia Pinho ([email protected]) is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Education of the University of Lisbon (Portugal). She holds a PhD in language didactics and teacher education, and was a post-doctoral fellow in the same fields at the University of Aveiro (Portugal). Her research interests include plurilingual and intercultural education, plural approaches to languages and cultures, teacher professional development, collaborative work and communities. Alexandra Fidalgo Schmidt ([email protected]) is a teacher at the BS13, a vocational school in Hamburg (Germany), where she cocoordinates the department ‘AvM-Dual’ (vocational education for refugees). She further works as a project management assistant for the AvM-Dual Project at the HIBB (Hamburg Institute for Vocational Education and Training). Her PhD thesis focuses on the affective dimension in the learning of German as a foreign language, at the University of Aveiro (Portugal). Kristiina Skinnari ([email protected]) currently works as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä (Finland). Her PhD dissertation (2012) was an ecologically oriented school ethnography on language learner identities in EFL, CLIL (content and language integrated learning) and special education contexts in a Finnish elementary school. She has worked as an EFL and CLIL teacher at elementary school. Kristiina has published articles on language learner agency and teacher beliefs and roles in CLIL. Her recent research interests concern educational policies and teacher agency in CLIL. Liss Kerstin Sylvén ([email protected]) is Associate Professor of Language Education at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden). She obtained her PhD in English linguistics, and her research interests include CLIL (content and language integrated learning), second language vocabulary acquisition, language learning motivation, individual differences and extramural English language learning. She has co-authored Extramural English in Teaching and Learning. From Theory and Research to Practice (2016), and published in journals such as The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, The Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Education, Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching and ReCALL.

Contributors xvii

Tae Umino ([email protected]) received her PhD from the University of London (UK) and is Professor at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Japan). She teaches Japanese and second language pedagogy. Her recent research interests include out-of-class second language learning, second language learning in study-abroad, and narrative and visual narrative approaches in second language acquisition research.

Foreword

This rich collection of papers (Chapters 2–14) from an international group of authors from Europe, Asia, Australia and South America is the natural extension of the path-breaking work of Paula Kalaja and her colleagues on the use of visual narratives in applied language studies (Kalaja & Pitkänen-Huhta, 2018; Kalaja et  al., 2013). Because of the large-scale migrations of adolescents and adults who cross borders these days to go and live, study or work in industrialised countries, educational institutions have been grappling with the task of teaching the language of the host country to multilingual newcomers with varying amounts of educational, social and economic capital. Traditional language classes, with their emphasis on speaking, reading and writing are not always the optimal way of reaching these language learners, who come with special social, emotional, and cultural needs. Responding to David Block’s call to move ‘beyond lingualism’ and to pay greater attention to embodiment and multimodality in SLA (Block, 2014), the authors in this volume propose to go beyond words and to access the lives and worlds of these multilinguals through the visual medium. By asking students to express their lives today and in one year’s time through drawings, or to represent their pathways of international mobility through pictures, or to narrate their linguistic autobiographies through photographs, they compensate through the visual medium for the deficiencies in these students’ verbal abilities, they validate their life trajectories and they provide a common object to talk about in class. Language is not replaced but enriched by these visual representations and other semiotic modalities. While visuals can provide the basis for a narration of their experience, language can offer a common metalanguage to reflect on this narration. It is easy to think of such multilingual adolescents and adults as foreigners, refugees or other minorities, rather than members of the mainstream national population that is trying to integrate them. And it is a fact that language educators in France, Germany, Scandinavia and other countries, who teach their national language to newcomers, would not have such an urgent need to develop new teaching methods if globalisation did not compel them to deal with this recent influx of immigrants to their shores. But the papers in this volume show that, with the increasing social, xix

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cultural and economic diversity of students within one and the same country, such pedagogies would also be beneficial to the native language education of autochtones. The translation of experience in one or the other modality must raise important ethical, social and political questions. Visual representation can have a more immediate effect on emotions, memories and beliefs than grammatical sentences; its symbolism says more than words; its mythical dimensions require critical awareness. The papers in this volume confront these issues honestly and with a thorough awareness of their complexity. It is to the editors’ credit that they have assembled such an exciting and multifaceted group of perspectives on the lives and worlds of multilinguals in our increasingly complex educational endeavours. Claire Kramsch UC Berkeley References Block, D. (2014) Moving beyond ‘lingualism’: Multilingual embodiment and multimodality in SLA. In S. May (ed.) The Multilingual Turn. Implications for SLA, TESOL and Bilingual Education (pp. 54–77). London: Routledge. Kalaja, P. and Pitkänen-Huhta, A. (2018) Introduction to the ALR double special issue ‘Visual methods in Applied Language Studies’. Applied Linguistics Review 9 (2–3), 157–176. Kalaja, P., Dufva, H. and Alanen, R. (2013) Experimenting with visual narratives. In G.  Barkhuizen (ed.) Narrative Research in Applied Linguistics (pp. 105–131). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

1 Introduction Paula Kalaja and Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer

In this chapter, the reader will be introduced to the rationale of the volume, becoming familiar with the turns currently characterising Applied Language Studies. Special attention will be given to the multilingual turn, to the visual turn and to the way subjectivity becomes a necessary approach in the study of multilingualism as lived and as experienced by individuals. The reader will then be acquainted with the tripartite structure of the volume (The Multilingual Self, The Multilingual Learner and Multilingual Teacher Education) and with a detailed description of each chapter.

What is this Volume About – in a Nutshell?

The current volume entitled Visualising Multilingual Lives: More Than Words is indeed a timely response to the recent call in applied language studies to approach multilingualism as lived or as subjectively experienced (e.g. Kramsch, 2009; May, 2014). The volume will focus on multilingual individuals, including learners, teachers and users of more than one language, and/or on their lives or the worlds that they currently fi nd themselves in. These will be addressed by making use of visual methodologies of various kinds. In these two respects, the volume will provide a fresh take on the issues addressed so far in Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching (PLLT). It is one thing for an individual to learn a second language (L2) as a system (e.g. its grammar and vocabulary) or to be able to communicate in it. It is, however, quite another thing for him or her to make sense of becoming or being multilingual as subjectively experienced, involving positive and negative emotions, attitudes, beliefs, visions and identities. It is issues like this that the volume will address. Multilingualism as Lived? From Monolingualism to Translanguaging

The multilingual turn is one of the most recent turns that applied language studies (earlier Applied Linguistics) has been undergoing during the 1

2

Visualising Multilingual Lives

past few decades. Traditionally, monolinguals were thought to be speakers of a first language (L1) or native speakers, and they were assumed, first, to have acquired the L1 from birth and, secondly, to have full competence in the L1 (Ortega, 2014). In contrast, bi- or multilinguals were not only speakers of an L1 but also users of one or more additional languages (L2, L3, etc.), having learnt these at a later stage in their lives, and they were not expected to attain full competence in any of these. In addition, as nonnative speakers they were considered to be ‘less than’ native or L1 speakers, and as learners regarded as deficit, their competence in any additional language would always be lacking in one or more respects. It was typical of them to resort to code-switching and code-mixing, neither viewed in very positive terms and so as something to be avoided. However, in recent years, some of the traditional assumptions have been challenged (Ortega, 2014), including what has been called the monolingual bias with its two assumptions mentioned above. Besides, bi- or multilinguals are now viewed as ‘rather more than less’ compared with monolinguals or native speakers. In fact, it is argued that they should not be compared with these at all but with other multilinguals in order to ensure fairer comparisons. Multilinguals (including bilinguals and emergent bilinguals) are now viewed as individuals who do translanguaging (Otheguy et al., 2015). They have a repertoire (or idiolect) of linguistic (and other semiotic) resources, and so they can draw on their knowledge in any language they happen to know, depending on the situation. Their aim is in fact to attain multicompetence (originally used by Cook, 1992), or knowledge in more than one language but to different degrees, and to learn to appreciate this constantly evolving and unique competence. In other words, multilinguals are quite different from monolinguals as users of languages. And it is gradually being acknowledged that multilinguals form the majority of people in the world, rather than monolinguals, who have been used as the norm not only by lay people but by scholars in their studies. Over the years, our views on multilingualism1 (including bilingualism) have evolved, too. It is claimed that there are two perspectives on the matter (Otheguy et al., 2015). From the perspective of outsiders, the languages of a multilingual are viewed as separate and fi xed entities and associated with nation states (e.g. Swedish is thought to be spoken only in Sweden – and not, say, by a minority of L1 speakers of the language in Finland). From the perspective of insiders, in contrast, the languages of a multilingual are assumed to form one single entity in his or her mind, aspects of which he or she can draw on selectively from one situation to another. Research in applied language studies has for the most part been conducted from the perspective of outsiders and only recently has it started to be done from the perspective of insiders. Furthermore, as pointed out by Kramsch (2009: 1–25), there are two approaches to multilingualism or individuals’ use of more than one

Introduction 3

language. The objective approach focuses on tracing the development of their knowledge of any language (and possible stages in the process) in terms of a linguistic system, including mastery of grammar and lexicon, or in terms of an ability to communicate or interact with others in the language. In contrast, the subjective approach attempts to figure out how multilinguals themselves feel about becoming or being multilinguals, or what the different languages and their use might mean to them personally. Kramsch (2009: 1–25) talks of languages as symbolic systems, and the subjective approach can be illustrated by a pioneering study of hers (Kramsch, 2003). In it she asked a group of university students of various L2s to complete a sentence ‘Learning Language X is (like) …’ with a metaphor to describe how they had subjectively experienced the learning of the L2s. The metaphors fell into a total of 13 classes, including: engaging in an artistic process; learning as a cognitive or physical skill; being at home; returning to a childhood state; travelling to new places; becoming another person; incurring physical danger; and ingesting food (listed in order of frequency). In other words, the learning of L2s has quite different additional meanings from one student to another. Other pioneering studies include those by Busch (2013), Krumm and Jenkins (2001) and Moore (2006). Instead of metaphors, these studies made use of linguistic biographies or linguistic portraits. Since then, with the globalization of the world for a number of reasons, including political, religious, social, economic and technological ones, there have been further calls to pursue more research on multilingualism using the subjective approach as outlined above (see also, for example, May, 2014). It remains to be seen how these recent developments in applied language studies will be reflected in the years to come – e.g. in practices in classrooms, teaching materials, assessing students’ skills in additional languages, or in language teacher education. Why this Volume and Who is it for?

Visualising Multilingual Lives: More Than Words is our contribution to the field of multilingualism as lived, and more specifically to PLLT (for recent state-of-the-art reviews on L2 learner and teacher psychology, see Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015 and Mercer & Kostoulas, 2018, respectively). The volume reports research on the multilingual subject him- or herself with an attempt at innovation in the research methodologies used. It contains a total of 13 empirical studies. Importantly, the participants in the studies could share their experiences of becoming or being multilingual by translanguaging not only verbally in a variety of languages but also visually, by producing drawings by a number of means or taking photographs. The volume provides not only an innovative methodological approach to researching the self but also a fresh perspective on the psychology of the individual.

4

Visualising Multilingual Lives

Visual methodologies have already been used in applied language studies (or in sociolinguistics) to address multilingualism as encountered by people in their immediate surroundings, such as in studies on linguistic landscapes conducted in major cities in different parts of the world (e.g. Backhaus, 2006; Laitinen & Zabrodskaja, 2015; Schmitt, 2018; Shohamy & Gorter, 2009). However, the focus of this volume is different: it focuses on the multilingual subject him- or herself. Very recently, a new methodological turn has been suggested (by Kalaja & PitkänenHuhta, 2018) in doing research on multilingualism as lived – a visual turn (for some earlier experimentation, see, for example, Kalaja et al., 2013; Krumm & Jenkins, 2001; Melo-Pfeifer & Simões, 2017; Molinié, 2009). It is now acknowledged that each mode of expression has its possibilities but also its limitations: what it might be possible to express verbally may not be possible visually, and the reverse can be the case, too. Furthermore, the modes might at times complement each other. When addressing aspects of multilingualism as subjectively experienced, which as a rule involves emotionally charged events, visual methodologies can be beneficial, especially in cases where the participants have limited literacy skills (e.g. small children or illiterate adults), linguistic problems (i.e. participants not sharing any language with the researcher) and/or psychological problems (participants suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, e.g. a migrant with a difficult journey behind him). On occasions like these, it might be easier for the participants to use visual methodologies than to share experiences verbally or in writing and/or speaking. It is also true that some individuals simply prefer sharing ideas, opinions, experiences, etc. verbally, whereas others would rather do so visually. Even though there are already some books, special issues of journals, book chapters and articles which make use of drawings and other visual material (e.g. Kalaja & Pitkänen-Huhta, 2018; Melo-Pfeifer & Simões, 2017; Molinié, 2009) in addressing aspects of multilingualism as lived, this edited collection of articles could serve as a reference in the fields of language education and teacher education. It stands out from the previous literature in its scope, contexts, languages covered and visual methodologies used. Visualising Multilingual Lives: More Than Words is aimed primarily at advanced university students (e.g. MA students), pre-service and inservice teachers, teacher educators and senior or junior researchers who wish to deepen their knowledge of the multilingual subject and to improve their use of visual methodologies in language education, teacher education or research. Depending on the target group, the volume can be used either for raising awareness of those involved in the complex processes under scrutiny and/or for pursuing further research to gain deeper insights into the issues addressed by trying out novel ways of collecting and analysing data.

Introduction 5

What is this Volume About and How is it Organized?

The current multilingual turn in applied language studies or, more narrowly, in language learning and teaching and in language teacher education, has been acknowledged as the ‘topic du jour’ (May, 2014: 1), and the turn recognizes the ‘dynamic, hybrid, and transnational linguistic repertoires of multilingual (often migrant) speakers in rapidly diversifying urban conurbations worldwide’. This is precisely the focus of this edited volume: to recognize the diversity of paths and resources of the ‘multilingual subject’ (Kramsch, 2009) and the ways of tapping into the linguistic diversity in order to improve language education and teacher education (Yiakoumetti, 2012). The diff erent contributions acknowledge the social and individual values attached to linguistic diversity in very different formal and informal contexts to enhance linguistic identity and self-esteem, linguistic rights, linguistic wellbeing and social justice (as advocated, for example, by Mercer et al., 2012; Piller, 2016). As an innovative venture, Visualising Multilingual Lives: More Than Words aims to: • • •

acknowledge the added value of using visual narratives and other visual materials to grasp the identity of multilingual subjects in different sociolinguistic and/or learning and teaching contexts; share recent trends in the use of visual methodologies in the analysis of multilingual and intercultural repertoires and lives; discuss how visual narratives can be combined with other visual methods and with more traditional methodologies in the study of the multilingual subject.

Apart from the Introduction and Conclusion (Chapters 1 and 15), Visualising Multilingual Lives: More Than Words focuses on multilingual subjects in specific contexts and includes a total of 13 chapters on aspects of being multilingual, accessed by visual means, which include: • • •

drawings (often referred to as visual narratives), photographs, and computer-generated artefacts.

The volume is divided into three main parts. The studies in each part share both their focus and the ways the identities of the multilingual subjects are discursively and/or visually constructed across different lifespans and contexts in which they might fi nd themselves – informal or formal contexts of learning and/or using their language repertoires, or in professional training: • • •

Part 1 (four chapters): The Multilingual Self Part 2 (five chapters): The Multilingual Learner Part 3 (four chapters): Multilingual Teacher Education.

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Overall, what the studies in this volume have in common is, first, that they focus on multilingual subjects, most of whom have at least English as a linguistic resource (in addition to their L1); secondly, they make use of visual data, possibly complemented with other types of data; and, therefore, thirdly, most of the studies are attempts at multimodal analysis. However, the pools of data have been analysed within a variety of methodological frameworks and/or from different theoretical starting points. There is further variation, fi rst, in the contexts where the studies have been conducted, ranging from European countries (including Finland, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Sweden) to Australia, Brazil, Japan and South Korea; secondly, in the aspects of being multilingual that are addressed, such as identities, literacies, social integration, social mobility, beliefs about the languages in the repertoire of a multilingual subject, experiences of using and learning and/or teaching the languages; and, thirdly, in the type of participants involved in the projects reported – children, young people, adults (some with refugee backgrounds) and student teachers of foreign languages. What are the chapters about?

Each of Chapters 2 to 14 will report an empirical study that is original work, and each chapter is divided into the following sections: • • • • • •

Introduction Background to the Study (or Theoretical Starting Points) Aims of the Study Data Collection and Analysis Procedures Findings Discussion and Concluding Remarks.

Part 1: The Multilingual Self

Part 1 focuses on multilingual subjects who use their repertoires of different languages in both informal and formal contexts and across different timespans, looking either backward or forward in time. So, even if the subjects may be learning a language, the studies do not focus on the learning process or how it is subjectively perceived by the learners, but instead focus on the multilingual users and their languages. Chapter 2, by Alice Chik, traces the becoming and being multilingual in Sydney, Australia, of a group of migrants (N = 12, aged 12–72 years) from different backgrounds. For this study, the participants produced self-portraits and timelines of their experiences of learning different languages over the course of their lives. These pools of visual data were complemented with excerpts from written life stories and interviews.

Introduction 7

Chapter 3, by Nayr Ibrahim, focuses on the identity construction and exercise of agency of trilingual children (N = 13, aged 5–17 years) living in the capital of France. They were learning to read and write (or becoming literate) in three languages (French, English and a Heritage Language) in different educational contexts, both formal and informal. In addition to providing verbal data of various kinds, the children were asked to produce drawings and bring with them to interviews objects that represented the languages they spoke. Chapter 4, by Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer and Alexandra Fidalgo Schmidt, explores the social integration of recent underage refugees in Hamburg, Germany (N = 12, aged 17–18 years). When about to graduate from a vocational school, the young people were asked to produce two drawings, ‘My life now’ and ‘My life in a year’s time’. The task allowed them to envision their future and consider the role of German (and other languages) in the process. Chapter 5, by Muriel Molinié, introduces a way for a group of international students studying in universities in France to reflect on their lives and envision their future in terms of social mobility. To empower the group, they were instructed to produce a drawing describing their background and visualising their mobility in the years to come in Europe or beyond. Part 2: The Multilingual Learner

Part 2 focuses on students who are studying a foreign language (either English or Japanese) in a variety of educational contexts – school, university or study abroad – with consequences for the construction of their identities. The first chapter is an important methodological contribution to the volume (with quite a small pool of data), whereas the rest are fulllength reports of empirical studies. Chapter 6, by Kristiina Skinnari, presents a reinterpretation of a subset of data collected for a major project (PhD thesis). Among others, a group of children/adolescents (N = 95, aged 9–12 years) who were attending Grade 5 or 6 in the Finnish educational system were asked to produce self-portraits of themselves as learners of English. Some of these drawings (N = 7) were reinterpreted and earlier misinterpretations were corrected when they were viewed from a different starting point from before. Chapter 7, by Liss Kerstin Sylvén, compares and contrasts the beliefs about two languages, Swedish as an L1 and English as an L2, held by two students (aged 17–18 years). The students were attending Grade 12 in the Swedish educational system, one being on a content and language integrated (CLIL) programme, the other on a regular EFL programme. The students were asked to take photographs of occasions that were significant to them when they used the two languages and provide interpretations in follow-up discussions.

8

Visualising Multilingual Lives

Chapter 8, by So-Yeon Ahn, focuses on the beliefs held by a fairly large group of university undergraduates (N = 159) in South Korea, majoring in subjects related to English (e.g. linguistics, literature), and the possible transformation(s) in their identities once they had learnt the language. For this purpose, the students produced two self-portraits (on one and the same occasion), one showing what they were like before beginning to study English and the other what they were like after having studied it, both complemented with written commentaries. Chapter 9, by Vera Lúcia Menezes de Oliveira e Paiva and Ronaldo Correa Gomes Junior, explores the possibilities of using digitally produced multimodal language learning histories (or oral data complemented with images and possibly sounds) to learn about the experiences of learning English of a group of university humanities undergraduates in Brazil (N = 43). The metaphors and metonymies used in describing the learning process were identified in the pool of multimodal data and classified systematically within a specific framework. Chapter 10, by Tae Umino and Phil Benson, reports on two longitudinal case studies of exchange students studying Japanese as an L2 in universities in Japan. The students took photographs of any events in which they had participated. The photos taken in large quantities were coded for the people depicted and related to the events in the students’ lives (in subsequent sets of interviews) to consider which communities of practice they had been allowed access to and the consequences of these for the development of their identities as speakers of Japanese during their study abroad. Part 3: Multilingual Teacher Education

Part 3 is about a specific context of professional training, that is, language majors being qualified as teachers of an L2 or a foreign language. In all of the studies reported, the language happens to be English, with consequences for the identity construction of the student teachers as multilinguals. Chapter 11, by Ana Carolina de Laurentiis Brandão, is a case study of two language majors in Brazil (aged 18 and 25 years) who had just begun teacher education. Still hesitant about the profession, they were asked to imagine themselves as EFL teachers in the future by drawing their selfportraits a few times during their training. The drawings were complemented with other types of data (including autobiographies, journals and interviews) to gain further insights into the process of eventually taking on the identity of an EFL teacher, shaped by their previous experiences in different roles and contexts. Chapter 12, by Ana Sofia Pinho, reports on a case study of a student teacher of English in Portugal, and traces the development of her teacher identity and possible changes in her professional thinking over one term. Together with her classmates (N = 5), the student teacher was attending a

Introduction 9

course that addressed such key issues as citizenship and plurilingualism (a term used for multilingualism in the European Union). She was asked to come up with a metaphor that illustrated her idea of an English teacher in primary school and turn it into a drawing, complemented with verbal comments. The task was done twice during the course. Chapter 13, by Mireia Pérez-Peitx, Isabel Civera López and Juli Palou Sangrà, is a longitudinal study which sought to fi nd out how two courses on teaching methodology being given in Barcelona, a bilingual city in Spain, affected the awareness of and beliefs about plurilingual competence held by a group of student teachers (N = 50), who would eventually graduate as English teachers in primary schools. The courses were given in the first and second years of their studies, and data were collected at the beginning of the courses. The students were asked to produce two visual narratives in response to the same prompt, ‘Me and my languages’, each time complemented with verbal (written) comments. Finally, Chapter 14, by Katja Mäntylä and Paula Kalaja, set out to find out (as part of a bigger project on the motivation of future EFL teachers) what a group of student teachers (N = 67) in Finland thought teaching English would involve once they had graduated from an MA programme and entered the profession a few years later. They were asked to envision ‘An English class of my dreams’ as the fi nal home assignment on one of their fi rst professionally oriented courses. The envisioning was done visually, so the students produced pictures (by a variety of means) and provided further details about the class in writing on the reverse side of the task sheet. Chapter 15, by the co-editors, closes the volume with a critical evaluation of the studies reported and a discussion of the lessons learnt when using visual methodologies to address aspects of multilingualism as lived. They also discuss issues related to reflexivity in the research process and present a research agenda with the aim of developing this research area. To sum up, the studies illustrate cutting-edge research on multilingual subjects, with innovation in the ways of collecting and analysing visual material of various kinds. All the studies acknowledge the added value of using visual data, possibly complemented with other types of data, to overcome ‘lingualism’ (Block, 2014) in research on multilingual subjects and to make sense of aspects of their lives in a variety of sociolinguistic and/or learning and teaching contexts in different parts of the world. Acknowledgements

To start with, we would like to thank Ann-Kristin Scharold (University of Hamburg, Germany) for her valuable help and dedication in revising the initial manuscript and its chapters. Also Laura Longworth, from Multilingual Matters, was a key person during the whole production process, being always encouraging and willing to address any of our queries.

10

Visualising Multilingual Lives

We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewer of the initial manuscript, whose insights helped us to improve the quality and the readability of this volume. Finally, our thanks go to Sarah Mercer and Stephen Ryan for believing in this project and supporting us throughout the process, and to Claire Kramsch for providing us with Foreword to this volume. Note (1) In Europe, yet another term, plurilingualism, has been advocated by the Council of Europe (2001). This is an issue addressed in Chapters 12 and 13 of this volume, for example.

References Backhaus, P. (2006) Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparative Study of Urban Multilingualism in Tokyo. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Block, D. (2014) Moving beyond ‘lingualism’: Multilingual embodiment and multimodality in SLA. In S. May (ed.) The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and Bilingual Education (pp. 54–77). Oxford: Routledge. Busch, B. (2013) Mehrsprachigkeit [Multilingualism]. Wien: UTB. Cook, V. (1992) Evidence for a multicompetence. Language Learning 42, 557–591. Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. See https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent? documentId=0900001680459f97 (accessed 2 May 2018). Dörnyei, Z. and Ryan, S. (2015) The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited. New York: Routledge. Kalaja, P. and Pitkänen-Huhta, A. (eds) (2018) Double special issue ‘Visual Methods in Applied Language Studies’. Applied Linguistics Review 9 (2–3), 157–473. Kalaja, P., Dufva, H. and Alanen, R. (2013) Experimenting with visual narratives. In G. Barkhuizen (ed.) Narratives in Applied Linguistics (pp. 105–131). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kramsch, C. (2003) Metaphor and the subjective construction of beliefs. In P. Kalaja and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (pp. 109–128). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic. Kramsch, C. (2009) The Multilingual Subject: What Foreign Language Learners Say about their Experience and Why It Matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Krumm, H.-J. and Jenkins, E.-M. (2001) Kinder und ihre Sprachen – lebendige Mehrsprachigkeit: Sprachenportraits gesammelt und kommentiert von Hans-Jürgen Krumm [Children and their Languages – Lived Multilingualism: Linguistic Portraits Collected and Commented on by Hans-Jürgen Krumm]. Wien: Eviva. Laitinen, M. and Zabrodskaja, A. (eds) (2015) Dimensions of Sociolinguistic Landscapes in Europe: Materials and Methodological Solutions. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. May, S. (ed.) (2014) The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and Bilingual Education. Oxford: Routledge. Melo-Pfeifer, S. and Simões, A.R. (2017) Plurilinguismo Vivido, Plurilinguismo Desenhado: Estudos da Relação dos Sujeitos com as Línguas [Lived Multilingualism, Drawn Multilingualism: Studies on the Relationship of Individuals with their Languages]. Santarém: Escola Superior de Educação. See http://blogs.ua.pt/cidtff / wp-content/uploads/2017/11/livro_metodos_visuais_v3.pdf (accessed 30 November 2017).

Introduction 11

Mercer, S. and Kostoulas, A. (eds) (2018) Language Teacher Psychology. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Mercer, S., Ryan, S. and Williams, M. (eds) (2012) Psychology for Language Learning: Insights from Research, Theory and Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Molinié, M. (ed.) (2009) Le Dessin Réfl exif: Élément d’une Herméneutique du Sujet Plurilingue [The Refl exive Drawing: Elements for a Multilingual Individual’s Hermeneutics]. Amiens: Encrage Belles Lettres. Moore, D. (2006) Plurilinguismes et école [Multilingualism and School]. Paris: Didier. Ortega, L. (2014) Ways forward in a bi/multilingual turn in SLA. In S. May (ed.) The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and Bilingual Education (pp. 32–53). New York: Routledge. Otheguy, R., García, O. and Reid, W. (2015) Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review 6 (3), 281–307. Piller, I. (2016) Linguistic Diversity and Social Justice: An Introduction to Applied Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Schmitt, H. (2018) Language in the Public Space: An Introduction to the Linguistic Landscape. Author. Shohamy, E. and Gorter, D. (2009) Linguistic Landscape: Expanding the Scenery. New York: Routledge. Yiakoumetti, A. (ed.) (2012) Harnessing Linguistic Variation to Improve Education. Bern: Peter Lang.

2 Becoming and Being Multilingual in Australia Alice Chik

This chapter traces the becoming and being multilingual in Sydney, Australia, of a group of migrants (N = 12, aged 12–72 years) from different backgrounds. For this study, the participants produced selfportraits and timelines of their experiences of learning different languages over the course of their lives. These pools of visual data were complemented with excerpts from written life stories and interviews. The three case studies reported in this chapter correspond to the historical pattern of migration to Australia. The project takes on the challenge of analysing the visual language portraits as small stories. The small story approach to analysis can be problematic if a participant takes a metaphorical approach to represent her language learning experiences. The analysis requires additional information. If a portrait reflects a specific state in time and space, it has to be analysed together with other types of data. The fi ndings also suggest that drawing their language learning experience provides an opportunity for participants to frame how they want their stories to be told. In this sense, visual methodology provides greater equity in a collaborative research environment.

Introduction

Language use has recently become a focal issue in the Australian media as the Turnbull government proposed to scrap the Temporary Work (Skilled) (Subclass 457) visa (‘457 visa’, hereafter) to promote an ‘Australian fi rst’ employment policy (ABC News, 2017). Abolition of the visa took effect in April 2017 and all changes were completed by March 2018. The 457 visa was a scheme to attract skilled professionals to Australia and was also used as a pathway to eventual migration to Australia if the visa holders so wished. However, the government announcement and subsequent media reports and discussion delinked the 15

16

Part 1: The Multilingual Self

457 visa from its original intent and design (ABC News, 2017). Instead, both government officials and media reports turned the discussion to an ‘assumed’ lack of English language proficiency among migrants, thus implying that holders of this visa subclass contradict, question and challenge ‘Australian values’. Or rather, it was asserted that migrants demonstrated a lack of ‘Australian values’ because they did not speak English, or were perceived to speak Australian English at a level deemed not good enough. There are new proposals to introduce English and Australian values tests which migrants must pass to qualify for citizenship. While the Australian Government advocates that Australia is a multicultural country which ‘allows those who choose to call Australia home the right to practice and share their cultural traditions and languages within the law and free from discrimination’, all visa and citizenship applicants also have to sign the Australian Values document, which states that ‘the English language, as the national language, is an important unifying element of Australian society’ (Australian Commonwealth Government, 2011; Department of Immigration and Border Protection, 2017). These recent events sharpen a new discussion on language use: what it means to speak English, a Heritage Language and an additional language in Australia. In this chapter, I will fi rst discuss the state of multilingualism in Australia, then the project investigating everyday experiences of multilingualism and, fi nally, the lessons learnt. Background to the Study

When multilingualism is discussed in Australia, one common misconception espoused in popular media is that because Australia is primarily an English-speaking country, Australians speak English and only migrants and foreigners (non-Australians) are bilingual or multilingual. However, more than 250 Aboriginal languages or dialects were spoken in Australia during the 19th century (Romaine, 2004). Since the colonisation of Australia in 1788, the country has always been an immigrant nation. The early migrants were mostly from Britain and Ireland, and the ‘White Australian’ policy persisted from the early 20th century well into the 1970s. During the post-WWII era, the influx of Italian, Greek, German and Polish migrants weaved new linguistic diversities into the national language, but also experienced waves of discrimination (Clyne, 2005). The White Australia policy was officially abolished in 1973 during the Whitlam Labor government, and was immediately followed by an influx of refugee migrants from East Timor and Vietnam. From the early 1980s onward, there was a steady increase in migration from Asia, and this shifted migration from an Anglo-Celtic orientation to an Asian orientation (Karidakis & Arunachalam, 2016). According to the 2016 census, 72.7% of Australians speak English only at home, but this figure might

Becoming and Being Multilingual in Australia

17

have been underestimated given that 5.8% of the census respondents did not answer this question. Hence, it could be that somewhere between 20% and 25% of all Australians grew up speaking an additional language at home. Nationally, the most common languages spoken at home other than English are Mandarin (2.5%), Arabic (1.4%), Greek (1.3%), Italian (1.2%), Cantonese (1.2%) and Vietnamese (1.2%). Clyne (2005) discussed the monolingual mindset of the Australian education sector and advocated change and expansion of languages education in formal settings. However, even if we accept that 20.8% of the Australian population speak a language other than English at home, this is a very low figure compared to the statistics for the greater Sydney area. Officially, 35.8% of Sydney residents stated that they speak a language other than English at home (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017). Although the population census data attest to the linguistic diversity within Australian society, the nation’s language and literacy policies have become increasingly assimilationist (Cross, 2009). The assimilationist policy approach was fi rst adopted in the 1970s and literacy-related national policies in Australia have progressively narrowed the focus to proficiency only in English literacy. As such, language diversity is perceived to lower overall English literacy outcomes and is thus regarded as problematic (Eisenchlas et al., 2013; Schalley et al., 2015). Aims of the Study

In this trend toward language policy based on assimilationist principles, community language maintenance becomes even more challenging (Liddicoat, 2016). This could mean less space for bilinguals and multilinguals to express their identities through language. Furthermore, in the current geopolitical climate, it is even more important to listen to the stories of being and becoming multilingual in Australia. The research questions guiding this project are: (1) What does being multilingual mean in the Australian context? (2) How do multilingual Australians represent their experience visually and orally? Do they relate their multilingual experience to their identities, emotions, or beliefs and perceptions of languages? What it means to ‘become’ and to ‘be’ multilingual is an abstract concept that most people do not necessarily contemplate in their everyday lives. Yet, multilingualism is an everyday lived experience for many people (Noble, 2009). An important question is therefore: how do we access these narratives at the grassroots level? This study aims to use visual elicitation methods to help participants to reflect upon their language learning experiences. In turn, the participants will be examined as to how they used visual artefacts to frame and position their language learning experiences within their life stories.

18

Part 1: The Multilingual Self

The use of narrative inquiry to explore multilingual experiences enables researchers to crystallise individual subjective experiences to generate emerging themes in the data (Barkhuizen et al., 2014; Benson, 2014). While interviews and written narratives are frequently solicited for that purpose, visual narratives have gained popularity in recent years, especially with younger participants. The forms of visual narrative vary across different studies and include the use of body template (Busch, 2012), digitised body template (Prasad, 2014), free form (Melo-Pfeifer, 2015), photographs (Nikula & Pitkänen-Huhta, 2008) and online language learning history (Chik, 2018). Most studies have focused on the analysis of visual texts as representations of learning experiences or as complementary texts to other forms of data collection (especially with semi-structured interviews). In this chapter, I argue that visual texts can play more than just a complementary or supplementary role; namely, they can be used independently as a research instrument to frame the semi-structured interview that follows. Barkhuizen (2011a) explains a narrative frame as: a written story template consisting of a series of incomplete sentences and blank spaces of varying lengths. It is structured as a story in skeletal form. The aim is for participants to produce a coherent story by fi lling in the spaces according to their own experiences and their reflections on these. (Barkhuizen, 2011a: 402)

Barkhuizen (2011b) views narrative frames as snapshots of participants’ lives. In turn, when collected from multiple participants in similar contexts, they can provide the researcher with an expansive representation of the topic being researched. Moreover, narrative frames are particularly useful as exploratory tools for researchers who are new to a specific topic or region. By the same token, visual data can be used as written narrative frames to help researchers better explore under-researched multilingual experiences. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

We collected the data for a project investigating language experiences in multilingual Sydney. Participants were recruited from a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The suburb was chosen for two reasons: its highly diverse population demographics; and its proximity to the author’s university (participants could travel to the university campus, conveniently). Recruitment flyers targeting bilingual or multilingual individuals were posted on community notice boards, in community language classrooms, in religious establishments and in supermarkets. Interested bilinguals or multilinguals emailed the researcher to arrange a time to participate in a life-history interview. The interview questions and the consent form were emailed to participants prior to the interview. Participants were also

Becoming and Being Multilingual in Australia

19

informed that they would be asked to draw a portrait of their language learning and use. This is an ongoing project, but I will only report on data collected in early 2017 in this chapter. In 2017 a total of 13 participants were interviewed. Each participant drew a timeline and a language portrait, and each semi-structured interview lasted from about 45 minutes to about an hour. The study sample comprised diverse ages (from 12 to 72 years old), educational levels, ethnic backgrounds and language backgrounds (both modern and Asian languages). In addition to diverse cultures, languages and ethnicities, the sample represented different migration ‘realities’, with some participants being recent migrants, some long-term migrants and others native-born Australians with migrant parents. Based on their migratory profi les and the period in Australia their stories covered, three participants are presented in this chapter: Sydney-born Sophia recounted her Italian upbringing from the 1960s; sojourner Jessica discussed maintaining Korean and learning English over 15 years in Sydney; and, fi nally, Ada shared her stories of multilingual encounters and learning in various contexts. During the interview, I asked the participants first to draw a timeline to depict chronologically how they learned the languages they know or use. They were then asked to draw a picture of themselves learning or using the languages in their communicative repertoires. Participants were given blank A4-size sheets of paper and coloured pens for drawing. All interviews were conducted in English. The timelines and drawings were scanned and stored digitally. The interviews were audio-recorded for transcription purposes. The timelines prepared by the participants are not presented in this chapter because many contained identifiable personal details. During the data analysis, specific references to the drawings were transcribed and analysed as small stories. The small stories were subsequently compared to the transcripts from the completed interviews to investigate how they were used to frame their life-history narratives (Barkhuizen et al. 2014). Findings

I will report the fi ndings from the analysis of interviews and drawings by three participants in this section. These three participants’ language learning experiences represent different dimensions of multilingualism in Sydney: Italian, Korean and Mandarin. Sophia’s story: Growing up bilingual in Australia

Sophia’s portrait (see Figure 2.1), drawn in black, shows an expressionless woman making arm (or hand) movements. My fi rst guess was that the woman was waving her arms as if she was doing an arm exercise.

20

Part 1: The Multilingual Self

Figure 2.1 Sophia’s Italian hand gestures

However, knowing that Sophia is of Italian background, my second guess was that the arm movements represented an expressive hand gesture during spoken interaction: We speak a northern Italian dialect. I have always spoken Italian at home … with mum and dad, it is unnatural to speak in English. I cannot remember a time when I didn’t know how to read in Italian.

Sophia was born and raised in Sydney, but her parents were part of the post-war Italian migration wave to Australia. In 2011, Italian was the third largest language group in Australia (1.4% of Australians speak Italian at home), and there is also a sizable community in greater Sydney (1.6% of Sydney residents). However, with faster migration growth from Asia, Italian is now the fi fth largest language group in Australia (1.2% of Australians speak Italian at home), with a drop to 1.3% in Sydney’s population speaking the language at home. This drop in the Italian speaking community is countered by a stronger growth in the Mandarin, Korean and Arabic speaking communities. There has been a general shift in migration from Anglo-Celtic to Asian countries in recent years, resulting in a markedly smaller number of people coming from Europe. When I confessed that I could not guess how the drawing represented her language learning and use, Sophia explained that the portrait represented how she feels and acts when speaking Italian: When I speak Italian in Australia, it is in monotone … like I am speaking in English. The expression is in the hand gestures, but with a straight face. It was all different when I was in Italy; I was animated. When I went to Italy, being immersed in the Italian language and culture, it’s melodic. It wasn’t long before my voice was doing exactly the same. I continued to do that for a little while when I came back to Australia and then I went back to the way I speak Italian – or the way English people converse in Italian.

To understand the contrast between the stone-set face and the expressive hands, Sophia fi rst explained her familial relationship with the

Becoming and Being Multilingual in Australia

21

Italian language. At home, Sophia’s parents speak a northern Italian dialect. They read an Australian-published Italian newspaper, listen to the Italian news on the radio and are surrounded by Italian families in the neighbourhood. This type of language immersion was also a familiar social condition during the post-war period in Australia (Johnston et al., 2017). In terms of mannerisms, Sophia felt her closed body language made her more like an Anglo-Australian than an Italian-Australian. Sophia used the drawing to fi rst discuss the freedom of being able to communicate and speak Italian without burden, shame and guilt in Italy, and how this was linked to her childhood experience. Sophia indicated that when she was a child she encountered an unfriendly foreign language speaking environment in Australia. Australia in the 1960s was a harsh environment in which to grow up bilingual. It did not matter that Sophia’s home language was a Romance language, contrary to the popular belief that only children of Asian backgrounds were ridiculed and bullied. Sophia and her older siblings, and other children of ethnic backgrounds, were bullied at school: … people ma[de] fun of us because we are Italian … The extent of discrimination and bullying was unbelievable. Because of our surname, or because we wouldn’t have vegemite in our sandwich, or curried eggs, [curried eggs?] it’s Australian … same for the Greek, and Yugoslav, very few Asians though … I think a good one-third or half of the class were from non-English backgrounds …

Sophia’s older brother had an even more difficult time in school in the mid-1950s and, as a result, he did not want to speak Italian at all. As an adult, he would avoid speaking Italian, except to his mother. Sophia explained how she felt she had to avoid speaking Italian at school to show she was just the same as other Australian-born children. This was particularly true in primary school when even the contents of her lunch box signalled a ‘foreignness’ that could become the reason for being ridiculed and bullied. However, life outside school was not as difficult because the family lived in an extended Italian community that spanned several suburbs. Other than chatting in Italian with childhood friends, Sophia also remembered the shopping trips: There was one shop in [the next suburb] that had some Italian books and magazines. We always have the La Fiamma [an Italian newspaper published in Sydney] at home. We would get our Italian books from our family and relatives in Italy every three to six months. My mom would send them a package of everything Australian, and they would send us stuff from Italy. That included storybooks and children’s magazines.

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While the Italian newspaper had always been important for language maintenance (Cover, 2013), the radio also played an important role in linking Italian in-the-home to Italian in-the-community: But there was another radio programme, she [Sophia’s mother] would listen in the morning, and in the afternoon. When it was our birthdays, she would write to the station, so it was a real treat to glue to the radio and hear the announcer said, ‘Happy birthday [Sophia], this is a song chosen by your mum’.

However, there were only limited Italian programmes on TV: There was nothing on TV, except Variety Italian Style, do you remember? A one-hour TV show with Maria Francesca … It was quite lame, just an hour of Italian songs on Saturday … that was all. We all watched with mum.

The immersive language environment at home did not encourage Sophia’s older siblings to learn Italian beyond basic spoken fluency. Sophia’s older sister went to an Italian school on Saturdays, but she did not like it. When Sophia went to secondary school in the 1970s, Italian was introduced into the curriculum (Rubino & Cruickshank, 2016; Slaughter & Hajek, 2014), and she took advantage of it. She was shocked, however, to fi nd that she did not speak or write the ‘proper form of Italian’ as stipulated at school. Nevertheless, Sophia soon adjusted to the learning programme and went on to major in Italian literature at university. Sophia spoke with such high spirits of her memories of reading and discussing Italian poetry in class, and she thoroughly enjoyed this time. Now, as the mother of two school-age children, Sophia fi nds it difficult to introduce Italian into the home setting as the children’s father is Anglo-Australian. Although it is now ‘trendy’ to learn Italian, she feels sad that her children have not acquired the same level of Italian language fluency she had when she was their age. Jessica’s story: A sojourner settling in Sydney

Jessica’s portrait (Figure 2.2) shows a more self-explanatory picture of language use. Jessica drew a whole-page portrait that shows three separate groups of smiling people: a family, churchgoers and university students. The figures and bounded communities were drawn in different colours. The stick figures in the family circle are seen to be speaking Korean. Jessica explained that she would have attached Korean language characters to the churchgoers, but she ran out of space. However, she specified that the university students should not have been linked to the Korean language. As a researcher, I was immediately drawn to the clearly defi ned boundary of each community. The drawing provided me with some discussion points to follow up: Is language a factor in deciding the community in Jessica’s life?

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23

Figure 2.2 Jessica’s language communities in Sydney

It started with Jessica’s philosophy as the mother of two children of Korean heritage: I don’t want my children to forget Korean. They are educated in Australian schools. They are raised as Australian. They think of themselves as Australian. But I think Korean is deeply related to their identities, and I don’t want them to forget their fi rst language.

Jessica was born and raised in South Korea, and as such she is a representative of the 1.2% of Sydneysiders who speak Korean at home. Like Italian, there is a significantly larger Korean speaking community in Sydney than in other parts of Australia (0.5%). Jessica’s migratory journey from South Korea to Australia also represents a very familiar migration pattern among international students. Before the abolition of the White Australia policy, very few Koreans lived in Australia. However, one defi ning feature of the Korean community is that there is a considerably higher percentage of Koreans of Christian faith. According to the 2011 census, 54.1% of Australian Koreans in Sydney identify as Catholic, Presbyterian and Reformed, or as a member of the Uniting Church; significantly higher than the national figure (32.9%). Jessica first came to Sydney in 2002 to complete a Master’s degree. She reported that she came to Australia because it ‘was cheaper than the

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United States, so I can get a Master’s degree within my budget’. Jessica also indicated that, even back in 2002, there was a vibrant Korean community, stating ‘it is much more convenient to speak in Korean, my mother tongue, with Korean people’. During her first overseas study trip, she felt that ‘it was more comfortable to stay in the Korean community’. After fi nishing her study two years later, Jessica returned to Korea for work. In 2008, Jessica migrated to Sydney with her young family. She took on an active role in the Korean Christian communities, which meant she would be communicating more in Korean. Yet, rather than providing her with comfort as when she was an international student six years ago, speaking Korean now caused her anxiety: ‘If I don’t try to expose myself to other multilingual communities, I can be confined to my local Korean community.’ This situation was further compounded by her status as a stay-at-home mother with two young children. When the children were old enough to start school, she enrolled in her second Master’s programme: I have two worlds: English and Korean. There are three communities in which I speak my two languages. My family. My church. My university. If I don’t try to study further at university, or if I don’t try to make new friends in English, I stay in the Korean-speaking community and in a Korean-speaking family.

At home, Jessica and her husband tried their best to maintain Korean as the family language with their children. With the children growing up and going to school in Australia, they are becoming more comfortable and confident with using English as their dominant language. Jessica found that it became more difficult to get the children to attend Korean language classes and to help them acquire literacy in Korean. She hopes that one day, if the family chooses to go back to Korea, the children will function competently in Korean. Hence, she was strongly aware that she introduced Korean dialogue into her family circle because she wants her children to speak Korean. At university, Jessica participates competently as a non-native English speaking postgraduate research student in an English language university. Her main interaction in English is with other postgraduate students and her supervisors, and engagement with academic publications in English. Now that she is also busy with her postgraduate work, Jessica is more at ease with language use: In Australia, if I want to, I can speak in Korean. But in Korea, if I want to speak to someone in English, I can’t fi nd anybody … In Australia, I also have more opportunities to speak in English with other people. I can’t do that in Korea. And I can meet people from different parts of the world … I have a lot of opportunities to write in English, but not as many opportunities to speak in English … [Alice: that’s different as you are completing a research degree] … I should have drawn the Korean dialogue in the church circle as well, but there are too many figures.

Becoming and Being Multilingual in Australia 25

While Jessica sees herself as operating in two languages daily, she does not see the overlap in these communities. Her drawing represents the scenario faced by many highly educated bilingual or multilingual professionals in Australia: while they are fully competent English speakers and users in professional settings, they socialise with peers from their home language communities, and struggle to maintain multilingualism at home with their children. Ada’s story: Speaking Mandarin to connect

Ada’s drawing (Figure 2.3) represents another illustrative depiction of a language learning experience. The portrait is divided into three sections: Mandarin, German and Cantonese. In each section, Ada included her learning peers or interaction partners, and added key activities at each phase of the language learning process. Ada’s portrait also revealed her emotions toward different languages through the addition of a smiley face or crying face. The subheadings were presented in red, but the drawings

Figure 2.3 Ada’s emotional reaction to language learning

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were done in black. Her portrait differentiated the language learning contexts and her associated emotions, making it relatively easy to decipher her points. Ada started the interview with the explanation: I found it useful to talk to people, and to be able to understand things that other people wouldn’t. It is kind of like magic, being able to communicate with people in a language that they are more comfortable with.

Ada’s migratory journey followed a familiar pattern in the Asia Pacific region. She was born in Singapore to parents of Chinese background, moved to New Zealand as a young child, and then returned to Singapore. After completing secondary school, Ada spent a year in Shanghai, and fi nally moved to Australia eight years ago where she commenced her university study. Sydney’s Mandarin speaking community is much higher than the national average (4.7% and 2.5% of the population, respectively). Ada grew up speaking Mandarin at home with her parents, but had to learn written literacy at Chinese school. In Singapore, this meant learning Chinese as a ‘mother tongue language’ as English is taught to all Singaporean students as a first language (Ng, 2014). Ada framed her interview responses around her experiences of learning Chinese in Singapore: When I was young, I had to learn Chinese, I did not like it and I think most of my peers did not like it as well. There was a lot of rote repetition, which you see by the characters I put in the boxes … So we learned in classes, everyone had their own desk, the usual class set up.

The education policy in Singapore mandated that in addition to learning English, all students must learn their ethnic mother tongue, which included Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. The Chinese section of the drawing vividly portrayed a group of students sitting in a traditionally arranged classroom with desks in neat rows and the teacher standing up at the front. Spatially, Ada used the boxes with characters metaphorically as the blackboard. Mandarin is also used beyond the classroom, and Ada had two stick figures completing a communicative transaction related to ordering items using Mandarin Chinese: Mandarin is not an easy language and I did not like learning it growing up. But I really appreciate now that I learned it. I like having that base to know my culture, different festivals, and different things. Because you don’t just learn the language, you learn the culture as well.

While learning Mandarin was compulsory, learning German was voluntary. She took German in high school in Singapore, and took a monthlong immersion trip. With German, it was in secondary school and I actually had to travel to another centre. There was a bus traveling from the school to the centre. I fi nished the O-Level (Year 11, Secondary Five) and continued to do it at the A-Level (Year 13, Secondary Seven). At A-level, the class was smaller,

Becoming and Being Multilingual in Australia 27

more informal. So, I was in a normal classroom setting for the fi rst few years. But it became smaller, and everyone sat around the table and there was a lot of talking. There was a teacher assigned to the class and a specific room allocated for the lessons. I went on a German immersion trip during my fi nal school year and it was very enjoyable for me.

Ada’s portrait represented a progression of time as the German class became smaller. It was interesting to see that, although Ada mentioned there was a ‘normal classroom setting’, all the German students were seated in groups. She also brought a collection of German textbooks and notebooks to the interview, and showed the immersion photos she took in Stuttgart and Munich. But Ada found that German does not have a strong presence in her surroundings: But now I don’t use it anymore, probably because I don’t know anyone who speaks German. And even if I did, I am also quite insecure about my language ability. I was never very good at grammar. With learning German, there was a lot grammar involved and I am just not very good at remembering all that. I think you lose it when you don’t use it. I am still quite confident with my pronunciation, and I sometime sing German songs. But I really don’t use it with anyone.

Although Ada was modest about her German knowledge, she was certainly a happy and willing learner, as indicated by the open-mouthed smiley:). This smiley:) looks and feels much happier than the more reserved frown drawn in the Mandarin section. Again, the metaphoric use of symbols helped to clearly understand the emotion attached to each language learning experience and its use in different contexts. Throughout her childhood, Ada also acquired some Cantonese by watching movies and TV series made in Hong Kong. However, Ada found that she can use Cantonese more frequently since she moved to Sydney: I especially like using it in shops and stuff. It depends on whom I am talking to. Cantonese, I learned from watching TV shows. My parents always laughed at me when I spoke Cantonese because I obviously don’t have the accurate accent. But now that I appreciate it more, I have found that in Australia, I speak better Cantonese than Aussie Chinese, I’d say. My boyfriend is Aussie Chinese and he has a funny accent when speaking Chinese. But he learned it in Chinese school and from his family. He was not forced to learn it, not as I was in Singapore.

The question marks appearing on Ada’s Cantonese smiley symbol indicated her doubts about her level of Chinese language proficiency. Ada lives in a multicultural suburb, and using Mandarin at work is the norm, especially with older patients: It is important to use the languages they are comfortable with. I work in a pharmacy, and people appreciate it because the understanding is greater. It is better that they understand what they are getting. At home, we speak

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English, Singlish and Chinese, mostly because of my younger brother. I’d say he speaks Aussie English with his friends, like when I heard him speaking to his friends in the back of the car. He sounds different when speaking to us. This is not my Singlish accent either; it is much heavier when I really speak in Singlish.

Although Ada found learning Chinese writing difficult as a child, she nonetheless found being able to speak fluently a bonus when living in Australia. Ada holds a slightly negative view about learning languages in Australian schools, however: Probably because there is not enough emphasis on learning languages in school, except English. I’ve heard others learning languages for one semester in school, which is not really anything …

Like Dewaele’s (2016) suggestion regarding multilinguals and different languages, Ada attaches her emotions to the different languages: I don’t know if this is the same for others, but for me, I feel slightly different when I use different languages. With German, other people say it is abrupt, but I fi nd it to be a musical abrupt. With Chinese, I feel more emotional. Same with Cantonese … not really, not to the same extent. With Japanese, I have been to Japan a few times and I love anime, I fi nd it more lyrical. I also fi nd that other people also sound different when they speak in different languages.

It was only toward the end of the interview that Ada revealed her autonomous attempt to learn Japanese. The language was not included in her drawing. As a multilingual, Ada found it difficult to relate to ‘multilingual’ Sydney though: I fi nd Sydney to be a multicultural city, but multilingual? Not so much. There are a lot of people who speak two languages, I am not sure about three or more. Or maybe it is about people I know, or maybe Asian people. Many are also speaking a second language with their parents or grandparents because they are not originally from Australia. There are a lot of communities in Sydney, but it is more like people using their own language in their own communities.

When working in a pharmacy in a multicultural suburb, Ada found her ability to speak Chinese fluently came in handy at times with some customers. She spoke in Chinese and German with people from different communities, but she believed that more could have been done to promote language education. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

This chapter draws on both visual and interview data from a project on multilingual experiences in Sydney. In the project, I fi rst invited participants to draw timelines and portraits of their multilingualism

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experiences before conducting semi-structured interviews. I attempted to use a timeline and portrait as a set of narrative framing devices to help participants construct their stories of being and becoming multilingual in Australia. There are several takeaways from using this type of research tool. First, the timeline creates a chronological picture of when and where the languages are learned and used. Notably, many participants included personal details in their timelines. In addition, given the participants were required to remember life events to complete their timeline, it was usual for their product to be quite messy with corrections and added information. These two factors rendered it impossible to present such timelines in academic publications. However, a timeline has proved to be a very effective tool to create a chronological sense of how periods of language learning and use unfold over time and space. In view of the aim to create a coherent narrative during interview, use of the timeline proved invaluable. There are challenges when analysing the portraits as small stories. In looking at the three portraits presented in this chapter, they represented three different types of thinking. Methodologically, while hand-drawn language portraits have meanings of their own, they are also ‘small stories’ (Barkhuizen, 2009, 2014) that frame the larger arches of the participants’ storylines. However, differences in the ways the storylines were conceptualised by the participants can make their analysis challenging. Sophia took a metaphorical approach that included facial expressions and hand gestures to represent her state of language use. She contrasted her self-proclaimed monotonal spoken Italian with her expressive hand gestures to represent how she spoke like an Anglo-Australian, not an ItalianAustralian. Sophia’s bilingual experience was initially limited to the home environment, as her Italian background was one of the reasons she was bullied at school. Even though she now has her own family, her Italian language use remains sidelined due to ‘impracticality’; namely, her partner and children do not speak Italian. The inclusion of Italian as an academic subject in public education also means that it has become more difficult for Sophia to source community language classes for her children (Slaughter & Hajek, 2014). These issues all pointed to a diminished status for Sophia to claim her Italian heritage through language. However, if we examined the portrait independently, another possible conclusion could be drawn: Sophia could not think of how to express herself in Italian, and she flapped her arms in a panic. This could have been an equally valid deduction. To a certain extent, lack of a clear reference point in the portrait made it impossible for this researcher to identify it as a stand-alone piece of information. This is especially true in cases where participants try to draw a ‘state-of-mind’ type of portrait. In contrast, the portraits by Jessica and Ada were easier to analyse, as they had already compartmentalised their language experiences into a

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coherent storyline. Sophia’s concerns about losing her Heritage Language were shared by Jessica. Her portrait pointed to the linguistic separation of her communities: there were domains for English and Korean language use exclusively, and they did not overlap. Although ethnic churches aim to support the migratory transition (Ley, 2008), the success of Korean Christian churches has been criticised for hindering Koreans from integrating into the greater Australian community (Han, 2004). Jessica viewed the Korean church community as an integral part of her personal and family life, and Korean was the usual language for communication. Jessica was fi nding it more difficult to get her children to use Korean, as English was the language used among friends in school and at church. Jessica’s portrait thus foregrounded that the separation (or segregation) of linguistic communities was not constructive for Heritage Language maintenance. Although Ada also separated her learning experiences, she took a different route. Her portrait categorised her learning experiences and her emotional responses to them. Ada found the use of Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese) was becoming more common at the community level as she could use it when shopping and ordering food in restaurants. Furthermore, her language learning experiences were emotionally charged. Although Ada found learning to read and write in Chinese challenging when she was young, she also found the results rewarding. She emphasised the learning aspects which coincided with her belief that language use is context-specific. More importantly, her discussion of the  way she attached her emotions to languages was reflected in the drawing. Therefore, a tentative conclusion that may be drawn from these fi ndings is that if a portrait reflects a specific state in time and space, it must be analysed together with other types of data. However, if a portrait presents a progression or an overview, then it can be examined independently. In addition, these visual portraits empower the participants to shape the direction of their storylines during interviews. The visual drawings give them the tool to move from being reactive to interview questions to being proactive in framing how they want their stories to be told. In this sense, the portrait (together with the timeline) provides greater equity in a collaborative research environment. Thus, the key question is: What do we learn about language learning and use from the visual data? It is often said that Sydney is a multicultural city with people from different walks of life and cultural and language backgrounds. Underneath this generalised description is the subjective experience of what it means to learn, use and maintain multiple languages in different contexts and times. The three portraits used in this study drew our attention to what the participants wanted us to focus on in relation to their language experiences in Sydney. The three visuals also show glimpses of the complexity of urban multilingualism (Pennycook & Otsuji, 2015).

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The drawings highlight contextualised domains for non-English use: home, ethnic church and commercial establishments in multicultural suburbs. As Ada suggested, there are pockets of multilingual communities, but diversity in languages is not integrated beyond individual communities. References ABC News (2017) Peter Dutton defends 457 visa scrapping as tech billionaire questions government’s wisdom. ABC News, 19 April. See http://www.news.com.au/ fi nance/economy/australian-economy/peter-dutton-defends-457-visa-scrapping-astech-billionaire-questions-governments-wisdom/news-story/043194777bec8443f 78a277803770834 (accessed 25 May 2017). Australian Bureau of Statistics (2017) QuickStats. See http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/ censushome.nsf/home/quickstats?opendocument&navpos=220 (accessed 25 August 2017). Australian Commonwealth Government (2011) The People of Australia – Australia’s Multicultural Policy. http://apo.org.au/node/27232 (accessed 9 December 2018). Barkhuizen, G. (2009) An extended positioning analysis of a pre-service teacher’s better life small story. Applied Linguistics 31 (2), 282–300. Barkhuizen, G. (2011a) Home tutor cognitions and the nature of tutor-learner relationships. In P. Benson and H. Reinders (eds) Beyond the Language Classroom (pp. 161–174). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Barkhuizen, G. (2011b) Narrative knowledging in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly 45 (3), 391–414. Barkhuizen, G. (2014) Revisiting narrative frames: An instrument for investigating language teaching and learning. System 47 (1), 12–27. Barkhuizen, G., Benson, P. and Chik, A. (2014) Narrative Inquiry in Language Teaching and Learning Research. London: Routledge. Benson, P. (2014) Narrative inquiry in applied linguistics research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 34, 154–170. Busch, B. (2012) The linguistic repertoire revisited. Applied Linguistics 33 (5), 503–523. Chik, A. (2018) Beliefs and practices of foreign language learning: A visual analysis. Applied Linguistics Review 9 (2–3), 307–331. doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2016-1068 Clyne, M. (2005) Australia’s Language Potential. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. Cover, R. (2013) Community print media: Perceiving minority community in multicultural South Australia. Continuum 27 (1), 110–123. Cross, R. (2009) Literacy for all: Quality language education for few. Language and Education 23 (4), 509–522. Department of Immigration and Border Protection (2017) Australian Values Statement. See https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Life/Aust/living-in-australia-values-statementlong (accessed 2 December 2017). Dewaele, J.M. (2016) Why do many bi- and multilinguals feel different when switching languages? International Journal of Multilingualism 13 (1), 92–105. Eisenchlas, S.A., Schalley, A.C. and Guillemin, D. (2013) The importance of literacy in the home language: The view from Australia. Sage Open 3 (4), 1–14. Han, G.-S. (2004) Korean Christianity in multicultural Australia: Is it dialogical or segregating Koreans. Studies in World Christianity 10 (1), 114–135. Johnston, R., Forrest, J., Manley, D. and Jones, K. (2017) The segregation of generations: Ancestral groups in Sydney, 2011. Geographical Research 55 (3), 249–268. Karidakis, M. and Arunachalam, D. (2016) Shift in the use of migrant community languages in Australia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 37 (1), 1–22.

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Ley, D. (2008) The immigrant church as an urban service hub. Urban Studies 45 (10), 2057–2074. Liddicoat, A.J. (2016) Multilingualism research in Anglophone contexts as a discursive construction of multilingual practice. Journal of Multicultural Discourses 11 (1), 9–24. Melo-Pfeifer, S. (2015) Multilingual awareness and heritage language education: Children’s multimodal representations of their multilingualism. Language Awareness 24 (3), 197–215. Ng, C.L.P. (2014) Mother tongue education in Singapore: Concerns, issues and controversies. Current Issues in Language Planning 15 (4), 361–375. Nikula, T. and Pitkänen-Huhta, A. (2008) Using photographs to access stories of learning English. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M. F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 171–185). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Noble, G. (2009) ‘Countless acts of recognition’: Young men, ethnicity and the messiness of identities in everyday life. Social & Cultural Geography 10 (8), 875–891. Pennycook, A. and Otsuji, E. (2015) Metrolingualism: Language in the City. New York: Routledge. Prasad, G. (2014) Portraits of plurilingualism in a French international school in Toronto: Exploring the role of visual methods to access students’ representations of their linguistically diverse identities. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics 17 (1), 51–77. Romaine, S. (2004) (ed.) Language in Australia (2nd edn). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rubino, A. and Cruickshank, K. (2016) Exploring language choice and identity construction in ‘in-between’ sites: Ethnic media and community languages schools in Australia. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 39 (3), 255–271. Schalley, A.C., Guillemin, D. and Eisenchlas, S.A. (2015) Multilingualism and assimilationism in Australia’s literacy-related educational policies. International Journal of Multilingualism 12 (2), 162–177. Slaughter, Y. and Hajek, J. (2014) Mainstreaming of Italian in Australian schools: The paradox of success? In J. Hajek and Y. Slaughter (eds) Challenging the Monolingual Mindset (pp. 182–198). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

3 Children’s Multimodal Visual Narratives as Possible Sites of Identity Performance Nayr Ibrahim

This chapter focuses on the identity construction and exercise of agency of trilingual children (N = 13, aged 5–17 years) living in the capital of France. They were learning to read and write (or becoming literate) in three languages (French, English and a Heritage Language) in different educational contexts, both formal and informal. In addition to providing verbal data, the children were asked to produce drawings and bring to the interviews objects that represented the languages they spoke. The children’s narratives, pictorial representations and artefacts reveal that their identity construction is anchored in lived experience through the languages they use in interaction with real people, in tangible places, and through relevant events that have value for them. The tripartite framework of identity, person-placeexperience, was further categorised into fi xed (physical and unique) and hybrid (overlapping and complex) spaces. The children negotiate their identity between the need to affirm a narrow language-ethnic or language-national link and the inevitable multilingual interaction in hybrid spaces.

Introduction

Even though recent studies have recognised the complexity and multidimensionality inherent in multilingualism (Cenoz, 2013; Chevalier, 2015; Safont Jorda & Portoles Falomir, 2015), more research is needed to understand how children acquire multiple languages and construct the self in multilingual contexts. From a sociolinguistic perspective, multilingualism is ‘a normal and unremarkable necessity for the majority of the 33

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world today’ (Edwards, 1994: 1). Children are not peripheral to the phenomenon of multilingualism, but become active participants in the language-rich situations they inhabit. They are given access to multiple and simultaneous sociolinguistic and sociocultural experiences and develop their multilingual repertoires across multi-layered ‘local’ and ‘translocal’ spaces (Blommaert, 2010: 9). Consequently, there is a need to understand young children’s linguistic development from a multilingual perspective, thus refuting the monolingual bias and even surpassing the ‘bilingual lens’ (Soltero-González & Reyes, 2012: 36). A multilingual perspective acknowledges the interface of a variety of individual and contextual factors in language interaction. Furthermore, it establishes the multilingual speaker as the model for multilingualism and the purposefully chosen object of study. This ‘multilingual turn’ (May, 2014) has implications for research, as it requires corresponding methodological approaches that adequately refl ect and ultimately explicate the  multilingual experience (Aronin & Jessner, 2014; Comanaru & Dewaele, 2015). When researching children, it is essential to find the best tools to encourage them to express their ideas, feelings and perceptions; hence the need to integrate a children’s rights perspective (Brock & Conteh, 2011; UNCRC, 1989). Consequently, this study sought to ‘acquire from them (children) their own unique knowledge and assessment of what it means to be a child’ (Mayall, 2000: 122) – in this particular case, a trilingual child learning to read and write in three languages in different educational sites. In order to best capture the children’s voices, I chose a multimodal methodology, including interviews with the children and their parents, children’s drawings, written narratives and chosen symbolic objects. Combining traditional ‘verbo-centric’ methods (Clyde, 1994: 32; Kendrick & McKay, 2009: 67), multimodality (Barkhuizen et al., 2013; Jewitt & Kress, 2003) and visual narratives (Rose, 2007), this ensemble created a multifaceted yet coherent oral, written, visual and artefactual narrative of self in multiple languages. This chapter is divided into four parts. The next section, Background to the Study, provides an overview of the children’s linguistic background and my theoretical frameworks of language and identity and multimodality. This is followed by a description of the data collection and data analysis procedures. The multiple data collection tools yielded a considerable amount of multimodal data. I present some of this data in the Findings section within the tripartite framework of identity, person-place-experience, which constitutes the main outcome of the study. In the last section, Discussion and Concluding Remarks, I consider the implications of the study and its methodological approach when investigating children in complex multilingual situations and highlight recommendations for further research.

Children’s Multimodal Visual Narratives as Possible Sites of Identity Performance 35

Background to the Study

Multilingualism is a product of and contributes to the growth of contemporary superdiverse communities (Vertovec, 2007). Recent developments on the international front, such as the mobility of families for professional, political or personal reasons, have increased the number of children speaking multiple languages. These children need to learn the language of schooling and/or the national standard language(s) of their country of residence. At the same time, they struggle to maintain their Heritage Languages. In France this is a result of monolingual policies, where French, the one and only official language, is enshrined in the Constitution (Article 2 of the Constitution, National Assembly, 1958). Despite this monolingual nation-state ideology, there is a shift in French society and in education policy, which is opening up the linguistic space. For example, there is consensus in France around the concept of multilingualism, formulated by the Council of Europe and the European Commission as the onemother-tongue-plus-two-foreign-languages paradigm. This view of multilingualism focuses on foreign language education policies, is centred on European standard languages, and disregards and even marginalises immigrant and regional languages (Garcia, 2015). Children function in this contradictory situation: they experience the reality of a contemporary, multilingual society within an official monolingualising and homogenising vision of the nation-state. The children in this study were all living in France at the time of the interviews: four of them were born outside France (three in England and one in Sri-Lanka) and had moved to France between the ages of two and seven. They were all based in Paris, a cosmopolitan city that attracts a sizeable expat community of English speakers with children to educate. Consequently, the demand for English-French bilingual education has given rise to the development of private bilingual and international schools, and provision of English language teaching in specially created international sections in state schools. The children were all following the age-appropriate French curriculum in state (N = 6), state with an English section (N = 3) or private bilingual (N = 4) schools. The children’s initial access to English was more heterogeneous, but they were all developing and consolidating English literacy in the same English after-school programme, which was also the research site. The children’s access to literacy in their third language in France varied the most. Provision for Heritage Language learning does not depend on the national education policy but on the efforts that parents are willing to make. Consequently, the maintenance of the children’s third languages depended mostly on the following factors: fi rst, the parents’ efforts to fi nd an after-school language learning structure; secondly, the cost involved, as the parents had to fi nance their children’s language education; thirdly, procuring material in a minority

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language, which was difficult or non-existent in some cases; fourthly, the frequency of travel to the countries of origin; and finally, finding opportunities for real language use in a minority context. This complex language scenario has an impact on how the children position and reposition ‘the self’ in their everyday lives. Identity as a complex system

This study views identity as a complex, context-dependent phenomenon and children as ‘transnational actors [who are] flexible and skilled at managing multiple counterpart identities’ (Vertovec, 2009: 77). Complexity theory offers an interesting perspective on the construction of the self in context. For example, it has been applied to identity construction as multiple selves emerge from linguistic encounters in social contexts (Kramsch, 2012; Sade, 2009). Mercer (2014: 160), from a psycholinguistic and social cognitive perspective, proposes a ‘conceptualization of the self that can help unite diverse perspectives on the self and which can prompt fresh thinking about the self in a way that enables greater recognition of its inherent complexity, situatedness and dynamism’. Ushioda’s (2009) person-in-context relational view of emergent identity and motivation also emphasises the importance of context for language learners. Weedon (1997: 21) places individuals in the social, political and subjective landscape through language, ‘the place where our sense of self, our subjectivity, is constructed’ (emphasis in original). Identity is conceptualised as a discursive construct, emergent and evolving in interaction. Inevitably, interaction in the dynamic linguistic contexts of this study impacts on children’s evolving sense of self. Carmen and Watt (2010: 19) describe identity as an ‘emergent product rather than the pre-existing source of linguistic and other semiotic practices and therefore as fundamentally a social and cultural phenomenon’. Identity is conceived as relational (Bucholtz & Hall, 2012; Pavlenko & Blackledge, 2004) and becomes a ‘product of social interaction […] facilitated and canalised by language’ (Riley, 2007: 16). Language as a social construct is an interactive or communicative observable fact that the children in this study manipulated to position and reposition themselves vis-à-vis their interlocutor or situation (Davies & Harré, 1990). This multilingual identity includes and is enhanced by access to literacy in multiple languages (Ibrahim, 2016b). As families become increasingly mobile, children are required to develop multilingual literacies (Martin Jones & Jones, 2000) in order to integrate different educational sites or maintain ties with family and friends in a plethora of crossnational contexts. Literacy in multilingual contexts is regarded as ‘a meaning-making process that is embedded in the social contexts of home, community and school’ (Soltero-Gonzalez & Reyes, 2012: 35). In this study, I view literacy as an inherent feature of children’s multilingual

Children’s Multimodal Visual Narratives as Possible Sites of Identity Performance 37

identity, where literacy is hypothesised as a socially embedded, plurisemiotic process. Ultimately, this dynamic and situated negotiation of the self occurs in a hybrid or ‘“third space”, which enables other positions to emerge’ (Bhabha, 1990: 211). Multimodality, meaning-making and identity discourse: Methodological considerations

Researching the intricate relationship between the phenomena of language, context and identity requires an appropriate methodology. Hence, multimodal narratives, with a strong visual element, are making their way into the study of language and identity as a means of acknowledging and validating children’s multilingual voices (Aronin & Ó Laoire, 2012; Benson, 2014; İnözü, 2017). For example, Pietikäinen et  al. (2008) explored a Sami boy’s multilingual experiences via self-portrait drawings, together with interviews where he explains the drawings and how he relates to his languages, and Dressler (2014) utilised the task of language portrait silhouettes to explore children’s linguistic identity. Multimodal narratives attest to a ‘semiotic expansion’ that integrates ‘words, image, sound, hyperlinks and animation’ (Page, 2010: 1). For instance, Edwards (2009) examined six scenarios of children around the world developing literacy in very different contexts, two of which included children writing and illustrating bilingual stories using multimedia. The multimodal text goes beyond the ‘predominantly verbal’ and ‘accommodates the interplay of different semiotic modes and recognises the complexity of multimodal narrative meaning’ (Page, 2010: 115). According to Kress (2003: 1), ‘the world shown is different from the world told’. Visual data (moving images, drawings, photographs) (Dufva et al., 2011; Rose, 2007) enhance children’s narratives on subjectivity; they cease to be merely representational, becoming expressive and interpretative (Cox, 2005; Jolley, 2009). For example, Melo-Pfeifer and Schmidt (2012) employed drawings, combined with writing, to explore Portuguese-German children’s Heritage Language representations. These visual representations reflect the sign-makers’ reality, their beliefs and values (Kendrick, 2016); they become children’s ‘identity texts’ (Cummins & Early, 2011). According to Kendrick (2016: 5), ‘because meaning-making and the encoding of experience takes place in all modes, data collection needs to include a wider range of modes’. Hence, a multimodal approach goes beyond the visual to include an artefactual perspective. Pahl and Rowsell (2010: vii) developed the notion of ‘artifactual literacies’ where everyday objects, as an embodiment of lived experience, are infused with meaning and become ‘potential sites of story, community building, and identity performance’. Cummins and Early (2011: 3) view the text, ‘written, spoken, signed, visual, musical, dramatic, or combinations in multimodal form’, as a form of semiotic interaction in multiple language contexts and the site for

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negotiating identities. Aronin and Ó Laoire (2012: 225) call for a greater focus on ‘the material culture of multilingualism’, and argue that ‘a deliberate focus on the study of materialities (artefacts, objects and spaces) can contribute significantly to the investigation of multilingualism’. These perspectives stress the active role of individuals in giving meaning to social phenomena, which they create and recreate in interaction with each other and across diverse social and cultural realities as well as in different modalities. Potter (1996), as cited in Bryman (2004: 18), writes: ‘The world … is constituted in one way or another as people talk it, write it and argue it.’ In this case study, children talk it, draw it and connect with symbolic objects in exploring their perceptions of the multilingual self. Aims of the Study

The aim of this chapter is to explore how the multiple data collection tools constitute an appropriate vehicle for eliciting children’s identity narratives and how these multimodal productions advance our understanding of children’s perceptions of an emergent multilingual identity. The 13 children, aged 5.11 to 16.6, were the central focus of this research project. My aim was to uncover their attitudes, perceptions and interpretations in relation to their multilingual lives by answering the research questions below: (1) How do children in multilingual, multi-educational and multiliterate contexts perceive and negotiate their multilingual identity across different educational and linguistic contexts? (2) What roles do the children’s family (parents, relatives, siblings) and other people in the community (educators and friends) play in developing their multiple literacies and nurturing their multilingual identity? Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

Both parents and children were asked for informed consent to participate in the study and all participants were guaranteed anonymity throughout the process: thus, I used pseudonyms to identify the children. Secondly, the research site was the children’s out-of-school English literacy school, where I worked as the Head of the Bilingual Section. As a researcher within my work environment, I was aware that I was very familiar with the research setting. The parents and the children knew and respected me and looked to me for advice and support. These factors also influenced the language of the study, which was essentially English. Even though the children could have used any of their three languages, they inevitably associated the researcher and the learning context with English.

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39

Participants and context

I purposefully selected these children for the study because they displayed a complex trilingual and triliterate profile: they all had French and English in common, as well as a third language (Korean, Russian, Farsi, Spanish, Bangla, Japanese, Sinhala, German). These languages can be categorised as Heritage Languages (their father and/or mother tongues) and additional languages (the languages of schooling or the community, or a purposefully chosen additional language, which in all cases was English) (see Table 3.1). Literacy is an important aspect of this study, as the children were learning to read and write their three languages in different educational contexts: a mainstream French classroom, an outof-school English literacy course and their respective after-school Heritage Language schools. From a writing systems perspective, these children’s literacy experiences encompassed different scripts: Korean Hangul; Latin; Arabic; Japanese Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana; and the Cyrillic, Bangla and Sinhala alphabets. The parents were part of the study as they played a key role in supporting and maintaining their children’s languages. They elucidated and confirmed events mentioned by the children and expressed their beliefs about multilingualism. Table 3.1 gives an overview of the children’s complex language situations. The children’s names are pseudonyms in order to ensure anonymity and meet ethical standards. Table 3.1 The children’s family background and languages Name

Age at study

Place of birth

Age in France

Heritage Language(s) Father’s language

Mother’s language

Additional language(s)

Anna-Arra and Oliver-Maru

5.11

England

2.5

French

Korean

Victor and Edwin

8.6

England

3

Russian

English/German French

0

English

English

6

German/Italian

France

0

Farsi

Melinda and Lily Tala and Kiana

12.11 7.6

7 France

14.6 10.3

English

German/Italian French

Farsi

English/French

11.11

Mathieu

11.8

France

0

French

Spanish

English

Taku

11.10

France

0

Japanese

Japanese

English/French

Anaka

13.11

France

0

Bangla

French

English

Keiko

14.6

England

7

French

Japanese

English

Thalya

16.6

Sri-Lanka 4

Sinhala

Sinhala

English/French

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Data collection

In order to capture the children’s perceptions of their identity in these heterogeneous language situations, the portfolio of data collection included linguistic and non-linguistic tools: •

Linguistic tools (oral and written) consisted of: Questionnaires (Children’s First Day Questionnaire and Parent Survey). Semi-structured, in-depth interviews. I divided the interview guide into four major categories: perceived language proficiency; literacy development; language use; and identity. Children’s writing. The children were asked to write about how they felt about being trilingual. The written word provided a powerful tool for reflecting on their social representations of language and identity, along with the opportunity to include different languages and scripts. This introspective tool allowed the children to focus on aspects of their multilingualism and identity that were not dependent on my probing questions. Non-linguistic tools (pictorial and artefactual) comprised: Drawings. Even though the initial intention was to give the younger children the option of drawing, the older children chose to integrate drawing and writing. They created plurisemiotic texts, which included the written word, different scripts, drawings and symbols. Objects. I asked the children to choose and bring to the interview objects that represented their different languages. These objects were symbolic artefacts that embodied the children’s language experiences and offered them additional, material tools to negotiate a place in multilingual contexts. These artefacts consisted of physical objects, drawings of objects or oral descriptions of objects. ○

○

○

•

○

○

Categorising the data collection tools into ‘linguistic’ and ‘non-linguistic’ helped to clarify the research process. Furthermore, my reason for employing a multimodal methodology was to give the children the ‘possibility of [working] in their preferred language’ (Clark & Moss, 2011). The children took possession of these communicative resources and became agentive sign-makers. They fused the traditional verbal tools with the visual and artefactual elements into a plurisemiotic whole that more accurately mirrored their transnational living. This ensemble gave the children an array of interactive resources with the potential to expand identity narrative possibilities.

Data analysis

The 13 children were grouped into nine units of analysis, with each unit representing a family (there were four sets of siblings – see Table 3.1).

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41

Ultimately, these single units, or family units, contributed to the study of a phenomenon in a particular context: the phenomenon of identity building in multilingual/multiliterate children in a superdiverse metropolitan area, Paris. The children’s multimodal productions were examined primarily for content (Pavlenko, 2008) and then using discourse analysis (Blackledge, 2008; Grbich, 2013; Li Wei, 2007). Content analysis facilitated the understanding of the children’s sociolinguistic representations and the elements that they foregrounded as important in constructing a multilingual identity. Initial fi ndings emerging from the children’s interviews were categorised according to three recurrent and overlapping themes, that is, the children’s reference to person, place and experience. Even as this link between language and person, language and place and language and experience was being confi rmed, the children’s narratives indicated that they were constantly negotiating their identity between essentialist representations of language and culture and the decentring, hybrid reality of living between linguistic, literate and cultural worlds. Subsequently, I analysed the children’s references to person, place and experience under two overarching themes: ‘fi xed (unique and narrow) and hybrid (overlapping and complex) spaces, as the children negotiate their identity between two polarised perspectives’ (Ibrahim, 2016a: 78–79). The children’s multiple plurisemiotic texts were also treated as discursive constructions. At a purely linguistic level, I took into consideration cross-linguistic transfer, choice of language or vocabulary and code-switching as they indicate negotiation of identity positions. At a pictorial level, these ‘visual structures point to particular interpretations of experience and forms of social interaction’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 2). Findings: The Tripartite Framework of Identity, Person-Place-Experience

Initial fi ndings indicated that the children made constant reference to real people, tangible places and relevant experiences when asked about their languages. All data excerpts below are a direct transcription of the language used by the children in the interviews. The person–language link was fi rst and foremost evident in the children’s interviews. Anna-Arra and Oscar-Maru, discussed in Ibrahim (2014), made specific references to people in their drawings. In the excerpts below, the brothers, Victor and Edwin, reported using a different language with each parent and then French with one another: Victor: English my mom … and Russian my dad. Edwin: My dad Russian, my mom English and him (Victor) French.

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Figure 3.1 A grey Lada, Victor’s and Edwin’s object representing Russian

Victor and Edwin’s mother corroborates the children’s comments in the excerpt below: We don’t speak French … I speak to them in English and they answer in English … Sasha speaks to them in Russian and they answer in Russian … and when all of us are together we speak Russian-English and they speak to each other in French.

However, objects and drawings also underscored the children’s special relationships with friends and relatives in different countries. For example, Edwin chose to represent the Russian language in Ukraine with a Lada (Figure 3.1), the iconic car brand of the Soviet Union. Edwin chose this little grey car ‘because we bought that car in Ukraine’ and ‘Because my grandfather used to have a car like that … and we loved it … and it’s good’. For Edwin, the symbolic nature of this object was related to his subjective experience of place and person. Not only does it symbolise a specific cultural and historical-political place, but it also reverts back to their positive experiences of their grandfather, of Ukraine and the Russian language. Some children did not bring objects to the interview, but when asked what objects they would choose to represent their languages, they included people. For example, Anaka linked Bangla and English to people who had a direct influence on her language and literacy development, as well as her identity as an excellent student. She attributed her English language skills, both oral and written, to her mother and her teacher: For me it’s a person, actually … it’s my mother who taught me Bangla and she worked really hard because I couldn’t speak or write at all … she really helped me … and also my teacher … I really liked her … I couldn’t understand or write or read in English and she taught me … and it was very hard … that’s how I became the fi rst in my class … after a year I had the highest grades … it was really hard.

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Figure 3.2 Keiko’s map of linguistic space

The children’s reference to place encompassed both physical and symbolic representations of language: geographical, educational, linguistic and artefactual space. Keiko’s linguistic map (Figure 3.2) included plurisemiotic resources that combined to negotiate place and experience. Within a black outline of the world, she drew five red dots across Europe, the British Isles and Japan. She used the more reduced local space of the capital cities, London, Paris and Tokyo, to represent the national/linguistic and national/political sites that were relevant to her experience of multilingual living. It is interesting to note that the national borders of France and England are absent, which could be interpreted as a reflection of her transnational borderless world. Each space is relevant to Keiko’s linguistic and literacy experiences and is accompanied by a speech bubble in which Keiko ‘recalled’ her experiences within this space. Her written narrative is full of images of place: streets, buildings, architecture, family homes, learning places (schools and kindergartens), doctors’ surgeries, cafes and museums. Taku’s Japanese objects included two books. These books are Japanese Manga, or comics in the Japanese style, a literary genre that has become popular outside Japan in recent years. Interestingly, Taku chose to bring a French translation, which also testifies to the internationalisation of Japanese culture. Taku was proud of this Japanese incursion into the international arena, as his Japanese objects had already crossed linguistic and cultural borders: ‘Because Manga is published in the world and that means Manga [inaudible] are read … by everyone … like French people.’

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Part 1: The Multilingual Self

Figure 3.3 Kiana’s drawing representing English

The visual aspect of the children’s cultures is evident in stereotypical postcard-style descriptions, drawings and/or objects of famous monuments, landscapes, artefacts and flags. A common reference to English and French was Big Ben and double-decker buses, and the Eiffel Tower, respectively. Both Kiana (Figure 3.3) and Tala (Figure 3.4) drew and commented on the abovementioned objects to represent their affiliation with the two languages:

Figure 3.4 Tala’s multimodal drawing representing English and French

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45

Figure 3.5 Kiana’s music box (drawing and photo)

Tala: England for me represents … I love the English flag … I don’t know why … and the Big Ben […] and English buses … and for me France represents delicious bread and the Eiffel Tower.

Tala employed translanguaging in her identity narrative (García & Li Wei, 2014): even though she used the correct name for the Eiffel Tower when explaining her drawings, she wrote ‘The Eiffel Tour’, mixing two codes successfully; she added ‘Liberty, Egality and Fraternity’ in green, where ‘Egality’ was created by meshing Egalité and Equality into a hybrid word that represents a new identity. The place of enunciation (Bhabha, 1994) for Tala was a multimodal place of possible renewal and creativity. Kiana drew a music box (Figure 3.5), which represented Iran, and which I presumed was Iranian. Her father’s perspective on this valueladen object for Kiana challenged her subjective and emotional associations with her Heritage Language. The box was actually Italian, and therefore devoid of any cultural meaning in relation to Iran. However, its presence in her grandmother’s house in Iran imbued this object, now in her father’s flat in Paris, with Kiana’s multilingual and emotional experiences related to Iran. Kiana:

It’s a music box because my dad has a music box and the fi rst time that I saw it … it reminds me of Iran. Father: What is it? Kiana: The music box. Father: Ah … the music box … Oh, yes … the one we have in the room (laughter) … it’s an Italian one that we bought a very long time ago which was at house in Iran … we brought it back two years ago.

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Part 1: The Multilingual Self

Figure 3.6 Anaka’s multimodal drawing

Anaka identified English literacy skills as empowering. The English space acquired additional significance for Anaka, as it also defi ned her identity as a good student: ‘Well … at school my English teacher always praises me … my friends say … well they’re very surprised that I can speak … I  wouldn’t really have good grades without English too.’ However, it was Anaka’s drawing that best represented her perception of the empowering role of the totality of her languages. Her plurisemiotic drawing (Figure  3.6) reflects her translingual practice (Canagarajah, 2013) and her interpretation of the power that speaking, writing, reading and manipulating her languages afforded her. The figure in the drawing, representing Anaka, not only speaks different languages, but also writes in different scripts (the successive sentence, I love you, in different languages and scripts in the speech bubble). She is holding a globe in her right hand, which is a powerful image of the child’s perception of her multilingual identity as the means of accessing a global culture, a metaphor of symbolic capital. Anaka identified these as ‘My languages’, followed by three exclamation marks, hence claiming a multilingual identity. The written language flanks the image of Anaka: on the left, her different scripts and languages; on the right, a description of the expanded role these languages have on her sense of self – confidence, pride, difference, power. The fi ndings indicate that children are able to identify the place their languages occupy in their educational and family contexts, in different geographical and political spaces, in transnational and translocal

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47

experiences. They express their language relationships by expertly managing their linguistic resources to make sense of their multilingual world.

Discussion and Concluding Remarks Negotiation of belonging between fixed and hybrid spaces

First and foremost, this study posits a tripartite framework of identity, person-place-experience. The framework anchors the children’s multilingual/multiliterate identity to their different sociolinguistic contexts. At a content level, these three emerging themes, as voiced by the children, encompass separate and impenetrable concepts that reflect monolingual, essentialist and culture-bound ideologies and/or stereotypes. For example, French equals the Eiffel Tower and Egalité, Fraternité, Liberté; English is Big Ben and double decker buses; the Heritage Language, a grey Lada. In so doing, the children were able to justify and confirm their affiliation to a designated linguistic culture within designated political and social boundaries. From a multiple monolingual perspective, the children’s languages occupy different spaces in society, in schools and in their selected artefacts, as well as ‘different spaces in texts’ (Canagarajah, 2013: 1). The children referred to people in their narratives as languageinteractional, language-emotional and language-maintenance partners. The children’s narratives confirmed the key linguistic role the various interlocutors played in creating spaces for their identity performance of the multilingual self. The children’s reference to place encompassed both physical and symbolic spaces. First and foremost, the children used their understanding of space as a physical, visual and tangible entity with national-cultural significance. However, the children negotiated their identity within a transnational arena where place is identified as monolingual at a political level, yet multilingual and porous at a sociocultural level. Experience with and through language embraces the possibility of multiple ways of being and becoming. The children brought their subjective perspective to those experiences that connected them, at an emotional and linguistic level, to the people and the spaces that mediated their sense of belonging. On the other hand, the children exploited the research tools to decentre this monolingual, monocultural perspective and create hybrid and transnational spaces of multimodal interaction. Within these spaces, they enacted a fluid and fluctuating identity; for example, Tala and Anaka’s plurisemiotic drawings include elements of all their languages. Hence, the children’s multimodal narratives described identity as simultaneously unitary, narrow and essentialist (fi xed) as well as multiple, overlapping and heterogeneous (hybrid); they also demonstrated the children’s ability to manipulate identity positions between these multiple polarised spaces. Ultimately, this multilingual identity evolves simultaneously across fi xed and hybrid spaces, as the children seek coherence in diversity.

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Multimodal resources as empowering discourse

At a discursive and semiotic level, the dynamic, hybrid and concurrent views of language and identity become apparent. This echoes the recent focus of research into multilingualism, which anchors language and literacy fi rmly within a social practice perspective. Even as the children claimed an attachment to individual languages, their hybridised communicative discourse attests to the interlacing complexity of multilingual living. The construction of the children’s multilingual identity depends on the skilful management of their multimodal communicative resources. As the children appropriated the resources in this plurisemiotic discursive space, they constituted an itinerary of their linguistic journey. The pictorial and artefactual space allowed children to connect to the symbolism and the materiality of their multifaceted lives. The objects and plurisemiotic drawings connect to express their experiences of languages in deterritorialised spaces and consequently re-imagine these spaces as subjectively personal and multiple. For example, when the children did not bring a physical object to the interview they created representations thereof, consisting of verbal and visual output: they made drawings of symbolic objects and produced oral descriptions of the objects. In combining elements that were made available to them in the research project, the children created a myriad of images that best reflected their relationship with their languages. The way the children used and reused these artefacts broadened my perspective as a researcher. I was obliged to look beyond the linguistic to incorporate a material, tangible quality into the study of multilingual identity construction. The multimodal perspective in multilingualism research offers the researcher a powerful tool for delving into participants’ feelings, attitudes and perceptions about the self. Lessons learnt

This study has implications for researchers at a methodological level: first, how to capture the inherently complex nature of the phenomenon of multilingualism; secondly, how best to listen to children living in multilingual contexts; and thirdly, which tools to use to elicit their perspectives. One of the strengths of this study is that it recognises multilingual contexts as complex. This complexity ‘involves multiple active interactions between the parts which lead to countless, often unpredictable, outcomes’ (Aronin & Jessner, 2014: 60) and entails interpretation of data from multiple viewpoints. This case study goes some way toward capturing this dynamic multiplicity in multilingual living and research on multilingualism. The multiple methods that combine traditional qualitative tools and the multimodality of the visual and artefactual components allowed the participants to exploit multiple perspectives. Inevitably, this approach generated a large amount of data that I had to sift through and code

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rigorously. Yet, it was the density and scope of the data that allowed a richness, depth and nuance to emerge from the children’s situated narratives. A further strength is that it takes the children’s utterances as the basis for analysis, so these narratives allow for a holistic perspective on their actual multilingual life. This study puts at centre stage the children and their perceptions of multilingualism, literacy and identity and validates their opinions. The multimodal tools expand children’s possibilities of expression and narration and allow them to recreate and reinvent their highly diverse and complex lives; they also allow for triangulation of data. The children’s narratives confi rm decades of research into language and identity as subjective and socioculturally and historically embedded practice emerging in interactional-relational spaces (Bucholtz & Hall, 2012; Joseph, 2004). However, the configuration of children’s discursive and narrative exploration of identity into this three-way yet interdependent framework of identity, person-place-experience, offers novel and alternative possibilities for exploring multilingualism from multiple vantage points. The multidimensionality of these intersecting phenomena has interesting results: they recreate the hybrid spaces where children learn to mean and to shape a future where languages are the key to accessing multiple sociocultural/political contexts; they become the chisel that sculpts a sense of self. A next step would be to now explore the usefulness of the person-place-experience triangle in different contexts, for example: high and low socio-economic status (SES); in rural and urban areas; and with different languages which vary in status. If language and identity are dynamic, shifting and ongoing, then this study inevitably falls short of reflecting the multilingual trajectories the children have embarked on. A limitation of the study is that it is merely a snapshot, an instance in these children’s multilingual identity journey, and only captures their worldview at one point in time. A longitudinal design is recommended to investigate how children’s attitudes to their languages and multiliteracy practices change over time. This approach would allow the researcher to take into account the multiple variables that affect their language trajectories: new experiences with languages; introduction of new languages in the school system; continuing or discontinuing literacy; age-related variables; and decisions based on time constraints and fi nancial considerations. It would also be interesting to analyse the dynamics of a longitudinal study within the framework of identity, person-placeexperience. From a methodological perspective, multimodality provides concepts, methods and a framework for the collection and analysis of visual, aural, embodied and spatial aspects of interaction and environments, as well as the relationships between them (Jewitt & Kress, 2003). The plurisemiotic texts legitimised the children’s potential to rewrite a ‘holistic’ (Cenoz,

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2013), multifaceted and personal account of multilingualism and to reinvent their identity story. Furthermore, multimodality broadens the perspective of the researcher, who is obliged to look beyond the linguistic in order to incorporate a material, tangible quality into the study of multilingual identity construction. By providing a glimpse into the multilingual, multiliterate and multimodal worlds of these individual child actors, this study provides richly textured and nuanced accounts of ‘the complexities of belonging both “here” and “there” simultaneously’ (SuarezOrozco, 2001: 359). References Aronin, L. and Jessner, U. (2014) Methodology in bi- and multilingual studies: From simplification to complexity. AILA Review 27, 56−79. Aronin, L. and Ó Laoire, M. (2012) The material culture of multilingualism: Moving beyond the linguistic landscape. International Journal of Multilingualism 10, 225−235. Barkhuizen, G., Benson, P. and Chik, A. (2013) Narrative Inquiry in Language Teaching and Learning Research. London: Routledge. Benson, P. (2014) Narrative inquiry in applied linguistics research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 34, 154–170. Bhabha, H. (1990) The third space: Interview with Homi Bhabha. In J. Rutherford (ed.) Identity, Community, Culture, Difference (pp. 207−221). London: Lawrence & Wishart. Bhabha, H.K. (1994) The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. Blackledge, A. (2008) Critical discourse analysis. In Li Wei and M.G. Moyer (eds) The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism (pp. 296−310). Oxford: Blackwell. Blommaert, J. (2010) The Socialisation of Globalisation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Brock, A. and Conteh, J. (2011) Children’s rights, identity and learning: The case for bilingualism. In P. Jones and G. Walker (eds) Children’s Rights in Practice (pp. 124−139). London: Sage. Bryman, A. (2004) Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bucholtz, M. and Hall, K. (2012) Locating identity in language. In L. Carmen and D. Watt (eds) Language and Identities (pp. 18–28). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Canagarajah, S.A.E. (2013) Literacy as Translingual Practice: Between Communities and Classrooms. London: Routledge. Carmen, L. and Watt, D. (eds) (2010) Language and Identities. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Cenoz, J. (2013) Defi ning multilingualism. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 33, 3–18. Chevalier, S. (2015) Trilingual Language Acquisition: Contextual Factors Influencing Active Trilingualism in Early Childhood. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Clark, A. and Moss, P. (2011) Listening to Young Children: The Mosaic Approach. London: National Children’s Bureau (NCB). Clyde, J.A. (1994) Lessons from Douglas: Expanding our visions of what it means to ‘know’. Language Arts 7 (1), 22−23. Comanaru, R. and Dewaele, J.-M. (2015) A bright future for interdisciplinary multilingualism research. International Journal of Multilingualism 12 (4), 1−15. Conseil Constitutionel (1958) La constitution du 4 Octobre 1958, Republique Francaise. Retrieved from: https://www.conseil-constitutionel.fr/sites/default/fi les/as/root/ bank_mm/constitution/constitution.pdf.

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Cox, S. (2005) Intention and meaning in young children’s drawing. International Journal of Art & Design Education 24, 115−125. Cummins, J. and Early, M. (2011) Identity Texts: The Collaborative Creation of Power in Multilingual Schools. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books. Davies, B. and Harré, R. (1990) Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 20, 43−63. Dressler, R. (2014) Exploring linguistic identity in young multilingual learners. TESL Canada Journal/Revue Tesl Du Canada 32, 42−52. Dufva, H., Aro, M., Alanen, R. and Kalaja, P. (2011) Voices of literacy, images of books: Sociocognitive approach to multimodality in learner beliefs. ForumSprache 6, 58−74. Edwards, J.R. (1994) Multilingualism. London: Routledge. Edwards, V. (2009) Learning to be Literate: Multilingual Perspectives. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Garcia, N. (2015) State traditions, language and education policies in France. In L. Cardinal and S. Sonntag (eds) State Traditions and Linguistic Regimes (pp. 219–236). Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. García, O. and Li Wei (2014) Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Grbich, C. (2013) Qualitative Data Analysis. London: Sage. Ibrahim, N. (2014) Perceptions of identity in trilingual 5-year-old twins in diverse preprimary educational contexts. In S. Mourão and M. Lourenço (eds) Early Years Second Language Education: International Perspectives on Theories and Practice (pp. 46−61). London: Routledge. Ibrahim, N. (2016a) Enacting identities: Children’s narratives on person, place and experience in fi xed and hybrid spaces. Education Enquiry 7 (1), 69−91. Ibrahim, N. (2016b) Developing literacy, and identities, in multiple languages. In B.V. Street and S. May (eds) Encyclopaedia of Language and Education (pp. 211−224). Cham: Springer International. İnözü, J. (2017) Drawings are talking: Exploring language learners’ beliefs through visual narratives. Applied Linguistics Review 9 (2–3), 177–200. Jewitt, C. and Kress, G.R. (2003) Multimodal Literacy. New York: Peter Lang. Jolley, R.P. (2009) Children and Pictures: Drawing and Understanding. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Joseph, J.E. (2004) Language and Identity: National, Ethnic, Religious. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kendrick, M. (2016) Literacy and Multimodality across Global Sites. Abingdon: Routledge. Kendrick, M. and Mckay, R. (2009) Researching literacy with young children’s drawings. In M. Narey (ed.) Making Meaning: Constructing Multimodal Perspectives of Language, Literacy, and Learning through Arts-based Early Childhood Education (pp. 53−702). Boston, MA: Springer US. Kramsch, C. (2012) Why is everyone so excited about complexity theory in Applied Linguistics? Mélanges CRAPEL 33, 9−24. Kress, G. (2003) Literacy in the New Media Age. London: Routledge. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (2006) Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge. Li Wei (2007) Methodological issues in the study of bilingualism. In Li Wei (ed.) The Bilingualism Reader (2nd edn) (pp. 495−504). London: Routledge. Martin-Jones, M. and Jones, K. (2000) Multilingual Literacies. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. May, S. (ed.) (2014) The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and Bilingual Education. London: Routledge. Mayall, B. (2000) The sociology of childhood in relation to children’s rights. International Journal of Children’s Rights 8 (3), 243−259.

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Melo Pfeifer, S. and Schmidt, A. (2012) Linking ‘Heritage Language’ education and plurilingual repertoires development: Evidence from drawings of Portuguese pupils in Germany. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature 12, 1−30. Mercer, S. (2014) The self from a complexity perspective. In S. Mercer and M. Williams (eds) Multiple Perspectives on the Self in SLA (pp. 160–174). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Page, R. (ed.) (2010) New Perspectives on Narrative and Multimodality. Abingdon: Routledge. Pahl, K. and Rowsell, J. (2010) Artifactual Literacies: Every Object Tells a Story. New York: Teachers College Press. Pavlenko, A. (2008) Narrative analysis. In Li Wei and M.G. Moyer (eds) The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism (pp. 311−325). Oxford: Blackwell. Pavlenko, A. and Blackledge, A. (2004) Negotiation of Identities in Multilingual Contexts. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Pietikäinen, S., Alanen, R., Dufva, H., Kalaja, P., Leppänen. S. and Pitkänen-Huhta, A. (2008) Languaging in Ultima Thule: Multilingualism in the life of a Sami boy. International Journal of Multilingualism 5 (2), 79–99. Riley, P. (2007) Language, Culture and Identity. London: Continuum. Rose, G. (2007) Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials (2nd edn). London: Sage. Sade, L.A. (2009) Complexity and identity reconstruction in second language acquisition. Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada 9 (2), 515−537. Safont Jorda, M.P. and Portoles Falomir, L. (2015) Learning and Using Multiple Languages: Current Findings from Research on Multilingualism. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. Soltero-González, L. and Reyes, I. (2012) Literacy practices and language use among Latino emergent bilingual children in preschool contexts. In E.B. Bauer and M. Gort (eds) Early Biliteracy Development: Exploring Young Learners’ Use of Their Linguistic Resources (pp. 34−54). Abingdon: Routledge. Suarez-Orozco, M. (2001) Globalization, immigration, and education: The research agenda. Harvard Educational Review 71, 345−365. UNCRC (1989) The Convention on the Rights of the Child. Geneva: United Nations. Ushioda, E. (2009) A person-in-context relational view of emergent motivation and identity. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds) Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self (pp. 215−228). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Vertovec, S. (2007) Super-diversity and its implications. Ethnic and Racial Studies 30, 1024−1054. Vertovec, S. (2009) Transnationalism. London: Routledge. Weedon, C. (1997) Feminist Practice and Poststructuralist Theory. London: Blackwell.

4 Integration as Portrayed in Visual Narratives by Young Refugees in Germany Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer and Alexandra Fidalgo Schmidt

This chapter explores the social integration of recent underage refugees in Hamburg, Germany (N = 12, aged 17–18 years). When about to graduate from a vocational school, the young people were asked to produce two drawings, ‘My life now’ and ‘My life in a year’s time’. The task allowed them to envision their futures and consider the role of German (and other languages) in the process. Despite portrayed difficulties related to housing and learning a new language, the young refugees display a very positive attitude and agency toward integration. In terms of methodology, drawings/visual narratives provided students with a ‘multimodal voice’ in a context where language barriers often challenge the expression of the multilingual self.

Introduction

The study of the integration of refugee children and adolescents into school systems is a growing area of research. In Europe, this is justified by the increasing number of refugees moving from one country to another, for different reasons (Bauböck & Tripkovic, 2017). As Willey (2014) clearly states: Each new demographic shift and economic or social change bring seemingly new issues into popular and political focus – questions, debates, and policies about the role of language in education and society and the recent claims that transnational migrations and globalization are resulting in unprecedented forms of ethnolinguistic ‘super-diversity’. (Willey, 2014: 1)

Our interest in understanding how young refugees perceive their situation and their possibilities of integration is based on the current scenario of Germany being a host country for a significant number of recent refugees 53

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(Hirseland, 2016; Rieger, 2016). Between 1990 and 2015, Germany received 3.2 million refugees seeking asylum. Since 2008 the number of refugees in Germany has consistently risen, more than doubling from 2014 (202,834 asylum seekers) to 2015 (476,649 asylum seekers) – an increase of 135%. This developing population is constituted mainly of men (70%), aged under 30 (71%), with a large number of individuals under 18 (31%). Of this new potential school population, 80% are boys. It should also be stated that around 117,000 asylum seekers are under 16 and 20,000 are between 16 and 18 years old. Incredibly, over 85% of these adolescents are unaccompanied minors. The most common countries of origin of the new arrivals at school are Syria (45,000), Afghanistan (14,000) and Iraq (14,000). Other growing communities include Albania, Eritrea, Kosovo and Serbia. Some of the major challenges for the German school system brought by the new school population are their linguistic and cultural diversity, and the different educational cultures and contrasting teaching and learning habitus they bring with them, which make it challenging to ensure the education of this heterogeneous group of learners. Another important aspect is problems caused by exposure to and direct experience of war, violence and poverty, with psychological and emotional sequelae in children and youth (Block et al., 2012; Kanno & Varghese, 2010; Markmann & Osburg, 2016). School integration, as part of a new and sometimes intermittent and discontinuous life abroad – dependent on the recognition of refugee status and the duration of allowed stay – is just a part of the challenges refugees have to deal with: What comes after school? Will they be allowed to stay? What perspectives do they have for their professional and personal lives after school? How do they imagine their social integration in Germany? In the present study, assuming an exploratory nature, we aim at gaining some insights into the settlement experiences and representations of social integration of young refugees in Germany, namely regarding their perceptions of language learning experiences.1 To do so, we will present, analyse and discuss a set of visual narratives collected from recent refugees in a vocational school in Hamburg (Germany), by the teacher and also contributor to this chapter, during the school year 2015–2016. We will describe, through a qualitative and multisemiotic analysis of visual narratives from a small sample of students (one classroom), how young refugees conceive integration, and the role they assign to the school and to linguistic resources in that process; to do so, we will compare visual productions referring to students’ lives ‘today’ and in ‘the near future’. Before presenting the empirical study, we will discuss the notions of refugee and of social integration. Background to the Study Refugee and refugee students

The term refugee is usually applied to people ‘with (or whose parents have) recognised refugee status, Exceptional Leave to Remain, other

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formal status, or who are asylum seekers’ (Hek, 2005: 158). Despite the apparent equality of treatment in the defi nition of ‘refugee’, Taylor and Sidhu (2012) remind us of what could be called the stratification of refugees in hosting countries, according to race, class, gender, religion, language(s), origins, political affi liations and educational experiences, among other aspects. Stratification and selection are visible in the way refugees can, with more or less difficulty, gain access to citizenship (Vink, 2017). We recognise that refugee is a highly politicised and ideological term that acquires new interpretations or is dealt with differently according to political, social and economic agendas in different countries. According to Taylor and Sidhu (2012), it is possible to distinguish between forced migration and economic migration as the main reasons to leave the country of origin. The distinction is difficult and the realities can be intertwined, including aspects related to both forced and economic migration, as in the case of migration due to the environmental and climate change. Regardless of different interpretations, ‘refugee status implies the right to protection’ (Korac, 2003: 52). Regarding refugee students, the focus of this contribution, it is necessary to acknowledge that they ‘are not a homogenous group, and have a range of different needs, experiences and expectations’ (Hek, 2005: 158). Also, it should be stated that refugee students are not a group that should be merged with other migrants, because of their forced departure from their home land (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012: 42). Despite their differences, refugees are often seen as homogeneous and ‘rarely targeted with a specific policy’ (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012: 43). Mostly, they are looked at as problems in the classroom and school systems, since they are likely to have an initial lack of linguistic resources in the schooling language and also a need for psycho-social and emotional support. We  could thus conclude that refugee students, in their diversity, have specific learning, social and emotional needs, but schools tend to concentrate exclusively on linguistic issues and construct refugee students as ‘traumatised’ and ‘masking the significance of post-migration experiences’ (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012: 43), overlooking ‘broader dimensions of inequality and disadvantage’ (Matthews, 2008: 32, as cited in Taylor & Sidhu, 2012: 44; also Kanno & Varghese, 2010). Social integration of refugees

In the realm of the social sciences, integration is a ‘vague’ and ‘chaotic’ term (Korac, 2003: 52; also Ager & Strang, 2008). It is connected to an array of other concepts with positive or negative connotations (such as inclusion, insertion, assimilation, adaptation, acculturation and incorporation, to name but a few) and used in both lay and specialist discourses. It is usually present in discussions about minorities, migrants, refugees and expatriates, and connected to issues such as social justice and

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cohesion, citizenship and access to membership, rights and opportunities. We can understand integration ‘in a broad sense as the process by which immigrants become accepted into society, both as individuals and as groups’ (Vink, 2017: 25). Integration, a synonym or short for social integration and the opposite of social exclusion, has been dealt with in the literature as a dynamic, many-sided, complex, unstable and unpredictable process (Korac, 2003; Vink, 2017), because it is described as multi-layered, overlapping and not subject-only dependent. These characteristics are used to label a process that is bidirectional/two-way, depending as much on the individual as on the hosting society and reconfiguring both equally (Ager & Strang, 2008; Bauböck & Tripkovic, 2017; European Commission, 2016; Korac, 2003; Strang & Ager, 2010). Integration may also be perceived as a negative process that implies adaptation, mandatory transfiguration and assimilation, and the imposed incorporation in the mainstream host society, disregarding the linguistic and cultural history that migrants and refugees bring with them (United Nations, 1994). However, it should be stated that this is not a unanimous standpoint and it has been reported that migrants themselves make an enormous effort to learn the language of the hosting country as a sign of respect and goodwill, and not merely to become part of the mainstream (Eisenchlas & Schalley, 2017). The European Commisission has recently discussed the state of affairs and progress made regarding integration in Europe, stating that ‘third-country nationals across the EU continue to fare worse than EU citizens in terms of employment, education, and social inclusion outcomes’ (European Commission, 2016: 2), which has been highlighted in many international comparative studies. The Commission further states that ‘research suggests that third-country nationals continue to face barriers in the education system, in the labour market, and in accessing decent housing’ (European Commission, 2016: 3). Other problems making social integration difficult are prejudice, racism and xenophobia as well as the extremely discretionary and expensive pathway to citizenship (Vink, 2017). Regarding social integration of refugees, the Commission recognises that they face specific problems, such as vulnerability resulting from traumas suffered, lack of documentation including as regards qualifications, inactivity prior to and during asylum procedure, but also cultural and language barriers and risks of stigmatization in education and in the labour and the housing market, which are not limited to refugees alone. (European Commission, 2016: 4)

In terms of specific policies, the Commission acknowledges that access to the labour market and to the language of the host countries are just the

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fi rst step in a successful integration process. In her study with exYugoslavian refugees, Korac (2003: 62) also found that ‘integration is importantly linked to the conditions of immediate settlement’. Another aspect regarding the social integration of refugees, as Vink (2017) recognises, is the legal status and protections afforded to them, namely in access to naturalisation and citizenship which, despite significant differences between host countries and across migrant groups, have a paramount effect on active participation and thus on social integration. Finally, another aspect worth mentioning is the mental and psychological wellbeing of refugees who, because of their lived experiences in their countries of origin, may be suffering from stress, pressure, trauma and/or depression. So, paths for a successful integration process should also take into account this psychological dimension, bearing in mind what the refugees have experienced and left behind and what they envision ahead. Aims of the Study

This study has three major aims: (1) to grasp the elements of sociolinguistic, economic and educational life circumstances that are portrayed by one specific group of refugees; (2) to compare, based on their own portrayals, how their current lives and the lives they imagine for themselves in a year’s time are different and conclude on their perception of integration in the host society; and (3) to investigate the roles their linguistic resources play in that perception of integration. 2 In order to answer our research questions, we opted for an exploratory study designed to frame a forthcoming large-scale study on the perception of young refugees toward their integration in Germany. Considering that this particular population typically lacks the linguistic competence to allow for the reliable collection of verbal data, added to problems relating to the use of interpreters and translators (Block et al., 2012), we decided to apply a visual method known as ‘visual narratives’ (Kalaja et al., 2013). Our aim was not to collect a large amount of visual narratives; instead, we aimed at collecting enough material to frame our concerns and understand the validity of a visual narrative analysis as a research method better suited to work with our specific population. Finally, we also followed a method of exploratory data analysis (Stebbins, 2008), which allows us some flexibility and adaptability, in an attempt at laying the groundwork for further studies. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures Context of data collection

The data were collected in the context of a German second language (L2) class in a vocational school 3 in Hamburg, Germany. This class adheres to the curriculum of a recent form of educational system in

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Hamburg called AvM-Dual [Duale Ausbildungvorbereitung für Migranten]. This educational system was implemented in 2016 in 36 vocational schools in Hamburg and is an educational response available to young migrants aged between 16 and 18 years. Recently arrived migrants aged six to 15 years are placed in the so-called IVK [Internationale Vorbereitungsklasse], where they are prepared to integrate into regular classes, by learning German. The AvM-Dual, on the other hand, does not aim to integrate their students into regular classes, but to prepare them to enter the labour market. In fact, the main objectives of AvM-Dual include: (1) a better integration into the working world; (2) an enhanced language learning process; (3) an intercultural education in a full-time school; and (4) individualised teaching which accompanies the students to a possible graduation. As mentioned above, the data were collected during a German (L2) class in February 2016, involving the regular class teacher (also co-author of this contribution), in a working atmosphere perceived as positive, that is, based on respectful, trustful and friendly interaction in class. The activity was integrated in the daily classroom tasks. The participants’ language level in German, according to the Common European Framework of Reference, was A2, so they could understand the instructions given, even if some additional non-verbal explanations were needed (see below). The participants were 12 students, 10 male and two female, 17 and 18 years of age, and their German (L2) and English (as a foreign language) teacher. Their different origins are Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Kurdistan and Romania; the languages spoken include Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Kurdish, Turkish and Romanian (besides English, German and Italian). The added value of using visual narratives in this study

In this chapter, we have already claimed that visual narratives can be understood as a respectful method of data collection with populations that do not share the language of researchers (see also Bagnoli, 2009; Robinson-Pant & Wolf, 2017). Indeed, in this exploratory study we recognise various advantages in the use of visual narratives as data collection tools. Previous research has shown that standard verbal prompts or questions may fail to engage the participation of young refugees in the case of reduced competence in the language in which research occurs (Block et al., 2012). Since our data collection takes place in a scenario where linguistic skills are not shared (or only partially shared) by researchers/ teachers and students, drawing may be a more suitable method of gathering the participants’ views and perspectives. First, collecting drawings avoids some of the concepts and research habitus present in ‘verbal methods’, e.g. in questionnaires, which may not fi nd correspondence in different cultures (cf. Block et al., 2012; Robinson-Pant & Wolf, 2017) and thus

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reduces the ‘symbolic violence’ attached to the use of foreign languages. It can be said that resorting to visual narratives avoids ‘lingualism’ (Block, 2014), allows data collection to start from the very arrival (i.e. the beginning of the integration process), and that it fosters ‘intercultural ethics in research methods’ (Phipps, 2013: 12; Robinson-Pant & Wolf, 2017). Furthermore, research with multilingual subjects in diverse contexts has been shown to be a valid and complex way of accessing the imagery associated with living with and across multiple languages (Melo-Pfeifer, 2017; Molinié, 2009; Moore & Castellotti, 2011). Secondly, visual narratives can be understood as ‘direct non-verbal discourse’; that is, instead of listening to teachers, social workers, psychiatrists and principals, the use of drawings allows the researcher direct access to the creative self-expression of the self (Bagnoli, 2009). We could call this method of data collection minimally intrusive, because it avoids the presence of mediators or the mediation of translation which can produce misunderstanding or misrepresentation of participants’ perspectives (Block et al., 2012; also Hek, 2005; RobinsonPant & Wolf, 2017). Thirdly, the autonomy and creativity afforded in the production of the visual narrative foster self-esteem and empowerment: the multimodal voice – or ‘visual voice’ (Thomson, 2008) – presented in the drawings takes part in the construction and reconstruction of emotional and psychological lives (Kearney & Hyle, 2004), i.e. the participants’ own identity. Indeed, ‘integrating visual methodologies with critical pedagogies may provide a way forward and, importantly, in a more ethical manner’ (Arizpe et al., 2014: 305). The task

We asked the students to produce a drawing divided into two parts: ‘My life today’ (‘mein Leben heute’) and ‘My life in a year’s time’ (‘mein Leben in einem Jahr’). It was necessary to explain the task several times, with the aid of visual and gestural explanations as well. The students were told to make use of drawings as well as other semiotic resources, such as their multilingual repertoires. The teacher-instructor avoided influencing or setting expectations in terms of outcomes. The aim of the task was twofold: on the one hand, to capture the actual sociolinguistic, economic and educational conditions surrounding the life of recent refugees in Hamburg; on the other, to grasp students’ expectations of social integration in Germany and thus scrutinise the emotional impact of ‘change-through-education’ in refugees’ lives. The task was conceptualised with the aim of answering the research questions; however, we were particularly aware of some specific advantages of this drawing task. Indeed, it has been put forward that the absence of contents related to minorities on school curricula may seriously damage

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the self-image of minority group children, negatively affecting their performance (Heckmann, 2008, quoted by Essomba et al., 2017: 19). Our task put the students at the core of the subject, by eliciting individual accounts of personal perspectives. Furthermore, it has been shown that refugees are far too often portrayed as a mass or a large anonymous group, dehumanising the individual and their individualised experiences (Bleiker et al., 2013). By focusing on the ‘self’, the task was meant to individualise the participants’ experiences, beliefs and goals, valuing a voice not subsumed to the group. The empty sheet was imagined as a space of freedom in which each participant could create a sort of ‘narrative identity’. Another relevant aspect to the double task – ‘My life today’ and ‘My life in a year’s time’ – was to avoid the tendency to concentrate on past experiences (of loss and grieving), giving a sense of future and of personification (projects, aims and achievements). Regardless of the different experiences these students may have had to go through, imagining a future is the fi rst step toward hope and the overcoming of traumatic experiences. Finally, it should be pointed out that no other materials than a blank sheet and pencils/crayons were given to the students. No silhouetted shapes or other pre-structured forms were provided. This structure was induced by the task itself, which intended to encourage the participants ‘to present specific pieces of information about the components of the change they chose to address’ (Kearney & Hyle, 2004: 378). The task instruction was designed to avoid the danger that, without guidance, drawings would disperse too much in terms of focus, becoming irrelevant for our research. Students gave their consent for their drawings to be analysed under anonymisation (which was achieved by eliminating all information regarding authors). Data analysis

This drawing-based research fits into what Thomson (2008) calls the ‘visual sociology’, in which visual artefacts are produced as part of a research project: they do not exist before the research, but rather are elicited during the research (also Rose, 2016: 307–329). The process of elicitation is relevant to understand the corpora and the process of data analysis. Since elicitation is dependent upon task instruction in a particular context (a foreign language classroom), drawings are not automatic and spontaneous windows to the students’ lives as refugees. Instead, they are products of multiple and ad hoc choices operated by the participants in the particular situation: every drawing is the product of a selection process regarding what should/can be produced (for example: objects, elements, persons, places, etc.) and how it should/can be produced (for example: frame, focus, colours, etc.). Because of the context of the task (production in a school environment), the hierarchical relation characterising the

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pedagogical situation (teacher and students) and an eventual presentation of results in front of the class (presumably in the foreign language), to name but some of the conditions surrounding the production and collection of the drawings, it is plausible to admit that every element drawn was carefully and consciously chosen, therefore having a particular emotional charge. Acknowledging the attention given to a careful choosing of elements (which can be called ‘semiotic work’, Mavers, 2011: 9) and because previous research has shown that, while drawing, participants tend to concentrate on the most relevant features (Kearney & Hyle, 2004: 373; Mavers, 2011), a content analysis of the visual material was carried out (Rose, 2016). However, counting elements and providing a quantitative account of the drawings would not be sufficient in our study, both because the individual affective dimension attached to the ‘future’ as it is imagined by our population which can require a detailed qualitative account, and because the sample would not give any guarantee of reliability if treated from a purely quantitative point of view. With this in mind, we combined content analysis with a visual semiotic analysis, in order to interpret how signs combine and make sense of and with each other (Rose, 2016: 107; see also Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006; van Leeuwen, 2005). The main point of this approach, more qualitative in nature but not offering ‘a clear method for its application’ (Rose, 2016: 110), is to see how young refugees ‘use semiotic “resources” both to produce communicative artefacts and events and to interpret them – which is also a form of semiotic production – in the context of specific social situations and practices’ (van Leeuwen, 2005: xi). This rather eclectic data analysis procedure was considered more convenient in order to give an exact account of the gathered material and in fi nding answers to the research questions. Findings

For the analysis, we will use some of the collected data as ‘visual quotations’ to access the imagery of ‘integration’ or, as we will see, the imagery of what counts as ‘successful integration’, seen from students’ perspectives. Elements portrayed by young refugees

A preliminary observation of our corpus points to the depiction of shared housing and the school life (predominately the German classroom) as being of particular importance. Student refugees give particular attention to the representation of learning environments, both micro (like the classroom or the room where they study at ‘home’) and macro (the school). As we will see, however, they focus on these aspects very differently.

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Figure 4.1 Today: Focus on Lernen (‘learning’)

Figure 4.1 represents, in a visual language akin to a comic strip, the main aspects of one participant’s daily life: shared housing, going to school to learn German, returning home to study autonomously and integrating a music school. The drawing makes clear the interconnection between learning in a group and learning on one’s own, underlined by the repetition of the word lernen (‘learning’ or ‘to learn’). The word is used in three of four depicted scenes, thus revealing that learning is the main activity and achievement in a normal day. Figures 4.2 and 4.3 also stress the role of acquiring competences and learning to achieve success. Figure 4.2 represents four elements, three of them with verbal or symbolic captions: ich (‘me’), Document (in English), Schule (‘school’) and $ (referring to money). The other element is a motorbike. The student holds a document in his hand, symbolising the

Figure 4.2 Today: Focus on school

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Figure 4.3 In a year’s time: Focus on career

importance of being documented in Germany. Even if the school is the largest element in size, a kind of hierarchy is achieved through the positioning of the money purse above the roof of the school, which is underlined by the fact that the money has been given a colourful prominence. The school, in contrast, seems an austere building, with few windows and lack of identifying elements. The fact that the money is above the school and has been given colour (gold being representative of coins) could signify a dream to achieve. Figure 4.3 does not focus on the classroom or school but rather on the subject the student is pursuing (‘Grafik design’, written in German). Once more, the word Lernen is prominent, giving meaning to the depiction of the computer and to the area of interest signalled. The interest in graphic design is reinforced through the extending lines that accompany the representation of the computer screen, giving a sense of geometry or communicating the use of a vector-based drawing program. This drawing is also particularly detailed, even including the brand on the computer (Samsung). Differences between ‘today’ and ‘in a year’s time’

Figures 4.4 and 4.5, both drawn by the same student, reveal the expected positive changes after attending school and being educated in German as the language of the host country. These drawings clearly represent a process of evolution and are eloquent despite (or perhaps because of) their minimalism. Particularly noticeable are changes regarding facial expressions (eye contact and a smiley face in the second drawing) and artefacts portrayed (from a pencil and a German book in the first drawing to a smartphone and money in the second). Figures 4.6 and 4.7, produced by different students, also depict very positive developments of life conditions in Germany, related to economic wellbeing and access to university. Both refer to ‘my life in a year’s time’. Figure 4.6 can be seen to have a dual structure: on the left, we recognise

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Figure 4.4 Today: ‘Me today’

Figure 4.5 In a year’s time: ‘Me in a year’s time’

Figure 4.6 In a year’s time: A bright future?

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Figure 4.7 In a year’s time: Accessing university

the subject (captioned ich – ‘I/me’) entering/leaving university; on the right, three symbols of fi nancial growth are represented – a sports car, three bags of money and visiting Paris. The value of the reference to Paris in this drawing could have at least two plausible explanations: Paris and geographic mobility could be interpreted as a metaphor for being well-off (travel and tourism) or an indication of Hamburg as a temporary place on the way to somewhere else within a more complex trajectory of migration. The caption Paris Gehen (literally ‘Paris to go’), accompanied by an arrow, is insufficient to assert the author’s intention. Figure 4.7 illustrates another student’s desired academic progression. It clearly shows the will to leave Real Schule (an intermediate school level generally leading to the labour market) and enter into university (the drawing explicitly refers to Universität (‘university’) and Studium (‘High School’)). In a different colour and above the university building, the student wrote Zukunft (‘future’), a chronological progression without a definite time frame, implying that it may take more than one year to achieve university admission. Comparative representations of life conditions in a year’s time reveal positive attitudes and hopes: the future is associated with fi nancial wellbeing, further education and mobility (visiting or moving to other countries). So, at least for some of the students, the professional path offered to them seems not to be enough or seems to be understood as the fi rst step to further academic studies and other kinds of careers. Roles assigned to linguistic resources

As already mentioned, a great deal of attention is given to school life and the acquisition of the majority language of the host country (Figure  4.8). In this context, previous linguistic resources might be expected to be used as situated mobile resources and capital. However, as

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Figure 4.8 Today versus in a year’s time: Focus on assessment in the L2

we can see in Figure 4.8, the major concern regards evaluation (Prüfung/‘examination’) in the new language as a milestone for the participants. Figure 4.8 is also eloquent in the symmetry of representations (continuation of Figure 4.1). In the top drawing, referring to ‘today’, 12 students have an open schoolbook in front of them, but seem to have quite a passive role in the learning situation (hands down). Someone is writing on the blackboard and it is not clear who it is or where the teacher might be. Students share a table. In the drawing beneath, referring to the ‘future’, a blackboard and schoolbooks are absent and the teacher’s presence, as an examiner, is prominent, depicted through a large female figure. Students answer the exams on separate tables and show a more dynamic position (hands on, as they seem to be writing). Instead of 12 students, only nine are now portrayed, perhaps an allusion to the fact that not all students reach this stage in their studies. Figures 4.9 and 4.10, by the same student, portray the expected evolution in terms of academic achievements (from Deutsch lernen to Studium). Once again, the parallelism is quite telling: we can observe evolutions in the quantity of books on the table (from two to seven), the presence of a

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Figure 4.9 Today: From language learning …

Figure 4.10 In a year’s time: … to the university

laptop in the second drawing, and even the more sophisticated furniture in the second one when compared to the first. The subjects of the books being read are also different: in the first image, the student holds a book on learning German, and in the second a book on the subject the student intends to pursue in the future. As can be observed, German is almost the only linguistic resource portrayed (despite the freedom to portray or write in other languages, which was explained by the teacher before starting the task). The students clearly value the host country’s official language and systematically see linguistic proficiency as a required milestone to access higher education levels, wellbeing and fi nancial comfort. It is also important to notice that the motivation to learn German seems closer to utilitarian aims than integrative or affective motives, as no drawing reports using German in communicative situations. Indeed, the academic perspective of acquiring

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linguistic competences (with all the references to exams, school and schoolbooks) seems to be the overriding concern in this context. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

Our results suggest that most of our participants, despite a more or less traumatic or deprived past, arrive in Germany full of optimism and are integrated in school determined to succeed, even when facing challenges such as housing and learning a new language. In this sense, they seem to be similar to refugee-background youth in other parts of the globe, such as Australia (Block et al., 2012). In terms of dimensions of social integration portrayed, only education and profession are represented in the drawings, thus showing a focus primarily on functional aspects of social integration. Education seems to be perceived primarily as a path to develop skills in German, which is connected to a strong motivation – the professional dimension as a step to fi nancial wellbeing. Education (mainly linguistic education), professional development and financial wellbeing are consistently reported as interconnected in the literature (Bauböck & Tripkovic, 2017; European Commission, 2016) and are portrayed accordingly by our students. The data collected are also expressive in what is not portrayed: culture and social relationships in the host society are absent. This may be justified by the fact that some of the subjects are unaccompanied students still challenged by a lack of social contacts outside the classroom. Even when the classroom is portrayed, it is not presented as a place of social contact: it is more like the juxtaposition of individuals, with no signs of interpersonal contact. Another aspect that may have led to this absence is the context of the task completion: the task had been developed for a schooling setting, and the students may thus have overlooked the role of the broader context. An unexpected result of this study relates to integration per se in the school system. Pinson and Arnot (2007: 405, as cited in Taylor & Sidhu, 2012: 54) claim that ‘as the absolute stranger, the asylum seeking child could tell us something about how we defi ne education and its role in society’. The portraits of school life give us two important insights into the schooling of this group. The fi rst is that there is a remarkable and eloquent absence of references to the mother tongue(s), in spite of the emotional connection attached to it, even when allowed by the teacher in the project. This might suggest that German schools tend to erase or make invisible L1 and other plurilingual resources, likely due to a still prevalent monolingual mindset in the educational system (Gogolin, 1994). Another explanation for this invisibility comes from the possibility that refugee students themselves may be strongly committed to learning the language(s) of the host country in order to show civic duty and as a pathway to academic success and economic security (Eisenchlas & Schalley, 2017: 8). So,

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learning the language of the host country may be connected to strong intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and thus to high levels of agency (and resilience) in pursuing this goal. Thus, despite considerations of the school and educational system as being responsible for the language attrition, language loss and language shift of migrants and refugees, we could argue that the agency of migrant and refugee individuals is of paramount importance when analysing their linguistic practices and linguistic projects. The second insight refers to the (pre-formatted) professional/vocational school paths allocated to these students, which appear to be in contradiction to the high school and university expectations they express. Our results show that these students aim to attend higher levels of education, perhaps unaware of the uneven paths presented by the German school system (from the professionalising path they are currently following in, a shift to an academic path is rather difficult, although it remains possible). In terms of foreign language education, we can imagine the use of these drawings not only as a task whose product is addressed to the teacher, but mainly as a prompt to foster students’ participation in the classroom. As previous research in different contexts has shown (Kearney & Hyle, 2004: 375), experience of drawing, curiosity about colleagues’ drawings and a wish to share and talk about them are closely intertwined, favouring classroom interaction. Another aspect worth mentioning is the need to design action-oriented tasks in the classroom, providing chances to share personal experiences and thus fostering a more active position in the classroom. In terms of methodology, drawings/visual narratives fulfilled the role of the multimodal voice of students lacking a ‘common language’, as a ‘form of expression that sidesteps language barriers’ (Arizpe et al., 2014: 306). The collection of visual narratives in our particular context thus successfully addresses challenges posed by linguistic asymmetries and compels us to further discuss the ‘ethical values in the use of intercultural research methods’ (Phipps, 2013: 17). It seems that a ‘visual turn’ (Kalaja & Pitkänen-Huhta, 2018) in research in multilingual contexts, where participants do not share a common language, could be a further step in the process of ‘listening’ to them and giving them a voice (see also Korac, 2003). Some studies refer to ‘the consistency between the drawings and the verbal report’ and the need to resort to participants’ participation in order to fully understand those drawings (Kearney & Hyle, 2004). In our case, this co-interpretation would likely have become seriously compromising or biasing because of the difference in linguistic competences among the participants, leading us to choose not to further intervene in the process of giving sense to the drawings. We felt confident that the task design (portraying ‘present’ and ‘future’) could be effective in answering our research goals, as the portrayal of changes adds a layer of meaning to drawings – that refugees’ productions would, as in other studies, thus show the ‘single most salient feature or perception’ (Kearney & Hyle,

70 Part 1: The Multilingual Self

2004: 373). From this perspective, drawings are more than ‘an important additional source of data’ (Kearney & Hyle, 2004: 380, our emphasis), as they reveal ‘the subjective world of the actor’s experience’ (Korac, 2003: 53) and provide an individual defi nition of successful social integration. While not being representative of all refugee individuals attending German classes in the described context, our conclusions are consistent with previous accounts in the literature on integration and language acquisition among expatriated subjects, while at the same time providing a glimpse of individual perspectives and of their emotional and psychological state. So, drawings could be considered data with full heuristic capability. Finally, we are aware of possible problems connected to the nature of exploratory research. First, it may be claimed that our study generated a reduced pool of qualitative data whose interpretation is subject to interpretative bias. Indeed, as is the case with other exploratory studies, ours also made use of a modest number of drawings. In response, we would point out that it was not our intention to represent the target population of refugee children and youth in the German school system but rather to frame a research question resorting to a specific methodology and a specific theoretical viewpoint. Secondly, however, valid claims could be made that the subjectivity of interpretations, even if constantly present in any data analysis, could be enhanced by the intercultural and ideological beliefs of the researchers; we admit that this research relates to ‘hot’ political, educational and social issues (the integration of refugees and the problems or challenges associated to it). We are compelled to state, as a declaration of interest – of sorts – that both researchers have migratory paths, which may induce a certain sympathy for the participating students. Thus, a question that could be asked is: what is the role of researchers’ ideologies and biographies in conceiving the research aims and in choosing between diff erent available research methodologies? In terms of research perspectives, further scenarios could be forecast: students could be asked to comment on their first drawings and on their actuality; within a longitudinal tradition (Bagnoli, 2009), they could be asked to produce new drawings and compare them with the fi rst ones, in order to analyse the developments of their representations of integration, the evolution of their motivation to learn German and the progress of their lived experiences in Germany. This effort might encounter difficulties in contexts where refugees or asylum seekers are at the heart of the research, as the volatile nature of their stay in the host country and in the school system can undermine the continuity of the research. Two other possibilities are also opened up by the evolution of participants’ linguistic repertoires: co-interpretative practices developed in the classroom, and complementing the visual narrative research with a (textual and/or oral) narrative research on (representations of) integration.

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Notes (1) We are grateful for the contribution of all the students who participated in this study and made it possible. (2) This question is being studied as part of an international research project, ‘Écoles, plurilinguismes, migrations/Schools, plurilingualisms, migrations’, coordinated by Université du Maine, France, in which the authors of this chapter are taking part. The project includes researchers from Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland. (3) BS13: Berufl iche Schule Anlagen- und Konstruktionstechnik am Inselpark.

References Ager, A. and Strang, A. (2008) Understanding integration: A conceptual framework. Journal of Refugee Studies 21 (2), 166–191. Arizpe, E., Bagelman, C., Devlin, A., Farrell, M. and McAdam, J. (2014) Visualizing intercultural literacy: Engaging critically with diversity and migration in the classroom through an image-based approach. Language and Intercultural Communication 14 (3), 304–321. Bagnoli, A. (2009) Beyond the standard interview: The use of graphic elicitation and artbased methods. Qualitative Research 9 (5), 547–570. Bauböck, R. and Tripkovic, M. (eds) (2017) The Integration of Migrants and Refugees. Florence: European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Bleiker, R., Campbell, D., Hutchison, E. and Nicholson, X. (2013) The visual dehumanisation of refugees. Australian Journal of Political Science 48 (4), 398–416. Block, D. (2014) Moving beyond ‘lingualism’: Multilingual embodiment and multimodality in SLA. In S. May (ed.) The Multilingual Turn (pp. 54–77). Oxford: Routledge. Block, K., Warr, D., Gibbs, L. and Riggs, E. (2012) Addressing ethical and methodological challenges in research with refugee-background young people: Reflections from the field. Journal of Refugee Studies 26 (1), 69–87. Eisenchlas, A. and Schalley, A. (2017) Reaching out to migrant and refugee communities to support home language maintenance. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1281218 Essomba, M.A., Tarrés, A. and Franco-Guillén, N. (2017) Migrant Education: Monitoring and Assessment. Brussels: European Union. See http://www.europarl. europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/585903/IPOL_STU(2017)585903_EN.pdf (accessed 21 April 2017). European Commission (2016) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – Action Plan on the Integration of Third Country Nationals. Brussels: European Commission. Gogolin, I. (1994) Der monolinguale Habitus der multilingualen Schule. Münster: Waxmann Verlag. Hek, R. (2005) The role of education in the settlement of young refugees in the UK: The experiences of young refugees. Practice 17 (3), 157–171. Hirseland, K. (2016) Flucht und Asyl: Aktuelle Entwicklungen. In G. Markmann and C. Osburg (eds) Kinder und Jugendliche mit Fluchterfahrungen in der Schule (pp. 5–17). Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag. Kalaja, P. and Pitkänen-Huhta, A. (2018) Introduction to ALR Special Issue ‘Visual Methods in Applied Language Studies’. Applied Linguistics Review 9 (2–3), 157–176. Kalaja, P., Dufva, H. and Alanen, R. (2013) Experimenting with visual narratives. In G. Barkhuizen (ed.) Narrative Research in Applied Linguistics (pp. 105–131). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Kanno, Y. and Varghese, M. (2010) Immigrant and refugee ESL students’ challenges to accessing four-year college education: From language policy to educational policy. Journal of Language, Identity & Education 9 (5), 312–328. Kearney, K. and Hyle, A. (2004) Drawing out emotions: The use of participant-produced drawings in qualitative inquiry. Qualitative Research 4 (3), 361–382. Korac, M. (2003) Integration and how we facilitate it: A comparative study of the settlement experiences of refugees in Italy and the Netherlands. Sociology 37 (1), 51–66. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (2006) Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge. Markmann, G. and Osburg, C. (eds) (2016) Kinder und Jugendliche mit Fluchterfahrungen in der Schule. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag. Mavers, D. (2011) Children’s Drawing and Writing: The Remarkable in the Unremarkable. Abingdon: Routledge. Melo-Pfeifer, S. (2017) Drawing the multilingual self: How children portray their multilingual resources. IRAL – International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 55 (1), 41–60. Molinié, M. (ed.) (2009) Le dessin réfl exif: Élément pour une herméneutique du sujet plurilingue. Cergy-Pontoise: Université de Cergy-Pontoise. Moore, D. and Castellotti, V. (2011) Dessins d’enfants, recherche qualitative, interprétation. Des poly-textes pour l’étude des imaginaires du plurilinguisme. In Ph. Blanchet and P. Chardenet (eds) Guide pour la recherché en Didactique des Langues (pp. 118–132). Paris: Éditions des Archives Contemporaines. Phipps, A. (2013) Intercultural ethics: Questions of methods in language and intercultural communication. Language and Intercultural Communication 13 (1), 10–26. Rieger, U. (2016) Flucht und Ankommen – Warum Kinder ihre Heimat verlassen und was sie in ihrer neuen Heimat erwartet. In G. Markmann and C. Osburg (eds) Kinder und Jugendliche mit Fluchterfahrungen in der Schule (pp. 30–41). Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag. Robinson-Pant, A. and Wolf, A. (eds) (2017) Researching Across Languages and Cultures: A Guide to Doing Research Interculturally. Abingdon: Routledge. Rose, G. (2016) Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Methodologies (4th edn). London: Sage. Stebbins, R. (2008) Exploratory data analysis. In L. Given (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods (pp. 325–326). London: Sage. Strang, A. and Ager, A. (2010) Refugee integration: Emerging trends and remaining agendas. Journal of Refugee Studies 23 (4), 589–607. Taylor, S. and Sidhu, R. (2012) Supporting refugee students in schools: What constitutes inclusive education? International Journal of Inclusive Education 16 (1), 39–56. Thomson, P. (2008) Doing Visual Research with Children and Young People. Abingdon: Routledge. United Nations (1994) Social Integration: Approaches and Issues. UNRISD Briefi ng Paper No. 1, World Summit for Social Development. Geneva: United Nations. van Leeuwen, T. (2005) Introducing Social Semiotics. London: Routledge. Vink, M. (2017) Citizenship and legal statuses in relation to the integration of migrants and refugees. In R. Bauböck and M. Tripkovic (eds) The Integration of Migrants and Refugees (pp. 24–79). Florence: European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Willey, T. (2014) Diversity, super-diversity, and monolingual language ideology in the United States: Tolerance or intolerance? Review of Research in Education 38, 1–32.

5 From the Migration Experience to its Visual Narration in International Mobility Muriel Molinié

This chapter introduces a way for international students studying in universities in France to reflect on their lives and envision their future in terms of social mobility. With this in mind, they were instructed to produce a drawing describing their background and visualising their mobility in the years to come in Europe or beyond. The process of visual narratives allows individuals to describe and confront not only objective conditions but also their feelings and subjective points of view of their past, present and future (im)mobilities. This allows them to access an understanding of international mobility as a contemporary experience, this understanding being both objective and subjective on psychological, emotional and social levels.

Introduction

After three decades, the development of Erasmus programmes and student mobilities within the European context of higher education has confronted language education with a challenge: to become aware of, and transform, the experience of the journey undertaken by international students. At stake is the development of their plurilingual, intercultural and pluricultural competences. A few scholars have risen to this challenge, integrating the journey (to one or several destinations, short or long duration) into formative paths in languages and cultures (Anquetil & Molinié, 2008; Gohard-Radenkovic & Veillette, 2015; Molinié, 2015b; Pungier, 2009). In this chapter, I will discuss the role that visual narratives can play in transforming the language classroom into a resonance box of mobility experiences. For this purpose, the concept of random, referred to by Serres (1997), 73

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will be taken into consideration: the journey which has a goal, but which also unfolds a little by chance. Indeed, I have dedicated part of my life as a researcher to valuing this phenomenological and aesthetic experience around international students coming from different foreign universities on an academic sojourn in France. First it was video-letters (Maurice & Molinié, 1994), then the dramatisation of life stories (Molinié & Liberman, 1998) that led me to progress in this direction, cumulating in the creation of a CD-ROM project, called The Travel-knowledge1 (Molinié, 2000). This chapter is organised into two parts: fi rst, I will introduce the theoretical framework, built at the crossroads of artistic and scientific practices in the social sciences; and secondly, I will report the study of a corpus of drawings produced in 2005–2006 and examine how the graphic representations of ‘paths and projects of international mobility’ produce shared knowledge about the place of international mobilities in plurilingual trajectories and students’ future projects. Background to the Study

From early on, two questions were clear to me as a researcher and teacher of French as a foreign language (FFL) to foreign students in mobility in several university FFL programmes in France and the United States. First, how can bi/plurilingual students represent their international mobility experience visually? Secondly, how does this representation allow them to reflect upon and understand the formative and existential impact of their mobilities, in order for them to take an active role in the experience instead of undergoing it? These two questions guided me in the quest for a theoretical background for my pedagogical activity. The two following sections will clarify the theoretical starting points of this study. A brief genesis of research on visual narratives in university mobility

The questions previously stated pertain to two different areas. The first is certain artistic practices such as the cinema, theatre or even drawing. The second is the social sciences, mainly sociology and education science. To answer these two questions, as a researcher, I had to undergo training in these subjects. But it was equally necessary to invent a method that would allow the students (authors and co-interpreters of their own works) and the teacher-researchers, to co-construct the interpretations of the drawings. Such a method should be respectful of individual paths while allowing all participants to access a socio-historical inter-comprehension of this human condition: that of being plurilingual students, in international mobility, actors of their own study- and life-choices. To engage in such a formative path, my encounter with clinical sociology was a determining factor. Following along the lines of the work of

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Weber, Simmel (in sociology) and Dilthey (known for his focus on subjects’ empirical psychology of the lived), clinical sociology attempts to take stock of the individual in their singularity and their historicity. It is defi ned more by its approach than by the objects it attaches itself to, following an anthropological project: that of unravelling the complex knots made up of social and psychological determinism in the behaviour of individuals and groups, as well as in the representations of such behaviour (de Gaulejac, 2009, 2013). De Gaulejac’s approach included the use of drawings in the sociological exploration of life stories. The act of drawing requires a high personal engagement and a reflexive distance to present and interpret those drawings within a group. After several years of training sessions within his research groups (in Paris from 1994 to 1999) and subsequent training on leading these types of workshops from 1999 to 2001, I created my own workshop at the IISC (Institut International de Sociologie Clinique/International Institute of Clinical Sociology), called ‘Cultural trajectory: identity continuity and disruption’, in 2000 and 2001, with participants being language teachers, social workers, young researchers and social science students. The participants were instructed as follows: ‘The drawing of my cultural identity today’ and ‘Represent your cultural trajectory in space and time over the last two generations’. This workshop offered the participants (including the researcher) the opportunity to draw, while reflecting on this method of creation and its possible applications in language pedagogy and the field of plurilingual and intercultural education. First methodological elements

In this section, I have synthesised the main results from the actiontraining experience with my colleagues at the IISC. These results had an implication on how I conceived my research method. The first result drawn from my experience is that adult drawing is easy to do and thus immediately ‘usable’ in a group. Indeed, drawing allows the drawer to construct symbols and visual concepts: a veritable subjective lexicon, viewed and interpreted for a certain amount of time, within a group setting. Secondly, the practice of adult drawing presents a strong relational benefit: engaged in a co-interpretative dynamic, the drawing subjects are encouraged to interact and exchange around their drawings. Thirdly, it could be said that, from a methodological perspective, the researcher plays a key role: •

•

The drawing instructions the researcher proposes are well thought out in advance: they should afford participants not only the possibility of becoming implicated (in the drawing) but also the possibility of distancing themselves from it (in the explanation presented to the group). The leader/researcher should place themselves at a halfway point between the participant and the instructions (rather than identifying

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•

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with the instructions). The researcher may then give the fi rst set of instructions to allow a global exploration of the issues lying between the participant’s own interests and the problematics of the workshop (or course) and a second set of more analytical instructions, to allow each person to address the fi ner details of the situation depicted. The leader/researcher should take on the position of a guarantor of the interpretative framework rather than that of a motor of the interpretations. They need to regulate the exchanges to avoid intrusive interpretations and to remind participants of the deontological rules previously agreed upon with the group: respect, benevolence and non-judgement. The leader/researcher should allow meaning to circulate between facts and feelings, between the objective situation and the drawer’s subjective representations of them. The participant can thus be in a position to fi nd both sociological and psychological significance in the events or facts depicted.

From 2006 to 2008, striving for language training for international students and training for language teachers, specialist researchers in children’s plurilingual education (such as De Dominicis, Perregaux, Clerc, Leconte, Castellotti and Moore) gathered to give importance to accompanying the dynamic of acculturation and pluralistic identity construction by making use of drawing, in groups with a migrant trajectory. The publication of these works in 2006 (Molinié, 2006a, 2006b) and 2009 (Molinié, 2009) culminated in a defi nition of the methodology of narrative drawing (in groups of children and adults who speak languages other than French) as follows: Reflexive drawing is a tool comprising of the instructions, the drawing process (undertaken by a child, a teenager or an adult), and an exploratory discussion of the drawing (between the drawer and the practitioner/ researcher or between peers). This methodology: 1) makes visible and acknowledges sociolinguistic determinants and their movement in the environment in which the participant lives; 2) leads to processes of verbalisation, sharing and awareness-raising of these patterns and determinants; 3) facilitates remediation and the production of new representations; 4) increases social mobility as an open, dynamic, complex, unstable and unpredictable process. (Molinié, 2015a: 450)

One of the main objectives of the present study is to return to and deepen this original defi nition, exploring what it can provide in terms of insights into identities and lived experiences of international mobility. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures Research context and methodology

The drawings I shall present are part of a corpus collected in 2005– 2006 from international students, while teaching French at the Centre

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International de Langue Française et Action Culturelle (CILFAC; Centre for French Language and Cultural Action), part of the Université de Cergy-Pontoise (UCP). I created the centre in 2002 in response to the training needs of FFL students (in the context of exchanges with Europe, Asia and Africa) who had come to stay at our university to study science and engineering, languages, law, literature and economics. My objective was to start a situational action-research (Macaire, 2011) in order to experiment with the notion of international mobility in FFL teaching in a university context, and to encourage international students of the CILFAC to become aware of the personal and professional advantages of these mobilities through drawing. According to Macaire (2011: 115–125), situational action-research is characterised by a set of principles that guide the research pathways. Among those principles (for further details, see Macaire, 2011), is reference to the implicated, horizontal and egalitarian relationship among participants, the researcher being the initiator of a democratic organisation of the work. Furthermore, the knowledge is co-constructed, being produced in real time by a series of individual and collective transformations. Thus, the analysis of knowledge is work in progress, being collectively self-assessed and educational, and the participants being the authors and owners of their productions and interpretations. Finally, with situational action-research being objective and scientifi c, no preliminary hypotheses are formulated, implicating a series of backand-forths between implication and distancing. The quest for objectivity is made through comparison with other experiences at different times and in different places, the influence of the researcher being part of the research. Taking these principles as a starting point, I adopted a personal perspective on situational action-research, following most of Macaire’s principles and adopting others to better suit my research purposes. So, regarding knowledge of the context, I problematised the notion of international mobility in FFL teaching in a university context and invited international students to become aware of the personal and professional advantages of these mobilities, through drawing. Regarding the provoking of a situation, I created a ‘Pathways and projects of international mobility’ workshop validated by the Council for Training and Student Life, open to inbound (Erasmus) and outbound (Erasmus, Crepuc, etc.) mobility students. The drawings were completed within the framework of the 24-hour workshop over a period of 12 weeks. Most participants, mostly from European countries (Austria, Spain, Germany, England, Poland, Greece, among others) were students enrolled at the UCP and were at Levels B1, B2 and C1 in their proficiency in French. Most of them were enrolled in the first or second year of law, humanities and languages; others were enrolled in sciences and technologies, from North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and China.

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Regarding the establishment of an egalitarian relationship among participants, a code of ethics was co-constructed, allowing each person to become implicated and to reflect on their own ‘international mobility’ (and those of their peers) in an open way, without judgement or evaluation. As for the knowledge produced, I focused on knowledge of the forms and advantages of mobility. As for the modalities of work, I consciously opted for reflexive drawings, texts, qualitative interviews in pairs and groups, and sharing of the productions within the group. Regarding the spread of knowledge and the way mutually produced knowledge becomes an agent of transformation, it could be said that it has an impact on participants, on CILFAC and on the didactics community (through the production of research literature on reflexive drawing from 2009 onward). In terms of the macro-sociological dimension referred to by Macaire, depictions of each individual university sojourn became a tool to analyse the system of student mobility on a continuum between the micro- and macro-sociological levels. Finally, comparison with other works made it possible to develop a longitudinal understanding of the work that is done, to ensure comparability and reliability. A typical session

As mentioned above, the drawings were produced in 2005–2006, in a workshop called ‘Pathways and projects of international mobility’. The workshop unfolded in the following fashion. First, the workshop opened with a session of collective brainstorming proposed by the teacher about the notion of ‘mobility’. Asking students for their ideas allows each participant to establish links between the topic of the workshop and personal experiences relating to the theme. The brainstorming activity is fundamental, as it is founded on the free association of ideas, the possibility of being inspired by what others say, and the prohibition of self-censorship or the censoring of others. Because of these characteristics, brainstorming avoids any attempt to set up a hierarchy between mobilities perceived as legitimate, and mobility outside exchanges, conventions or partnerships perceived as less valued and not necessarily enriching. This collective activity introduces anthropological and political discussions into the group on the role of educational mobility not only in the development of global human exchange, but also in the development of humanity and our humanism. The Joint Declaration of the European Ministers of Education of 19 June 1999 (the Bologna Declaration), followed by a short philosophical essay by M. Serres, are brought in to contextualise and historicise this initial reflection. Secondly, the visual narration activity is proposed, with the instructions: ‘Draw your pathway and project of international mobility, then explain the drawing.’ Once the drawings are fi nished, students gather in groups of three to explain their drawings to one another. Thirdly, other

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activities are proposed that allow for interactions to be enriched, favouring an animated appropriation of cultural and linguistic knowledge, as well as the development of communicational and relational skills within the group, constantly connected to each individual’s personal journey. These dialogical moments lead to the writing of individual autobiographical essays. Finally, the participants reflexively and critically appropriate two of the tools put forward by the Council of Europe to furnish their European mobilities: the European Portfolio of Languages for Higher Education (edited by the European Confederation of Higher Education Language Centres; CercleS, 2002) and the Europass CV, the objectives of which had been presented to them previously by the International Relations Department. Findings

I followed up my analysis with the contributors from two research seminars called ‘Drawing and destination: from lines to traces’ (in 2005– 2006), culminating in the publishing of the collective work in 2009. Some 30 drawings were produced by students in response to my instructions: ‘Draw your pathway and project of international mobility. Explain the drawing.’ Most of the drawings were handed over to me with the view of publishing the results of this situational action-research. The analysis underlines the way the authors of the drawings: • • •

interpret the retrospective aim of the instructions through the concept of pathway, and represent mobility through a pre-existing reality and the past experiences of the drawing subject; interpret the projective aim of the instructions through the notion of project and represent their mobility in relation to their current plurilingual and intercultural experience as well as future experiences; represent their reflexivity.

The drawings could be grouped into two clear categories: drawings portraying the need to occupy a place in the world (two-thirds of the total productions), and the remaining third of the drawings portraying the need to be in a dynamic relation with the world. 2 In the following, I will illustrate these two main categories. Drawings expressing the need to have a place in the world

The drawings presented below are a part of the first category representing student mobility as an experience taking place in a pre-existing reality, a series of choices, a Lebensweg or a programme. The students highlight the importance of situating their experience of mobility as an ascending continuum with their fi rst socialisations, without rupture between the stages of sociality, marked by coherent fi liations and affi liations. The

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intercultural and plurilingual experience generally associated with international journeys is mentioned in these drawings, even if not always in a prominent way. Once mentioned, however, it does not necessarily introduce the possibility of further choices for the actor (creating a barrier with what precedes it). In fact, the reflexivity acquired in mobility is seen as merely adding to the social actor’s level of disquiet toward his or her own future. In this category, symbols represent the achievement of goals, the meaning of which the student does not question. On the other hand, the stage of post-mobility, symbolised by a question mark, is represented as an uncertainty. This first group of drawings is further divided into three subgroups: (1) figures of social or symbolic ascension; (2) mastering an opening to the world; and (3) unexplored pathways. The first sub-group, figures of social or symbolic ascension, includes: all the tubular, circular or spiralling figures; drawings of open and closed pyramids; also organisational charts, ascending steps, the road of life as a map, a comic strip or a puzzle. These images have several points in common. They represent a base or departure point that refers strongly to all the cultural and symbolic capital acquired throughout the life of the young student. Their summit or endpoint is university and France. The pathways represented are marked by a series of structural events such as: • • • • • • • •

education, organised leisure on a family level, inhabited environments (house, countryside, sun, flowers, stars, etc.) and siblings; academic careers, trips abroad (the United States, England, France, Saudi Arabia) and acquired diplomas; social engagements (local politics, the church, the Red Cross); youth social events (parties); arts (piano) and sports (water polo, swimming, judo); selective tests (high school diploma, sports competitions); love (relationships); autonomy acquired at university (‘away from home’) or through a driving licence.

This succession of events and formative situations closes with the last stage, which is identified and named. Such is the case with Noelia’s drawing (Figure 5.1), where the tip closes over the figure of a French teacher in Spain. Much more frequently, the drawing opens out into one (or more) question marks. Such is the case with the top of Ana-Caterina’s pyramid (Figure 5.2), bearing the word university, and opening into 12 dots and three question marks. In Figure 5.3, Brigitte draws a long-haired girl wearing trousers and a perplexed expression, with a sign saying map on her chest. At her feet are books; to the left are the path from school to polytechnic and her achievements (diplomas). Above these, a red triangle indicates You are here. To the right of this are three possible paths: Travel? Find a job? Continue studying?

From the Migration Experience to its Visual Narration in International Mobility

Figure 5.1 Having a place in the world? Noelia’s drawing

Figure 5.2 Having a place in the world? Ana-Caterina’s drawing

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Figure 5.3 Having a place in the world? Brigitte’s drawing

The small character created by Julia (Figure 5.4) also shows great perplexity: the character scratches its head while to its left there is a wheelbarrow full of baggage (many books, musical instruments, etc.). In front of her, a labyrinthine garden with a question mark hanging over the hut in the centre (indicating that Julia’s drawing was not produced in class but with electronic tools). Here, still, the cultural baggage acquired is not sufficient to suppress the uncertainty concerning the future.

Figure 5.4 Having a place in the world? Julia’s drawing

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Figure 5.5 Having a place in the world? Agniseska’s drawing

To summarise, it can be said that these four drawings give priority to the pathway and the participant’s training, showing strong coherence with the construction of the actor’s social and cultural identity. The search for continuity is more relevant than the international dimension: this dimension is in fact hardly or not at all represented. The second sub-group, mastering an opening to the world, includes stylised terrestrial globes, intersections, crossroads and labyrinths. It brings to the forefront the effort deployed by the student to give a global meaning to their pathway, and particularly to their mobility project. These drawings interpret the instructions predominantly in their projective dimension (future-oriented), rather than adopting a retrospective orientation (past-oriented). The effort of mastering the dynamics of mobility seems to leave less space for doubt or disquiet regarding the future. Thus, Agniseska’s drawing (Figure 5.5) places a vaguely geometrical figure ‘Poland (me)’ at the centre of a series of return trips between Poland (me) in the centre and (clockwise from the top) England, China, Cameroon, Austria, France and Germany. The double arrows indicate a back-and-forth motion between these destinations and the centre. No indication is given concerning the cultures and languages associated with these mobilities. A circular mobility is also represented by Maria (Figure 5.6), who depicts a series of back and forths between Barcelona and Paris through the French national railroad (SNCF, from Paris) and the Spanish national railroad (RENFE, from Barcelona). Jane depicts a smiling girl, wearing trousers, holding a small sign French to her chest and situated in the middle of the globe where different countries have been traced (Figure 5.7). She is surrounded by eight big bubbles which contain the word Hello in different languages. The title of her drawing is ‘A citizen of the world’ in capital letters.

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Figure 5.6 Having a place in the world? Maria’s drawing

Figure 5.7 Having a place in the world? Jane’s drawing

Samir’s globe (Figure 5.8) has two main characteristics: it is surrounded by the blue of the oceans and it has three big arrows representing aerial routes that depart from three countries: Algeria (where Samir indicates having spent the first nine years of his life), Saudi Arabia (where he was schooled from age nine to 19, until finishing high school), and from France to an unknown destination (depicted as six question marks).

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Figure 5.8 Having a place in the world? Samir’s drawing

Finally, Katia draws a girl in a skirt (in Figure 5.9), confident on her own two feet, with thick shoes, standing on top of the globe, drawn as a simple circle, with five possible paths under her feet and two bubbles above her head with question marks. Katia explains her overbearing position as follows: The fact that I am above doesn’t mean I am the queen of the earth! It means I have a distance between other countries and my homeland. I can see differently and discover other countries. I’ve represented a person

Figure 5.9 Having a place in the world? Katja’s drawing

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Figure 5.10 Having a place in the world? Wilhelm’s drawing

with a nose, mouth and ears: it’s important to have senses. I can see, I can hear, I can smell, I can touch, and this makes my discovery of the world easier. I drew the feet and shoes very big to always go further, perhaps beyond my country, my mentality, to cut back on bad habits, everything that stops me from getting to know others.

To summarise, in this second sub-group of four drawings the path is international, highlighting displacement from the place of origin; the possibility of pluralising or mixing of identity is evoked, even valued if the reference to a place of origin is important. In this group, the relationship with the international dimension is dynamic, open and in continuity with a national belonging. Katia highlights this, explaining that: The meaning of my drawing is that it presents my international mobility. If I am free and independent enough I can go where I want to. A journey in the literal sense of the term (coming here) but also the intellectual journey I’ve been on since childhood to discover otherness and enrich myself (…). Now I am here, repeating this feat from childhood. The dream of knowing different things.

The third sub-group was named unexplored paths. In the following two drawings there are corridors lined with unmarked doors. In Wilhelm’s drawing (Figure 5.10) there are 12 doors in an empty corridor. When he presents his drawing, he explains that he is inspired by the idea of a path being made of ‘many decisions’ and that the corridor symbolises the current period of his life, which follows a previous corridor. The 12 doors, he says, have two meanings: they are possible decisions or possibilities found in his life, as opposed to the previous period in his life in which ‘there was

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Figure 5.11 Having a place in the world? Marta’s drawing

only one door’. The end of the perspective is painted black because ‘I don’t know what will happen to me if I get to the end’. Invited to proceed, he specifies that each door is a possibility concerning people one might meet and places one might visit. He chose this metaphor because doors ‘are similar to life in the sense that we can have an idea of what lies behind a door but we can never really know for sure if we don’t open it’. In Marta’s drawing (Figure 5.11) there is also a corridor, this time lined with 10 doors; however, her corridor is not empty. A lone figure (a girl with her back to the observer) is crowned by four question marks. Marta has a similar explanation for her drawing: ‘this corridor is a metaphor of my life where the doors are the paths. To take one path is to acquire a new experience, it’s risky.’ Marta recognises that many factors influence us but affirms that ‘we’re the ones who decide how we want to live’ and adds: The most important decision in my life was coming here. Other important decisions are the question marks. One of them will be to stay here and fi nish my studies in France or go back to Poland. This decision means opening a door and going there instead of staying at this point. It is also possible to live our lives without opening doors, but it’s a bit boring because it means we go to the end of the corridor but we don’t do anything new. Me, I want to open many doors.

Finally, in Toni’s drawing (Figure 5.12) there is a series of rectangles using flag-like colour codes (black, yellow, blue, white, red) but reversing them or making up new ones (chequered patterns or black stars). The weight of the decisions that lie ahead is what characterises this sub-group. Toni explains that his drawing: is an abstract image of his path. There is no chronological logic to it but more the meaning of relationships between certain things: it’s the map of

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Figure 5.12 Having a place in the world? Toni’s drawing

a city, with buildings, neighbourhoods, blocked off streets and dead-ends which are obstacles or difficulties encountered in trying to reach a goal. The buildings have the colours of flags, which are also fundamental pillars of a nation.

Toni reminds the audience that he was born in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1984 and that ‘until the age of six it was a “journey without journeying”. I just collected the different colours of flags’. But, after the fall of the Wall, ‘we visited different European countries because we could travel’. He is critical of the reunification: ‘everything is still very closed. For me in 1989 it was not a reunion (rather a conquest or annexation) because the GFR “put its hat over” the GDR (übernehmen).’ He is also critical of the way his coming to France has unfolded, deploring the ‘obstacles, the organisation of this year, the bureaucracy, the money, the social obstacles’ during his stay. He ‘must then fi nd another way, there are always other alternatives’. He ends by explaining that living in France ‘has a special role in relation to my future. I want to make use (Anwendung) of my knowledge acquired here in law to help my country of origin. Civil rights must be Europeanised, because without this we shall be lost in 20 years’ time.’ This last sub-group of three drawings highlights two elements. First, the decision to come and study at university in France is, for Marta and her colleagues, one of the most important decisions of their lives. Secondly, the impact of this decision on the rest of their lives is a major one. This is why producing the drawing sparks an ethical discussion between them on questions of loyalty and responsibility to their three countries: Austria, Poland and ex-DRA (Germany). Between determinism and freedom, Marta reclaims for the possibility of choosing in order to, at the end of her

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life, take responsibility for those choices – to have opened all the doors she wanted to. Wilhelm draws the sky ‘with small, non menacing clouds’ above this ‘sombre and impersonal building’ and declares that he is ‘at ease with my decisions’ in this tubular space, but with an open sky. Toni situates his stay with the perspective of using the skills he is acquiring in law to help all Europeans from East to West. Drawings that express the need to be in a dynamic relation with the world

The two drawings classified under this category are particularly expressive. They represent student mobility as a creative experience of change: it opens a crack, creates an existential dynamic toward a transformation of the student. This is expressed in the image of a passage drawn by Ana, at the head of a locomotive exiting a tunnel depicting perhaps a major turning point in her life (Figure 5.13). When it is represented, the

Figure 5.13 Being in a dynamic relation with the world. Ana’s drawing

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Figure 5.14 Being in a dynamic relation with the world. Isabel’s drawing

plurilingual and intercultural experience is a key factor in this dynamic, even if it can be a cause of disquiet as change occurs and obstacles (real and imagined; objective and subjective) are encountered. Aimless wandering can occur if the drawer is unsure of the real purpose of their mobility. Ultimately, the reflexivity acquired in mobility is not connected to anxiety regarding the future. In another drawing, there is a path in the shape of a guitar (Figure 5.14). In this drawing, from Alicante, to Jaén, Paris or Brussels, Isabel makes her possible destinations into music, replacing the notes with her footprints. Some drawings that are not shown here depict objects such as Rico’s overflowing champagne bottle, but also mountains such as those in drawings by Laurence or Catia or other students in the corpus, who draw their characters bravely climbing, representing real and imaginary obstacles. Once overcome, these trying experiences help to make an individual more autonomous. As Ana explains to the students in her group: It’s a train in a tunnel going towards the light: the tunnel is passing from one state to another, it’s a way of passing from one world to another. I see myself travelling with my parents, then alone. Each time I go, I go into another world, a new world. The train is the fi rst mode of transport I took alone: for the fun of it. I have been attached to them since childhood, it has always been the way to fulfi l my dreams, it was the way my story characters (that I made up) would travel, with wheels of smoke, it’s the dream.

The world here, then, can be seen sometimes as a challenge, or a source of support or even a mere surrounding, as well as an entity to be embraced or mastered (in the sense that one masters a skill), an entity that an actor can confront, but which will not defeat them.

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Discussion and Concluding Remarks

To draw conclusions about these two groups of drawings (Having a place in the world and Being in a dynamic relation with the world), let us come back to the aesthetic and phenomenological double dimension of the journey. As mentioned before, phenomenology attempts to ‘describe the conditions of perception once the body is at its closest to what is being perceived’ (Serres, 1997: 22). But in what ways do the participants’ drawings show their perceptions of the journey through an individual aesthetic? Most of the drawings shown above represent the journey in an aesthetic that represents polyphony (Isabel), polyglossy (Jane), and other forms of plurality: cities (Maria), destinations (Samir), flags (Toni), possible choices (Wilhelm, Marta). The nuance between these drawings would thus be less at the level of an aesthetic of plurality than a representation of the subjective relationship the individual expresses toward this plurality. This study thus contributes to the recognition of the major role played by the university journey as an experience visually represented and full of meanings that assist in the forming of the identity of plurilingual students in mobility. One of the remarkable aspects of these visual narrations is that they can give tangible form to the space-time in which these students are creating their identities, opening them up to otherness and plural experiences. University pedagogy resulting from this action-research values a culture of views and interpretations, multimodal processes of coconstruction of the meaning of mobilities, and respecting (and confronting) subjective points of view. This pedagogy aims to foster an increased intersubjective awareness of the international mobility experience, thanks to the visual representations of international mobility pathways and projects. At the same time, it aims to develop the performance capacity of the students in relation to their journey, as it involves acting upon one’s life via the representation of oneself inside the journey. Finally, the pedagogy aims for the development of a humanist comprehension, historicised by European and international places of higher education. It is for this very reason that the study attempts to avoid the two traps pointed out by Peressini (2015: 7): on the one hand, apprehending actors as ‘simple executers of economic, social, political and symbolic determinations’ and, on the other, ‘falling into subjectivist simplism where everything is reduced to the creation of the world by an atomised, voluntarist actor’. This study leads thus to the completion of the defi nition of reflexive drawing presented at the beginning of this chapter, and to characterise the drawings presented above as sociobiographical drawings in which students are invited to contextualise their experience, the event or the situation depicted, in a social environment and at a precise moment in time. This contextualisation can happen either during the action of drawing

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itself, or in the phase of presentation (oral or written) of the drawing. Drawing and reflecting upon what has been drawn can allow the author/ narrator to be able to create links between the micro-sociological level of their practices as an actor, and the meso- and macro-sociological levels of their contexts and constraints, i.e. a connection between individual actions and choices and the conditions surrounding them. This articulation allows participants to question the degree of freedom they recognise within themselves and, furthermore, to understand the conditions necessary for the possibility of such freedom. Importantly, this allows for ‘a back-and-forth between intellectual, theoretical knowledge and sensory knowledge, between reflection and lived-experience’ (Hanique, 2009: 33). Finally, these visual narratives act as a sort of mediation, which allows students to adopt a reflexive position and to experience their mobility as a negotiation not only between old and new perceptions of the world but also between actions taking place in the present and projections of themselves into the future. But, most importantly, it allows students to experience and share within a group the identity negotiations (and confl icts) linked to their mobility experiences. I will end this chapter by highlighting the challenges in bringing students to produce and discuss visual narratives in a formative setting. Being able to run these types of activities, at least in the same way we have done it, requires that the teacher-leader-researchers engage in continuous teacher education in the fields of humanities (applied linguistics, literature, ethics, sociology) and know, fi rst, how to come up with and give creative instructions; secondly, how to nurture the creativity of each participant; and, fi nally, how to enforce the code of ethics (respect, kind listening, non-judgement) favourable to the narration of facts and emotions depicted. This contribution is thus only scratching the surface, opening up opportunities for more research in the field of teacher education and to further develop visual narrative activities in foreign language classrooms. Notes (1) Le savoir-voyager, in the original French. The project was conceived with Paganini and Zarate at CREDIF, at the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Fontenay Saint Cloud (Molinié, 2000). (2) Analysis of these drawings was initiated in 2005 with a PhD student at the CRTF (Marie Blancart, PhD in comparative literature) and Aline Bergé, teacher-researcher in the Department of French as a Foreign Language at the Université SorbonneNouvelle Paris 3, also a specialist in comparative literature.

References Anquetil, M. and Molinié, M. (2008) L’expérience Erasmus au miroir de la réflexivité: Penser et construire les acteurs sociaux [The Erasmus experience in the mirror of experience: Thinking and constructing social actors]. In G. Zarate, D. Lévy and C.

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Kramsch (eds) Précis du Plurilinguisme et du Pluriculturalisme [Handbook of Multilingual and Multicultural Education] (pp. 83–86). Paris: Editions des Archives Contemporaines. CercleS (European Confederation of Higher Education Language Centres) (2002) European Portfolio of Languages for Higher Education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. de Gaulejac, V. (2009) Qui est «je»? [Who am ‘I’?]. Paris: Seuil. de Gaulejac, V. (2013) La direction de thèse: Comment transmettre la clinique? [Supervising a PhD thesis: How to take ‘clinical’ into consideration?]. In V. de Gaulejac, F. Giust-Desprairies and A. Massa (eds) La Recherche Clinique en Sciences Sociales [Clinical Research in Social Sciences] (pp. 313–317). Toulouse: Erès. Gohard-Radenkovic, A. and Veillette, J. (2015) Nouveaux espaces dans de nouvelles logiques migratoires? Entre mobilités et immobilités des acteurs [New spaces in new migrational logics? Between actors’ mobilities and immobilities]. Cahiers Internationaux de Sociolinguistique 2 (8), 29–46. Hanique, F. (2009) Enjeux théoriques et méthodologiques de la sociologie clinique [Theoretical and methodological dimensions of clinical sociology]. Informations Sociales 156, 32–40. See http://www.cairn.info/revue-informations-sociales2009-6-page-32.htm. Macaire, D. (2011) Recherche-action en didactique des langues et des cultures: Changer les pratiques et pratiquer le changement [Action-research in language education: Changing practices and practicing changes]. In M. Molinié (ed.) Démarches Portfolio en Didactique des Langues et des Cultures: Enjeux de Formation par la Rechercheaction [Using the Portfolio in Language and Culture Education: Formative Aims through Action-research] (pp. 113–124). Amiens: CRTF Belles-Lettres. Maurice, M. and Molinié, M. (1994) De la socialisation à l’échange: La lettre vidéo, un carrefour épistolaire et vidéographique [From socialisation to exchange: The videoletter: Crisscrossing epistolary and videography]. In C. Alix and G. Bertrand (eds) Pour une pédagogie des échanges [For a Pedagogy of Exchanges] (pp. 68–70). Special issue of Le Français dans le monde Recherches et applications. Paris: Hachette. Molinié, M. (2000) Le savoir-voyager: Echanges et multimédia [Travel know-how: Exchanges and multimedia]. In D. Groux and N. Tutuiaux-Guillon (eds) Les Echanges Internationaux et la Comparaison en Education: Pratiques et Enjeux [International Exchanges and Comparison in Education] (pp. 153–159). Paris: L’Harmattan. Molinié, M. (2006a) Mobilité européenne: En faire le récit, en dessiner les frontières [European mobility: Narrating it, drawing its frontiers]. Synergie France 4, 226–231. Molinié, M. (ed.) (2006b) Biographie langagière et apprentissage plurilingue [Linguistic biography and multilingual learning]. Le Français dans le Monde Recherches et Applications 39. Molinié, M. (ed.) (2009) Le Dessin Réfl exif: Elément d’une Herméneutique du Sujet Plurilingue [The Refl exive Drawing: Hermeneutic Approach to the Multilingual Subject]. Amiens: Centre de Recherche Textes et Francophonies (CRTF), EncragesBelles Lettres. Molinié, M. (2015a) La méthode biographique: De l’écoute de l’apprenant de langues à l’herméneutique du sujet plurilingue [The biographic method: From listening to the foreign language learner to the hermeneutic of the multilingual subject]. In P. Blanchet and P. Chardenet (eds) Guide pour la Recherche en Didactique des Langues: Approches Contextualisées [Guide for Researching in Language Education: Contextualized Approaches] (2nd edn) (pp. 144–154). Paris: AUF – Editions des Archives Contemporaines. Molinié, M. (2015b) Recherche Biographique en Contexte Plurilingue: Cartographie d’un Parcours de Didacticienne [Biographic Research in Multilingual Context:

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Cartography of a Research Pathway in Language Education]. Paris: Editions Riveneuve. Molinié, M. and Liberman M. (1998) Trajectoire biographique et espace théâtral [Biographical trajectories and theatre spaces]. Le Français dans le Monde 288, 69–72. Peressini, M. (2015) Préface [Preface]. Cahiers Internationaux de Sociolinguistique 2 (8), 7–17. Pungier, M.-F. (2009) Traces d’expérience de la langue dans des journaux d’étudiants japonais en mobilité ou le récit d’une métamorphose [Traces of linguistic experiences in the journals of mobility Japanese students or the story of a metamorphosis]. In A. Gohard-Radenkovic and L. Rachedi (eds) Récits de Vie, Récits de Langues et Mobilités: Nouveaux Territoires Intimes, Nouveaux Passages vers l’Altérité [Life Narratives, Linguistic Narratives and Mobilities: New Intimate Territories, New Steps towards Alterity] (pp. 51–73). Paris: L’Harmattan. Serres, M. (1997) Nouvelles du Monde [News of the World]. Paris: Flammarion.

6 Looking but Not Seeing: The Hazards of a Teacher-researcher Interpreting Self-portraits of Adolescent English Learners Kristiina Skinnari

This chapter presents a reinterpretation of a subset of data collected for a major project (PhD thesis). Among others, a group of children/ adolescents (N = 95, aged 10–12 years) who were attending Grades 5 or 6 in the Finnish educational system had been asked to produce selfportraits of themselves as learners of English. Since some of these drawings were ambiguous and difficult to interpret, seven drawings were selected for reinterpretation from a different starting point from before. The study shows that it is necessary to analyse drawings as a specific type of data that is not subordinate to verbal representations. It illustrates how a more nuanced and sophisticated interpretation of learner identities in visual narratives can be made by employing an appropriate theoretical framework that is specifically suited for visual data.

Introduction

This chapter focuses on the challenges of interpreting visual narratives, more specifically self-portraits drawn by English language learners, as a participating teacher-researcher. It shows how revisiting visual data from a doctoral study after I had acquired new theoretical and methodological insights and comments from a non-participant audience 97

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contributed to new perspectives on learners’ identities and the multilayered meanings in their multi-voiced drawings. Furthermore, the reanalysis deepened my understanding of how to employ visual methods in foreign language education research where their use has not been systematically explored. Visual narratives can open a new perspective to the complexity of learner identities and their varying representations. To complement the ethnographic data gathered earlier in a study on language learner identities (Skinnari, 2012), self-portraits of 95 fi fth and sixth grade pupils in a Finnish elementary school were collected and subjected to qualitative content analysis. The simple instruction was to draw oneself as an English learner. If ‘images are produced with specific intentions in mind’ (Holm, 2008: 325), these were not transparent in the visual data, which turned out to be varying and multi-layered. The diversity of meanings in the drawings supported the fi ndings, which showed dynamic identities and orientations of the learners. The drawings were further utilised in an article on silence and resistance as experiences and presentations of pupil agency (Skinnari, 2014), which displayed the ambiguity of the self-portraits. To better grasp the complex multi-voiced subjectivity in the drawings, I employed in a reanalysis a  dialogical approach based on Bakhtin’s idea of social, historical and institutional voices (as cited by Sullivan, 2012; Wertsch, 1991), using the methods of content analysis and visual narrative analysis. This opened up a new dialogue with the data, as ‘[t]he narrative dialogue may begin with the participant but […] it continues between the researcher and texts throughout the analytic process’ (Guyotte, 2014: 8). As a school ethnography, the original study had focused on institutional language learner identities constructed in school contexts of learning English. However, in their drawings the pupils recycled resources from their out-of-school experiences to which I as a teacher-researcher had no access. Although studying English was most often illustrated as a solitary occupation (see also Kalaja et al., 2008), other people were occasionally visible in the drawings, or their voices appeared in speech bubbles. Furthermore, thought bubbles, seemingly representing inner speech, reflected the voices of others. Taking these voices better into consideration, focusing on visual-verbal narratives, was one aim of returning to the visual data. Moreover, the re-examination revealed the drawings to be a very special type of data that requires genre-specific contextualisation for analysis (Banks, 2001; Guyotte, 2014). Genre is a narrative concept especially useful for analysing the ‘aesthetic dimension of discourse’ (Sullivan, 2012: 45), and although the pupils’ drawings were not strictly classifiable as art, they contained features borrowed from visual art genres such as comics and caricatures. This reanalysis has two aims: fi rst, to spot the challenges of using visual data in an earlier study and, secondly, to improve the earlier

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interpretations of language learner identities represented in the ambiguous drawings by employing new analytical tools and attending to the multi-voiced nature of the data. The concept of voice in the dialogical approach and in visual narratives and genres will now be introduced. This is followed by the specific research questions, presentation of the data and methods and the analysis, which is based on four interpretative challenges, illustrated by selected drawings. Background to the Study

First, I introduce the theoretical perspectives employed in this study: the dialogical approach, with its focus on multi-voicedness and selfportrait drawings as genre-specific visual narratives. These viewpoints are especially suited to the layered meanings of the visual-verbal data. This is followed by a short outline of studies in language learning research using learners’ self-portraits, relevant for this study. Dialogical approach and multi-voicedness

To deepen understanding of the pupils’ ambiguous self-portraits and to capture their multi-voicedness, a dialogical approach offered an especially suitable broad theoretical frame for the reanalysis. Applying the concepts of dialogue and voice follows the idea of utterances as dialogically produced and interpreted in social interaction (Aro, 2009). Since interaction with the participants themselves was no longer possible, I had to enter into a new dialogue with the data and through it look critically at the earlier research process. The dialogical orientation in this study follows the ideas of subjectivity and voice in Bakhtin’s thinking (as cited by Sullivan, 2012; Wertsch, 1991). Accordingly, it recognises that ‘the social, historical and institutional “voices” […] interpenetrate discourse’ (Sullivan, 2012: 17) and our cultural resources are recycled (e.g. Dufva & Aro, 2015). Appropriating, repeating or rejecting others’ words entails tradition and power, as is evident in institutions such as schools. To analyse complex subjectivities whose own ‘authentic’ voices are not always clearly separable from others’ voices, one needs to inspect ‘how participants appropriate cultural resources’ (Sullivan, 2012: 42). The cultural resources in the pupils’ drawings related not only to language learning at school, but also to their out-of-school experiences and to visual art and popular culture. Examining these wider contexts and cultural forms is important for uncovering new dimensions in the analysis (Sullivan, 2012). The complex subjectivity involved in dialogical thinking is expressed in Sullivan’s (2012: 43) notion that in relating to self and to others we anticipate the ‘ideas and judgements of others’. The teacher’s authoritative

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voice, especially, sets learners powerful expectations about how they should act in the school context. My role as a teacher-researcher certainly influenced the pupils’ self-presentations toward adjusting to the institutional model of a ‘good language learner’ (Skinnari, 2014). However, authoritative, single-voiced institutional discourses can be challenged by multi-voiced use of parody, humour and irony that ridicules the serious authoritative intentions and by adding layers of voices to representations (Sullivan, 2012). Using multi-voiced stylistic resources in the self-portraits by recycling features of popular culture and artistic genres became a central theme of this study. Next, self-portraits are viewed as visual narratives of identity with a genre perspective. Self-portraits as visual narratives of identity

Identities are social constructions that are both individually experienced and presented in social interaction through positioning others and ourselves (Benwell & Stokoe, 2013). This happens in specific contexts depending on the resources available. Institutional identities, such as pupil and teacher roles in school, are sociohistorically constructed, culturally shared and always include norms and power. Positioning work and the presentation of identities employ various interactional means that can be conceptualised as narratives – stories of others and ourselves. The stories we tell construct identities and ‘are shaped in turn by those genres and media of storytelling our culture makes available to us’ (El Refaie, 2012: 7). These identity narratives are not linear and static but are rather fragmented and dynamic, often in the forms of micro-narratives that are constantly negotiated, interpreted and reinterpreted. The understanding of subjectivity as complex and agentive is shared by the dialogical approach and narrative analysis (Sullivan, 2012). Narrative inquiry seeks to understand participants’ experiences and meanings. It takes the context, interaction and temporal sequence of the narrative into account (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000, as cited by Guyotte, 2014: 8; Riessman, 2008). In visual research, both internal and external narrative can be distinguished. Internal narrative refers to a picture’s content and external narrative to the social context of the production or interpretation of the image (Banks, 2001). The participants in the external narrative are ‘real people who produce and make sense of images in the context of social institutions which, to different degrees and in different ways, regulate what may be “said” with images, how it should be said, and how it should be interpreted’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996: 114). Meaningmaking occurs in the production of the image, in the image itself and in the contexts of interpretation (Keats, 2009). The ambiguity, contradictions and multiple voices of identities can sometimes be better expressed and investigated by visual-verbal narratives than by words alone (Guyotte, 2014). Self-portraits add a new dimension

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to studying complex identities and learners’ meaning-making in schools that is shaped by both personal and environmental contexts that are difficult to draw out in interviews alone […] The act of creating a self-portrait requires individuals to tap into an often underutilized and yet powerful interface between the mind, emotions and imagination to present ideas in representational signs and symbols. (Welkener & Baxter Magolda, 2014: 580)

Children’s drawings are often concrete descriptions of here-and-now situations (Esteban-Guitart et al., 2016). Although perceivable as autobiographical artefacts including embodied aspects of identity, self-portraits do not necessarily entail authenticity, resemblance or seriousness. They also offer opportunities for creativity, subversion and irony by utilising both visual and verbal modes of representation and recycling stylistic resources of artistic genres such as caricatures and comics. Comics as ‘a genre in the borderland between fact and fiction’ is ‘a medium long associated with humor, satire, irreverence, and counterculture’ (El Refaie, 2012: 14). Verbal and visual narratives can but do not necessarily transmit the same issues (Kalaja et al., 2008; Palviainen, 2011). The tension between words and images in visual-verbal narratives yields new ways of representing identities through multiple expressive modalities that create layers of meanings (El Refaie, 2012). Consequently, an equal emphasis should be paid both to expressive modes and to the space between the visual and the verbal (Guyotte, 2014). Drawing is often seen as artistic activity with freedom of expression. Welkener and Baxter Magolda (2014: 584) found that the creation process of students’ self-portraits in educational research afforded an ‘element of freedom’ that enabled ‘deep insight into their developmental journeys’. Drawing oneself can also be understood as an open dialogue with oneself (Nikulin, 2011). However, portraits cannot simply be taken at face value as in drawing ourselves we can assume imagined roles and ‘alter egos’. Having no requirement for external resemblance, inner states of mind, thoughts and feelings can also be expressed in many ways through visual narratives (Esteban-Guitart et al., 2016). Self-portraits in previous studies

Self-portraits have traditionally been used in studies on children in developmental psychology, special education and art therapy to reveal features of an individual’s developmental stages or inner life (see, for example, Brafman, 2012). Although the use of visuals in applied language studies research is a more recent development (Melo-Pfeifer, 2015), there are a few current studies where self-portraits have been used to explore language learners’ beliefs, perceptions or experiences and the method itself.

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In their study on the beliefs of students of English in a Finnish university, Kalaja et al. (2008) analysed 110 adult learners’ self-portraits as language learners. They found that learning English was most often depicted as a solitary task. In contrast to the many learning aids visible in the pictures, the absence of teachers was surprising. Palviainen (2011) ended up with similar results in her study of self-portraits by 11 Finnish students of Swedish. Her study focused on the tools and emotions in language learning. Both studies discussed the differences between the results from written and visual data. Melo-Pfeifer (2015) explored self-perceptions and perceptions of multilingualism in 956 multilingual Portuguese-speaking children in different parts of Germany through visual narratives. She showed how the children used various semiotic resources to express their experiences of multilingualism. In the study, the method was thoroughly reflected upon. Like Kalaja et  al. (2008), Melo-Pfeifer observed that the instructions for a drawing task are interpreted in different ways, producing very different kinds of visual narratives. İnözü (2017) studied young children’s drawings to investigate their perceptions of what it means to learn English in the Turkish context. The results showed that teachers were seen as the central authorities in the process of learning English and their practices were reflected in their pupils’ drawings. Aims of the Study

This study sought to deepen insights about language learners and their identities and enhance understanding of the use of visual data in language learning research by focusing on the challenges encountered in the process of collecting and interpreting drawings when researching language learner identities. Specifically, the research questions were: (1) What challenges were presented by the use of visual data in an earlier study on language learner identities? (2) Can the multi-voiced nature of verbal-visual data be better addressed in the analysis by applying a genre-sensitive dialogical approach? Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

The visual narratives analysed in this study are part of a larger dataset collected for a doctoral thesis (Skinnari, 2012) aimed at investigating elementary school fi fth and sixth graders’ (ages 10–12) language learner identities in English language learning contexts in a Finnish school. The doctoral study was a socioculturally and ecologically (van Lier, 2004) oriented school ethnography, where learner identities, seen as both individually experienced and socially constructed, were produced in institutional interaction. During the data collection phase, I was an English and special

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education teacher in the school for many, but not all, of the 135 pupils, with parental permission to participate in the study. The one and a half year data collection period produced rich qualitative data comprising field notes, interviews, written assignments, questionnaires and classroom observations. To complement the data, 95 fi fth and sixth graders were asked to draw a portrait of themselves as learners of English, with no further instructions. No observational data were gathered on the task situations in which different teachers gave the instructions. Qualitative content analytical methods were employed to combine the visual data to the themes already found. Accordingly, the analysis relied heavily on linguistic data, with the drawings accorded only a minor role. Later, the drawings occupied a more prominent role in a study, also employing qualitative content analysis, focusing on silence and resistance as experiences and presentations of pupil agency (Skinnari, 2014). The results of both studies showed that dynamic language learner identities shifted during classroom interaction. However, repeated experiences of positioning oneself and being positioned by others as a certain kind of learner led to fi xed institutional learner roles such as a ‘good language learner’, ‘silent learner’ or ‘resisting pupil’. In the reanalysis, the visual narratives of the pupils and their earlier interpretations comprised the central data and the focus was twofold: the challenges presented by using drawings in the earlier research process and the visual data itself. These foci were intertwined, as ambiguity and multivoicedness in the drawings often indicated gaps and challenges during the research process. I tracked the challenges by new readings of the data and the notes from seminars where the interpretations were commented on, informed by new theoretical insights. Moreover, I paid specific attention to visual-verbal narratives which had either been ignored (Figures 6.2, 6.5 and 6.7) or which included ambiguous multi-voicedness via the use of parody, irony and humour (Figures 6.1, 6.3, 6.4 and 6.6). The selected drawings are presented in Table 6.1, with information on their earlier use and the number of the theme they illustrate. The themes emerged as an outcome of experience-enhanced and theory-driven practice, based on qualitative content analysis and informed by dialogical narrative analysis. Through listing, comparing, combining and classifying problems that were encountered in the new readings of the data, I identified four areas of challenge: (1) teacher position, (2) lack of pupil explanations, (3) multi-voicedness of the data, and (4) wide repertoire of stylistic choices. In dialogical narrative analysis, individuals’ stories are seen as artful representations of their lives, taking place in dialogues where individuals’ voices exist in relation to their audiences and to the resources available for expression. Stories are approached by asking what is narrated, how it is done and ‘what multiple voices can be heard in any single speaker’s voice’ (Frank, 2012: 34). In turn, visual narrative analysis focuses on the content

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Figure 6.1 Showing a finger

Figure 6.2 Kekkone, Kekkone, Kekkone

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Figure 6.3 Trousers falling down

of the image or on the interaction elicited by the visuals (Keats, 2009). The present analysis is based on the drawings since no explanations or observations were systematically gathered from the participants or on the task situations. I acknowledged the complexity of the data, meaning that the narratives are neither free-for-all expressions nor simple reflections of experience but ‘comprise the interplay between experience, storying practices, descriptive resources, purposes at hand, audiences, and the environments that

Figure 6.4 Englishenglishenglish

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Figure 6.5 Multiple voices

Figure 6.6 Contradictory voices

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Table 6.1 Selection of the drawings Selected drawings

In Skinnari (2012)

Figure 6.1 Showing a finger

An example of overt resistance and irony

In Skinnari (2014)

Theme Problems of teacher position (1)

Figure 6.2 Kekkone, Kekkone

Problems of teacher position (1)

Figure 6.3 Trousers falling down

Pupil’s explanation included (2)

Figure 6.4 Englishenglishenglish

An example of meaninglessness or resistant agency

Figure 6.5 Multiple voices Figure 6.6 Contradictory voices

No explanation by pupil (2) Multi-voiced (3)

An example of An example of Multi-voiced, institutional pressure ambiguity in the data stylistic choices (4)

Figure 6.7 Manga style

Stylistic choices (4)

condition storytelling’ (Gubrium & Holstein, 2008: 250). All the selected drawings included written and visual modes, producing multi-layered meanings. I tracked multi-voicedness and ambiguity, paying specific attention to humour, parody, recycled stylistic features and to displaying the voices of others. Furthermore, I considered contextual clues that referred to out-of-school contexts. The Findings subsections follow the themes of the challenges identified, illustrated with examples from the visual data. The English translations of the Finnish texts, provided by me, are displayed in the margins of the figures. How the interpretations changed is discussed under each theme and, more generally, in the Discussion and Concluding Remarks. Findings

This section presents a reanalysis of seven selected visual-verbal narratives illustrating four major challenges in the previous research. The focus is on the multi-voiced and ambiguous nature of the data showing how the pupils used diverse resources to create layers of meaning in their self-portraits. Problems presented by the teacher position

The teacher-researcher position can offer access to the context and insight into the participants of the research but also presents a risk for over-interpretations and prejudice. This became evident with the theme of resistance that pupils often expressed in indirect ways, especially in the visual data (see Skinnari, 2012, 2014). Figures 6.1 and 6.2 illustrate cases where teacher knowledge or position complicated the interpretation of expressions of resistance.

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Figure 6.1 was previously interpreted as an open expression of resistance and irony (Skinnari, 2012). The self-portrait shows a pupil who was silent and passive in the English classroom, reflecting his lack of interest or negative attitude. This understanding affected the earlier interpretation where the caricature in the drawing appears to show a middle fi nger. Hence the smile and the exceptionally polite question, ‘Teacher! Will we get a lot of homework?’, were interpreted as ironic expressions, especially since teachers in Finnish schools are usually not addressed quite so politely. Later, I was asked in a seminar if the fi nger was not a thumb, which is likely if the fi ngers are carefully counted. Showing a thumb is a positive gesture, which, excepting possible irony, is not an overt sign of resistance. In the previous interpretation, the name of the heavy metal band Metallica on the character’s shirt was interpreted as referring to a resistant culture. However, it could be more positively viewed as the pupil’s expression of interest in and involvement with the English language in out-of-school contexts. In Figure 6.2, the perplexed-looking character fi rst expresses his insecurity by ‘Dunno!’. Kekkone, Kekkone refers to the Finnish presidential election in 1978 where the selection of President Kekkonen was so obvious that the ritual repetition of his name in the counting of votes lost its meaning. This humorous culturally shared memory is still circulated online. Using the catchphrase could convey the meaninglessness of the task for the pupil and his unwillingness to participate in the research. On the other hand, the drawing could express a state of confusion in the English lesson. In the drawings where the pupils expressed their negative experiences or attitudes, it was sometimes difficult to know if the criticism was targeted against the English language, studying English, the teacher, school in general, or the research itself. As an answer to the question, ‘What do you dislike about learning English?’ included in a questionnaire, one pupil replied, ‘Doing this’, referring to the research task. Likewise, hastily drawn stick figures with no facial expressions or characters producing nonsense talk, as in Figure 6.2, could indicate that the pupils were reluctant to reveal their thoughts to a teacher-researcher. However, a major drawback in interpreting the visual narratives was the absence of explanations, which limited the dialogue in the process. Pupils’ missing explanations

The only drawing for which a pupil was asked for an explanation is shown in Figure 6.3. In the picture, the distance between the pupil and the teacher and their difference in size are exaggerated. Interestingly, the pupil is seen from the teacher’s viewpoint, positioning him as the object of the analytic gaze of two audiences. Although the figure of the pupil is small,

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it has been finished in detail and marked clearly with ‘me’ both on his desk and with an added label and arrow. This emphasises the authenticity of his position. The pupil presents the institutional signs of a ‘good language learner’, holding his hand up and with a smile on his face. English is used to identify the characters and only the teacher speaks Finnish. This is in line with the pupil’s position in the classroom as an active, positive and successful learner of English. The teacher, in contrast, is depicted as a generic authoritative character, ridiculed with an obese appearance and trousers slipping down. This distinguishes her from the stern-looking teachers in the other drawings. A perplexing double-voicedness was created by recycling an authorityresisting humour of comics and caricatures which was in contrast with the drawer’s notable politeness in the classroom. Feeling slightly offended by the representation of the teacher, I asked the pupil later if the teacher in the picture was me. He blushed in embarrassment and said, ‘Oh, no!’. Although the pupil had provided an answer, his intentions in drawing the picture remained unclear. The sixth graders, as early adolescents, particularly mocked the authoritative voice of school in their drawings. This was often visible in the incomprehensible ‘blablabla’ speech of the teacher characters. Quite often, the learners portrayed themselves as passive and unmotivated. In Figure 6.4, the sleepy, uninterested learner repeats the teacher’s talk enkkuaenkkuaenkkua (Englishenglishenglishenglish), but only in a thought bubble, indicating lack of agency and passive intake of the teacher’s words. In an earlier interpretation, this picture exemplified how affordances in the English classroom, such as teacher talk, do not always enhance pupil agency and learning (Skinnari, 2014). However, not knowing the pupil, her orientation to learning English was not clear. When some pupils were asked about their lack of interest and focus in the classroom, they reported feeling tired or hungry because it was the last class of a long day or the lesson before the lunch break. This shows how difficult it is to interpret data without negotiating the meanings with the participants. Very often, the pupils portrayed themselves as ‘good language learners’, showing a positive attitude with smiling faces. Added speech or thought bubbles expressed the learner’s interest and effort, in spite of contrasting observational data from the classrooms. This made it difficult to determine which representation was more ‘authentic’ and shows the dynamic complexity of learner identities and pupils’ willingness to fulfil institutional expectations. However, the data collection method also affected the ways the pupils wanted and were able to present themselves. The participants seemed to orient more seriously to the written tasks and interviews than to drawing their self-portraits which instead exhibited playfulness and humour.

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Messy multi-voicedness

Often the pupils added texts to their drawings to clarify their meanings; sometimes, however, this only increased the ambiguity by adding contrasting voices. In the earlier study, I had often ignored the dynamic complexity of language learning expressed in pictures because of their messiness. In Figure 6.5, the multi-voicedness of the learning situation is apparent in the numerous speech and thought bubbles, where diverse ideas and contrasting feelings are simultaneously present, creating tension between the multiple foci. The translations of others’ voices (the teacher’s and a friend’s) are set inside the picture, the learner’s own in the right-hand margin. This drawing captures the dynamic situation of an English learner at the end of a lesson. The learner is torn between good experiences, boring responsibilities, wishes and an impending break. The clock on the wall and a friend peeping from behind the door disturb his focus, still firmly on the task, as seen by the direction of gaze. Yet, the teacher demands attention to the task. The greatest emphasis is on ‘I wish this lesson would end’ in big letters. Comics-style interjections show changing orientations and attitudes. Jes (‘yes’) mediates a positive state of mind when anticipating the break or receiving a good mark from a word test (9/9 verbs), but no jes (‘well yes’) connected to a task transmits the opposite meaning. Böö, ääh and tou (‘boo, blah, d’oh’), also borrowed from the comics genre, add dynamic voices to the drawing. At the left bottom corner, a friendly greeting moi from a tiny figure increases the multi-voicedness of the narration, probably showing another alter ego of the pupil. Other people seldom appeared in the learners’ drawings (Skinnari, 2012; see also Kalaja et al., 2008). However, as Figure 6.5 shows, others’ voices were present in speech bubbles, thought bubbles or in facial expressions reflecting the reactions of the learners. The multi-voicedness of the narratives was increased by the deployment of bilingual resources in the Finnish and English texts. The multimodality in the drawings created tensions with layered meanings, for example when the characters’ facial expressions contrasted with the speech and thought bubbles, as demonstrated in the next section.

Wide repertoires for making stylistic choices

Not sharing the same cultural knowledge as my pupils was a problem in interpreting the drawings. Sometimes the repertoires underlying their stylistic choices were unknown to me and consequently it was difficult to identify the intentions related to those choices, as illustrated by the following two examples. As an example of intertextuality, Figure 6.6 displays a drawing in which I did not initially recognise the pupil’s resources for communicating multiple voices. From an outsider’s comment I learned that the character’s

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way of expressing himself was borrowed from a popular TV comedian who after making an utterance mutters a contradictory comment. Emulating this style was a fitting way for the pupil to show his mixed feelings and thoughts about English lessons. By borrowing stylistic resources from a comedian, the multi-voiced situation of the English learner is shown by presenting himself as a motivated learner in the speech bubble which contradicts the feeling of boredom expressed in the thought bubble. The drawing exhibits several contrasts. Pencil and paper as institutional artefacts clash with free time distractions, crisps and a lollipop. Trying to focus on a school task leads to contrasting ideas and the bewildered look of the character. The English language is present in the bag of ‘Remix’, a mixture of sweet and salty flavours. Although the name of a shoe shop is written in Finnish on the shoe sole, only the English pages of the company exist online. This may also refer to an out-of-school experience. In his drawing, the pupil had used many cultural resources that I was unaware of; nor did I know him as a teacher. Consequently, it was very difficult to know the intentions underlying his stylistic choices. With this skilfully drawn multi-voiced image the pupil was able to display both his sense of humour and his ability to create a clever pastiche to be shared with his peers before collection by the teacher. The influence of Manga style is visible in Figure 6.7, where the skilful artistic expression is foregrounded, diverting attention from any intended

Figure 6.7 Manga style

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message, such as a subtle critique of the institutional activity. In spite of the teacher’s ‘blabla’, the facial expressions of the characters do not reveal any strong emotions. The two learners cannot be identified as they resemble iconic characters in a comic strip. Drawing for fun was quite common, for example if the pupils had extra time after taking an English test. At the bottom of the test papers, they often expressed their feelings with emoticons and comments about the test or their own performance. However, sometimes they just doodled on their papers as a pastime, making no reference to the test. Artistic freedom was also expressed in the self-portraits which deployed a wide range of stylistic resources expressing serious and humoristic narratives on learning English. One intention of good drawers may have been to practise and demonstrate their artistic skill by recycling art genres. According to Sullivan (2012: 45), ‘the genre gives clues to the emotional intonation of the discourse’. Thus, borrowing resources from caricature and comic strip genres in the pupils’ visual narratives could not be seen simply as serious representations of their experiences or activity at school. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

In this chapter, I examined the challenges of using visual data in earlier research through a reanalysis of seven visual-verbal self-portraits of English language learners. I approached these ambiguous and multivoiced drawings in a more nuanced framework by understanding them as dialogically produced narratives that recycle diverse cultural resources. As a result, the earlier interpretations, bound to previously established themes, were contested and deepened. The reanalysis verified the complexity of learners’ experiences and language learner identities, found earlier (Skinnari, 2012, 2014). What, then, were the lessons learned? An overview of one’s own previous work is inevitably subjective as the dialogue only continues between the data and the researcher. Although cycles of analysis hermeneutically deepen the interpretation, they do not replace a genuine dialogue and negotiation of meaning with the participants (Pink, 2005, as cited by Holm, 2008: 329; see also Melo-Pfeifer, 2015). Moreover, in ethnographic study visual narratives need to be contextualised not only to include the product but also the contexts and the narrative practices of the data-gathering situations (Gubrium & Holstein, 2008). To capture the voices in multimodal data, the analysis needs to go beyond the image, to the cultural and social context in which the drawings have been produced. The richness of visual-verbal narratives can offer language learning research possibilities for breaking the institutional frame and the boundaries of spoken and written modes of language. It can reveal layers of meanings that are complex and multi-voiced and illustrate the lived reality of language learning or extend even beyond that into the realm of imagination.

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Future studies could focus on how diverse cultural resources are appropriated and shared in interaction. For this purpose, a more social process of drawing and talking about drawings in different contexts could be designed. Furthermore, collecting visual data through repeated drawing tasks during the research process could add a longitudinal and dynamic perspective to this research. How to combine visual narratives with other types of data remains a major challenge, especially when contradictions arise in the analysis. Such tensions, however, express the essential complexity of the human experience and research on it. Avoiding interpretations that claim to ‘reveal’ hidden truths conforms with Holm’s (2008: 325) idea that ‘images are not neutral and do not portray a truth but only the producers’ and viewers’ co-constructed understanding’. When drawings are seen as situationally oriented, multi-voiced visual narratives rather than reflections of the pupils’ authentic feelings and thoughts, it becomes clear that the intentions or messages behind the drawings cannot be fully identified. The participants may also purposefully challenge authenticity and truth by taking on different roles and stage events just to tell a good story (El Refaie, 2012). In a search for serious messages through monological school-related readings, it is easy to miss the aspects of playfulness, creativity and drawing for fun or social purposes, which the pupils themselves may not be fully aware of either. El Refaie (2012) asks whose story gets told in visual narratives. Since the present drawing task was executed at school, it is necessary to consider the power relations between teachers and students. While still being a school or a research task, drawing a self-portrait allowed space for different voices, creativity, agency and modes of performance. It also remains uncertain whether the pupils wanted to or could explain their drawings. Drawing a visual narrative is an opportunity to tell a story, lie, resist, experiment or do differently and not be punished or formally assessed. Thus, for pupils, visual narratives enable the presentation of multiple voices that are not always visible in institutional interaction or in its research. References Aro, M. (2009) Speakers and doers: Polyphony and agency in children’s beliefs about language learning. Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities No. 116. PhD thesis, University of Jyväskylä. Banks, M. (2001) Visual Methods in Social Research. London: Sage. Benwell, B. and Stokoe, E. (2013) Discourse and Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Brafman, A.H. (2012) The Language of Drawings: A New Finding in Psychodynamic Work. London: Karnac Books. Clandinin, D.J. and Connelly, F.M. (2000) Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Dufva, H. and Aro, M. (2015) Dialogical view on language learners’ agency: Connecting intrapersonal with interpersonal. In P. Deters, X. Gao, E.R. Miller and G. Vitanova (eds) Theorizing and Analyzing Agency in Second Language Learning: Interdisciplinary Approaches. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

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El Refaie, E. (2012) Autobiographical Comics: Life Writing in Pictures. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. Esteban-Guitart, M., Monreal-Bosch, P., Perera, S. and Bastiani, J. (2016) Schooling and identity: A qualitative analysis of self-portrait drawings of young indigenous people from Chiapas, Mexico. Frontiers in Psychology 7: 2083. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02083 Frank, A.W. (2012) Practicing dialogical narrative analysis. In J.A. Holstein and J.F. Gubrium (eds) Varieties of Narrative Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Gubrium, J.F. and Holstein, J.A. (2008) Narrative ethnography. In S. Nagy Hesse-Biber and P. Leavy (eds) Handbook of Emergent Methods. New York: Guilford Press. Guyotte, K.W. (2014) Visual-Verbal Narrative Analysis: Practicalities, Possibilities, and Challenges in Transdisciplinary Visual Journal Research. London: Sage. Holm, G. (2008) Visual research methods. Where are we and where are we going? In S. Nagy Hesse-Biber and P. Leavy (eds) Handbook of Emergent Methods. New York: Guilford Press. İnözü, J. (2017) Drawings are talking: Exploring language learners’ beliefs through visual narratives. Applied Linguistics Review 9 (2–3), 177–200. Kalaja, P., Alanen, R. and Dufva, H. (2008) Self-portraits of EFL learners: Finnish students draw and tell. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 186–198). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Keats, P.A. (2009) Multiple text analysis in narrative research: Visual, written, and spoken stories of experience. Qualitative Research 9 (2), 181–195. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (1996) Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge. Melo-Pfeifer, S. (2015) Multilingual awareness and heritage language education: Children’s multimodal representations of their multilingualism. Language Awareness 24 (3), 197–215. Nikulin, D. (2011) The man at the mirror (dialogue with oneself). European Journal of Philosophy and Public Debate 3 (5), 61–79. Palviainen, Å. (2011) Fräsande huvuden och passionerade eldar: Självporträtt gjorda av svenskstudenter [Fizzy heads and passionate fi res: Self-portraits made by students of Swedish]. In S. Niemi and P. Söderholm (eds) Svenskan i Finland 12 (pp. 205–214). Publications of the University of Eastern Finland: Reports and Studies in Education, Humanities and Technology. Joensuu: University of Joensuu. Pink, S. (2005) The Future of Visual Anthropology. London: Routledge. Riessman, C.K. (2008) Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Skinnari, K. (2012) ‘Tässä ryhmässä olen aika hyvä’: Ekologinen näkökulma kielenoppijaidentiteetteihin peruskoulun viidennen ja kuudennen luokan englannin opetuksessa [‘I’m quite good in this group’: An ecological view of fi fth and sixth graders’ language learner identities in elementary school English language learning]. Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities No. 188. PhD thesis, University of Jyväskylä. Skinnari, K. (2014) Silence and resistance as experiences and presentations of pupil agency in Finnish elementary school English lessons. Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies 8 (1), 47–64. Sullivan, P. (2012) Qualitative Data Analysis Using a Dialogical Approach. London: Sage. doi:10.4135/9781446268391 van Lier, L. (2004) The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning: A Sociocultural Perspective. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic. Welkener, M.M. and Baxter Magolda, M.B. (2014) Better understanding students’ selfauthorship via self-portraits. Journal of College Student Development 55 (6), 580–585. Wertsch, J.V. (1991) Voices of the Mind: A Sociocultural Approach to Mediated Action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

7 Looking at Language Through a Camera Lens Liss Kerstin Sylvén

This chapter compares and contrasts the beliefs about two languages, Swedish as an L1 and English as an L2, held by two students (aged 17–18 years). The students were attending Grade 12 in the Swedish educational system, one being on a content and language integrated (CLIL) programme, the other on a regular EFL programme. The students were asked to take photographs of occasions that were significant to them when they used the two languages and provide interpretations in follow-up discussions. The fi ndings indicate that CLIL and non-CLIL students differ in their perspectives on language: while CLIL students tend to view language as something to be used, non-CLIL students rather look at it as something to be learned.

Introduction

At the heart of every second or foreign language (L2/FL) learning effort is the individual learner. Every individual learner holds his or her unique values, opinions, emotions and experiences of learning in general and of language and language learning in particular. Undoubtedly, such individual differences have an impact on the process and progress of L2/ FL learning (e.g. Dewaele, 2004; MacIntyre & Charos, 1996). For instance, learners with a strong motivation to become proficient in an L2/ FL for reasons such as job opportunities, travel plans or relocation to a new country are often more successful language learners than those who merely study an L2/FL in school for no other reason than there being language classes on their schedule. In this chapter, I will account for two individuals and their differences as evidenced in photographs taken to illustrate their views on languages. The study takes place in Sweden, where Swedish is the majority language, and the first language (L1) of the students. English is a FL albeit the most important one and verging on becoming an L2 in the Swedish context 115

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(Hyltenstam, 2004). The study is part of a larger research project, Content and Language in Swedish Schools1 (CLISS) in which content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is investigated from various perspectives. The focus of this specific study is how CLIL and non-CLIL students, respectively, view their L1 Swedish and their L2 English. One of the individuals focused on in this chapter attends a CLIL programme where non-language subjects, such as history and civics, are taught through L2/FL English, while the other is part of a parallel, mainstream programme, taught through Swedish with English studied only as a separate subject. The chapter starts with a background to CLIL, English in Sweden and the theoretical basis for the study. I then account for the study itself and its results, followed by a discussion of the results. The chapter ends with some pedagogical implications and concluding remarks. Background to the Study

The process of learning an L2/FL is arduous and requires a great deal of effort on the part of the learner. Learning our L1 is an ongoing process where we are immersed in the language spoken by those close to us. The language input is incessant and we are constantly helped by people surrounding us to attain increasing mastery of our main tool for communication. The learning of an L2/FL is often not as linear and straightforward; we are usually not surrounded by the L2/FL, those near to us are typically not involved in the learning process, and often it is not even seen as a tool for communication but rather as one school subject among many others. In order to improve the possibilities for L2/FL learning in the educational setting, CLIL is used in many contexts (see, for example, Coyle, 2008; Dalton-Puffer, 2011; Lasagabaster & Ruiz de Zarobe, 2010). Inspired by the immersion method introduced in Canada in the mid-1960s (Swain & Lapkin, 1981), the main aim of CLIL is to increase the learner’s number of contact hours with the L2/FL by using it as the medium of instruction in non-language subjects such as biology and history. Literature on CLIL from various language learning perspectives abounds, but very few studies focus on the individual learner and his/her beliefs. This study fills an apparent gap in that respect. A major concept of relevance in the analyses of the data in the present study is motivation. In his L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), Dörnyei (2009) identifies three areas of importance for L2/FL learning motivation. The first is the Ideal L2 Self, which is the kind of L2 user one would like to see oneself as in the future, including wishes and aspirations. The Ideal L2 Self may serve as a future self-guide. The second, the Ought-to L2 Self, represents the kind of L2 user others would like to see oneself as in the future. Here, perceived obligations and duties play a central role. The third aspect involved in L2/FL learning motivation is the L2 learning

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experience, including all aspects connected to the learning of the L2, such as teachers, classroom practices and peers. The possibility of envisioning one’s future self as a driving force for learning originates with Markus and Nurius (1986), who claimed that such visions could work as future self-guides, offering a goal to be reached. In research on L2 learning, the L2MSS has been shown to be a relevant theoretical model, as L2 learning differs from the learning of non-language subjects (see also Chapter 14 by Mäntylä & Kalaja in this volume). To connect this theory with the present study, using visual narrative as the source of information is an innovative way of fi nding out more about the L2 learners’ beliefs about their future and what their goals may be. Having a goal seems to be of decisive importance to L2 learning motivational levels, as shown in several studies (e.g. Csizér & Kormos, 2009; Ryan, 2009; Taguchi et  al., 2009; You & Dörnyei, 2016). Of specific interest here are studies showing the strong effect of the Ideal L2 Self among CLIL students, as opposed to non-CLIL ones. For instance, Yoxsimer Paulsrud (2014) showed CLIL students as having a more robust view of themselves as users of L2 English in the future, as expressed by their future academic and professional aspirations. Within the framework of the CLISS project (see below for details), fi ndings indicate that CLIL students are significantly more motivated and suffer from less anxiety in comparison with their non-CLIL peers (Sylvén & Thompson, 2015; Thompson & Sylvén, 2015). Finally, in the analysis of visual narratives in the form of photographs taken by two male students, one CLIL and one non-CLIL, taking part in the same study as the one reported on in this chapter, Sylvén (2015) illustrates the deep divide in their views about their L1 and L2. While the CLIL male saw language, regardless of which one, as a means to communicate, the non-CLIL male worried about the influence English had on Swedish, highlighting the need for languages to be kept apart in order to keep their respective systems free from one another. Another concept to keep in mind when interpreting data obtained in various L2 English contexts is the amount of extramural exposure to English. As has been illustrated in several studies (Kuppens, 2010; Olsson, 2016; Sundqvist, 2011; Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016; Sylvén & Sundqvist, 2012), exposure to a target language outside school can have a decisive impact on the language learning process as measured in the school subject. It is therefore of importance to account for the input of English outside school, in order to control for that specific factor in the analyses of language learning outcomes. In the CLISS project, participants’ extramural exposure was accounted for through questionnaires and a specific language diary administered twice during the three-year period (Olsson, 2016; Olsson & Sylvén, 2015). This chapter is based on visual narratives as the main source of empirical data. Visual narratives are here understood as ‘a chain of signs

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with particular rather than general social, cultural and/or historical meanings’ (Squire, 2012: 1). In other words, the visual narratives, in this case photographs, are to be understood as highly contextual and particular for the very purpose of their existence. Visual narratives are an increasingly important source of empirical data in scholarly research in general and in the study of L2/FL learning and teaching in particular. Earlier, questionnaires and interviews were the default sources of information about learner beliefs. The need for other types of input was voiced by Kalaja et  al. (2008a) who, by using the visual narrative approach, found it innovative and useful in order to understand individual beliefs about language learning in ways that were impossible through the use of questionnaires and interviews alone. Following this initial attempt, there have been others using visual narratives (e.g. Dufva et al., 2011; Kalaja et al., 2008b). Recently, Kalaja et al. (2016) took an emic perspective in an attempt to understand in more depth the role of beliefs in FL learning among learners, teacher trainees and teachers in Finland and Brazil, using visual narrative among other methods. As pointed out by Kalaja et al. (2008a: 198), the combination of oral and visual narratives captures much richer renderings of the ‘multiplicity of meanings present in the views held by a learner’. Even though visual narrative is increasingly used as a research tool in the field of L2/FL learning and teaching, the use of photographs as the visual narrative is still scarce. One study known to date is by Nikula and Pitkänen-Huhta (2008), who focused on 14–15 year old learners of L2 English and their contacts with English. The photographs taken by the seven students depicted objects, places and events in connection with which they deemed that English played an important role. The fi ndings indicate that English is a natural part of their everyday existence, and that they encounter it in virtually all parts of their lives: school, hobbies, entertainment. Another study using photographs as the main data source is Besser and Chik (2014), whose informants were young learners of L2 English in Hong Kong. As in Nikula’s and Pitkänen-Huhta’s study, the aim was to investigate learners’ everyday contacts with English. Besser and Chik found socio-economic background factors to play a significant role in their informants’ various types of English exposure, and thus their possibilities of learning the L2 outside school. Both these studies found photographing to be a fruitful way of coming closer to language learners’ own realities and their individual differences as regards beliefs about L2 learning. In sum, the use of visual narratives in combination with other sources of data allows research to gain deeper insights into the thoughts and minds of language learners. In the present study, therefore, I used the combination of photographs taken by the language learners themselves and subsequent discussion about the photographs.

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Aims of the Study

Languages and their roles and meaning in learners’ lives are gaining increasing attention in research. In this study, I focus on these issues from the emic perspective of the learners themselves in order to better understand the roles and meaning of L1 Swedish and L2 English in these learners’ lives as illustrated through their own camera lenses. Two learners – one in a CLIL programme, the other in a non-CLIL parallel programme – in their fi nal year of senior high school, provided the empirical data. As previous studies have found certain differences in, above all, levels of motivation for language learning among CLIL and non-CLIL students (e.g. Seikkula-Leino, 2007; Sylvén & Thompson, 2015; Thompson & Sylvén, 2015), it is of relevance to further investigate possible variations in other types of individual differences (Dörnyei, 2006; MacIntyre, 2002). The research questions guiding the present study are: (1) How do learners view their L1 Swedish and L2 English? (2) Are there differences in the views expressed by CLIL and non-CLIL students? The first research question will be answered by photographs taken by the participants illustrating their L1 and L2, and subsequent discussions about them. The second will be answered by analysing the results obtained for the first research question, from the perspective of CLIL and non-CLIL. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

The empirical data forming the backbone of this study are, first, photographs taken by two language learners, and secondly, subsequent interviews with these individuals. In the following, I introduce the two participants and explain the data collection. Participants

As mentioned above, I selected two of the female participants for the present study. One of them, Mahela, attended a CLIL programme, while the other, Felicia, had opted for the non-CLIL version of the same high school programme. A more detailed presentation is offered below. Mahela was born in Sweden, but her parents have their roots in Lebanon, a country the entire family often returns to. Her parents’ L1 is Arabic, and that is the language they use most often at home within the family, although Swedish is also used to a large degree. In addition, French is spoken within the family and with relatives and friends during visits to Lebanon. With its historical connections with France, French is a commonly spoken language in Lebanon. Mahela herself, though, considers

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Swedish to be her L1, as that is the language she uses most often at school and with friends. To add to Mahela’s linguistic repertoire, she has studied Spanish in school since Grade 7. She is a very ambitious student doing little else than schoolwork, physical exercise, and spending time with her family. Mahela opted for the CLIL programme as she really enjoys English and wants to be as proficient in it as possible upon graduation. Her exposure to  English outside school is vast. She reads a great deal of literature – books, journals and newspapers – in English, watches TV series and films in English without subtitles in Swedish, communicates with friends all over the world in English and more or less constantly listens to music with English lyrics. After high school, she aims for university level economics studies. Felicia was born in Sweden to native Swedish parents. She has travelled abroad, but only for week-long vacation trips with her family. She claims that there was no other option for her than the non-CLIL programme when choosing paths in senior high school. She enjoys English, but does not see any real need for it in her future. Like Mahela, Felicia is an ambitious student, occupying most of her time doing school-related work and spending time with family and friends. Felicia’s contact with English outside school is relatively limited. She watches TV series and films in English with Swedish subtitles and listens to music with English lyrics. Upon graduation, she wants to attend a three-year programme in higher education in order to become an estate agent. Data Collection and Analysis

As mentioned above, the present study was part of a large-scale, longitudinal research project into CLIL in Swedish schools, the CLISS project (see Sylvén & Ohlander, 2014, for further information and details about the project). The main focus of the project was to investigate proficiency and progress in L1 Swedish and L2/FL English among CLIL and non-CLIL students during their three years in senior high school (Grades 10–12, age 15/16–18/19). All students were enrolled in academically oriented programmes which are preparatory for higher education. For the CLIL students, English was used as the medium of instruction in several non-language subjects, such as history and biology, as well as being a subject on its own. For the non-CLIL students, English was studied only as a separate subject. All in all, more than 240 students were involved, and during their three years in senior high school they completed a number of questionnaires and tests in both languages. In addition, the empirical data include classroom observations as well as interviews performed with both students and teachers. At two of the schools, I informed all students involved in the CLISS project, both CLIL and non-CLIL, about the present study, its focus, aims and procedure. As this was a more personal study involving students’

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private spheres it was important that those who participated did so of their own free will; therefore, I asked volunteers to come forward. Some 20 students indicated that they were interested in taking part, and I sent them an email outlining what was expected of them, namely to take a number of photos every day during one week. The photos should illustrate, fi rst, their Swedish (which in most cases was the only L1) and, second, their L2 (English). In the email I also pointed out that participation was voluntary, that they could opt out of the project at any time, and that they would remain anonymous in any subsequent dissemination of the results of the study. Movie tickets were offered to those who participated. Questions were raised by some of the participants as regards how to interpret the task, but in order to truly gain access to their own views and in line with similar research (cf. for example, Benson & Lor, 1999; Kalaja et al., 2016; Ryan & Mercer, 2012), no further information was offered but it was rather left to the students themselves to make sense of what to do. Subsequent to the email, a number of students decided to opt out, primarily due to the timing of this study coinciding with a hectic period containing a heavy load of school-related work and high-stakes tests. All in all, there were eight individuals remaining at two of the three schools involved in the CLISS project – four females (two CLIL and two non-CLIL) and four males (two CLIL and two non-CLIL). As mentioned above, in this chapter I focus on two of the females, one CLIL and one non-CLIL. I chose these two individuals as they attended the same school and, thus, the external context was similar for both of them. When the students felt they had taken the photos they deemed fit, they sent them digitally to me. In the fi rst step, I printed out the photographs and organised them thematically. Then I scheduled individual meetings with all participants. We met at local coffee shops or in the school cafeteria and, with a tape recorder turned on, we talked about the photographs and what each photo depicted and what meaning it carried. The meetings lasted between 30 and 60 minutes. The students were prompted to elaborate as much as possible about each photograph. Following each of these meetings I transcribed the recordings using the software NVivo. In the ensuing analyses of the transcripts, the initial thematisation of the photographs served as the point of departure (cf. Nikula & Pitkänen-Huhta, 2008). In order to ensure an interpretation in line with our discussions during the meeting, I used quotes from the recordings. As a result, many of the photographs had to be reorganised from the themes they had been put into in the fi rst analysis, into the themes emerging from the second round. The process of thematisation of the photographs, together with the interview transcripts, was repeated until saturation was reached, inspired by grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). This process enables the data to speak for themselves to a large extent, and limits the risk of preconceived notions influencing the process.

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In order to ensure anonymity for the participants, I have removed all personal information from the photos included in this chapter. In addition, I use pseudonyms for the participants. Findings

In this section, I present a selection of Mahela’s and Felicia’s photographs. In order to protect the informants’ and any other photographed individuals’ anonymity, I have blurred all faces. I discuss the photographs both in their own right and in connection with the data obtained in the personal conversations, as described above. As the interviews were carried out in Swedish, I have translated all quotes into English. Mahela sent in 10 photographs altogether. Out of these, seven featured animate objects, in most cases herself with or without classmates. Three of the photographs related to her L1 Swedish, and seven to L2 English. The first two pictures relate to Mahela’s views of her L1 Swedish. In the first photograph she kisses a Santa Claus doll, truly showing affection for the doll (see Figure 7.1). Only her own and the doll’s faces are shown in the photograph and Mahela is apparently not ashamed of showing this fondness for a doll. During the interview, Mahela explained this picture by saying that ‘I love Swedish traditions – not least Christmas with Santa Claus’. The picture is a representation of the love and affection Mahela claims she holds for Swedish culture.

Figure 7.1 L1 Swedish: Mahela and Santa Claus doll

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Figure 7.2 L1 Swedish: Mahela and her class

In the second photograph, also relating to L1 Swedish, Mahela poses together with all of her classmates (see Figure 7.2). This is a collection of happy faces, and it is evident that it is a group of people who enjoy one another’s company. Some seem to enjoy one another even more – in the lower right hand corner there are a boy and a girl holding hands. During the interview, it becomes evident that this is a gathering of the entire class in Mahela’s home. The occasion is to celebrate the Nobel Prize with a dinner. The idea was Mahela’s, but everybody helped out with the various dishes served. The picture embodies the very special sense of unity this class had, and Mahela used it as a token of how much her Swedish classmates mean to her and how proud she is to be part of this group. The following three pictures reflect Mahela’s views about English. The first is one of Mahela’s few photographs with a non-animate object (see Figure 7.3). The photo is a collage of various social media, representing the

Figure 7.3 L2 English: Mahela’s various social media

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importance they have in young people’s lives today. Mahela’s comment on this was that: ‘Everybody, all over the world, gets into contact with English nowadays. English is everywhere. Not least on social media.’ In Mahela’s own life, the abundance of English is reflected in the fact that she is heavily exposed to English outside school, and the photograph clearly shows that she is aware of the need to be proficient in English in order to be a player in the international arena. The second photograph depicting L2 English shows Mahela with one of her best friends when they were on a school visit to London (see Figure 7.4). In the picture, two happy and proud girls are seen with Big Ben in the background. This is an indication of how international these two students are, feeling quite at home in the heart of London. In our discussion, when seeing this picture Mahela commented that ‘my internship for one week as a sales person at H&M in London was the best time of my life!’. The comment about the internship in London being the best time of her life gives a nice transition to the last of Mahela’s pictures. Here, we see her posing alone in an airport (see Figure 7.5). The photo reflects internationalism, and Mahela herself shines with pride at being there. It is clear that she feels very comfortable being where she is in this photo. She comments: ‘I want

Figure 7.4 L2 English: Mahela and her friend in London

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Figure 7.5 L2 English: Mahela at an airport

to become a successful business woman. I really want to be successful. English is a prerequisite for that today.’ Her plan for the future is clear, and by the looks conveyed in the photographs, she intends to follow that plan. To sum up her photographs and subsequent discussion with Mahela, it can be concluded that she is an illustration of the ambitions and dreams of many young women in present-day Sweden. They have an international outlook on life and do not see themselves as limited by national borders in their future careers. In other words, Mahela’s view of herself in the future is a global one. Turning to Felicia, the non-CLIL student, she said that she enjoyed taking the photographs as it was so different from all the other tasks they had had to complete in connection with the CLISS project. In all, Felicia produced 15 photographs. Ten of them related to L1 Swedish and five to L2 English. She said that CLIL was never an option for her, but she liked English and studied the most advanced English course at the time of the present study. Felicia claimed that she had no intention of moving away from Sweden in the future. The fi rst two of Felicia’s pictures are related to her L1 Swedish. In Felicia’s first photograph, we see a milk carton (see Figure 7.6). In Sweden, milk cartons are often used to convey information of some sort, often related to health issues. Milk cartons are seen as a prime arena for communicating information of this sort, as such cartons often are found at

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Figure 7.6 L1 Swedish: Felicia’s milk carton

breakfast and dinner tables in Swedish homes (cf. Kalaja et al., 2011). Felicia says about this photograph that ‘it is always interesting to read the texts provided on milk cartons, and I always learn new words from them’. Felicia’s second photograph also relates to her L1 Swedish and depicts her morning paper on a table (see Figure 7.7). She says ‘I learn a lot of new words in Swedish by reading the local newspaper’. The next photos supplied by Felicia relate to her L2 English. In one of them, animate objects appear but the object of the photograph itself is inanimate, as it is a TV screen depicting the TV show Real Housewives. In connection to this photograph, she says: ‘I watch a lot of American TV shows. I learn so many new words all the time!’ For obvious reasons, the final photograph supplied by Felicia showing an empty speech bubble was virtually impossible to interpret in the first round of analysis (see Figure 7.8). It turns out, though, that this was meant as an illustration of how she and her classmates often use English. Felicia says ‘me and my friends often play around with English during breaks to try out various words and expressions’. She explains that they use English in a playful manner when outside the classroom, in contrast to the strict use that is required during English lessons. Further, she claims that this is also how she envisions herself using English in the future: ‘only for fun, [I will] never use it professionally.’ To sum up, the photographs taken by Felicia illustrate objects in connection with which she believes her language skills are improved, above

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Figure 7.7 L1 Swedish: Felicia’s morning paper

Figure 7.8 L2 English: Felicia’s speech bubble

all concerning vocabulary in both the L1 and the L2. Her image of herself as a language user is very local in scope, as she clearly prefers using her L1 in the future and the L2 only for fun. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

In this study, photographs illustrating what their L1 Swedish and L2 English meant to them, respectively, taken by two female students were

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described and commented on. One of the participants was a CLIL and the other a non-CLIL student. Interestingly, the two displayed two very different views on their L1 and L2. In the following, I will discuss the results from the perspective of the two research questions, and then in a more general sense. I will touch upon some lessons learned from the study and, finally, I will discuss pedagogical implications and draw some conclusions. In response to the first research question, ‘How do learners view their L1 Swedish and L2 English?’, we get different answers. For Mahela, who is multilingual with knowledge of and constant contact with a number of different languages, the view on languages, whichever they are, seems to be that they are used for communication between people. Felicia, on the other hand, who is also multilingual in the sense that she knows more than one language (European Commission, 2007; Li Wei, 2008), seems to be much more focused on the learning of languages. She constantly returns to how many words she can learn – both in the L1 and the L2 – from reading, whether it be a newspaper or a milk carton, and watching TV. Felicia seems to hold a rather narrow view about what it means to learn and know an L2, as demonstrated by the narrow focus on vocabulary alone in most of her photographs. The second research question concerns any possible differences between CLIL and non-CLIL students. In the previously reported fi ndings on two parallel male students who took part in the same study as the one reported on here, there were clear differences between the CLIL and the non-CLIL males (Sylvén, 2015). Whereas the CLIL student saw language, regardless of whether it was the L1 or the L2, as a means of communication, the non-CLIL student saw each language as a separate system that needed to be kept apart. The CLIL male did not care if languages were mixed, as long as the intended message came across. The non-CLIL student was acutely worried about the increasing influx of English into Swedish, and the subsequent detrimental effect it has, in his view, on what he saw as traditional Swedish. Differences between the CLIL and non-CLIL female students focused on in this study, as described above, were also evident. The differences displayed between Mahela and Felicia may have several explanations. One possibility is the fact that, during her years in CLIL, Mahela has become used to English as a medium of communication. Felicia, in contrast, has studied English only as a separate subject in school and has never had to use it for authentic communication in her everyday life. Another explanation may be that, while Mahela is an experienced traveller with a vast network of family and friends in various parts of the world, Felicia is very much rooted in the city and context where she was born and brought up. A third reason for the different approaches depicted by the two may relate to their respective extramural exposure to English. While Mahela has quite a considerable amount of contact with English outside of school, Felicia has much less.

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In addition, the objects of the photographs differed between the two participants. The CLIL student’s photographs depicted animate objects in seven out of 10 photos, while the non-CLIL student focused her photographs solely on inanimate objects. I interpret this in several ways. First, the task in itself may have been understood in different ways by the two. One of them may have seen the task as illustrating who she communicates with in each respective language, and the other one perhaps where she comes across the two languages. Another interpretation, and one which is more in line with the fi ndings from the male students, is that language is seen by the CLIL student as something to use and a way to communicate orally with people around her and by the non-CLIL student as a way to convey and understand written messages. Both the male and female CLIL students, thus, use several languages in order to communicate in all kinds of situations. This corroborates the fi ndings by, for instance, Yoxsimer Paulsrud (2014), who saw that CLIL students viewed themselves as more at ease and secure as L2 users. In relation to Dörnyei’s L2MSS, the Ideal L2 Self seems to differ greatly between the two participants. Mahela expressed a clear goal of becoming a successful businesswoman, which entails a high proficiency in English. In contrast, Felicia was quite convinced that she would only use English for fun in the future. In a similar vein, some negative effects of the Ought-to L2 Self were expressed by Felicia when she described the language play between herself and her friends outside English classes. This indicates that in English classes, grammatical correctness was in focus, rather than communicative use. The sense of unity between classmates and the importance of the school context, as evidenced in several of Mahela’s photographs, was mirrored in several of the CLIL classes involved in the CLISS project. This is an indication that belonging to a CLIL class, when non-CLIL is the default option, is something special. As evidenced in many studies, the awareness of belonging to a group under study often in itself leads to better results, referred to as the Hawthorne effect (Mayo, 1933). While Mahela, both in the photographs and in our conversation, constantly made reference to her classmates, Felicia only mentioned hers in connection to the language play they engaged in outside the English class. Thus, the L2 learning experience, being one of the three aspects of the L2MSS (Dörnyei, 2009), may have been a much more positive one for Mahela in a CLIL context than for Felicia in a non-CLIL context. Conducting studies such as the present one always results in some afterthoughts. One of the lessons learnt is the importance of discussing the visual narratives with the learner. The photographs are indeed of interest in themselves and say a great deal about the beliefs of the photographer. However, combining them with a discussion about the thoughts behind every photograph taken gives a much broader understanding of what they are intended to illustrate. In some cases, the initial analysis may

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be completely at odds with the underlying intention, and it is therefore important to ascertain that the researcher’s understanding of the material is in line with that of the learner. Another issue to bear in mind is whether more information should be given to the participants beforehand. As I described above, in this study no further explanations were given apart from what was stated in the initial email sent out to those volunteering to take part. This may have given rise to completely different interpretations of what was expected of the participants. If subsequent communication had taken place with more information provided about how to interpret what was said in the email, perhaps more in-depth and detailed results would have been obtained. On the other hand, such a procedure might have made participants less open-minded about what to include in their photographs. A third issue to consider is whether one-to-one interviews are the best option, or whether group discussions would be preferable. A group discussion might have probed participants to consider other perspectives than those that came to mind in the one-to-one interview situation. The pedagogical implications of the study reinforce those in Sylvén (2015), namely that visual narratives collected as photographs are useful for eliciting individual learners’ beliefs about language. By asking students how they see language through their own camera lens, pictures will emerge telling tales that are difficult to grasp in other ways. As I have shown here, photographs can, for instance, be a valuable tool to produce images of learners’ Ideal L2 Selves, perhaps as a starting point in employing the L2MSS (Dörnyei, 2009) in the language classroom. There is a pedagogical challenge in having such broad heterogeneity as regards imagined Ideal L2 Selves as those shown in this chapter, where one illustrates a global and the other a local one. However, being aware of such differences must be beneficial for any pedagogical effort and facilitate the planning of classroom work. Visuals may also provide clues to how learners’ perceive their L2 learning experience, which is useful for teachers to know more about. As was pointed out above, given the limited number of informants, it is difficult to know whether the views expressed in the present study as well as in Sylvén (2015) are linked to CLIL and non-CLIL, respectively, or to some other factor. Nevertheless, it is intriguing how the analyses result in a fairly clear divide between the two groups of students, where it seems as though CLIL students do not see languages as important per se, but see them merely as ways of communicating with and understanding people. In that regard, CLIL programmes using English as the medium of instruction seem to work in accordance with their students’ views. This, however, begs the question of which came first, CLIL or the students’ views of language? Clearly, more research is needed in order to fi nd an answer to the question of directionality. On the other hand, the non-CLIL students here seem to view language as structured systems that need to be learnt.

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Evidently, neither of these views is right or wrong. Rather, they both complement one another. In order to probe further and more deeply into the issues brought up in the present study, an interesting path forward would be not only to look into the question of directionality, but also to conduct similar studies involving younger learners. In addition, learners studying in other kinds of programmes than the ones preparatory for higher education as in the present study would widen our understanding of the role played by individual differences in the learning paths and progress among L2/FL learners. Note (1) Funded by the Swedish Research Council, Project No. 2010-5376.

References Benson, P. and Lor, W. (1999) Conceptions of language and language learning. System 27 (4), 459–472. Besser, S. and Chik, A. (2014) Narratives of second language identity amongst young English learners in Hong Kong. ELT Journal 68 (3), 299–309. Charmaz, K. (2006) Constructing Grounded Theory. London: Sage. Coyle, D. (2008) CLIL – a pedagogical approach from the European perspective. In N. van Dusen-Scholl and N.H. Hornberger (eds) Encyclopedia of Language and Education (pp. 1200–1214). Boston, MA: Springer US. Csizér, K. and Kormos, J. (2009) Learning experiences, selves and motivated learning behaviour: A comparative analysis of structural models for Hungarian secondary and university learners of English. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds) Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self (pp. 98–119). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Dalton-Puffer, C. (2011) Content-and-language integrated learning: From practice to principles? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31, 182–204. Dewaele, J.-M. (2004) Individual differences in the use of colloquial vocabulary. The effects of sociobiographical and psychological factors. In P. Boogards and B. Laufer (eds) Vocabulary in a Second Language (pp. 127–153). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Dörnyei, Z. (2006) Individual differences in second language acquisition. AILA Review 19, 42–68. Dörnyei, Z. (2009) The L2 motivational self system. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds) Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self (pp. 9–42). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Dufva, H., Kalaja, P. and Alanen, R. (2011) ‘Iloinen ja innostava’?: Miten kieltenopiskelijat kuvaavat omaa opettajuuttaan. Paper presented at the ViKiPeda Conference: ‘Global Trends Meet Local Needs’, Vaasa, Finland. European Commission (2007) Final Report: High-level Group on Multilingualism. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Hyltenstam, K. (2004) Engelskan, skolans språkundervisning och svensk språkpolitik [English, language education in school and Swedish language policy]. In B. Lindgren and O. Josephson (eds) Engelskan i Sverige [English in Sweden] (pp. 36–107). Stockholm: Svenska Språknämnden. Kalaja, P., Alanen, R. and Dufva, H. (2008a) Self-portraits of EFL learners: Finnish students draw and tell. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 186–198). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Kalaja, P., Menezes, V. and Barcelos, A.M.F. (eds) (2008b) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P., Alanen, R., Palviainen, Å. and Dufva, H. (2011) From milk cartons to English roommates: Context and agency in L2 learning beyond the classroom. In P. Benson and H. Reinders (eds) Beyond the Language Classroom (pp. 47–58). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P., Barcelos, A.M.F., Aro, M. and Ruohotie-Lyhty, M. (eds) (2016) Beliefs, Identity and Agency in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kuppens, A.H. (2010) Incidental foreign language acquisition from media exposure. Learning, Media and Technology 35 (1), 65–85. Lasagabaster, D. and Ruiz de Zarobe, Y. (eds) (2010) CLIL in Spain: Implementation, Results and Teacher Training. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. Li Wei (2008) Research perspectives on bilingualism and multilingualism. In Li Wei and M. Moyer (eds) The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods on Bilingualism and Multilingualism (pp. 3–17). Oxford: Blackwell. MacIntyre, P.D. (2002) Motivation, anxiety and emotion in second language acquisition. In P. Robinson (ed.) Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 45–68). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. MacIntyre, P.D. and Charos, C. (1996) Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 15 (1), 3–26. Markus, H.R. and Nurius, P. (1986) Possible selves. American Psychologist 41, 954–969. Mayo, E. (1933) The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press. Nikula, T. and Pitkänen-Huhta, A. (2008) Using photographs to access stories of learning English. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 171–185). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Olsson, E. (2016) On the impact of extramural English and CLIL on productive vocabulary. PhD thesis, University of Gothenburg. Olsson, E. and Sylvén, L.K. (2015) Extramural English and academic vocabulary. A longitudinal study of CLIL and non-CLIL students in Sweden. Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies 9 (2), 77–103. Ryan, S. (2009) Self and identity in L2 motivation in Japan: The ideal L2 self and Japanese learners of English. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds) Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self (pp. 120–143). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Ryan, S. and Mercer, S. (2012) Implicit theories: Language learning mindsets. In S. Mercer, S. Ryan and M. Williams (eds) Psychology for Language Learning: Insights from Research, Theory and Practice (pp. 74–89). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Seikkula-Leino, J. (2007) CLIL learning: Achievement levels and aff ective factors. Language and Education 21 (4), 328–341. Squire, C. (2012) What is Narrative? Working paper. NCRM e-prints. See http://eprints. ncrm.ac.uk/3065/ (accessed 15 February 2017). Strauss, A.L. and Corbin, J. (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Sundqvist, P. (2011) A possible path to progress: Out-of-school English language learners in Sweden. In P. Benson and H. Reinders (eds) Beyond the Language Classroom (pp. 106–118). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Sundqvist, P. and Sylvén, L.K. (2016) Extramural English in Teaching and Learning: From Theory and Research to Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Swain, M. and Lapkin, S. (1981) Bilingual Education in Ontario: A Decade of Research. Toronto: Ontario Institute of Studies in Education.

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Sylvén, L.K. (2015) CLIL and non-CLIL students’ beliefs about language. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 5 (2), 251–272. Sylvén, L.K. and Ohlander, S. (2014) The CLISS project: Receptive vocabulary in CLIL versus non-CLIL groups. Moderna Språk 108 (2), 80–114. Sylvén, L.K. and Sundqvist, P. (2012) Gaming as extramural English L2 learning and L2 proficiency among young learners. ReCALL 24 (3), 302–321. Sylvén, L.K. and Thompson, A.S. (2015) Language learning motivation and CLIL: Is there a connection? Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 3 (1), 28–50. Taguchi, T., Magid, M. and Papi, M. (2009) The L2 motivational self system among Japanese, Chinese and Iranian learners of English: A comparative study. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds) Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self (pp. 66–97). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Thompson, A.S. and Sylvén, L.K. (2015) Does English make you nervous? Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies 9 (2), 1–23. You, C.J. and Dörnyei, Z. (2016) Language learning motivation in China: Results of a large-scale stratified survey. Applied Linguistics 37 (4), 495–516. Yoxsimer Paulsrud, B. (2014) English-medium instruction in Sweden: Perspectives and practices in two upper secondary schools. PhD thesis, Stockholm University.

8 Using Multimodal Analysis to Explore Language Learner Identity Construction So-Yeon Ahn

This chapter focuses on the beliefs held by a group of university undergraduates (N = 159) in South Korea, majoring in subjects related to English (e.g. linguistics, literature), and the possible transformation(s) in their identities once they had learnt the language. To this end, the students produced two self-portraits, one showing what they were like before studying English and the other what they would look like after mastering it, both complemented with written commentaries. The study employed a multimodal analysis to examine how both visual and written elements constructed the formation and transformation of English learner identities. The fi ndings demonstrated how Korean students believed that the transformation would occur at multiple, often overlapping dimensions including psychological, physical, vocational, relational and experiential ones. The study suggests the use of multimodal analysis to be effective in capturing various complex dimensions that comprise the English learner identity and the meaning of learning English.

Introduction

There are multiple modes through which individuals can express their thoughts and feelings or make meaning. In verbal communication, spoken language is not the sole medium through which individuals deliver their arguments and maintain relationships with other interlocutors. When a person says ‘you know what I mean’ with a wink and a smirk, the intent of the talk deviates from the literal meanings of the utterance. People also make use of silence, body gestures and intonation to provide additional 134

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nuance. The appropriation of various modes of communication becomes ever more complex and intermixed through the internet and other technology. For instance, people can easily represent their identities on their personal blogs or social networking services not only to communicate with others but also to create particular personae. Here, in addition to language and content, a variety of images, videos, colours and music function to create and synchronise a collage of individual identities. In forming an identity, the use of multiple modes is, therefore, neither purposeless nor unintentional. The formation of identity is indeed an ongoing process within which people apply multiple modes dependent on their availability. As people participate in the construction and reconstruction of identities with various modes and symbolic indices in their daily lives, they also comprehend and interpret the complex relationships among the modes and the underlying messages or intent of the communication. In other words, people not only produce and manipulate the codes but also decode and interpret these linguistic and non-linguistic modes as they are shared, developed and maintained by the collective group of individuals. Recently, a popular Korean music video and its album stirred controversy for featuring Lolita-like themes with the use of various cues, including books in the background with the titles ‘Delicate’, ‘Leon’ or ‘Discipline’. The dynamic reactions of the public indicate how the readers or the audience, who are often understood to take the role of the recipients of messages, actively engage in the interpretation of such multiple cues and the meaning-making process and further make assumptions about their symbolic value. Given that such verbal and non-verbal cues are collectively shared, the purposeful selection of cues in shaping a particular identity is therefore possible. In an effort to better understand identity formation through the investigation of multiple modes, I employed a multimodal analysis to uncover the construction and reconstruction of English language learner identity. The following section discusses the relationship between identity construction and multimodal analysis and further explores the transformation of English language learner identity through a multimodal analytic lens. I suggest that this particular methodology is an effective analytic tool through which an individual’s formation and potential transformation of identity can be captured with many representational values.

Background to the Study Language learner identity

The process of identity construction signifies how an individual makes sense of himself or herself and others and how the identity is negotiated and constructed at a particular time and space (Danielewicz, 2001; Norton, 2013; Trent, 2012). As social beings, individuals understand themselves according to intrinsic orientation as well as other entities in

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broader society. Thus, constant negotiation of identity construction and reconstruction is inevitable and, therefore, identity formation is viewed to be in flux, unstable and complex. In this regard, language learner identity is not only shaped by the individual learners, but is also influenced by the symbolic value and indices the language is associated with in the broader social, cultural community. Therefore, the learner’s decision to learn a particular language rather than other languages can depend on the societal and cultural indices the users of the second or foreign language imply. Many studies have attempted to identify the relationship among language learner motivation and investment, language education and learner identity (Ryan, 2009; Ushioda, 2006). According to MacIntyre (2007: 566), the major motivation for learning a language is ‘to develop a communicative relationship with people from another culture or group’. This integrative orientation for language learning includes learners’ desire to communicate with people who belong to the language and cultural community and the vision of who the learners will become through learning the language. However, this motivation to learn a language not only includes learners’ hopes to maintain and construct desired relationships with people from other groups but also considers common beliefs about or attitudes toward a particular language that are shared within the community. In other words, the decision to learn a language can be influenced by the symbolic power that is projected in the target community as well as the community to which the individual learner already belongs (Bourdieu, 1991). These shared understandings of and attitudes toward a foreign language within a community may affect the way an individual desires to acquire that particular language. Thus, the interdependence between self and others suggests a complex process in the construction of language ideologies, and it thereby influences the co-construction of learner identity and motivation. Identity construction and multimodal analysis

In understanding identity formation, Bucholtz and Hall (2005) offer five principles to describe the process: emergence, positionality, indexicality, relationality and partialness. Among these principles, the principle of indexicality highlights how identity is performed at multiple levels of reference through semiotic links between linguistic cues or indices and social meanings. This principle is understood to rely heavily on ‘ideological structures, for associations between language and identity are rooted in cultural beliefs and values – that is, ideologies – about the sort of speakers who (can or should) produce particular sorts of language’ (Bucholtz & Hall, 2005: 594). In instantiating identities, the authors introduce how this principle involves the overt reference of identity positions or labels, as well as less overt implicatures and presuppositions. Analogous to the way this principle highlights the use of resources to construct identities,

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multimodality and multimodal analysis share a theoretical perspective which understands semiotic resources as influencing a particular communication and meaning-making process (Kress, 2000; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001; van Leeuwen, 2005). Including language, multimodal analysis examines various modes people appropriate in communication and the ways these various semiotic modes interact, reinforce or subvert in orchestration. The notion of the meaning-making process is emphasised in understanding the interplay of semiotic modes as ‘meanings are made, distributed, received, interpreted and remade in interpretation through many representational and communicative modes – not just through language – whether as speech or as writing’ (Jewitt, 2009: 14). Therefore, language is one means through which an individual makes sense of self and others in a particular social interaction, utilising the semiotic link between the linguistic indices and their social meaning. Moreover, an individual is understood to be engaged in the continuous processes of constructing and reconstructing his or her identity (Davies & Harré, 1990; Weedon, 1997). The notion of identity is therefore neither stable nor fi nalised, but rather dynamic and multiple. Here, the understanding of identity in a constant state of becoming also corresponds with the theoretical assumption of multimodality as it ‘takes all communicational acts to be constituted of and through the social. Image and other non-linguistic modes take on specific roles in a specific context in time. These roles are not fi xed but articulated and situated’ (Jewitt, 2009: 15). As semiotic resources themselves are viewed as non-arbitrary, contextual and flexible, the multimodal ensemble used for identity construction is also influenced by the specific time and space within which an individual negotiates, maintains and constructs his or her identity. Furthermore, narrative inquiry including visual narratives is frequently understood as a prime site for studies of identity, as individuals express and challenge their identity in these stories (e.g. Ahn & West, 2016, 2017; Chik, 2014; Kalaja, 2016; Kalaja et al., 2013). For example, Ahn and West (2016) explore how 577 young learners construct the identity of good English teachers in the South Korean context. Employing multimodal analysis, the authors examine the visual images and written narratives these young learners provided to explore teacher identity and societal ideologies around the notion of good English teachers. Chik (2014) also uses writing practice artefacts, self-portrait drawings and interviews to explore the learner identities of Hong Kong secondary school students learning German as a foreign language. Viewing individuals as users of semiotic resources, Kalaja et al. (2013) explore the selfportraits and written commentaries of 123 participants who were English majors and/or minors in Finland. This multimodal study examines the participants’ visual narratives to understand their experiences of learning and teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) and how they visualise themselves as language teachers. In a similar effort to better understand

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how English learners construct their learner identity in relation to English, I seek to investigate both images and written narratives where students present their potential identity transformation as they learn English. Aims of the Study

Grounded in the belief that multimodal analysis enables the thorough exploration of identity formation, I examine how English learners portray learner identity through both visual images and written descriptions of their images. Moreover, the use of images as representative media where individuals need to translate and encapsulate their thoughts and understandings into their drawings can provide deeper insights into the multifaceted aspects of identity. The fi ndings reveal underlying beliefs and expectations about English learning and ramifications for the shaping of identity. Ultimately, this chapter supports the potential of multimodal research in examining identity construction and reconstruction and underscores its pedagogical application in language classrooms to better meet the needs of language learners. In this regard, I pose the following research questions: (1) How do Korean undergraduates envision their English language learner identity? (2) What status and affordances of English in the contemporary world are expected by these EFL students? Thus, the remaining part of this chapter will discuss how the use of multimodal analysis helps us to better understand the transformation of English language learner identity Korean students seek to achieve through their English education. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

In an effort to render visible the underlying beliefs about potential identity construction through the learning of English, I analysed both the written accounts and visual images of Korean undergraduate students. A total of 159 Korean undergraduate students with majors related to English (e.g. linguistics, literature, interpretation) participated. There were 60 male students and 99 female students, with an average age of 22.3 years. As these students had decided to pursue their bachelor’s degree in Englishrelated studies, their English proficiency was intermediate to high, and therefore they could provide written accounts in English although they were also given the option to write in Korean. The students completed the task at the beginning of a course of which I was the instructor. However, the collection of materials and permission was sought after the course ended. All participants granted permission to use all data for research purposes, and the anonymity of the participants was ensured.

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All participants were asked to provide drawings of themselves as English learners before and after learning the language. The period between before and after mastering English varies based on individual learners as they provided their individual trajectories in learning English. On a piece of paper divided into two columns, they drew themselves before learning English on the left side and again drew themselves after learning the language on the right. Here, their understanding of ‘after learning the language’ was based on their satisfaction and their expected level of higher proficiency. For instance, if the student believed she or he had achieved the level of proficiency at the time of the study, they could describe themselves in the ‘after’ section of the drawings. Crayons were available for use, but some students decided to complete the task with a pen or pencil. When the drawings were complete, they provided detailed narrative accounts of the two images. In the written account, they could concentrate on the personality, linguistic ability, relationships or appearances in the description. A multimodal analysis was then applied to the data as these visual and narrative elements encompass various representations and engage both signmakers and readers in the meaning-making process (Jewitt, 2009, 2012; Kalaja, 2016; Kress, 2010). Concentrating on the dimension of language– image relations, I examined graphic representations that use non-arbitrary semiotic signs as resources in constructing the English language learner identity of Korean undergraduates. The main characters’ salience, posture, appearance and associated objects or narratives in the two drawings were categorised and documented. The products and practices these characters were involved with as well as differences highlighted between the images in the ‘Before’ and ‘After’ sections were coded. In cases where there was more than one character in the images, the relationships constructed among the characters were also taken into consideration for analysis. These elements were further categorised by common features to understand prevalent aspects of identity transformation. Based on the coding of the themes that were highlighted through the difference in the two drawings, the findings indicate that several dimensions were generally repeated among the students’ representations. In addition to the multimodal analysis used for the images, narrative analysis was conducted for the written accounts of the drawings to triangulate the findings from the multimodal analysis and yield insights into the meaning-making process and the learners’ identity construction (Bruner, 1991; De Fina, 2006; Geertz, 1995). Findings

In an effort to understand how Korean undergraduates envision their English language learner identity and what affordances of English are expected, the fi ndings underscore how the transformation from ‘before’ to ‘after’ learning English occurs at multiple, often overlapping

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dimensions: psychological, physical, vocational, relational and experiential. As previously mentioned, these dimensions were found to be repeated among the students’ depictions of English learner identity after thematic coding. Overall, the psychological transformation sought through English learning was most prevalent, followed by relational, physical, experiential and vocational dimensions. In what follows, I demonstrate how both student drawings and written accounts help us better understand English language identity construction and reconstruction and the methodological implications in understanding identity formation. Psychological, physical and vocational transformations

Among the various transformations that Korean English learners expected to take place, the most frequently observed change was psychological or emotional, where their moods change from sadness to happiness. Seventy-eight students (49%) indicated how the learning of English would result in greater happiness and satisfaction. As shown in Figure 8.1, this female student displays an apparent emotional change where her rather absent facial expression changes to a big smile after learning the language. The positive attitude and emotion are

Figure 8.1 A female student with a psychological and physical transformation

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suggested not only by the smile but also by her direct communication to the audience. While the thought of introducing herself remains in the thought balloon in the ‘Before’ section, this introduction is verbalised after learning the language, suggesting her ability to interact with others with more courage and confidence. The fact that she has the idea of introducing herself even before learning the language signals the added element through learning English to be based on her ability and courage to verbalise her thoughts rather than her linguistic ability. Here, the content of the texts she uses in both sections is identical. However, the words, which once remained in the balloon, are present in the ‘After’ section. Moreover, the image captures the change in her physical appearance. Not only does she become taller and thinner after learning English, but her description of herself in general is more detailed with her fi ngers and high heels. Additionally, without her bangs and glasses, she wears a more professional outfit to illustrate a more mature and sophisticated figure. Such physical change was observed in 43 out of 159 drawings (27%). The fact that such changes in the physical appearance and growth were commonly observed and emphasised seems also to suggest how these students view the mastery of English as taking a significant amount of time and effort. This chronological order of growth not only indicates the timeline of the students’ learning trajectory but also suggests their development into mature adults. Here, her professional outfit was also associated with her vocational change, which was further described in her written accounts. As such, written accounts helped to better explain the indexical meaning suggested and implied in the drawings and further triangulated the visual data. Thirty-two students (20%) described the potential identity transformation in terms of their profession where changes in the career or occupation of the main character occurred (e.g. a business person, an interpreter, a teacher). As demonstrated in the image, there were often instances where the dimensions overlapped and were highlighted in the transformation of identity that takes place due to learning English. Relational and experiential transformations

Other examples suggest the complexity in identity transformation as psychological, relational and experiential dimensions merged, projecting a drastic change through learning English. In Figure 8.2, a male student represents his emotional change, which is delivered through his depressed expression with the tips of his mouth downward before learning English, in contrast to a wider smile after learning the language. In addition, instead of eyes, his glasses are previously filled with two question marks that then turn into eyes with a wink. Such changes in mood suggest the absence of confusion resulting from the learning of English. Also, in the ‘Before’ section, he is sitting on the ground cross-legged, where the book

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Figure 8.2 A male student’s relational and experiential transformation

he is holding covers most of his torso. However, the space his body occupies changes as his full body takes up a comparatively large space in the ‘After’ section. The change in body size and posture could also suggest his more active engagement and participation in the scene. In terms of relationships, the student demonstrates how he can both expand his social network and lead and maintain relationships with others. In the ‘Before’ section, the student is engaged in an isolated activity, concentrating on a book titled ‘English ABC’ while another character at the back is attempting to start a conversation. The character at the back lacks a full body and shows only his face, suggesting a lack of influence on and communication with the student. In addition, while this supporting character asks a question, ‘Excuse me? What is this?’, the student ignores the conversation as his gaze focuses only on the book. Moreover, the supporting character is staged behind the student to suggest a breakdown in communication. However, after learning English, the student underscores his ability to establish relationships with other people. The other two supporting characters are also depicted as full sized to suggest their greater salience and role in shaping the identity of the learner, with the main character initiating the conversation with his right arm waving. Such active participation in communication is understood to be well-received

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by the other interlocutors as they imitate his behaviour and wave back. Their engagement in conversation is further highlighted by the posture of the characters. While the main character’s body is facing both the two supporting characters as well as the audience of the image, the supporting character has his back toward the audience, facing the main character only. Such instances of relational transformation were found in 56 drawings (35%), often indicating the expansion of the learner’s social circle around the image of a globe with arrows pointing in multiple directions or the establishment of relationships with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds (see Figures 8.3 and 8.4). Finally, the learning of English seems to provide access to different experiences such as travelling, web-searching or watching English movies without Korean subtitles. In the ‘Before’ section of Figure 8.2, the student is engaged in rather an isolated learning endeavour, associated with reading, where the salience and the size of the book was similar to the supporting character at the back. Here, the use of a book is a tool by which he aims to gain knowledge, rather than a potential activity he seeks to explore through the medium of English. Interwoven in his dissatisfied and confused emotional state, the experience related to reading seems to concentrate more on studying rather than enjoying the reading activity.

Figure 8.3 A student’s drawing with a globe

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Figure 8.4 A student’s drawing with a globe with arrows

However, after attaining high proficiency in English, he is depicted to be in the United States (indicated by the Statue of Liberty in the background). To confi rm the destination, one of his interlocutors wears a shirt with ‘I  love NY’. In total, there were 39 images (25%) that distinctively described students’ ability to participate in, encounter or perform various activities or experiences. These experiences often included the use of English as an effective means of communication for learners not only to interact with people belonging to other communities but also to enhance their performance in participating in the experience. Becoming global citizens

Within each dimension, there were common features reiterated among individual learners. One salient example is the expectation to interact in the world, becoming a more global citizen through English learning. The image of a globe appears very frequently to indicate broadened experiences and relationships. In Figures 8.3 and 8.4, two students include an image of a globe to indicate their ability to function and interact in a globalised world. In doing so, both students include the image of a globe in comparison with

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the map of the Korean peninsula, divided into North and South Korea. Figure 8.4 includes the phrase, ‘we are the one [sic]’ alongside the image of arrows spreading to several countries around the world and highlights the student’s membership in the global community and her access gained through English education. While these English learners completed the task individually without input from other students, the common descriptions and dimensions found across the images seemed to imply how learners share predominant and similar expectations about learning English and its influence on an individual’s identity construction. Visual images and written descriptions in the construction of identity

Most notably, the use of visual images alongside written narratives about these images, in fact, sheds light on the meaning-making processes as both methods were able to complement and reinforce the understandings of identity formation. This process is illustrated in the following written account by a female student.1 Before: I was just a child who only think about playing with toy, watch television etc at home. I just followed my mother and did what she allowed me to do. I didn’t want to do any other things. After: I want to experience many things by travelling around the world. Also, I want to learn many other languages like Spanish, Japanese, Chinese etc. I want to see many other different cultures and want to work for world.

Here, the student highlights the experiential dimension as she describes her hopes for travelling around the world and learning more languages in addition to English. By learning languages, she expresses her intentions to experience other cultures and potentially have a career abroad. Before learning English, she describes an involuntary and reluctant attitude as she mentions how she ‘just followed’ her mother, where her mother was the one who provided permission for her daughter’s actions. The student’s passive tone shifts to one of action as she repeats ‘I want to’ in every sentence to support her agency and express her strong will. Her experiential dimension is highlighted in her visual images as shown in Figure 8.5. However, in addition to the different types of experiences, the student’s psychological change and physical growth is evident in the image. The strength of using images in understanding the transformation of learner identity is particularly significant as it offers a more detailed understanding which might have been obscured if only one medium (e.g. a written response) had been used. Although written responses allow us to capture what types of transformation the student desires to undergo, the images provide the readers

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Figure 8.5 A female student’s drawing with additional dimensions to support her narrative

with more depth and representative value. The use of both methods compensates for and reinforces one another as the meaning becomes more concrete. Moreover, the visual images that encapsulate learners’ beliefs about and attitudes toward their construction of English speaker identity carry substantial representative value. The common or shared representative value offers the readers and interpreters of the images an opportunity to grasp the general orientations and expectations about the assumed outcome of language learning, in this case English, and English language learner identity transformation accordingly. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

In this study, I explored how English learners portrayed learner identity through both written and visual methods and suggested the weight and affordances of English for learners of the language. By employing a multimodal analysis, insights into the potential purposes for, beliefs about and attitudes of EFL learners toward learning English were uncovered. Korean students believed that their English learning would offer them opportunities to seek changes in several dimensions including

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psychological, physical, vocational, relational and experiential. The frequency counts demonstrated how most changes occurred in their emotional satisfaction and fulfi lment resulting from the learning and the personal use of English. In other words, half of the responses commonly indicated a change in their attitude, creating a happier, more satisfied understanding of themselves. While the positive psychological dimension was most frequently observed, indicating their satisfaction and fulfilment, these dimensions often overlapped, suggesting the multi-layered complex nature of identity formation. Moreover, although students demonstrated their understanding of English users as potential employees with desirable skills in the global job market (Park, 2009), they seemed to understand that English carries potential as an effective medium through which they can achieve their desired goals and maintain and establish relationships with people around the world. I suggest that multimodal analysis is a useful methodological tool through which an individual’s formation and potential transformation of identity and various complex dimensions that comprise the identity can be captured with many representational values. The multimodal approach to analyse Korean undergraduate students’ drawings and written accounts provided a deeper understanding of the affordances of English in shaping and maintaining their identity in a certain way. The representations captured among a large number of students indicate the common underlying beliefs about, assumptions of and attitudes toward a particular language in the broader community. Thus, as previously discussed, the visual images could be approached in a quantitative way to demonstrate its representative value as these features suggest the shared expectations and assumptions among the students. However, multimodal analysis also entails the need to explore the hidden messages in their drawing more carefully. While I concentrated on the students’ descriptions of certain objects, activities and emotional states in forming their identity, future research could further explore what is omitted or silenced in the drawings in order to better understand the complex nature of identity construction. For instance, through semi-structured interviews, the researcher can ask students about the detailed storyline involved in the drawings and further discuss what particulars they would not include in the images that are distant compared to other attributes of English language learner identity. Such a multimodal analysis allows for an in-depth investigation of the overlapping, contradictory and dynamic nature of identity formation and reformation. Moreover, visual images can reinforce and complement the analysis of other methods. For one, visual images and narratives combined with other methods can provide the basis for an effective mixed methods study. Furthermore, multimodal analyses could be especially useful for young children in understanding how they envision the concept of identity, whether learner identity or teacher identity. In cases where participants

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encounter difficulty in elaborating their thoughts in oral or written accounts, the use of visual images functions as a more comfortable means to express views of oneself and language learning and as a stepping stone for further investigation. The use of visual images as introduced in this study is particularly beneficial to tap into learners’ expectations about learning any second or foreign language, not just English. With less pressure to articulate their thoughts of themselves in relation to the learning process, students could feel less anxious in describing their motivation and goals. Although not everyone expresses enthusiasm for drawing, learners could be notified of the fact that their drawing is just another means of expression, which could be indicated with a simple icon or emoticon, not necessarily a meticulous and elaborate painting. In this case, follow-up interviews can explore the more detailed descriptions of the drawing and the drawing would still provide a partial but representative value of their ideas. In a similar vein, language educators could use such a method of analysis in class to understand the goals, motivation and expectations of their learners to meet their individual needs. For future research, such methods of data collection and analysis could be used to understand how participants understand the impact of English language learning on their identity formation and transformation (e.g. educational contexts, age). In South Korea, EFL is seen as being of great significance and has become an indication of future success and power to the extent that English is taught as a compulsory subject even to Korean primary school students (Ahn, 2015). As a result, Korean EFL learners start learning English from ever earlier ages, even before entering their primary education, contributing to the constant and significant growth of the English education sector in South Korea. In this regard, understanding how young learners view the potential of English learning and the reasons for learning could highlight the status quo of English education in the contemporary world. Also, when effective, capturing language learners’ verbal accounts through interviews could further reveal the arguments and assumptions found in their drawings. In addition, the use of colour in their images could better help the participants to express their thoughts and the readers to comprehend the detailed nuances delivered through the choice of colour. Most of all, I wish to underscore the great potential multimodal research offers to deepen the understandings of identity formation and transformation and its representative value to yield better insights into the prevalent, commonly shared attitudes toward language learning. Acknowledgements

My deep appreciation goes to Dr Kathy Lee and the editors for their insightful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this chapter; any remaining errors are my own.

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Note (1) Students’ narratives were written in English and do not contain any editing.

References Ahn, S.-Y. (2015) Criticality for global citizenship in Korean English immersion camps. Language and Intercultural Communication 15 (4), 533–549. Ahn, S.-Y. and West, G.B. (2016) Unmasking young learners’ perceptions of good language teacher identity. English Teaching 71 (1), 73–95. Ahn, S.-Y. and West, G.B. (2017) Young learners’ portrayals of ‘good English teacher’ identities in South Korea. Applied Linguistics Review 9 (2–3), 225–248. doi:10.1515/ applirev-2016-1064 Bourdieu, P. (1991) Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. (1991) The narrative construction of reality. Critical Inquiry 18 (1), 1–21. Bucholtz, M. and Hall, K. (2005) Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies 7 (4–5), 584–614. Chik, A. (2014) Constructing German learner identities in online and offl ine environments. In D. Abendroth-Timmer and E.-M. Hennig (eds) Plurilingualism and Multiliteracies: International Research on Identity Construction in Language Education (pp. 161–176). New York: Peter Lang. Danielewicz, J. (2001) Teaching Selves: Identity, Pedagogy, and Teacher Education. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Davies, B. and Harré, R. (1990) Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviours 20, 43–63. De Fina, A. (2006) Group identity, narrative and self-representations. In A. De Fina, D. Schiff rin and M. Bamberg (eds) Discourse and Identity (pp. 351–375). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Geertz, C. (1995) After the Fact: Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Jewitt, C. (2009) An introduction to multimodality. In C. Jewitt (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal Analysis (pp. 14–27). New York: Routledge. Jewitt, C. (2012) Technology and reception as multimodal remaking. In S. Norris (ed.) Multimodality in Practice: Investigating Theory-in-practice-through-methodology (pp. 97–115). London: Routledge. Kalaja, P. (2016) ‘Dreaming is believing’: The teaching of foreign languages envisioned multimodally by student teachers. In P. Kalaja, A.M.F. Barcelos, M. Aro and M. Ruohotie-Lyhty (eds) Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (pp. 124–146). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P., Dufva, H. and Alanen, R. (2013) Experimenting with visual narratives. In G.  Barkhuizen (ed.) Narrative Research in Applied Linguistics (pp. 105–131). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kress, G. (2000) Multimodality. In B. Cope and M. Kalantzis (eds) Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures (pp. 182–202). Melbourne: Macmillan. Kress, G. (2010) Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication. New York: Routledge. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (2001) Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. London: Edward Arnold. MacIntyre, P.D. (2007) Willingness to communicate in the second language: Understanding the decision to speak as a volitional process. The Modern Language Journal 91 (4), 564–576.

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Norton, B. (2013) Identity and Language Learning: Extending the Conversation (2nd edn). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Park, J.S.-Y. (2009) The Local Construction of a Global Language: Ideologies of English in South Korea. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Ryan, S. (2009) Self and identity in L2 motivation in Japan: The ideal L2 self and Japanese learners of English. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds) Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self (pp. 120–143). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Trent, J. (2012) The discursive positioning of teachers: Native-speaking English teachers and educational discourses in Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly 46 (1), 104–126. Ushioda, E. (2006) Language motivation in a reconfigured Europe: Access, identity and autonomy. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 27 (2), 148–161. van Leeuwen, T. (2005) Introducing Social Semiotics. London: Routledge. Weedon, C. (1997) Feminist Practice and Poststructuralist Theory (2nd edn). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.

9 Multimodal Language Learning Histories: Images Telling Stories Vera Lúcia Menezes de Oliveira e Paiva and Ronaldo Correa Gomes Junior

This chapter explores the possibilities of using digitally produced multimodal language learning histories (or oral data complemented with images and possibly sounds) to learn about the experiences of learning English of a group of university humanities undergraduates in Brazil (N = 43). The metaphors and metonymies used in describing the learning process were identified in the pool of multimodal data and classified systematically within a specific framework. Our analysis revealed that English is metaphorised as a precious object and as a useful and powerful tool. It is usually metonymically represented by the American flag or the Union Jack. The main visual metaphors found in the texts portray the mind as a container and learning English as a game or a journey.

Introduction

Language learning histories have been used by researchers to better understand how students learn an additional language as well as to learn more about teaching and teacher education experiences (see, for instance, the studies in Kalaja, Menezes et al., 2008; Mattos, 2009). We have been especially interested in the study of metaphors and metonymies in multimodal English language learning histories MELLHs (Gomes Junior, 2015, 2016; Menezes, 2008; Paiva 2011; Paiva & Gomes Junior, 2016). Most of these authors used two modes: written texts and images, although some videos and sounds could also be found. Our aim has been to identify the prevalent metaphors and metonymies in MELLHs produced by Brazilian students in order to better understand how these learners conceptualise their learning process and other key elements in this process, such as the teacher, the school, the learner and the language itself. 151

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We have discovered that the prevalent visual metaphor has been LEARNING IS TRAVELLING, followed by THE MIND IS A CONTAINER. The former is represented by roads, paths, road signs, steps, stairs, actors climbing stairs and trees, books organised as ladders, etc. The latter is represented by heads being filled with books or words. The learners are conceptualised as travellers, fighters, babies and players. This chapter reports on a study that differs from our previous research as it focuses on MELLHs made up of oral texts and images, with scarce presence of written text. Another difference is that we did not restrict the study merely to the identification of metaphors. Moreover, multimodality and visual design were also used for additional support. Background to the Study

Multimodality, as defi ned by Kress and van Leeuwen (2001: 20), is ‘the use of several semiotic modes in the design of a semiotic product or event’ and, as stated by Jewitt (2011: 14), it ‘describes approaches that understand communication and representation to be more than about language and which attend to the full range of communication forms people use – image, gesture, postures and so on – and the relationship between them’. It is generally assumed, as Jewitt (2011: 15) does, that ‘each mode in a multimodal assemble is understood as realizing different communicative work’. Although we recognise the potential effects of different modes, we consider that the communicative work is a complex process and that meaning emerges from the interaction of all modes. We also understand that we can enrich our analysis if we combine the studies of multimodality with cognitive linguistics. Our theoretical and methodological support consists of concepts from design analysis (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012), the grammar of visual design (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006), and the cognitive approach to metaphors and metonymies with emphasis on non-verbal metaphor (Forceville, 2008; Forceville & Urios-Aparisi, 2009). The visual design

Kalantzis and Cope (2012) argue that messages have design and that we can identify parts of a message and how they hold together. They see design as a process of meaning-making in action, and understand that, in order to describe the multimodal meanings, we need a metalanguage of design elements. They explain that ‘each mode means in a different way, engages different human senses and uses different combinations of media. Examining the design elements of meaning in this way allows us to ask the same questions about meaning, regardless of the mode’ (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012: 242). They propose five aspects of meaning: reference,

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interaction, composition, context and purpose, which are translated into five questions: What do the meanings refer to? How do the meanings connect the people who are communicating? How does the overall meaning hold together? Where are the meanings situated? Whose interests do these meanings serve? The grammar of visual design

Kress and van Leeuwen (2006: 2) consider that ‘meanings belong to culture, rather than to specific semiotic modes’. To study the visual semiotic mode, they based their work on the systemic functional grammar of English by Halliday. They argue that ‘every semiotic fulfi ls both an ideational function, a function of representing “the world around us and inside us”, and an interpersonal function, “a function enacting social interactions as social relations”’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 15). A third function is the textual, ‘the function of marshalling communicative acts into larger wholes, into the communicative events or texts that realize specific social practices’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 228). Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) propose that there are two types of images: narrative and conceptual. In narrative images one or more actions are represented. The conceptual ones show the participants in terms of class, structure and meaning. They explain that ‘narrative patterns serve to present unfolding actions and events, process of change, transitory spatial arrangements’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 59). They say that narrative images can represent action and reactional processes (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 63–67). In action processes, the images portray at least an actor, or actors (the active participants) and goals (passive participants), connected by vectors, usually arrows or imaginary lines. They describe three types of action: unidirectional transactional action, when the vector comes from one actor; bidirectional transactional action, when both participants, or interactors, play the role of actors and goals; and non-transactional action, when the process has no goal (passive participant). In the reactional process, the vector is an eyeline connecting the participants: a reacter, always a creature with visible eyes and ‘capable of facial expression’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 67), is connected to a phenomenon. The reacter looks at something, the phenomenon (e.g. an action). Reactional processes can be transactional or non-transactional, when the phenomenon is not visible. In addition to actions and reactions, images can also represent, among others, speech and mental processes (e.g. thought). As far as gazes are concerned, Kress and van Leeuwen (2006: 116–119) classify them as demand and offer. In the former, the actor looks directly at the viewer (the visual you) as if demanding something from him/her. This direct address may be followed by another vector, a gesture pointing at the viewer. They call an image an offer when the viewer is indirectly

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addressed and the participants are portrayed as objects of contemplation. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006: 179–185) borrow two important concepts from Halliday’s systemic functional grammar: the ideas of given (the left element) and new (the right element) information. What comes on the left is already known by the reader/viewer, while the new information comes on the right. Other important elements in visual images, as described by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006), are sizes, shapes, colours, colour saturation, perspectives, framing and composition. These elements contribute to salience, defi ned by the authors as elements ‘made to attract the viewer’s attention to different degrees, as realized by such factors as placement in the foreground or background, relative size, contrasts in tonal value (or colour), differences in sharpness, etc.’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 177). One typical narrative image in the educational context is that of the traditional classroom. Two examples can be seen in Figures 9.1 and 9.2,1 which represent the classroom from two different perspectives. Both were created by Pressfoto – Freepik.com. Both Figures 9.1 and 9.2 represent the classroom (ideational function) and show social interactions (interpersonal function). Figure 9.1 shows a bidirectional transactional action – a teacher (actor) interacting with her students (goals). The teacher’s gaze works as an eyeline vector connecting her to one of the participants. One can infer that the students are looking at her. She uses gestures and speech to perform the action. The students’ hands work as vectors connecting them to the teacher.

Figure 9.1 Traditional classroom (perspective 1)

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Figure 9.2 Traditional classroom (perspective 2)

Figure 9.2 shows a reactional process by which the reacters’ facial expressions and gestures demonstrate joy, excitement and willingness to participate. The vectors point at a phenomenon that is not visible but, by means of cultural knowledge, one can infer that they are addressing a teacher who is probably inviting the students to do something. This is a typical case of offer, because the participants are not looking at the viewers and they are the objects of our contemplation. Visual metaphors and metonymies

In a cognitive approach, metaphors and metonymies are regarded as cognitive devices to structure our thought and language (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980a, 1980b). They are not restricted to verbal language. As Forceville (2009) argues, they manifest themselves in different modes of communication ‘such as pictures, music, sounds and gestures’ (Forceville, 2009: 19). ‘Metaphors can occur non-verbally and multimodally as well as purely verbally’ (Forceville, 2009: 21). As claimed by Forceville (2008), pictorial metaphors are a widely studied type of non-verbal metaphor. They are monomodal; that is, their target and source domains are images. However, according to him, in images there are neither syntactic rules nor linearity that allow us to clearly detect which domain is the target and which is the source. Thus, in order to analyse and discuss the metaphors, the domains should be identified based on interpretation and organised (verbally) as ‘A’ is ‘B’ (e.g. a window is an opportunity). Forceville (2008) describes four types of pictorial metaphor: (1) contextual metaphors, where objects are metaphorised when they are placed in a certain visual context; (2) hybrid metaphors consisting of two phenomena visually represented as occupying the same place in a physically impossible way; (3) pictorial similes, where two objects are represented in

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a way that renders them similar; and (4) integrated metaphors, with the representation of a form or object in a way that resembles another form or object. Examples of this fourth type of metaphor are detective cameras, which are designed in a way that resembles pens, glasses, buttons, etc. Gomes Junior (2015) provides examples of possibilities of the fi rst three types of pictorial metaphors in the area of foreign language teaching and learning (see Figures 9.3–9.5). Figure 9.3 is an example of the contextual metaphor A DIPLOMA IS AN AWARD, in which an image of a diploma is hung on a wall full of

Figure 9.3 Contextual metaphor

Figure 9.4 Hybrid metaphor

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Figure 9.5 Pictorial simile

trophies and medals, and the context is responsible for the mapping of the diploma in the domain of competition prizes. Figure 9.4 is an example of the hybrid metaphor A BOOK IS A BIRD. The wings metonymically refer to birds and the book is generally a traditional metonymy of knowledge. This blend results in a hybrid metaphor in which knowledge is seen as something that enables fl ight, another metaphor for learning. Finally, Figure 9.5 is an illustration of the pictorial simile A COMPUTER IS A KEY; since the two objects were placed in the same position, the computer and the key are being equated. There are also multimodal metaphors. According to Forceville (2009: 4), ‘multimodal metaphors are metaphors whose target and source are each represented exclusively or predominantly in different modes’. For instance, if we added the sentence ‘learning a language is flying’ to the pictorial metaphor A BOOK IS A BIRD, this would be seen as a multimodal metaphor, since its mapping and interpretation would involve two different semiotic modes: the verbal and the pictorial (Figure 9.6). Using visual data to investigate language learning

To the best of our knowledge, the first study using the visual mode to investigate language learning was a study on learning metaphors by Swales (1994). She asked 12 beginning-level adult female students to draw a set of cartoons to represent ‘the way they thought a language was learned’ (Swales, 1994: 9) and afterwards they were supposed to describe their drawings. The metaphors that emerged in the drawings could be divided into two groups: something that grows, implying a developmental perspective; and separate

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Figure 9.6 Multimodal metaphor

components being assembled, implying an incremental perspective. In the first group, she listed ‘the baby crawling slowly towards proficiency’, ‘the growth of a village’ and ‘the growth of a strongly rooted fruit-bearing tree from a seed’ (Swales, 1994: 9). In the second group she included only two students. One ‘drew building blocks and her text stressed step-by-step mode of learning’ (Swales, 1994: 10), while another ‘drew seven discrete steps and emphasised the need to listen to advice and take the right direction; she viewed language as tutored experience’ (Swales, 1994: 10). Two of the visual metaphors mentioned in her study were also found in Paiva (2011): the steps to represent the learning process and the baby crawling to represent the beginning of English language learning. In Brazil, our research group has been studying the visual elements found in language learning histories associated with the cognitive perspective of metaphor and metonymy. Further exploration of this aspect can be found in many other sources as well (e.g. Gomes Junior, 2016; Menezes, 2008; Paiva 2011; Paiva & Gomes Junior, 2016; Silva, 2012, 2016). Visual research has been increasingly gaining ground in the field of applied linguistics. One example is the special issue of Applied Linguistics Review in 2018, which published 11 articles using visual methodologies, but some previous works are also worth mentioning. Hamilton (2000: 17) used visual data (newspapers and ethnographic photographs) to identify and document aspects of literacy practices by looking ‘for images of people interacting directly with written texts’. The basic elements identified were the participants, the setting, the artefacts and the activities, either visible within literacy events or non-visible but inferred from the photographs.

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Kalaja, Alanen et  al. (2008: 191), from a sociocultural perspective, studied students’ drawings or self-portraits in order to find out ‘what kinds of mediational means can be found in the self-portraits’ as well as in their written interpretations of their drawings. They discovered that ‘EFL learners depict themselves alone’ (Kalaja, Alanen et al., 2008: 196) and that ‘books are the primary mediating artefact in the drawings’ (Kalaja, Alanen et al., 2008: 196–197), although other media were also present. The same study and some others are reported in Kalaja et al. (2013). Nikula and Pitkänen-Huhta (2008: 171) used photographs ‘to investigate teenagers’ perceptions of the role of English in their lives’. The students were asked ‘to take any number of photographs of situations, places and activities in their everyday surroundings where English in their view has some significance’ (Nikula & Pitkänen-Huhta, 2008: 174). They analysed both the photographs and what the students said about them. The narratives in the photographs told stories of formal and informal learning, but the authors began to realise that the students gave more importance to informal learning. In a different direction, the study of Menezes (2008) shows that students spontaneously mention formal studies in school, and when they do, they emphasise just how boring it is. Kalaja (2016) innovates when she asks future teachers to draw pictures about their foreign language teaching in the near future and to write an interpretation of their drawings. The drawings showed different situations: the teacher (a transmitter) in a traditional classroom in front of the students, which seemed to repeat past experiences; and a student-centred classroom with the teacher portrayed as a guide, interacting, negotiating and using authentic material. Aims of the Study

The aim of our research was to understand how undergraduate students represented their English learning process, their learning spaces and their learning experiences in MELLHs. It is our contention that the use of multimodality can help the author to convey more meaning in a narrative. In prior studies, images have been arranged throughout a written text, while the present study analyses texts made up of two modes: visual and oral. We still wanted to learn about our students’ learning processes and were curious about the difference between multimodal texts with written texts and images, and multimodal texts with oral texts and images. Our research questions were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

What are the images used to represent their oral learning histories? Which learning spaces are portrayed in the images? How are the viewers addressed? How are the texts composed? What visual metaphors and metonymies are used to represent their learning processes?

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This study was carried out on the Moodle platform in the second term of 2016 at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), during a 60-hour asynchronous online course on digital tools to develop oral skills taught by the authors. There were 70 undergraduate students enrolled in the course, but 11 students quit the course throughout the semester and only 43 out of 59 have given permission to have their data used for research. The students were prospective English teachers and were highly interested in either developing their oral skills or in learning about digital tools they could use with their students, as some of them were already working as teachers in private courses. Most of them had a good command of English. They were assigned 15 oral and multimodal texts over a four-month period using different digital tools. One of the tasks was a multimodal English language history, which will be described in the next section. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

At first, we asked the students to create MELLHs using one of the following digital tools suggested throughout the course: UTellStory, 2 PowToon 3 and Fotobabble. 4 Additionally, we instructed them to record their own voices, use images and any other resources that would help them construct meaning. Some questions that helped them build their narratives were: When did you start learning English? What were your classes like? What did you do beyond the classroom to learn English? We also informed them about where they could see examples of language learning histories. 5 The task was performed by 37 students. As methodological support for the analysis, we adapted Kalantzis and Cope’s (2012) framework and focused on the use of metaphors and metonymies. Following the same authors, we have adapted their questions and added an item for metaphors to analyse our set of histories. We will try to answer the following questions: (1) Reference: What elements are represented in the stories? How are they represented? What learning artefacts are represented? How are they represented? What learning spaces are represented? How are they represented? (2) Interaction: How are the narrators connected to the viewers/ listeners? (3) Composition: How do the stories hold together? What parts do the MELLHs have in common? (4) Context: What are the main contexts portrayed in the MELLHs? How are they represented?

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(5) Purpose: What are the aims and motivations of the narrators? How are they positioned? What do we learn from the multimodal English language learning histories? (6) Metaphors: What metaphors/metonymies are used for learning processes? Findings

Regarding the elements that are represented and the way they are represented in most of the narratives, it is possible to see the participants’ non-verbal representations of themselves. Only three students used their own pictures to illustrate their presentations. Forty students used pictures of other people they found on the web. Three of them used drawings (a teddy bear and young girls). All of them show bidirectional transactional actions. In one image, there is a girl standing in front of a whiteboard. Under her right arm, we can see something that resembles a book. Her left arm is raised and pointing at the board with a pointer. In this case, the vector connects the narrator (a pre-service teacher) and the board. In the other two images, the characters are sitting down and looking closely at a book and a desktop computer. In all of these examples, the visual composition helps us understand more about the artefacts these groups of learners interact with: the blackboard, the book and the computer. The teacher stereotype is strongly represented in the students’ MELLHs. In the five images found in the set of narratives, four portray the teacher in the same way: smiling women on the left side of the blackboard. In two of them, the teacher is connecting to the blackboard with a pointer, while in the other two she is connected to the class by an eyeline vector. In another drawing, the teacher is looking and pointing at the whiteboard with a pointer. Since the picture has no facial or physical details, it is not possible to determine gender. In these images, the teacher figure is depicted in a very traditional way, wearing formal clothes, always in front of the class (as if that were the only space a teacher occupies in a classroom), and looking down at the students. A common concept represented in the MELLHs is the English language itself. The language is represented by: the insertion of word clouds (with the word English salient) as in Figure 9.7; letters scattered on the slides (in some cases forming the word ‘English’); the word English in backgrounds with traditional school metonymies (such as the blackboard and the classroom); and memes with the expression ‘I ♥ English’ as in Figure 9.8, or a union of a heart and metonymies of flags as in Figure 9.9. For the participants in our study, the word English is metaphorised as a precious object, something they are proud of keeping and showing to others. Learning artefacts are also represented. The book is still the most frequently used metonymy about learning. One can speculate that this is due to the schooling of education, which assumes that learning only takes

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Figure 9.7 Word Cloud

Figure 9.8 I love English

place through formal education. Other metonymies from the school domain include the blackboard, the notebook and the grammar book. One such example is Figure 9.10. However, in a time of internet connectivity, digital artefacts were consistently used in the participants’ MELLHs. They included laptops, smartphones, desktops, a game console and a tablet, which signals that the participants perceived the affordances of the digital technologies to learn English. When using such types of artefacts, the learners emphasise the mobility, ubiquity and relevance of the internet. The learning artefacts found in the set of narratives were: nine books, eight laptops, seven blackboards, six notebooks, six smartphones, two desktops, two dictionaries, two grammar books, two headphones, one phonograph, one set of flashcards, one TV set, one proficiency test, one game console and one tablet.

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Figure 9.9 I love English plus flags

Figure 9.10 Learning artefacts

Concerning the learning spaces, formal education is the one the students seem to think of when reflecting on language learning. Images of the traditional classroom – with blackboards, desks, chairs, posters on the wall and learners – illustrate 11 MELLHs: four were similar to Figure 9.1 and seven to Figure 9.2, which shows that the narrators favoured reactional processes. The picture of their school was also used in six histories to illustrate the place where these students effectively developed their English skills. One student chose a metonymy, the university logo, to represent the university. Other spaces were two occurrences of English courses, three of high schools, one screenshot of our online course and one picture of a fi lm set.

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By analysing the learning spaces represented in the images, one can conclude that the learning of the English language is still associated with school environments, although the participants have also used images that evidence learning experiences through the use of the internet and other media, such as series, movies and songs. Interaction

The narrators usually address the viewers with oral greetings (‘Hi guys’, ‘Hello everyone’, etc.). They portray themselves in three photographs. Two of them show non-directional transactional actions. The students are looking at the camera and a vector emanates from their gazes pointing at the viewers. However, there is no apparent goal in the pictures, leaving no clue with whom or with what the learners are establishing a connection. In spite of the lack of interaction between the participants, there is a demand perspective (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 116–119) in these pictures where the students look at us (viewers). In this case, we could infer that these students are inviting us to view their histories, as in Figure 9.11. The narrator positions her photograph on the left – the given element or what is already known – and, on the right, she includes the new information: the title of her history emphasising the word English, both in the fi rst image surrounded by school artefacts and in the word cloud. Her demanding gaze and the images invite us to read and listen to her history.

Figure 9.11 Example of non-directional transactional action

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In the second example, a non-directional transactional action, the author includes four photographs: her own photograph and three classmates with their respective names. They are ID-sized photos and there is no interaction among the actors. Nevertheless, in the audio texts we learn that they are the students with whom she usually interacts. Three of them, including the narrator, are looking at the camera, but another is looking elsewhere and no connection is established either with the viewer or with the other actors. The third photograph shows the student looking at a video-camera. It resembles a ‘behind the scenes’ picture. Listening to the student’s audio account, we learn that she acted in a short fi lm when she was living in Canada, which was a remarkable moment in her life as an EFL speaker. This picture shows a bidirectional transactional action, since the student (actor) is looking at the camera (goal) and interacting with it. The viewer is indirectly addressed and the narrator is portrayed as an object of contemplation. Composition

The combination of all the modes – speech, written texts and pictures – metaphors and metonymies contributed to representing the students’ experiences, difficulties, expectations and emotions in relation to the English language. The combination of the different modes was essential to fully understand the meaning the students wanted to convey in their histories. We can conclude that either listening to the audio text or reading the images alone would not be enough to understand the participants’ representations and conceptualisations about the learning of the English language. One example is the history associated to Figure 9.8. One can hear the student saying ‘I would love to see this subject continue to exist and congratulations Vera and Ronaldo. Cheers’, while ‘I ♥ English’ is shown on the screen. She does not say ‘I love English’, but the image does. So, meaning increases when the two modes are combined. One possible explanation is that, as she loves English, she would like a course like ours to be offered more times. The other similar representation (Figure 9.9) works as a paraphrase of the narrator’s speech: ‘One thing was for sure, the English language to cover my heart since the moment I started to learn it’ (https://www. powtoon.com/online-presentation/fdcuHvI0BYn/?mode=movie#/), as both represent his feelings toward the English language. Context

The visual mode mainly portrayed the school context, but the students also say they had learned English in other social spaces. They said that they had watched movies and TV shows and listened to songs, as well as using their computers (see Figure 9.12) and smartphones.

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Figure 9.12 Student using her computer

Purpose

Our students’ aims are to speak English fluently and to be successful English teachers. They represent themselves as highly motivated students who are about to achieve their goals as ‘game winners’ or ‘travellers’. Winning or getting to the destiny of a journey is a metaphor for graduating. Images portray metonymies of graduation such as: the picture of a certificate; the date of one’s graduation year in gold colour; or graduation celebration images – one with a balloon with the statement ‘I will be the best’ and another with students celebrating and holding a banner where we can read ‘congratulations’. Metaphors

In their MELLHs, the students have used pictures, images, cartoons and memes that contextually create pictorial metaphors about different cognitive domains of English language learning. The most frequent domain that was mapped in the students’ productions is language learning itself. The Union Jack flag and the American flag are very recurrent metonymies used by the students in their MELLHs. A student used an image that contains the British flag and the background in blue and red (metonymies for British and American cultures). On the upper left corner, on a dark blue background, there is a silhouette of a human head with the brain in a light blue colour that makes it salient. On the lower left corner, on a bright red background, there is a video-game console in a pink colour that also makes it salient. Connecting those two salient objects, there is a thick wire that, due to its white colour, is also salient, as can be seen in Figure 9.13. 6

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Figure 9.13 Lingo games logo

This image composition creates the metaphor LEARNING ENGLISH IS PLAYING GAMES, in interaction with the pervasive ontological metaphor THE MIND IS A CONTAINER. As stated by Lakoff and Johnson (1980a: 196), ontological metaphors ‘involve the projection of entity or substance status on something that does not have that status inherently’. As examples of this type of metaphor, the authors mention the sentences ‘I can’t get the tune out of my mind’ and ‘I need to clear my head’. From this perspective, the head would be where the language is ‘stored’. Intelligence and knowledge are metonymically situated in the brain and the console can also be understood as metonymy of video-games. Because they are connected by a vector – a wire (another element of the videogames domain) – we can interpret this metaphor as the student’s belief that playing video-games is a strategy to learn the language. Another realisation of this metaphor, in the same history, involves the use of the image of a Rubik’s cube in movement, as if it were being manipulated by a person. On some of the coloured Rubik’s stickers, there are brands of social platforms and networks, such as Facebook, Vimeo, Twitter, YouTube, Blogger, etc. Another example, also found by Swales (1994) and Paiva (2011), is the pictorial metaphor LEARNING ENGLISH IS CLIMBING UP A STAIRCASE. To represent his improvement throughout the semester, a student used a picture of a hand simulating a human body with the fingers touching a pile of books, which resemble steps. In this conceptual mapping, the fi ngers would represent a person’s legs, the books would represent the steps of a staircase, the bottom step would be the beginning of the semester and the top step the stage he seemed to have reached: a better

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speaker. In addition to this composition, it is possible to perceive the influence of the orientational metaphor GOOD IS UP (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980b), indicating the connection between the concrete status of upper things with the abstract sensation of positivity. This type of metaphor does not structure things in terms of another, but ‘organizes a whole system of concepts with respect to one another’ (Lakoff  & Johnson, 1980b: 14). The spatial orientation ‘arises from the fact that we have bodies of the sort we have and they function as they do in our physical environment’ (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980b: 14). Another student included, in her first slide, a picture of a little girl sitting at a table and touching the blank page of a notebook with a pen to represent her beginning as an English learner. In the second slide, to talk about what happened afterwards, the student included a picture that shows the hands of an adult writing on the right-hand side of a notebook. In the first picture, the notebook pages are empty, but in the second, the pages are considerably full, demonstrating how much the student has advanced in her learning process. In this context, these two pictures can be seen as part of the pictorial metaphor LEARNING ENGLISH IS GROWING, in which a child would be a beginner and a more mature person would be a student at a more advanced level. The same metaphor was found by Swales (1994) and Gomes Junior (2016) in different images. Most of the metaphors in the MELLHs are pictorial – that is, they involve only the image – but there are also a few multimodal cases. One example is Figure 9.14, which is used by the participant to criticise the amount of tools used in the course by saying: ‘… most of them were unnecessary. I would have excluded part of the tools, since there were a bunch of tools and they ultimately serve a similar purpose.’ 7 On the

Figure 9.14 The Wenger giant Swiss Army knife

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screen, one can see a giant knife with 87 tools which ironically metaphorised his criticism of the excessive number of digital tools. According to the story of the Swiss Army knife (Mannix, 2016), although the giant knife was totally impractical, it was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as ‘the world’s most multifunctional penknife’. Another multimodal metaphor could be found in a student’s MELLH when she talked about her English learning process. She used an image of a road sign, which is conventionally used to warn drivers, with the following message in capital letters, ‘ENGLISH ONLY ZONE’. Thus, we could infer that this student conceptualises her learning process as the act of travelling along a road. In the metaphor LEARNING ENGLISH IS TRAVELLING, the learning process would be a road, the learner would be the driver, and the vehicle the instrument and tool used by the learner. The TRAVEL domain is pervasive in many areas, such as life, love and language learning (Gomes Junior, 2016; Kramsch, 2003; Paiva & Gomes Junior, 2016). A third type of multimodal metaphor is LEARNING ENGLISH IS HOLDING THE WORLD. In an MELLH, there is the picture of a person’s hand holding a transparent sphere containing many words in different colours, such as knowledge, science, business, experience, etc. In a big bright red font, there is the salient expression ‘learn english’ (sic). In this conceptualisation, the sphere represents the world, whereas the person holding it represents the learner. This verbal and imagistic composition reinforces the idea that in order to hold the world in the palm of one’s hands (to be a successful person in the world), one should learn English. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

In this study, it became clear to us that the more semiotic modes the students used in their MELLHs, the more complex and meaningful their stories became. Therefore, although this chapter focuses on the power of images to tell stories, it was only by analysing the integration of all semiotic modes used by the learners that we could fully understand their experiences in learning the English language. Thus, images were not merely inserted by the students as illustrations; they were purposefully used in interaction and dialogism with their oral and written accounts to tell stories. The association of the grammar of visual design and the cognitive approach to metaphor and metonymy allowed us to increase our focus on the meaning of the visual elements in MELLHs and broadened our understanding of the students’ experiences and beliefs about learning English. One aspect which caught our attention in this study was the number of images of traditional classrooms, although the students were attending an asynchronous online course. For most of them, this was not their first experience with computer-assisted language learning, as our university also offers other online courses. It seems that the social representations of

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those two types of images (narrative and reactional) are part of their unconscious cultural repertoire: a teacher near a blackboard in front of passive students at their desks. Nevertheless, more diverse digital artefacts were portrayed than in the previous studies of our research team. The analysis of the 37 MELLHs helped us dive into the sea of learning experiences. In the same way that Hamilton (2000) saw in the photographs she studied that literacy is part of social practices, we also saw visual traces of language acquisition in the social practices portrayed by the images used in the learning histories we investigated. Language acquisition is also visually represented by several container metaphors (one of them includes a mind being filled with words by means of a funnel), as a mediated process (the computer key where one reads the word English), and as a travelling sign (a driving sign where one reads ‘English only zone’). Finally, the English language is represented as a complex and powerful multifunctional tool which affords learners the opportunity to interact (talking to others), be powerful (holding the world in one hand), have fun (playing games), rise socially and achieve goals (climbing steps). Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Junia Braga for her fi rst reading of this chapter, the editors for their reviewing suggestions and Todd Marshall for the language review. Notes (1) Figure 9.1 is available at https://tinyurl.com/y76otqmp and Figure 9.2 at https:// tinyurl.com/yba9ptda. (2) http://www.utellstory.com. (3) https://www.powtoon.com/. (4) http://www.fotobabble.com/. (5) https://tinyurl.com/y8s65ctj. (6) Figure 9.13 is available at https://tinyurl.com/y9armn6a. (7) See the learning history at https://tinyurl.com/yaaseqe5.

References Applied Linguistics Review (2018) Double special issue ‘Visual Methods in Applied Language Studies’. Applied Linguistics Review 9 (2–3). Forceville, C. (2008) Metaphor in pictures and multimodal representations. In R.W. Gibbs Jr. (ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought (pp. 462–482). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Forceville, C. and Urios-Aparisi, E. (eds) (2009) Multimodal metaphor: Applications of cognitive linguistics (pp. 19–42). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Forceville, C. (2009) Non-verbal and multimodal metaphor in a cognitivist framework: Agendas for research. In C. Forceville and E. Urios-Aparisi (eds) Multimodal Metaphor: Applications of Cognitive Linguistics (pp. 19–42). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

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Gomes Junior, R.C. (2015) Retratos do Eu: As identidades metaforizadas de aprendizes universitários de inglês em Hong Kong e no Brasil [Portraits of myself: Metaphorised identities of undergraduate English language learners in Hong Kong and Brazil]. Doctoral dissertation, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. See http://www.bibliotecadigital.ufmg.br/dspace/handle/1843/MGSS-9WVMBJ (accessed 12 February 2017). Gomes Junior, R.C. (2016) Os aprendizes são viajantes: Identidades metaforizadas de estudantes de inglês de Hong Kong e Belo Horizonte [The learners are travellers: Metaphorised identities of English students from Hong Kong and Belo Horizonte]. Scripta 20, 193–211. See http://periodicos.pucminas.br/index.php/scripta/article/ view/13983 (accessed 12 February 2017). Hamilton, M. (2000) Expanding the new literacy studies: Using photographs to explore literacy as social practice. In D. Barton, M. Hamilton and R. Ivanič (eds) Situated Literacies: Reading and Writing in Context (pp. 16–34). London: Routledge. Jewitt, C. (2011) An introduction to multimodality. In C. Jewitt (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal Analysis (pp. 14–27). London: Routledge. Kalaja, P. (2016) ‘Dreaming is believing’: The teaching of foreign languages as envisioned by student teachers. In P. Kalaja, A.M.F. Barcelos, M. Aro and M. Ruohotie-Lyhty (eds) Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (pp. 124–146). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P, Alanen, R. and Dufva, H. (2008) Self-portraits of EFL learners: Finnish students draw and tell. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 186–198). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P., Menezes, V. and Barcelos, A.M.F. (eds) (2008) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P., Dufva, H. and Alanen, R. (2013) Experimenting with visual narratives. In G.  Barkhuizen (ed.) Narrative Research in Applied Linguistics (pp. 105–131). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kalantzis, M. and Cope, B. (2012) Literacies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kramsch, C. (2003) Metaphor and the subjective construction of beliefs. In P. Kalaja and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (pp. 109–128). Dordrecht: Springer. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (2001) Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. London: Edward Arnold. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (2006) Reading Images. London: Routledge. Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (1980a) The metaphorical structure of the human conceptual system. Cognitive Science 4, 195–280. Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (1980b) Metaphors We Live By. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Mannix, E. (2016) The Story of the Swiss Army Knife. See http://www.matterhornchalets. com/2016/05/25/story-swiss-army-knife/ (accessed 21 June 2017). Mattos, A.M.A. (ed.) (2009) Narratives on Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Perspective. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, Menezes, V. (2008) Multimedia language learning histories. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 199–213). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Nikula, T. and Pitkänen-Huhta, A. (2008) Using photographs to access stories of learning English. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 171–185). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Paiva, V.L.M.O. (2011) Metáforas, metonímias e hipertextos em narrativas multimodais de aprendizagem de língua inglesa [Metaphors, metonymies and hypertexts in multimodal English language learning narratives]. In P.T.C. Szundy, J.C. Araújo, C.S. Nicolaides and K.A. Silva (eds) Linguística Aplicada e Sociedade: Ensino e Aprendizagem de Línguas no Contexto Brasileiro [Applied Linguistics and Society:

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Teaching and Learning Languages in the Brazilian Context] (pp. 159–174) Campinas: Pontes/ALAB. Paiva, V.L.M.O. and Gomes Junior, R.C. (2016) Viagens de aprendizagem: Um estudo de metáforas em narrativas de aprendizagem de inglês [Journeys of learning: A study of metaphors from English language learning histories] Signo 41, 155–165. See https:// online.unisc.br/seer/index.php/signo/article/viewFile/5752/pdf (accessed 12 February 2017). Silva, M.M.S. (2012) O que nos dizem as imagens em narrativas multimídia de aprendizagem de língua inglesa [What the images in English multimedia language learning histories tell us]. Revista Memento 3 (1), 108–122. See http://periodicos.unincor.br/ index.php/memento/article/view/379/pdf (accessed 12 February 2017). Silva, M.M.S. (2016) Dentro do contêiner: Metáforas sobre a aprendizagem de língua inglesa [Inside of the container: Metaphors about English language learning]. Inventário 18, 1–15. See https://portalseer.ufba.br/index.php/inventario/article/ view/16163 (accessed 12 February 2017). Swales, S. (1994) From metaphor to metalanguage. English Teaching Forum 32 (3), 8–11.

10 Study Abroad in Pictures: Photographs as Data in Life-story Research Tae Umino and Phil Benson

This chapter reports on two longitudinal case studies of international students studying Japanese as a second language (L2) in universities in Japan. The students took photographs of any events in which they had participated. The photographs taken in large quantities were coded for the people depicted in them and related to the events in the students’ lives (in subsequent sets of interviews) to consider which communities of practice they had been allowed access to and the consequences of these for the development of their identities as speakers of Japanese during their study abroad. The study indicates that involvement in L2-mediated communities of practice is essential in constructing identity as L2 ‘users’ and highlights the impact of the use of photographs in L2 narrative research.

Introduction

Second language acquisition (SLA) researchers now recognise that learning an additional language involves much more than the acquisition of knowledge and skills. It also involves the development of identities that are mediated by language learning and use (Benson et al., 2013; Block, 2007). This view of second language (L2) learning as identity development sits well with situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991), in which learning also involves the acquisition of new identities and emerges from participation in communities of practice. In SLA, learning is bound up with an individual’s developing sense of self as an L2 learner and user and is mediated by the use of the L2 in communities of practice made up of native and non-native speakers of the L2. This focus on L2 identities has often been pursued through narrative research on language learners’ lives (Barkhuizen et  al., 2014; Benson & Nunan, 2004; Kalaja et  al., 173

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2008). In this chapter, we show how photographs taken by learners were used in conjunction with narrative inquiry to gain insight into two learners’ L2 identity development in communities of practice over several years of study abroad in Japan. Eckhert and McConnell-Ginet (1992: 64) define a community of practice as ‘an aggregate of people who come together around mutual engagement in an endeavour’. In study abroad research, community of practice has proven to be a useful analytical tool in investigating a learner’s social networks from a language socialisation perspective (Duff, 2007: 310). Allen (2010: 20) argues for a relational defi nition of study abroad as ‘a learning context emerging from the dynamic interplay between the learner’s intentions versus those in his or her community of practice’. Learners often gain access to a community of practice in study abroad through homestay or shared accommodation, participation in interest groups or part-time work (Umino, 2011). Although these communities are formally organised or task-oriented, communities of practice may also be informal and non-task oriented (Rogoff, 1995), as in the case of social groups at schools (Wenger, 1998) and a circle of friends at a restaurant (Schmidt & Frota, 1986). These informal communities may lack clear role divisions, routinised activities and specific skill or knowledge requirements for participation. Membership boundaries may be more fluid, and members sustain the community by creating activities to hold it together (Umino & Benson, 2016). While acknowledging the often problematic application of community of practice frameworks in the contexts of language use and learning (e.g. Barton & Tusting, 2005), we have nevertheless found it to be a useful metaphor to interpret developing patterns in various informal out-of-class social relationships maintained by the participants in this study. In particular, it highlights how opportunities for L2 interaction do not simply arise from contact with expert speakers, but require meaningful and purposeful social engagement with groups.

Background to the Study Second language identities and communities of practice in study abroad

In a synthesis of early research on identity and language learning, Benson et al. (2013) defined L2 identity as any aspect of a person’s identity that is related to their knowledge and use of an L2. They argue that L2 learning both is influenced by social identities (gender, ethnicity, etc.) and influences their development, especially as learners begin to use the L2 to project desired identities to other L2 users. People who learn additional languages also develop identities that are specific to their self-concept as learners and users of these languages. At different stages of their learning, they may see themselves as, for example, ‘learners’ or ‘users’ of the L2,

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with particular motivations and purposes, levels of proficiency and types of competence. Block (2007: 17) argues that L2 learning is a kind of ‘identity work’ through which the learner becomes a different kind of person from the one who previously had no knowledge of the L2. Depending on  the context and level of engagement, learners may develop ‘target-language-mediated subject positions’ (Block, 2007: 148), in which new identities are articulated in L2 use. In the process, they ‘often fi nd that any feelings they might have of a stable self are upset’ as new and varied input disturbs taken-for-granted points of reference (Block, 2007: 20). Destabilisation of identities and the emergence of L2-mediated subject positions is, the same author argues, typical of language learning in migration, but less so of language learning in the classroom (Block, 2007: 144). He identified study abroad as a context that lay somewhere between migration and the language classroom in which the impact of language learning on L2 identity was uncertain (Block, 2007: 184–185). While earlier research focused on the impact of social identity, especially gender, on L2 learning in study abroad, the emphasis has now shifted to investigation of the impact of study abroad on participants’ identities (Benson et  al., 2013; Chik & Benson, 2008; Jackson, 2008; Kinginger, 2004, 2008; Larzén-Östermark, 2011; Pellegrino Aveni, 2005). This research has shown that study abroad does involve identity work and often, especially in long-term experiences of study abroad, leads to the destabilisation and reconstruction of identities. The difficulty of projecting and receiving recognition of desired identities through the medium of an L2 often leads to a reduced sense of self (Pellegrino Aveni, 2005), and participants often respond to this difficulty by strengthening fi rst language (L1) identities (Jackson, 2008; Kinginger, 2008). However, studies of longer term study abroad experiences show that students tend to develop relatively stable target-language subject positions eventually (Chik & Benson, 2008; Kinginger, 2004; Larzén-Östermark, 2011). Benson et al.’s (2013) study also showed that much of the language development in study abroad is identity related, while personal development outcomes are often related to the solution of identity-related problems through the medium of the L2. As identity development in study abroad is essentially a matter of the projection and recognition of desired identities in L2-mediated interactions, identity issues are bound up with access to opportunities to interact with L2 speakers. Although study abroad is often represented as a context of language and cultural immersion, participants frequently make much less use of the L2 than might be expected (Allen, 2010; Duff, 2007; Trentman, 2013). One line of research relates access to such opportunities to participation in communities of practice that may support or inhibit L2 interaction (Allen, 2010; Duff, 2007; Kinginger, 2012; Trentman, 2013; Umino, 2011; Umino & Benson, 2016). Kinginger (2012) argues that students’ reception as legitimate peripheral participants in L2 using

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communities of practice, with access to opportunities for observation followed by increasingly active engagement in community activities, is a key factor in study abroad. Several studies have examined the difficulties that students experience in accessing such communities of practice (Allen, 2010; Duff, 2007; Trentman, 2013). Umino (2011) showed how international students gained access to communities of practice through accommodation, part-time work and interest groups, and often with the assistance of gatekeepers who helped to socialise them into the community. Umino and Benson (2016) used photo-elicitation and language learning histories to explore the participation of one Indonesian student (Iwan) in communities of practice over four years of study abroad in Japan. Their study showed how Iwan’s participation evolved over time. Earlier experiences scaffolded later and more successful experiences. This chapter builds on our previous research by contrasting Iwan’s experiences with that of a second case study participant, in order to examine the influence of participation in communities of practice on the kinds of L2 identities that learners construct during study abroad, in particular their identities as L2 ‘users’.

Photo-elicitation and language learning history interviews

The methodology for this study involved two individual case studies based on photo-elicitation and language learning history interviews. Riessman (2008) argues that visual images are so central to our daily lives that social scientists must attend to them if they are to understand thoroughly how people communicate meaning. A growing number of life history studies now employ images as an aid to interviewing, including drawings and photographs (Barkhuizen et al., 2014; Chase, 2011). Photoelicitation (Rose, 2016) refers to research interviews that involve photographs taken by interviewees. By incorporating analysis of the photographs into interviews, researchers aim to avoid the problem of interpreting images from an outsider perspective. Rose argues that the interview is ‘vital in clarifying what photographs taken by interviewees mean to them; by themselves the photographs are meaningless’ (Rose, 2016: 321). Study abroad participants often document their experiences by taking large numbers of photographs, which can be a valuable resource for research. In Umino and Benson’s (2016) study, the case study participant collaborated with the fi rst author to sort more than 12,000 photographs and classify them according to the individuals and groups who appeared in the images and the events at which they were taken. The sorted photographs were then used as a stimulus for a series of language learning history interviews on his study abroad experience. A similar approach was taken in a second case study of a Chinese student who had studied and worked in Japan for nine years.

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Aims of the Study

We examine two cases of long-term study abroad of international students learning Japanese in Japan. We elaborate on the study abroad experience and discuss L2 identities in study abroad from a situated learning perspective through analysis of the photographs taken by the learners themselves and their narratives elicited using a photo-elicitation method. The research questions that guided the study were: (1) To what extent do learners participate in L2-mediated communities of practice during study abroad? (2) How does their participation in communities of practice evolve during study abroad? (3) How does their participation in communities of practice affect their L2 identities? By examining and comparing the two cases, we consider how learners’ participation in L2-mediated communities of practice affects their identity construction. We also aim to generate insight into the use of photographs as data for study abroad research by examining how participation in communities of practice was represented in the participants’ photographs. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures Participants

The cases we examine are of two international students: Iwan from Indonesia and Lala from China (pseudonyms). Iwan, a 29-year-old male student, studied in Japan for four years. He spent his first year at a language school taking a pre-university Japanese course. In his second year he took an undergraduate research studies course at the university, and in his third year he enrolled in a two-year master’s degree programme. He then went back to his home country to pursue his teaching career. Lala, a 27-year-old female student, studied in Japan for nine years. She spent the first three years attending a language school and then a vocational school to prepare for the entrance examinations for a Japanese university. Having passed the entrance examination, she enrolled in a four-year BA degree programme. She then enrolled in a two-year MA programme. She intends to stay in Japan to work for a Japanese company. The fi rst author met them as one of their teachers in the undergraduate programme. Data collection

We fi rst carried out the data collection and analysis for Iwan, then worked on Lala’s data using the same procedures. They each fi rst completed a short biographical questionnaire on their background and their

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language learning phases while in Japan. In preparation for the interview, they sorted the photographs they had taken: Iwan 12,425 photographs and Lala 9107. In order to protect the privacy of the individuals in the photographs, they sorted the photographs themselves, which proved to be significant in two ways. First, the data were organised according to the participants’ emic views (i.e. their own rather than the researchers’) and, secondly, the opportunity to recall, reflect upon and organise their experiences gave depth to their interview responses and enhanced their trustworthiness. They first sorted the photographs into folders that represented the occasions or activities on which they were taken. They then sorted these folders by the academic year and month in which they were taken. They were also asked to list the occasions or activities at which the photographs were taken and to categorise the people who appeared in them. The data were sorted in this way to illustrate the evolution of the activities that they had engaged in and the participants in the activities as they evolved over the years. Over several pre-interview sessions, each participant and the fi rst author looked at the photographs together in chronological order while they commented on them by describing the situations and people who appeared in them. Considering the large number of photographs, the researcher met with each participant individually for pre-interview sorting sessions, each of which lasted approximately three hours (eight times for Iwan and twice for Lala). In addition to the pre-interviews, two language learning history interviews were conducted in a semi-structured fashion for each of their respective Japanese learning experiences, including their study abroad in Japan (see Table 10.1 for the summary of topics covered). In both cases, the first interview lasted around three hours and the second around 60 minutes. They also provided some sample photographs representing each phase with agreement for the authors to reproduce them in publications. Table 10.1 Summary of major topics covered in the semi-structured interview Time period

Major topics covered

Before study abroad

Methods and purposes of their Japanese learning initiation: their perceptions of the Japanese language.

Study abroad (preparatory year)

Methods and purposes of studying abroad in Japan: their lives before studying at the university including their opportunities for using Japanese and how they had gained access to them.

Study abroad (university years)

Methods and purposes of studying at the university: life at the university, opportunities for using Japanese and how they had gained access to them.

Identity issues

Changes in their identities and emotions resulting from studying Japanese and studying abroad.

Learning issues

Methods or strategies for learning Japanese at each stage.

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Data analysis

The first author conducted the data analysis collaboratively with Iwan to develop categories of analysis. People who appeared in the photographs were categorised as local Japanese or international students. As the participants indicated that they mainly used Japanese with local Japanese and other languages with international students (English for Iwan and Chinese for Lala), we intended to see with which groups the participants associated. The photographs were then categorised according to the groupings of subjects in the photographs. The same categories were used for the analyses of Lala’s data. The participants calculated the monthly totals for each category and, subsequently, the different categories of subjects and activities were mapped onto the years and respective phases of their study abroad (Tables 10.2–10.4). Since these data would indicate, to some degree, the extent to which the participants contacted local Japanese and how that evolved over the years, we considered it would serve as a platform for further analysis of the photographs and interview data. Table 10.2 Iwan: Proportion of subject groupings by academic year Subject grouping

Year 1 (%)

Year 2 (%)

Year 3 (%)

Year 4 (%)

Iwan only

13.3

8.5

11.2

7.4

Iwan and IS

17.9

9.9

3.2

1.4

Iwan, IS and LJ

15.0

19.2

4.5

2.8

Iwan and LJ

1.8

5.4

6.0

5.3

LJ only

3.6

7.8

24.6

40.8

IS only

31.9

25.0

33.8

15.3

LJ and IS

16.5

24.2

16.8

Total no. of photographs

2230

1458

1229

26.9 2903

Notes: LJ = local Japanese; IS = international students.

Table 10.3 Lala: Proportion of subject groupings during preparatory years Subject grouping

Year 1 (%)

Year 2 (%)

Lala only

39.9

34.0

Lala and IS

Year 3 (%) 17.4

29.0

34.0

28.0

Lala, IS and LJ

0.8

2.5

15.8

Lala and LJ

0.3

2.5

4.9

LJ only

0.3

0.6

8.2

IS only

28.7

22.6

19.6

LJ and IS Total no. of photographs

0.9 341

Notes: LJ = local Japanese; IS = international students.

3.8 159

6.0 184

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Table 10.4 Lala: Proportion of subject groupings during university years Subject grouping

Year 4 (%)

Year 5 (%)

Year 6 (%)

Year 7 (%)

Year 8 (%)

Year 9 (%)

Lala only

60.3

22.2

37.6

31.2

32.4

37.8

Lala and IS

21.0

24.0

17.2

25.3

20.6

29.1

Lala, IS and LJ

2.6

1.1

4.8

2.1

1.6

2.0

Lala and LJ

0.5

0.0

1.6

1.2

0.0

0.4

LJ only

3.5

5.2

3.6

1.4

2.1

0.3

IS only

10.7

45.9

29.2

38.0

42.2

30.7

LJ and IS Total no. of photographs

1.4 1023

1.6 562

5.9 691

38.0 805

1.2 578

0.0 918

Notes: LJ = local Japanese; IS = international students.

In analysing the interviews, the first author fi rst transcribed the interviews by omitting the fillers and modifying the apparent linguistic errors. Based on these primary source data, she then wrote an edited version of the life story following the method suggested by Okubo (2009): she highlighted the parts that she judged as significant, and ordered them chronologically to form a coherent text. In order to understand the trajectory of the participants’ study abroad, specific turning points (Denzin, 1989) relating to the phases of their experience were identified in terms of changes in the types of activities and the composition of images that characterised each phase. By bringing the above analysis together, we attempt to understand the evolution of the L2 learners’ identities during study abroad from a situated learning perspective.

Findings

In this section, we discuss the fi ndings in relation to the three research questions stated earlier. To what extent do learners participate in L2-mediated communities of practice during study abroad?

In order to understand the extent to which Iwan and Lala participated in L2-mediated communities of practice during study abroad, we examined the types of subjects appearing in their photographs, the proportion of each type of subjects and how that changed over the years of study abroad. The photographs with people appearing were 7820 for Iwan and 5261 for Lala. Tables 10.2–10.4 show the proportion of subject groupings in their photographs according to Japanese academic year (April–March the following year).

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As for Iwan, initially there are more photographs of Iwan (either alone or with others) but as the years go by there are fewer of them. Similarly, there are more photographs of international students in the earlier years but gradually the numbers decrease. Instead, the proportion of photographs with local Japanese increases, particularly in the fourth year (Table 10.2). This indicates that Iwan’s contact with local Japanese increased in the course of his study abroad. Similarly, Lala also took many photographs of herself (either alone or with others) in the initial years. However, the proportion of photographs with Lala appearing continued to be high throughout the nine years while the proportion of photographs with local Japanese remained low (Tables 10.3 and 10.4). This indicates that Lala’s contact with local Japanese remained minimal throughout her study abroad. Thus, the above analysis indicates that the ways in which the two participants contacted and related to local Japanese and international students differed considerably. How does the participants’ participation in communities of practice evolve during study abroad?

Below we consider each participant’s study abroad stories through photographs and narratives in order to understand the patterns observed in the previous section. Let us first consider Iwan’s case. Iwan, reflecting on his four years of study abroad, identified four phases (see Table 10.5). The two turning-point experiences correspond to joining the L2-mediated communities of practice (i.e. circles of friends) in Phases 2 and 4, respectively. Iwan joined the first circle of friends consisting of international students at his dormitory three months after his arrival through the assistance of a Japanese tutor. Through this group, Iwan engaged in various activities such as a tea ceremony lesson (Figure 10.1), a training trip to Kyoto (Figure 10.2), bowling (Figure 10.3) and watching a baseball match (Figure 10.4). His opportunities to use Japanese increased in conjunction with his contact with local Japanese. Iwan felt his Japanese skills improved, but he still found

Table 10.5 Iwan: Four phases of study abroad in Japan Phases

Period

Descriptions

Phase 1

April to June, Year 1 (3 months)

Having just arrived in Japan, Iwan had no friends or opportunity to speak Japanese.

Phase 2

July, Year 1 to August, Year 2 (14 months)

Iwan managed to join a circle of international friends mediated by a Japanese tutor.

Phase 3

September, Year 2 to September, Year 3 (13 months)

Leaving the dormitory, Iwan was deprived of his network once again.

Phase 4

October, Year 3 to March, Year 4 (18 months)

Iwan managed to join a circle of Japanese and international friends mediated by his Japanese classmates.

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Figure 10.1 Iwan: Tea ceremony lesson (Phase 1)

Figure 10.2 Iwan: In front of a historical palace in Kyoto (Phase 1)

difficulties in conversing with local Japanese. He felt he could not express his ‘true self’, who was cheerful and liked to make jokes. In the second year, Iwan became a research student at a university and had to leave his dormitory to move into an apartment. He was separated from his friends and had difficulties in making new friends at the

Study Abroad in Pictures

Figure 10.3 Iwan: Bowling tournament (Phase 2)

Figure 10.4 Iwan: Watching a baseball match (Phase 2)

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university. He had no chance to participate in Japanese-mediated communities of practice for nearly one year. This is reflected in the decreased number of photographs taken during this phase when compared to others. Six months after starting his master’s programme, however, Iwan managed to join the second circle of friends with the mediation of his Japanese classmate. This circle consisted of around 10 Japanese and international students with whom Iwan built an equal relationship and engaged in various activities, such as fishing (Figure 10.5), shellfish picking (Figure 10.6), having home parties, etc. Through participation in this circle, Iwan eventually learned to make conversation with local Japanese with confidence. The tips Iwan described are as follows: ‘You should start from small and trivial talks. Once you get close, you may gradually expand it into more substantial conversations. You should never make jokes on your first meeting.’ Knowing such ‘implicit rules’, Iwan felt he could easily make conversation with anybody, even when meeting them for the first time. Some noticeable changes were observed in the ways in which Iwan took photographs. Iwan took fewer pictures of himself and more of others in the last year of his study abroad. In the earlier years, the images tended to be either of international student groups posing with one or two Japanese support staff (e.g. Figures 10.1 and 10.3), or of Iwan alone at a tourist site (e.g. Figures 10.2 and 10.4). In Phase 4, however, the photographs tended to be unposed snapshots focusing on one or more of his friends in the circle (e.g. Figures 10.5 and 10.6). These snapshots are more dynamic, capturing moments of motion rather than poses. They also capture day-to-day

Figure 10.5 Iwan: Fishing (Phase 4)

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Figure 10.6 Iwan: Playing with a ball near the beach at shellfish picking (Phase 4)

activities in ordinary places, in contrast to the institutionally organised activities represented in photographs from earlier phases, which tended to represent more exotic traditional culture (e.g. Figures 10.1 and 10.2). In sum, through participation in two major Japanese-mediated communities of practice, Iwan struggled through and eventually constructed his identity as a user of Japanese who could converse in Japanese as an equal member with other local Japanese and international students. Next, let us turn to Lala’s case. Lala reflects on her nine years of study abroad and identifies three phases highlighted by the two turning points which affected the ways in which she associated with the local Japanese (see Table 10.6). In Phase 1, Lala had only two friends, who were both Chinese students from the language school. As she did not have many opportunities to Table 10.6 Lala: Three phases of study abroad in Japan Phases

Period

Descriptions

Phase 1

April, Year 1 to March, Year 3 (3 years)

Lala, in her preparatory years, had a few Chinese friends and did not have many opportunities to speak Japanese.

Phase 2

April, Year 3 to September, Year 9 (5.5 years)

Lala managed to join a circle of Chinese friends mediated by Chinese.

Phase 3

October, Year 9 to March, Year 9 (6 months)

Lala left her Chinese circle of friends and sought to associate with local Japanese.

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participate in Japanese-mediated communities of practice, she had no Japanese friends. Lala was lonely, deprived of networks and had little access to information. The photographs taken during this phase represent Lala alone, typically standing in front of a famous tourist spot (Figure 10.7), or with one or two other Chinese friends (Figure 10.8). This also indicates that Lala’s contact with local Japanese was limited and superficial if any.

Figure 10.7 Lala: At a shrine (Phase 1)

Figure 10.8 Lala: Firework display (Phase 1)

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In the third year (Phase 2), Lala passed the examination and entered the university. Through the ‘Association of Chinese Students’ she met Kaifeng, a male Chinese student from another university who then became her boyfriend. Lala joined Kaifeng’s circle of friends consisting of around 10 Chinese students. They were very active, gathering at home parties a few times a month. This was a community of practice mediated solely by the Chinese language. Lala was no longer eager to make Japanese friends. She felt more comfortable with her Chinese circle. In making friends with local Japanese, one needs to observe various implicit rules in conversations. Lala noted that in conversing with Japanese students, someone always makes trivial jokes about what others say and others need to be alert and take these opportunities to laugh. The topics were often popular television shows or cultural matters. Lala had no idea of what was funny and could not laugh. She did not feel comfortable and could not be a part of these conversations. She also felt having networks with her Chinese friends was more useful in accessing practical information about living in Japan. Thus she extended her network through the Chinese social networking service (SNS). In trying to fi nd a job in a Japanese company, she joined the SNS to which around 500 Chinese students were registered. She felt they shared much more valuable information for job hunting than the Japanese SNS. Consequently, Lala was content with these Chinese-mediated communities rather than trying to associate with Japanese students. The photographs taken during this phase represent various activities such as skiing (Figure 10.9) and going to amusement parks (Figure 10.10)

Figure 10.9 Lala: Skiing (Phase 2)

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Figure 10.10 Lala: Amusement park (Phase 2)

with other Chinese students. Even though Lala went to a Japanese university, local Japanese hardly appear in them. She posted the photographs in the SNS to affirm that she was enjoying ‘a wonderful study abroad life’. In the autumn of Lala’s ninth year (Phase 3), two turning-point experiences came about. First, Lala got a contract to be employed regularly by a Japanese company starting in the April after having fi nished her MA. Secondly, Lala broke up with Keifeng, which meant she was no longer part of his circle of friends. Through these two incidents, Lala began to feel the need to associate more with local Japanese. The photographs of this phase still represent Lala engaging in various activities alone (Figures 10.11 and 10.12) or with her Chinese friends. However, in the narratives we can observe changes in Lala’s perceptions of how she wants her relationships with local Japanese to be. While it was useful for Lala to be an active member of Keifeng’s friendship group, it also prevented her from accessing networks with local Japanese. But having decided that her future would be to work for a Japanese company, Lala is now determined to associate with local Japanese and learn to converse with them. Lala talks of her future as follows: ‘I would like to live in Japan for the rest of my life. I want to be an able business partner for Japanese. I want to be able to speak Japanese like them. I want to be able to make trivial jokes, understand what is funny and laugh with others. I want to learn to communicate indirectly like the Japanese do.’ How does the participants’ participation in communities of practice affect their L2 identities?

Observing the trajectories of the two cases, we fi nd some similarities and differences. In both cases, the participants experienced a period

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Figure 10.11 Lala: Trip to Okinawa (Phase 3)

Figure 10.12 Lala: Rock climbing (Phase 3)

during which their identities were destabilised. Not having any opportunity to participate in Japanese-mediated communities of practice, they were unsure as to how to use Japanese to relate to others as persons. They struggled to fi nd their subject positions in conversing with Japanese users. This confi rms the view that study abroad is an experience which challenges learners’ reflexive identities.

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Both Iwan’s and Lala’s destabilised identities came to be remedied eventually. The participants, however, followed different paths. In Iwan’s case, through participation in two Japanese-mediated communities of practice, he eventually came to fi nd an equal membership with local Japanese and constructed his identity as a Japanese user, reaching the target language subject position (Block, 2007). Lala, on the other hand, was content with her subject position in the Chinese communities (or L1-mediated communities of practice). By actively taking part in these communities of practice (virtual and real), she reconstructed and retained her ‘international student’ identity for nearly nine years. The above differences are reflected in the participants’ motives for taking photographs. Iwan initially took photographs as a record of his study abroad, taking many pictures of himself as a tourist travelling abroad for the first time. In Phase 4, however, Iwan took more pictures of his circle of friends in order to capture the images of his ‘valued companions’ in everyday life. Like Iwan, Lala initially took many photographs of herself visiting touristic places and experiencing exotic cultures. However, unlike Iwan, she continued to do this even in the later years. During Phase 2, she started to post her photographs on the SNS so as to gain approval by getting ‘Like’ comments. For this purpose, she attempted to take ‘beautiful’ pictures of herself with a ‘beautiful’ background. Unlike Iwan, who was mostly concerned with who the subjects were, for Lala the act of taking the pictures became the objective in itself. By taking the pictures and posting them on the SNS she continuously reconstructed her identity as an ‘international student enjoying a beautiful study abroad life’ as reflected in these photographs. It is worthwhile noting the changes in Lala’s imagined identity once her employment in the Japanese company was decided. By becoming a full-time company employee, she will be assigned a position as an equal member of the company regardless of her nationality. She will no longer be able to retain her ‘international student’ identity. Thus she now feels the need to become a member of a Japanese-mediated community of practice and be a ‘complete user of Japanese’. Such changes in her imagined identity were brought about in relation to the new community of practice she is about to enter, highlighting the importance of the roles of communities of practice in L2 identity construction. We can argue that there may be two further factors behind the above differences. The first is the degree of institutional support the participants receive. As Iwan was a governmental scholarship student, he received various kinds of institutional support in accessing Japanese-mediated communities of practice. Having Japanese tutors to organise various activities was one such example. Such opportunities served as a scaffolding for Iwan to later participate in similar activities in his circle of friends at the university. In contrast, Lala was a private student and did not receive much institutional support from the beginning. She was left on her own to get involved in Japanese-mediated activities, which she never managed to do.

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This indicates that it is important for international students to receive some kind of institutional support especially at the beginning of study abroad to access Japanese-mediated communities of practice in order to get going. The second factor is the linguistic and cultural background of the learners. Lala was from a Kanji (Chinese characters) region (China), whereas Iwan was from a non-Kanji region (Indonesia). Whether or not the learner is from a Kanji region makes for a big difference since learning Kanji is a demanding task. Kanji-region learners have a great advantage as they can infer the meaning of unknown words just through Kanji. It is possible for Kanji-region learners like Lala to get by to some extent without speaking (e.g. by pointing to Kanji in the menu when ordering food at a restaurant). Non-Kanji learners like Iwan would be obliged to speak as they cannot use such a strategy. Furthermore, there are a large number of Chinese students in Japan forming various Chinese-mediated communities. Thus, Chinese students could easily make friends within such communities. On the other hand, there are not so many Indonesian students in Japan (i.e. there was no other Indonesian student on Iwan’s MA course) and students like Iwan need to speak Japanese if they are to make any friends or access practical information to get by. The differences observed in the trajectories of the two participants relate to such different positions within the overall social context, which also needs to be considered in understanding their identity development and social participation. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

We investigated two cases of long-term study abroad learners from different linguistic/cultural backgrounds. We observed that the more the learners access L2-mediated communities of practice, the more likely they are to develop a stronger sense of themselves as L2 users. But if the learners fail to do so or remain active only in the L1-mediated communities of practice, their identities as L2 users are likely to remain weak. Of our participants, Iwan was successful in accessing a series of Japanesemediated communities of practice and eventually developed a Japaneseuser identity as a full participant within the communities of practice. On the other hand, Lala remained active mostly in the L1-mediated communities of practice and was content with her ‘international student’ identity. But once her full-time employment in Japan was decided, she developed the desire to become a ‘competent Japanese user’ in order to function in Japanese society. As in Lala’s case, even if learners are studying abroad for a prolonged period, they may not always have a chance to participate in L2-mediated communities of practice. In order to make the most of the study abroad experience in the future, learners should be encouraged to get involved in L2-mediated communities of practice from earlier stages. In doing so, educational institutions need to provide support mediating learners into L2-mediated communities of practice.

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Finally, the study also aimed to explore a new approach to language learning history research in study abroad by incorporating quantitative and qualitative analyses of the participant’s photographs. Due to advances in the accessibility and affordability of digital tools, people are now using digital photography in very different ways from their use of film, taking large numbers of photographs in their daily lives without worrying about the cost. As Riessman (2008) argues, visual images are so central to our daily lives that social scientists must attend to them if they are to understand thoroughly how people communicate meaning. From this perspective, the photographs were the primary record of the participants’ lives while studying abroad. Through them, we were able to capture the details of the participants’ networks and participation opportunities by analysing the activities and subjects depicted in the images. This study found that photographs could provide a fi ne-grained record of an individual’s life experiences which can both supplement interview data and serve as a stimulus for reflection. Photographs, complemented with textual and other data, thus, have great potential for language learning history research which will no doubt be developed in future research. Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Project No. 26370592) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. References Allen, H. (2010) Interactive contact as linguistic affordance during short-term study abroad: Myth or reality? Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad 19, 1–26. Barkhuizen, G., Benson, P. and Chik, A. (2014) Narrative Inquiry in Language Teaching and Learning Research. New York: Routledge. Barton, D. and Tusting, K. (eds) (2005) Beyond Communities of Practice: Language, Power and Social Context. New York: Cambridge University Press. Benson, P. and Nunan, D. (eds) (2004) Learners’ Stories: Difference and Diversity in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Benson, P., Barkhuizen, G., Bodycott, P. and Brown, J. (2013) Second Language Identity in Narratives of Study Abroad. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Block, D. (2007) Second Language Identities. London: Continuum. Chase, S.E. (2011) Narrative inquiry: Still a field in the making. In N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (4th edn). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Chik, A. and Benson, P. (2008) Frequent flyer: A narrative of overseas study in English. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Denzin, N.K. (1989) Interpretive Biography. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Duff, P.A. (2007) Second language socialization as sociocultural theory: Insights and issues. Language Teaching 40 (4), 309–319.

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Eckert, P. and McConnell-Ginet, S. (1992) Think practically and look locally: Language and gender as community-based practice. Annual Review of Anthropology 21, 461–490. Jackson, J. (2008) Language, Identity and Study Abroad: Sociocultural Perspectives. London: Equinox. Kalaja, P., Menezes, V. and Barcelos, A.M.F. (eds) (2008) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kinginger, C. (2004) Alice doesn’t live here anymore: Foreign language learning and identity reconstruction. In A. Pavlenko and A. Blackledge (eds) Negotiation of Identities in Multilingual Contexts. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Kinginger, C. (2008) Language learning in study abroad: Case studies of Americans in France. The Modern Language Journal 92 (s1), 1–124. Kinginger, C. (2012) Language socialization in study abroad. In C. Chapelle (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Larzén-Östermark, E. (2011) Intercultural sojourns as educational experiences: A narrative study of the outcomes of Finnish student teachers’ language-practice periods in Britain. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 55 (5), 455–473. Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Okubo, T. (2009) Raifu sutoorii bunseki: Shitsutekityousa nyuumon [Analysis of Life Stories: Introduction to Qualitative Research]. Tokyo: Gakubunsha. Pellegrino Aveni, V. (2005) Study Abroad and Second Language Use: Constructing the Self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Riessman, C.K. (2008) Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rogoff, B. (1995) Observing sociocultural activity on three planes: Participatory appropriation, guided participation, and apprenticeship. In J.V. Wertsch, P. del Rio and A. Alvarez. (eds) Sociocultural Studies of Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rose, G. (2016) Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials (4th edn). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. Schmidt, R. and Frota, S. (1986) Developing basic conversational ability in a second language: A case study of an adult learner of Portuguese. In R.R. Day (ed.) Talking to Learn: Conversation in Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Trentman, E. (2013) Imagined communities and language learning during study abroad: Arabic learners in Egypt. Foreign Language Annals 46 (4), 545–564. Umino, T. (2011) Language learning experiences of international students in Japan: Facilitating access to communities of practice. In J. Phillion, M.T. Hue and Y. Wang (eds) Minority Students in East Asia: Government Policies, School Practices and Teacher Responses. New York: Routledge. Umino, T. and Benson, P. (2016) Communities of practice in study abroad: A four-year study of an Indonesian student’s experience in Japan. The Modern Language Journal 100 (4), 757–774. Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

11 Imagining Second Language Teaching in Brazil: What Stories Do Student Teachers Draw? Ana Carolina de Laurentiis Brandão

This chapter is a narrative inquiry into two language majors in Brazil (aged 18 and 25 years) who had just begun teacher education. Still hesitant about the profession, they were asked to imagine themselves as EFL teachers in the future by drawing their self-portraits a few times during their training. The drawings were complemented with other types of data (including autobiographies, journals and interviews) to gain further insights into the process of eventually taking on the identity of an EFL teacher, shaped by their previous experiences in different roles and contexts. The analysis consisted of identifying narrative threads articulating temporal transitions, personal and social conditions and places in the participants’ drawings. By drawing, the student teachers could holistically share their experiences, dilemmas and struggles, and also creatively make sense of who they were becoming as professionals. The drawings represent their desire to spare their future pupils their own experiences as pupils, as well as their expectations to have a meaningful impact on their language learning.

Introduction One day, teacher Laura, who had taught my mother and aunt, was giving me a class (…) she gave me a small sheet of paper with five questions. I wrote my name, answered and handed it in (…) I was the first one to hand it in. She looked at me very angrily and said: ‘are you stupid or what? (…) Do you remember the last class?’ (…) I returned to my desk feeling like crying. Kelly, May 2014

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Kelly is one of the student teachers whose depicted experiences and ways of imagining second language (L2) teaching will be explored in this chapter. The experience quoted above at a school in the countryside of Mato Grosso was among those that shaped her imagined identity as an English teacher. When I fi rst met Kelly in an initial teacher education project, she had already been through a lot in both her personal and her educational life. Her background shaped not only her expectations of the profession, but also how she experienced language teacher education itself. The relevance of teachers’ prior experiences as a source of knowledge has been widely recognised in L2 teacher education (e.g. Barcelos, 2016; Borg, 2003; Gimenez, 2011; Golombek, 2009; Graves, 2009; Johnson, 2006; Kalaja, 2016; Kalaja et al., 2008). During their school years, for example, student teachers intuitively learn about the profession through what Lortie (1975) calls the apprenticeship of observation, that is, the effect teachers’ past experiences as students have on their teaching. As Britzman (2003: 22) emphasises, ‘unlike any other profession, one enters teacher education with an over-familiarity of the work of students and teachers’. When students start their teacher education programmes, they already have images of classes that serve as ‘guides (…) to make sense of future situations’ (Clandinin, 2013: 89). These images embody the ‘forward-looking stories of their imagined identities as teachers’ (Schaefer & Clandinin, 2011: 276). Over the course of the programmes, students develop and negotiate their imagined professional identities. They learn that some of their ‘forward-looking stories’ can be sustained while others cannot. What student teachers experience before and during teacher education thus plays an important role in how they imagine and, consequently, live out the profession (Downey et al., 2014; Schaefer & Clandinin, 2011). The purpose of L2 teacher education is, therefore, not only to develop knowledge related to their area of specialisation (e.g. knowledge about language and its learning process). It is also to engage students in an ongoing reconstruction of past experiences (e.g. of being language learners in different educational settings) so that they can imagine and keep reimagining L2 teaching throughout their careers. In this study, I make use of drawings to examine how two student teachers imagine English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching before implementing language materials for the first time. By adopting a narrative perspective on teacher identity (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999), I explore how the interplay between their past as pupils and present as student teachers shape their professional aspirations. This chapter is organised into five sections. I begin by discussing the theoretical background, as well as giving an overview of other studies that explore L2 student teachers’ imagined identities. Then I detail my aims and explain my methodological approach. After this, I analyse Kelly’s and Marcela’s drawings. Finally, I present the discussion and concluding thoughts that emerged from the study.

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Theoretical Starting Points

In considering how EFL student teachers imagine the profession narratively, I understand professional identity as the embodiment of a teacher’s stories to live by (Clandinin & Huber, 2005; Connelly & Clandinin, 1999). From this perspective, teacher identities are: multiple, evolving, shifting, and contradictory. Over the course of a life, a teacher’s story to live by is in flux, shifting as new situations are experienced, as new subject matter is taught, as new children are encountered, as new colleagues arrive, as new policies are enacted, as a teacher’s life in school is lived. However, a teacher’s story to live by is also in flux, shifting, as s/he fi nds new life partners, has and raises children, shifts in socioeconomic status, loses parents, friends, colleagues, attends to larger socio-political events and so on. (Clandinin & Huber, 2005: 44–45)

Essential to this definition is the interplay between identity and two other narrative constructs: context and teacher knowledge. Context is understood through the metaphor of personal and professional knowledge landscapes, which involves ‘space, place, and time’, and ‘relationships among people, places and things’ (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996: 24; Clandinin et al., 2014: 166). Teachers’ personal knowledge landscapes include social, cultural, linguistic, familial and institutional narratives (e.g. family relationships and experiences of being pupils). Their professional knowledge landscapes, meanwhile, comprise their living as a teacher in school and university contexts (e.g. participation in teacher education programmes and teaching experiences). These two landscapes are shifting, have moral and intellectual dimensions, and coexist in teachers’ lives (Clandinin et al., 2014). Teacher knowledge is taken to mean personal practical knowledge, which is ‘composed of both kinds of knowledge [theoretical and practical], blended by the personal background and characteristics of the teacher, and expressed by her in particular situations’ (Clandinin, 2013: 67), reflecting both ‘a person’s life story’ and ‘the contexts in which teachers live’ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999: 2). It represents a teacher’s ‘particular way of reconstructing the past and the intentions of the future to deal with the exigencies of a present situation’ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988: 25). In other words: it is knowledge that reflects the individual’s prior knowledge and acknowledges the contextual nature of teachers’ knowledge. It is a kind of knowledge carved out of, and shaped by, situations; knowledge that is constructed and reconstructed as we live out our stories and retell and relive them through processes of reflection. (Clandinin, 1992: 125)

Moreover, teachers’ personal practical knowledge itself has moral, aesthetic and emotional dimensions, and is informed by images, metaphors, rules, practical principles, personal philosophy and narrative unity (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988). Images of teaching are influenced by a

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teacher’s past and are recalled within the present. They reflect the way teachers imagine teaching spaces and/or themselves in teaching situations. Metaphors (and images) articulate learning and teaching conceptions, and guide future actions. Rules tell teachers what to do in classes. Practical principles concern ‘purposes in a deliberate and reflective way’ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988: 64–65). Personal philosophy is ‘a way one thinks about oneself in teaching situations’ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988: 66). Narrative unity is ‘a meaning-giving account, an interpretation, of our history and, as such, provides a way of understanding our experiential knowledge’ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988: 75). Overall, the perspective on teacher identity I adopt here is that the stories teachers live in both personal and professional landscapes shape their development as people and professionals. Thus, pre-service teacher identity formation is not the beginning of a ‘new story’, but a process of ‘re-storying’ oneself: ‘a process of expressing each individual preservice teacher’s knowledge in practice, reflecting on the practice using personal and theoretical resources, and then trying out what we call re-storied possibilities’ (Clandinin, 2000: 30). In this chapter, I address EFL student teachers’ initial process of re-storying by focusing on how they imagine themselves in the professional knowledge landscape before experiencing teaching. Others have studied L2 teachers’ imagined identities. Barkhuizen (2010), for example, developed a narrative inquiry to investigate a student teacher’s future working life as an English teacher. He analysed written personal narratives and a series of interviews by focusing on ‘the relationship among characters in the story, the content of the told story, the telling or interactive construction of the story, and the discourses within which narrators position themselves and by which they are positioned in the story world’ (Barkhuizen, 2010: 283). Borg et  al. (2014) and Kalaja (2016) discussed language teachers’ imagined identities by making use of visual methods. Borg et al. (2014) asked student teachers to draw successful primary English language teaching (ELT) lessons and comment on them both before and after an ELT methodology course. The drawings were combined with other types of data such as interviews and teaching practice portfolios. Analysis focused on visual features, which were then contextualised by other data to identify their meanings. Kalaja (2016) examined student teachers’ beliefs about foreign language teaching and their future teacher identities a year after graduation. Her data, analysed for content, included language student teachers’ drawings of themselves giving a future foreign language class, together with their written explanations. My approach to EFL teacher imagined identity is similar to Barkhuizen’s (2010), since we both address the particularities of the interplay between personal and professional. However, I explore visual layers of meanings and investigate not only the stories of teaching English that

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student teachers envision, but also the (re)construction of their images of teaching (how teachers imagine teaching spaces and/or themselves in teaching situations) during the very early stages of teacher preparation. Aims of the Study

This narrative inquiry visually explores two Brazilian EFL student teachers’ imagined professional identities and the stories that shape them. Specifically, it aims to answer the following research question: How do aspects of Brazilian EFL student teachers’ personal practical knowledge (e.g. images and rules) developed in different landscapes (e.g. personal and educational) inform their identity as language teachers before they experience teaching?

I discuss drawings in particular, taking advantage of the fact that visual methods ‘enable us to simultaneously keep the whole and the part in view, telling a story and helping us synthesize knowledge in a highly efficient way’ (Weber, 2008: 45). They are ‘visual representations of experiences’ that enable others ‘to see as a participant sees, and to feel’ (Riessman, 2008: 142). Moreover, what can be expressed visually may not easily be expressed verbally (Bach, 2007; Esin & Squire, 2013; Kalaja et al., 2013; Rose, 2012). Here, drawings are instances of visual narratives (Bach, 2007) in which student teachers share their stories within diverse personal and professional landscapes. Visual analysis is intended to gain a deeper understanding of these experiences (e.g. Borg et  al., 2014; Brandão, 2018; Kalaja, 2016; Kalaja et al., 2013). To this end, student teachers’ drawings of English teachers are analysed, taking into account their explanations and other field texts (e.g. written learning autobiographies). In Brazil, student teachers often lack the motivation to become English teachers due to the undervalued status of the profession, low wages, and poor experiences at school with ill-prepared schoolteachers (Barcelos, 2008, 2016; Celani, 2010; Dutra & Mello, 2008; Lima, 2011; Menezes, 2008; Miccoli, 2008). By focusing on pre-service teacher identity formation in its initial stage, this study can provide insights into how to improve this situation in teacher preparation. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

This study takes the form of a narrative inquiry, a research methodology that involves the analysis of participants’ individual experiences as a storied phenomenon within social, cultural and institutional narratives (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007; Connelly & Clandinin, 2006). In this approach, narrative is both the phenomenon under study and a method to understand experience. Analysis addresses

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the commonplaces ‘temporality’ (temporal transitions), ‘sociality’ (personal and social conditions) and ‘place’ (impact of locations) in order to identify narrative threads (Connelly & Clandinin, 2006: 480). The participants involved in this study are two student teachers taking a four-year undergraduate Portuguese-English language teaching degree. They gave themselves the pseudonyms Kelly and Marcela. Kelly was 25 and in the third year of her degree. Marcela was 18 and in the second year of her degree. We lived alongside each other during the fi rst year of a teacher education project, forming part of a Brazilian government programme called PIBID (Teaching Initiation Scholarship Programme), in which I collaborated as a teacher educator. The programme, which is sponsored by the federal government agency CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), awards scholarships to teacher educators, and to pre-service and in-service teachers participating in teacher initiation projects developed by universities in partnership with state schools. Its main aims are to integrate schools and teaching degree programmes, and to improve the quality of education at state schools. The PIBID project, in which Kelly, Marcela and I were engaged, involved in-service EFL teachers from two state schools and student teachers designing and implementing language materials with the help of digital resources. Its aim was to develop pupils’ reading skills by using a range of different genres, such as comic strips and fables. My goal as a teacher educator was to guide student teachers in becoming informed independent professionals who can analyse specific contexts, make decisions and develop theoretically grounded reflections (Celani, 2010). I believed that experiences of designing and implementing their own materials would help them confront and reflect on the uncertainties of EFL teaching, and also imagine how to change the status quo rather than simply criticising it. Other important goals were to normalise technology in student teachers’ lives, and create opportunities for them to practise the methodological suggestions contained in the PCN (Brazil MEC, 1998) and OCEM (Brazil MEC, 2006), our main educational documents. The documents adopt a genre-based teaching approach (e.g. focusing on the interpretation of genres and the development of pupils’ critical literacy). The field texts (the term for data in this narrative approach) gathered throughout the fi rst year of the teaching initiation project include three drawings from each participant and their accompanying explanations: one asking them to visually represent an EFL teacher and two asking them to visually represent themselves as EFL teachers. The drawings were contextualised by recorded conversations I had with each participant, as well as by their written journals and language learning autobiographies. In this chapter, I focus on Kelly’s and Marcela’s first drawings, which were produced before materials design as part of an activity discussing EFL teaching in Brazil. During this fi rst stage of the project, teacher identity and language teaching issues were discussed online and face to face.

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Student teachers also attended English workshops and observed classes at the participating schools. I gave Kelly and Marcela the following instructions to produce their fi rst drawings: ‘Draw an English teacher and explain it to the group.’ I provided them with a pencil, a rubber and a blank A4 sheet of paper. Their explanations were recorded. The field texts were composed in Portuguese. Excerpts from participants’ narrative accounts, which represent the fi ndings of this study, have been translated into English. The analysis consisted of: (1) situating drawings within the sites of production (i.e. their circumstances and conditions), the image itself, and audiencing (Rose, 2012) by paying attention to when, where and how they were composed (e.g. before materials design), the visual elements (e.g. captions, situation depicted, vantage point), and the viewers of the drawings and their relationship to the composer; (2) relating drawings to their explanations and the other field texts (e.g. conversations and journals) to identify narrative threads; (3) organising the threads into narrative accounts; and (4) negotiating the narrative accounts with the participants. I negotiated the narrative accounts with each participant in person. We read through them together and I asked for their feedback: Did they recognise themselves? Did the accounts faithfully represent their experiences? Did they want to add, change or remove anything? They were satisfied with their accounts and did not request any changes. Findings

I present the findings of this study in the form of two narrative accounts, one per student teacher. They are interpretative accounts of Kelly’s and Marcela’s process of re-storying themselves as EFL student teachers and are organised around the main narrative threads that emerged from the analysis: ‘being a mentor’ and ‘English is not rocket science’. Kelly’s re-storying: Being a mentor

Kelly did not intend to become a teacher. She applied for law, but was instead accepted for the language teaching degree (her second choice). Throughout the programme Kelly held part-time jobs to earn extra money. She washed clothes, babysat and even substituted for teachers from time to time. As a substitute teacher, Kelly usually had to deal with unruly and unmotivated pupils, and she was concerned about their future. ‘I observe that they don’t have dreams, [and] perspective (…) they think their teacher doesn’t care about them.’ She wanted to convey the importance of education and help improve discipline at schools. Above all, she objected to giving up on pupils: ‘I don’t like it when teachers say there’s no way to handle a certain classroom.’ Kelly then took an interest in such practical problems: ‘being a teacher is fascinating.’

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Nevertheless, Kelly was not sure about being an EFL teacher. ‘If there were an opportunity to teach English, I don’t know if I would accept it. Maybe, yes (…) I’d study a lot at home and work with songs and their translations, or I would fi nd another job because I’d be afraid to fail (…) I want to (…) be different [from teachers I encountered].’ English proficiency was a big obstacle: ‘I’m very afraid (…) because I don’t know much English (…) I didn’t learn much at school.’ As she explained, ‘the image I have of the English teacher is (…) [of] a very knowledgeable person and that it’s very difficult to be like him.’ Her memories of English classes at school were not happy, with the exception of her first teacher: ‘my teacher, Patricia, taught us by singing the words she wrote on the board (…) It was a shame she stayed such a short time. [Then] another English teacher came (…) she used to make us copy the verb to be tirelessly.’ The obsession with the verb to be and lack of context annoyed Kelly. ‘It was very boring to study English (…) I hate the verb to be (…) my whole school life was the verb to be, and even today I don’t think I know it (…) because I don’t think I can connect it with anything.’ In general, she suffered under demoralising schoolteachers: ‘teachers didn’t believe in us (…) they thought we would be nothing.’ With her participation in the project, Kelly recognised an opportunity to ‘know how to teach [English] (…) how to do it differently’. ‘To be honest, I feel emotional being in the project, because it touched a wound (…) I was frustrated about taking an English degree and not knowing [the language] (…) this makes you frustrated, unmotivated and even incomplete.’ Language knowledge played an important role in her EFL teacher identity, but she realised that there was no unique treatment for her ‘wound’: ‘here (…) I learn, reflect and develop [something] (…) I have to observe classes and learn from that (…) [think about] how I teach (…) the teaching strategies (…) methodologies (…) you study theory, [and] develop [it].’ Kelly’s participation in our online discussions also helped her deal with her ‘wound’: ‘I’m enjoying the Facebook interactions, the content of the posts in general, because there are videos and texts that trigger reflections about (…) the school, [and] English teaching.’ She reflected, for example, on the role of EFL teachers. In her view, they should show pupils the importance of a foreign language for their ‘personal growth’: with language they can communicate with other people, interact with different cultures and enhance their professional opportunities. Moreover, she began to appreciate the usefulness of the internet as a learning and teaching space, although she initially struggled with online activities: ‘I don’t have much IT background and I also feel attached to pen and paper.’ Kelly’s reflections on teaching approaches and resources gave shape to her EFL teacher identity: I feel a little more confident, not completely, [but] a little more. As I said before, I would work with songs (…) now my horizon grew (…) the

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platforms, Facebook, songs, films (…) literature, folklore from the United States, [and] England, bring the reality of people who study there, [and] interviews from people who went there to the classroom.

Proficiency was still an issue, but she was able to make progress ‘little by little’. Nevertheless, Kelly thought that she could do better than her past teachers: ‘I’d dare to be different (…) because I wouldn’t teach the verb to be, I’d teach other things (…) I don’t know how to speak, but I’d work in a certain way (…) I’d be better than those who only put the verb to be there [on the board].’ Kelly’s imagined stories of teaching English are depicted in her drawing (Figure 11.1). She drew two different classrooms: ‘old’ on the left and ‘current’ on the right. In the ‘old’ classroom, the verb to be is conjugated on the board. The teacher stands behind the front desk, and pupils sit at their desks, arranged in rows. In the ‘current’ classroom, pupils with computers form an arc around the teacher, who stands before them without a desk. The board has disappeared. Referring to the ‘old’ classroom, Kelly explained: ‘formerly, it was like this, the teacher teaching the verb to be and the children copying [it] from the board (…) here, he is in that confi ned world of copying, copying and translating, so there’s a lot of memorisation.’ Meanwhile, in the ‘current’ classroom: ‘there are a number of computers and the teacher is guiding the pupils (…) here, he is a mentor, he’ll indicate paths, he’ll be (…) of assistance.’ Also in Kelly’s ‘current’ classroom, the teacher would help pupils learn ‘to navigate by themselves’ on the internet. As she summarised: ‘here, he is a mentor [current classroom], and here, he is a dictator [old classroom].’

Figure 11.1 Kelly’s visual narrative

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Kelly’s old and current classrooms relate to her own shifts as a learner and EFL student teacher: ‘this is from my past life (…) I learned many things (…) now, I’m like this [current teacher].’ She emphasised that changes in the educational landscape are secondary to teaching methodology: ‘it hasn’t changed much (…) at school (…) [but] it depends on the teacher (…) if he uses the internet only for teaching the verb to be, (…) it’ll be useless (…) what matters is the way of teaching (…) grammar rules alone won’t make any sense.’ Kelly’s drawing reconstructs her experiences of schoolteachers who did not believe in her, and her ‘tireless’ copying of the verb to be. It also illustrates her shifts in technology use: from a learner very attached to ‘pen and paper’ to a student teacher eager to exploit online spaces. True to her personal philosophy of playing the role of mentor, Kelly imagines herself being different from her past teachers by going beyond the verb to be, using technology and teaching language more meaningfully. Kelly was excited about designing and implementing her own teaching materials, and living out her imagined stories of teaching English. The English teaching degree no longer represented a wound. Marcela’s re-storying: English is not rocket science

Marcela originally wanted to study physical education but her mother did not consider it a proper degree. Her father wanted her to study law but she did not score well enough in the entrance exam. So she applied for the language teaching degree where she would have better chances. ‘I never felt like “wow, this is the undergraduate programme I want”.’ Over time she began to enjoy the topics, particularly linguistics: ‘I realised I like to study theories seeking to understand and explain how language operates (…) I intend (…) to deepen my knowledge in linguistics.’ On the other hand, English remained difficult: ‘I still have problems with English (…) I don’t know many things, but (…) I improved.’ Marcela had a hard time learning English at school. Apart from interruptions to her study, she recalls endless repetition exercises, and an excessive focus on the verb to be and grammar in general: ‘it’s what we have in secondary education, in the sixth form, it’s always the verb to be, from beginning to end (…) teachers taught the verb to be (…) but didn’t develop speaking skills, they focused more on grammar.’ However, she also had some positive experiences. For example, a teacher once prepared her group to sing in an event: ‘he showed he cared about his pupils, [and that] he enjoyed teaching us (…) we realised that learning a language is not easy, but all of us have this ability (…) and also that learning doesn’t only happen in the classroom with books.’ ‘From that moment on (…) I realised that it was really possible to learn English’, she recollected. At university, Marcela also experienced ups and downs. She particularly enjoyed a module which was delivered entirely in English. The

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lecturer showed videos, got the students to sing, and shared her own experiences about learning English: ‘she said she was once a state school pupil too (…) told us the difficulties she had, that it wasn’t easy for her either. So, I wondered “gosh! She speaks English so well, she is here, she is a lecturer, knows so much” (…) I understood that I was able to learn English too.’ Unfortunately, another lecturer took a very different approach: ‘he asked us to speak English, at least, the basic greetings (…) but he said this once (…) [and] in the following classes, (…) it was like he forgot (…) I think he should have demanded it (…) because when the [other] lecturer asked us, (…) we did our best.’ Marcela’s experiences at university helped her identify her needs as a language learner. But learning English was about her personal rather than professional aspirations: ‘I can have more opportunities to travel, something I love doing.’ Teaching English, on the other hand, was an impossible goal, especially because of a stubborn lack of proficiency: ‘teaching is more complicated, I don’t see myself giving an English class (…) because I think it’s very difficult. To do so, I should know a lot (…) and I don’t know if I can reach a stage in which I say “no, now I’m qualified to give an English class”.’ The project’s language workshops reinforced the possibility of learning English: ‘it’s not rocket science (…) I know some words here (…) the false cognates, (…) the cognates.’ The online discussions, meanwhile, provided Marcela with opportunities to imagine herself in the role of an EFL teacher: ‘we discussed themes related to teaching a lot, and this (…) made us think about the problems that Brazilian education faces (…) and reflect on what we can do to improve or even change the situation.’ Class observations at the participating schools also fostered this imagination: ‘pupils respected her [the teacher] a lot (…) she talked [to them] in a relaxed way (…) she managed to arouse pupils’ curiosity. I think this is fundamental in a teacher. Every teacher has to arouse pupils’ curiosity (…) [and] have class control.’ These experiences marked the transition from a student- to a teacheroriented perspective: ‘before I was a student, but it’s different when you observe (…) I realised that (…) I won’t turn up [at the classroom] and simply teach my content (…) [because] every teacher needs to be more human.’ As she concluded, ‘is it important for the teacher to know the content? Of course! Extremely important! (…) but he [the teacher] also needs to know how to implement that content, how to speak to pupils.’ Marcela’s imagined stories of teaching English are summarised in her drawing (Figure 11.2). She drew a classroom with pupils sitting at their desks, a teacher at the front, and a board with writing on it. On the teacher’s desk lie a playing stereo (indicated by the small musical notes) and possibly a book. Speech balloons are evidence of classroom interaction. As she explained: This teacher (…) doesn’t only use the content on the board, he also takes the stereo (…) for his pupils to listen to. He talks to pupils, he asks

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Figure 11.2 Marcela’s visual narrative

[questions] (…) he tries to motivate his pupils, (…) to fascinate them, arouse their interest in this world, in this learning. This is my teacher. He’s a creative teacher, tries to fascinate pupils, because pupils often have this idea ‘wow, English is difficult (…) It’s rocket science!’ And this teacher tries to put an end to (…) this idea ‘wow, English is rocket science’. He tries to undo this, ‘no, look, English is not what you think’, he tries to get this out of pupils’ minds, he talks to them.

Marcela’s depicted English teacher develops pupils’ oral skills and knows how to interact with them, showing that it is possible to learn English. Her drawing recalls her past as an EFL learner, particularly her struggles with the language, and the experiences with teachers and lecturers that made her realise that English is not rocket science. It also captures her making sense of her personal philosophy of arousing pupils’ interest in English. At the same time, Marcela had still not worked out what content she would teach and how she would live up to the teacher she aspired to be: ‘I don’t want to teach only the verb to be (…) I still don’t know where I’ll begin (…) maybe with the alphabet and then the verb to be (…) let’s see (…) I’ll try to imagine “gosh, what will make sense to them (…) make them interested?”’ Her English level still scared her: ‘how am I going to relate to pupils? Talk to them? I don’t know! I’m already afraid (…) I don’t know if I’m prepared, I mean, I don’t feel prepared, but let’s try (…) in order to teach English, you need to know it (…) I haven’t mastered English

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in any sense to be able to teach it.’ I reminded her that there was still much to go through before teaching in the classroom. But for the time being, implementing her imagined stories of teaching English was still rocket science. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

Kelly’s and Marcela’s visual representations of their imagined EFL teacher identities embody their desire to be different from their former teachers. In Kelly’s case, this desire is represented by her image of the EFL teacher as a mentor, which articulates other aspects of her personal practical knowledge, such as her personal philosophy, practical principles and rules (Clandinin, 2013; Connelly & Clandinin, 1988). Kelly’s personal philosophy was informed by her concern for pupils’ ‘personal growth’. She thought of herself as helping pupils ‘navigate by themselves’. She wanted to go beyond the verb to be. To this end, she understood the importance of using technology and teaching more meaningfully. In Marcela’s case, the desire to be different is represented by her image of the teacher who shows that English is not rocket science, an image that also articulates her personal philosophy, practical principles and rules. Marcela’s personal philosophy was informed by her concern for pupils and willingness to interact with them at a more human level. She thought of herself as making English more interesting and, like Kelly, she wanted to go beyond the verb to be. Thus, she recognised the importance of developing pupils’ oral skills. In terms of narrative unity (Clandinin, 2013; Connelly & Clandinin, 1988), Kelly’s and Marcela’s imagined stories of teaching English articulate their past in various educational landscapes, ongoing reflections during the teacher initiation project, and intentions for future action in classrooms. Beginning with their pasts, neither Kelly nor Marcela learned much English at school. They were taught by ill-prepared teachers who focused excessively on the verb to be and other grammar topics. Kelly’s schoolteachers even doubted whether she would make anything of herself. But Kelly and Marcela did at least enjoy some positive experiences, such as learning English through songs. Later, at university, Kelly’s experiences of substituting in schools helped her realise the importance of assisting pupils in widening their perspectives. Marcela was inspired by the story of a lecturer who worked her way up from a state school background, showing that learning English was possible. Their depictions of EFL teachers reflected these experiences, both going beyond the verb to be: Kelly’s teacher guided pupils by indicating paths rather than imposing them; Marcela’s teacher developed oral skills and showed that English was not rocket science. At the beginning of the project, both Kelly and Marcela found it hard to imagine teaching English, given that they had not learned the language

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previously. Teaching English was thus contingent on proficiency. However, over the course of the first stage of the project they realised that they could improve their language knowledge while learning to teach. Crucially, through online discussions and class observations, they recognised that there was much more to teaching than proficiency. Kelly, for example, reflected on the role of technology and teaching approaches. Marcela reflected on how to communicate with pupils. They incorporated these reflections into their teaching images: Kelly in the form of the ‘current’ teacher who would help pupils navigate by themselves on the internet; Marcela in the form of the ‘creative’ teacher who would inspire pupils. These reconstructions of their past and present informed Kelly’s and Marcela’s ‘forward-looking stories’ of teaching English (Schaefer & Clandinin, 2011: 276). They wanted to spare their pupils their own negative experiences as learners. Kelly intended to distance herself from the ‘dictator’ teacher who confi ned pupils to copying, translating and memorising. Marcela intended to debunk the idea that learning English was impossible. They were still working out how to implement these stories. Kelly wanted to make better use of technology. At the same time, she was comfortable with the idea of improving her English ‘little by little’. Marcela thought about how to interact better with pupils. Indeed, she feared interaction because of her level of English. Kelly’s and Marcela’s drawings are visual representations of their personal practical knowledge – ‘a person’s life story’ and ‘the contexts in which teachers live’ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999: 2). They represent their process of re-storying themselves in the professional knowledge landscape (Clandinin, 2000), that is, of imagining their stories of teaching English as a result of making sense of past and present experiences. At the same time, they reflect the conditions of Brazilian state schools which, unfortunately, are not always conducive to learning English meaningfully (Barcelos, 2008, 2016; Dutra & Mello, 2008; Lima, 2011; Menezes, 2008; Miccoli, 2008). It is important for us, language teacher educators, to be aware of how student teachers imagine the profession, together with the experiences, expectations and anxieties that go with it. In this way, we can guide students better in negotiating their ‘forward-looking stories’ and developing their professional identity. Giving space for them to imagine the profession in language teacher education programmes is, therefore, crucial. Drawings, because of their condensing nature (Weber, 2008), help us explore the multiple layers and stories that sustain student teachers’ imagined teacher identities. By drawing their stories, teachers can holistically express their experiences, dilemmas and struggles, and also creatively make sense of who they are becoming. Researchers, meanwhile, can use drawings to identify important aspects of this process. After all, visual materials ‘can present things that words cannot and can therefore be used as evidence and support, or to supplement written research fi ndings’ (Rose, 2012: 326). However, they ‘still need to be contextualised by words, and may remain

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excessively obscure if they are not’ (Rose, 2012: 326). That was the case of this study, as I needed to combine drawings with other types of narratives (i.e. spoken and written) in order to better understand how Kelly’s and Marcela’s imagined stories of teaching English were shaped.

References Bach, H. (2007) Composing a visual narrative inquiry. In D.J. Clandinin (ed.) Handbook of Narrative Inquiry: Mapping a Methodology (pp. 280–307). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Barcelos, A.M.F. (2008) Learning English: Students’ beliefs and experiences in Brazil. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 35–48). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Barcelos, A.M.F. (2016) Student teachers’ beliefs and motivation, and the shaping of their professional identities. In P. Kalaja, A.M.F. Barcelos, M. Aro and M. Ruohotie-Lyhty (eds) Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (pp. 71–96). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Barkhuizen, G. (2010) An extended positioning analysis of a pre-service teacher’s better life small story. Applied Linguistics 31 (2), 282–300. Borg, S. (2003) Teacher cognition in grammar teaching: A literature review. Language Awareness 12 (2), 96–108. Borg, S., Birello, M., Civera, I. and Zanatta, T. (2014) The Impact of Teacher Education on Pre-service Primary English Language Teachers. ELT Research Papers No. 14.03. London: British Council. Brandão, A.C.L. (2018) Visualizing EFL teacher identity (re)construction in materials design and implementation. Applied Linguistics Review 9 (2–3), 249–271. Brazil MEC (1998) Parâmetros curriculares nacionais – Língua estrangeira [National Curriculum Parameters – Foreign Language]. Brazil: Ministério da Educação e do Desporto. Brazil MEC (2006) Orientações curriculares para o ensino médio: Linguagens, códigos e suas tecnologias [Curriculum Guidelines for High School: Languages, Codes and their Technologies]. Brazil: Ministério da Educação e do Desporto. Britzman, D.P. (2003) Practice Makes Practice: A Critical Study of Learning to Teach. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Celani, M.A.A. (2010) Perguntas ainda sem respostas na formação de professores de línguas [Questions still unanswered in language teacher education]. In T. Gimenez and M.C.G. Monteiro (eds) Formação de Professores de Línguas na América Latina e Transformação Social (pp. 57–67). Campinas, SP: Pontes. Clandinin, D.J. (1992) Narrative and story in teacher education. In T. Russell and H. Munby (eds) Teachers and Teaching: From Classroom to Refl ection (pp. 124–137). London: Falmer Press. Clandinin, D.J. (2000) Learning to teach: A question of knowledge. Education Canada 40 (1), 28–30. Clandinin, D.J. (2013) Personal practical knowledge: A study of teachers’ classroom images. In C.J. Craig, P.C. Meijer and J. Broeckmans (eds) From Teacher Thinking to Teachers and Teaching: The Evolution of a Research Community (pp. 67–95). Bingley: Emerald. Clandinin, D.J. and Connelly, F.M. (1996) Teachers’ professional knowledge landscapes: Teacher stories – stories of teachers – school stories – stories of schools. Educational Researcher 25 (3), 24–30. Clandinin, D.J. and Connelly, F.M. (2000) Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Clandinin, D.J. and Huber, M. (2005) Shifting stories to live by: Interweaving the personal and professional in teachers’ lives. In D. Beijaard, P.C. Meijer, G. MorineDershimer and H. Tillema (eds) Teacher Professional Development in Changing Conditions (pp. 43–59). Dordrecht: Springer. Clandinin, D.J. and Rosiek, J. (2007) Mapping a landscape of narrative inquiry: Borderland spaces and tensions. In D.J. Clandinin (ed.) Handbook of Narrative Inquiry: Mapping a Methodology (pp. 35–75). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Clandinin, D.J., Schaefer, L. and Downey, C.A. (eds) (2014) Narrative Conceptions of Knowledge: Towards Understanding Teacher Attrition. Bingley: Emerald. Connelly, F.M. and Clandinin, D.J. (1988) Teachers as Curriculum Planners: Narratives of Experience. New York: Teachers College Press. Connelly, F.M. and Clandinin, D.J. (eds) (1999) Shaping a Professional Identity: Stories of Educational Practice. New York: Teachers College Press. Connelly, F.M. and Clandinin, D.J. (2006) Narrative inquiry. In J.L. Green, G. Camilli and P.B. Elmore (eds) Handbook of Complementary Methods in Education Research (pp. 477–487). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Downey, C.A., Schaefer, L. and Clandinin D.J. (2014) Shifting teacher education: From ‘skilling up’ to sustaining beginning teachers. LEARNing Landscapes 8 (1), 15–19. Dutra, D.P. and Mello, H. (2008) Self-observation and reconceptualization through narratives and reflective practice. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 49–63). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Esin, C. and Squire, C. (2013) Visual autobiographies in East London: Narratives of still images, interpersonal exchanges, and intrapersonal dialogues. FQS 14 (2). See http:// www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1971 (accessed 20 March 2017). Gimenez, T. (2011) Narrativa 14: Permanências e rupturas no ensino de inglês em contexto brasileiro [Narrative 14: Continuities and ruptures in the Brazilian English teaching context]. In D.C. de Lima (ed.) Inglês em Escolas Públicas NÃO Funciona? Uma Questão, Múltiplos Olhares (pp. 47–54). São Paulo, SP: Parábola Editorial. Golombek, P.R. (2009) Personal practical knowledge in L2 teacher education. In A. Burns and J.C. Richards (eds) The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education (pp. 155–162). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Graves, K. (2009) The curriculum of second language teacher education. In A. Burns and J.C. Richards (eds) The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education (pp. 115–124). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Johnson, K.E. (2006) The sociocultural turn and its challenges for second language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly 40 (1), 235–257. Kalaja, P. (2016) ‘Dreaming is believing’: The teaching of foreign languages as envisioned by student teachers. In P. Kalaja, A.M.F. Barcelos, M. Aro and M. Ruohotie-Lyhty (eds) Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (pp. 124–146). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P., Menezes, V. and Barcelos, A.M.F. (eds) (2008) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P., Dufva, H. and Alanen, R. (2013) Experimenting with visual narratives. In G. Barkhuizen (ed.) Narrative Research in Applied Linguistics (pp. 105–131). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lima, D.C. (ed.) (2011) Inglês em Escolas Públicas NÃO Funciona? Uma Questão, Múltiplos Olhares [Is English Possible in State Schools? An Issue with Multiple Views]. São Paulo, SP: Parábola Editorial. Lortie, D. (1975) Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Menezes, V. (2008) Multimedia language learning histories. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 199–213). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Miccoli, L. (2008) Brazilian EFL teachers’ experiences in public and private schools: Different contexts with similar challenges. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (pp. 64–79). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Riessman, C.K. (2008) Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rose, G. (2012) Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials (3rd edn). London: Sage. Schaefer, L. and Clandinin, D.J. (2011) Stories of sustaining: A narrative inquiry into the experiences of two beginning teachers. LEARNing Landscapes 4 (2), 275–295. Weber, S. (2008) Using visual images in research. In J.G. Knowles and A.L. Cole (eds) Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspectives, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues (pp. 41–53). London: Sage.

12 Plurilingual Education and the Identity Development of Pre-service English Language Teachers: An Illustrative Example Ana Sofia Pinho

This chapter reports on a case study of a student teacher of English in Portugal, and traces the development of her teacher identity and possible changes in her professional thinking over one term. Together with her classmates (N = 5), the student teacher was attending a course that addressed such key issues as citizenship and plurilingualism. She was asked to come up with a metaphor that illustrated her idea of an English teacher in primary school and turn it into a drawing, complemented with verbal comments. The task was done twice during the course. The data were subjected to content analysis, which revealed that the same curricular module can lead to individual learning and identity development trajectories. Visual narratives also made it clear that temporality is foundational in the development of a preservice teacher’s mindset and identity, and to the reconciling of old and new ideas about EFL teaching. A stronger connection to the professional contexts emerged as an influencing factor in the enactment of ‘new’ identities. Therefore, it is important to consider learning strategies that respond to the shared but also the idiosyncratic aspects of pre-service teachers’ images, and to be aware of identity transitions while designing the curriculums of initial teacher education courses.

Introduction

Research on teacher education has long involved the study of how teachers learn to teach, particularly teachers’ beliefs and knowledge base, and how these evolve over time. There is abundant literature focusing on 214

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teachers-to-be and on the several factors involved in teachers’ learning and identity development (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2008). Flores (2016) asserts that teacher identity development depends upon views of professionalism guiding initial teacher education programmes and, indeed, in recent years, research on the role of initial teacher education as a context for identity development has (re)gained a foothold (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Beijaard et al., 2004; Flores, 2016; Ovens et al., 2016; Rodgers & Scott, 2008). One of the remaining problems is, as Flores (2011) states, the need for initial teacher education to consider more explicitly its own role in the development of teachers’ professional identity. In fact, many questions emerge when addressing the issue of how initial teacher education prepares teachers for life in schools and classrooms (Flores, 2016: 5). One of them is how the different modules of the initial teacher education curriculum impact on and support pre-service teachers’ professional learning and identity construction. Likewise, Beauchamp and Thomas (2009) claim that overt attention should be given to shifts in (pre-service) teachers’ identity on teacher education programmes so that these would ‘allow for the exploration of one’s identity within the preparation of programmes’ by means of ‘concrete action in the form of teacher education programme design and activities’ (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009: 184; see also Rosaen & Florio-Ruane, 2008). Additionally, Bullough (1997) highlights the relevance of looking at pre-service teachers’ images of themselves as teachers and their conceptions about teaching and learning as a foundation for decision making on initial teacher education curriculum components. Particularly in language education, professional identity issues are connected to teachers’ preparation to think and act in contexts of complex linguistic landscapes, multiculturalism and plurilingualism. One of the implications for initial teacher education is the creation of powerful learning environments in which pre-service language teachers learn about pedagogies for diversity (namely, education for intercultural citizenship and plurilingual education) (Pinho, 2008; Pinho & Andrade, 2009; Pinho et  al., 2011), and build repertoires of meaning, knowledge and action which influence their professional identity development and how they perceive language teaching in a more multidimensional and complex way. In this chapter, I adopt a practitioner (research) approach to my own practice as a teacher educator, and set out to analyse pre-service teachers’ visual narratives in order to reflect upon how the syllabus of an initial teacher education module could be reshaped to explore and mediate preservice teachers’ identity development in relation to issues of citizenship and plurilingualism. Thus, the theoretical background provides the positions adopted in this chapter on teacher identity, plurilingual education and visual narratives as mediators of professional learning. This is followed by a description of the study’s aims, of the context of the module ‘Didactics, Curriculum and Evaluation in Languages’, and the data

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collection and analysis procedures. The fi ndings supporting the conclusions about the module are based on the picture of an English as a foreign language (EFL) pre-service teacher’s learning as an illustrative example. Background to the Study Teacher identity as a process of ‘becoming’ and plurilingual education as a ‘mind-changer’

Teacher identity is multifaceted and shaped by several factors. Instead of a conventional perspective that sees identity as a person’s static attribute and a linear process from student to teacher, contemporary approaches pinpoint the multiple variations, starting points and pathways, subjective positions, voices and sources inherent to the process. From this standpoint, it is more important to understand how identity is shaped in interaction with others, the process(es) by which it is constructed and the different paths each teacher takes (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Ovens et al., 2016; Rodgers & Scott, 2008). In the face of diverse defi nitions (Beijaard et al., 2004), Rodgers and Scott (2008) consider that there are four basic assumptions underlying any conception of teacher identity: (1) that identity is dependent upon and formed within multiple contexts which bring social, cultural, political and historical forces to bear upon that formation; (2) that identity is formed in relationship with others and involves emotions; (3) that identity is shifting, unstable, and multiple; and (4) that identity involves the construction and reconstruction of meaning through stories over time. (Rodgers & Scott, 2008: 755, emphasis in original)

Bearing in mind the multidimensional nature of teacher identity development, Ovens et al. (2016) advocate the use of the concept ‘becoming’ as a metaphor for the process of professional learning, emphasising its evolving, iterative nature, and embeddedness in social relations, networks and educational settings. Not devaluing the importance of the acquisition of knowledge and skills, they acknowledge that acting like a teacher includes a professional self or teaching identity, and that becoming a teacher is a process or a learning journey ‘filled with critical moments where individuals are provoked to reorganise, adapt, and enhance their systems of thinking’, i.e. to ‘reconstruct and transform their dispositions, skills and understandings’ (Ovens et al., 2016: 24). Beijaard et al. (2004: 122) accentuate that professional identity is an ‘ongoing process of interpretation and re-interpretation of experiences’, which involves both person and context, as well as agency in delineating who the teachers themselves want to become (Bullough, 1997). Temporality and incompleteness are traits of professional identity, and lead to dynamics of continuity and discontinuity (Clandinin & Connelly,

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2000). Therefore, in a study on pre-service language teachers, Pinho (2008) proposes the concept of ‘(professional) project’ as a metaphor to emphasise the idea of voice and authoring when defining one’s own mission and selfdirection as a language teacher in line with one’s goals (Korthagen, 2004) or in view of specific plans and actions (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). The findings of Pinho (2008) point out that the professional project is reshaped within a continuous negotiation between an idealistic and a realistic view of the student teachers about themselves and their work as language teachers, in the face of contextual settings and the demands of present situations. The findings also emphasise the mediating role of others, the role of reciprocity, and the dynamics of (non-)identification and belonging in identity construction towards plurilingual education, which may lead to new understandings, commitments, ruptures and conflicting values, and to feelings of (in)coherence and (lack of) direction. In addition, Pinho (2008) reinforces the interdependence of prospective teachers’ representations of language teaching, pedagogical content knowledge and professional identity development, with each of these three dimensions feeding each other (see also Pinho & Andrade, 2009). This is in line with Beijaard et al.’s (2004: 123) argument that ‘identity formation is a process of practical knowledge-building characterized by an ongoing integration of what is individually and collectively seen as relevant to teaching’. With this setting, plurilingual education in initial teacher education has been considered a gateway to new ways of thinking, acting and be(com)ing as a language teacher, since it ‘may contribute to transformations in the ways pre-service teachers understand language teaching and themselves as professionals’ (Pinho et al., 2011: 45). Plurilingualism has called for the questioning of settled views of concepts such as language contact, language speaker, language competence and repertoire, with implications for language teaching aims and approaches and how a curriculum is developed (Gajo, 2014; Young, 2014). Consequently, as shown in previous studies (Pinho & Andrade, 2009; Pinho & Moreira, 2012), plurilingual education as a mindset to think about EFL in primary school ‘may provoke intellectual shock and conflict with personal representations of a teaching/learning process and unchain an affective answer from the language teacher’ (Pinho et al., 2011: 46). Indeed, as Beijaard et al. (2004) state, professional identity has a powerful influence on the way teachers teach, how they respond to educational changes and manage the curriculum, and on their attitude regarding their professional learning over time. (Visual) narratives as mediators of professional learning

Constructivist and sociocultural approaches have highlighted professional learning as a personal and collective construction embedded in social relations and practices (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2008; OrlandBarak & Maskit, 2017; Rosaen & Florio-Ruane, 2008). Also emphasised

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is the mediating role of language and of discursive practices to meaningmaking, and to the processes of co-constructing, re-constructing and deconstructing learning (Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017: 2; see also Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009). Against this background, the mediation of professional learning to generate new insights and understandings becomes a ‘topic du jour’ in teacher education (Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017). Anchored in Vygotskyan theory, such mediation is described as a process that supports the raising of teachers’ awareness of their own educational philosophies while uncovering their mission as educators by adopting a reflective stance towards their experience. Teacher educators or mentors adopt a scaffolding role whereby they ‘promote systematic analysis of practice and connections between concepts and actions, encouraging mentees to access, conceptualize and articulate their evolving practical, pedagogical and content knowledge’ (Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017: 4). Thus, the mediation of learning may be envisioned as a ‘reflective encounter’ which includes providing a kind of assistance that is geared to managing relationships with the social situations of the workplace, while attending to the complexity of learners and tasks, to aspects of identity formation and recognising resources that will support their actions. […] Professional learning is, thus, transactional in that it changes both the learner and their context, involving the notion of identity change as an on-going, non-linear process of ‘becoming’ a professional. (Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017: 6–7)

Narratives and life stories have long been used as education strategies, sources of research data and modes of inquiry to foster or grasp the process of learning to teach and identity formation (Carter & Doyle, 1996). From this perspective, lived experience is a narrative phenomenon and story is central to identity making. As such, it is possible to make life experience understandable and accessible through stories, unveiling how these are entangled with cultural, historical and contextual settings, and thus with how people situate themselves and their actions in the world, i.e. in their professional landscapes (Barkhuizen et al., 2014; Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Beijaard et  al., 2004; Bullough, 1997; Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Riessman, 2008). In this context, besides the study of language and written text, the image and the visual have acquired growing importance as a medium to depict people’s experience in and of the world, since visuals hold narratives, help make meaning and tell stories (Hunter, 2017; Riessman, 2008). This ‘visual turn’ has drawn researchers’ and teacher educators’ attention to visual narratives, solely or in conjunction with other forms of communication or stylistic features (such as metaphors: Bullough, 1997; Rosaen & Florio-Ruane, 2008; Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011). In fact, visual narratives, as a form of visual literacy (Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017) or arts-based education (Brown & Sawyer, 2016; Mitchell

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et al., 2011), have proliferated in teacher education curricula, playing the role of artefacts mediating professional learning, identity development, reflexivity and the (re)shaping of conceptions and beliefs. Taking the above into consideration, the making of a visual text, e.g. self-portrait drawings, is a way of capturing images about teaching and the self-as-teacher: pre-service teachers’ drawings can be potentially useful in making more explicit the images that influence them, but also in providing a way to evaluate, challenge or reflect on those images. Teachers’ conversations around those visuals, both individually and collaboratively, also prove to be meaningful in deepening discussions around teacher identity construction. (Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017: 28)

In the field of language education, Barkhuizen et al. (2014) privilege the term multimodal narratives (such as drawings, photographs, videos, digital stories, etc.) to highlight the multidimensionality of this representation resource. These multimodal texts may be used as a tool for language learners or teachers to represent their experiences in processes of selfreflection or as prompts for group discussion. In many cases, as visual elicitation, these narratives are combined with other research procedures such as semi-structured interviews or questionnaires with open-ended questions for the gathering of complementary information. The study by Kalaja (2016), in which (self-portrait) drawings were used with the purpose of depicting how student teachers envision the classroom, or teaching English or other foreign languages in the future, is a case example. Aims of the Study

The context of this study is the module ‘Didactics, Curriculum and Evaluation in Languages’ (DCEL), part of the curriculum of a two-year MA degree programme in ‘Teaching English in Primary School’ (three semesters, 90 ECTS), at the University of Lisbon (Portugal). This course aims to be a setting for pre-service teachers to expand their curricular and didactic thinking about language education in the primary school, considering the implications of existing European and national educational language policies. Specifically, they are challenged to envision the teaching of EFL in relation to issues of citizenship and plurilingual education, and to learn how to adopt a whole-curriculum approach based on interdisciplinary practices. These topics are articulated along with other content, specifically pedagogical differentiation, classroom management or assessment. Besides other tasks, the pre-service teachers plan interdisciplinary projects based on the teaching of EFL in the scope of citizenship and plurilingual education, and elaborate their multimodal narrative. Instead of adopting a ‘one-size-fits-all’ curriculum, as a teacher educator my concern is to manage the syllabus to address pre-service teachers’

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experiences and imagery about the profession and EFL teaching in primary schools, having citizenship and plurilingual education as a background. The study is therefore concerned with pre-service teachers’ representations of themselves as teachers and of EFL teaching, and how these may be a springboard to reflection and decision making in the design of DCEL. In this context, my guiding research question is: To what extent is DCEL mediating EFL pre-service teachers’ professional learning and identity development in a transformative way?

To fi nd answers to this question, I analysed pre-service teachers’ visual narratives (drawings, metaphor and clarification text), which were developed on two occasions (at the beginning and end of the semester), and the field notes about the interactions that took place in DCEL sessions about the visual narratives. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures Participants and tasks

The participants were the five pre-service teachers who had enrolled in the DCEL module. They were all women. Some of them had already completed a five- to six-year degree (licenciatura, in Portuguese) in teaching EFL (lower and upper secondary education) and had previous experience in teaching EFL at primary or upper secondary level, while others had no previous teaching experience. At the time of the data collection it was the autumn term, which mainly consisted of pedagogical studies and the teaching practicum. In designing the data collection procedures, I paid special attention to the importance of multimodality, i.e. combining or complementing visual forms of expression with spoken or written forms, and simultaneously having visuals as the building blocks of the meta-narrative/reflection (Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017: 28; see also Alerby, 2015; Barkhuizen et al., 2014). In addition, consideration was given to the benefits of using metaphors to study teachers’ identity development (Bullough, 1997; Rosaen & Florio-Ruane, 2008; Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011). To generate the personal and collective reflection on pre-service teachers’ self-images as teachers, I designed the following assignment, meant as a mediation task (Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017): ‘Think of a metaphor that illustrates your view of what it means to be a primary school EFL teacher. Write it down and explain it’; ‘Make a drawing depicting your view and metaphor’. They were given a blank A4-format page divided into two parts. On the left side, they should write the metaphor and explain it and on the right side, produce the drawing. The choice of tools (e.g. coloured pencils) for the drawing was entirely up to the pre-service teachers and they were given about 45 minutes to complete the task.

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This task was carried out in the fi rst lesson, and served as an icebreaker, aiming to provoke a moment of shared analysis and generate in-depth group discussion around the pre-service teachers’ images, experiences and interpretations (Bullough, 1997; Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017). When one set of metaphor and drawing was being analysed, I myself as the teacher educator and the other students in the MA programme played the role of mediators, providing interpretation and questioning. During these conversations, I took notes on the blackboard of some of the most prominent traits resulting from the joint analysis of the metaphors and drawings. These notes took the form of pictorial representations and were photographed. Since no audio- or video-recording was allowed, such photographs served as a support for the field notes written by me, after the class conclusion, about the dialogued reflection around the issue of EFL teaching from the perspective of plurilingual and citizenship education. The collective conversation about the drawings was a way of adopting a more participatory interpretative method by collecting what the pre-service teachers had to say about their metaphors and drawings, and thus an attempt to counteract the risk of mis- or over-interpreting the drawings (Alerby, 2015; Mitchell et al., 2011). Later, at the end of the semester and as a final assignment, I asked the pre-service teachers to reanalyse their initial metaphor and drawing, and make any changes or even construct them anew to illustrate newly developed understandings of themselves as teachers of EFL in the primary school. This was combined with a written meta-reflection about their learning path. Ethical approval was sought by obtaining informed consent from the pre-service teachers, who were informed of the research purpose of the data collection: to improve teacher education practices taking place in the DCEL module. Anonymity was guaranteed for all the pre-service teachers through a coding system. Analysis procedures

To analyse the dataset (metaphors, written clarifications, drawings and written meta-reflections), I adopted a thematic content analysis, with the purpose of looking for key themes or issues, in line with other research (Alerby, 2015; Kalaja, 2016; Mitchell et al., 2011). For this study, the drawings and metaphors are the primary sources, while the written artefacts are secondary. Bearing in mind the aims of the data collection and the context of the drawings production (Riessman, 2008), I took the following steps in trying to grasp the meanings depicted in the drawings. In the first phase, the purpose was to see what is represented in each drawing and how it connects to the metaphor and the corresponding written description. As such, the guiding question for this stage was ‘What is or is not being depicted in the drawing?’, and attention was given to topics such as: environments (indoor,

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classroom, outdoors) and artefacts (furniture and teaching materials); people (teacher(s), students, other actors); classroom interaction, i.e. teacher position and students’ organisation (in rows, in pairs, in groups, scattered, in circles) and working methods; and content (topics, competences). In the second phase, which was more interpretative, my objective was to identify the most prominent theme(s) and analyse their significance in relation to citizenship and plurilingual education, as the core topic of DCEL. The guiding question was: ‘What is the significance of what this dataset is expressing to decision-making with regards to the DCEL module?’. The field notes about the collective conversations were also used. Since one of the risks of using drawings is ‘considering different experiences in a single and unified way’ (Alerby, 2015: 23), my main intent behind carrying out a content analysis was not to identify generalised themes or experiences. Rather, the focus was on each of the five preservice teachers’ experiences, self-images and voice, and trying to envision how the DCEL module could become a mediating context for significant learning. Due to space limitations, I will not provide a detailed analysis of each pre-service teacher’s dataset, but rather choose to focus on one participant as an illustrative example and instrumental case study (Stake, 2000), henceforth referred to as Pre-service Teacher A. Before enrolling in the MA, Pre-service Teacher A had already completed a six-year pre-Bologna degree in teaching EFL in lower and upper secondary education, and she had previous experience in teaching EFL at the primary school level. She was very enthusiastic about educating children through EFL.

Findings The case study of Pre-service Teacher A

In trying to depict the metaphor that illustrated her view of what it means for her to be a primary school teacher of EFL, Pre-service Teacher A drew the image shown in Figure 12.1. In her comment, she clarifies that ‘For me, to be a teacher of EFL in 1st Cycle [primary school] is like being a tourist guide for the children who takes them on a cultural journey in the classroom and who step by step makes them discover a different reality and culture, without leaving the country’ (Pre-service Teacher A; all excerpts are translated and were originally written in Portuguese). Regarding the environment depicted, the larger frame of the drawing represents the walls of the school building, which sets the context for the teaching and learning process and is aligned with the ‘not leaving the country’ part of her comment. The classroom is part of the building, and includes a traditional portrayal of students’ seating arrangements. Although no desks can be seen, students are displayed in rows, appearing to stand together in pairs. So, at the same time it looks like the pre-service

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Figure 12.1 Drawing 1 of Pre-service Teacher A: Tourist guide

teacher is depicting a guided tour across the city of London. The teacher is at the top centre of the drawing, in front of the classroom, which is consistent with a teacher-centred classroom dynamic, but also with the idea of the teacher as a tourist guide, leading the group on a sightseeing walkway or a ‘cultural journey in the classroom’. There is no reference to furniture (e.g. boards or desks) or usual teaching materials (e.g. books), except for a set of cultural artefacts or symbols (a double-decker bus; a tea cup and tea pot; Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament; a red telephone box), which appear in the background. These are the artefacts that will help her ‘step by step make [the students] discover a different reality and culture’. A positive atmosphere is portrayed as she represents herself with a happy smile, certainly trying to make the classroom an enjoyable place for the children, while at the same time showing her own satisfaction and an affective dimension regarding her profession as a teacher. Considering the above, the drawing and metaphor were categorised as part of the theme ‘The cultural dimension of language teaching’, since they illustrate the EFL classroom as a cultural journey. This is a particularly relevant theme to be addressed in the DCEL module: first, due to the module’s organising topic of citizenship and plurilingual education; and second, because the drawing’s theme meets the Portuguese curriculum targets for EFL teaching in primary school, which specifically mention the development of students’ intercultural skills. Group conversation about the drawing

As previously explained, during a group conversation in the classroom, the pre-service teachers had the opportunity to show their drawings

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and discuss them with their peers and with me as the teacher educator. During this dialogic reflection, two important topics were approached: first, perspectives on culture, language and curriculum; and secondly, the roles of teacher and students in classroom organisation and interaction. Regarding the topics of culture, language and curriculum, when analysing the drawing, the cultural symbols were the first thing spotted by the other pre-service teachers, who made a direct association with ‘English culture’. At first, this was not a novelty to the pre-service teachers because, as they explained, they were used to thinking about the teaching of EFL with consideration of British and American varieties. This topic is part of the syllabus for lower secondary education, and consequently also part of their former school experiences as English language learners. This was an opportunity for me to address the implicit monolithic view of language (almost always only associated with a single country) and of culture. Under analysis were the advantages and shortcomings of the concept of culture as practice, according to which the development of cultural competence consists of acquiring knowledge about the habits of people from other cultural backgrounds (e.g. five o’clock tea). Also discussed was the perspective of teaching culture as the acquisition of factual background knowledge of another (target) country (e.g. history, geography, institutions, architecture and cultural symbols, such as Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament or a British telephone box). Thus, we talked about the importance of moving beyond a ‘touristic’ and episodic perspective of curriculum development, in many cases linked to the theme of ‘festivities’, and about the limits of a view of culture as practice and facts: the presentation of cultures and speakers as something static, monolithic and homogeneous – stereotyped. It may increase the students’ cultural knowledge, but will not necessarily foster intercultural skills. In addition, I asked the pre-service teachers to reflect upon two phrases, ‘to discover a different reality and culture’ (cf. metaphor comment) and ‘take with themselves a culture’, the latter as part of Pre-service Teacher A’s explanation to her peers. They were asked to reflect on their views of British society and its cultural and linguistic diversity, and of what it might mean to prepare students to be(come) intercultural and plurilingual communicators. One of the conclusions, then, was the risk of encouraging children to overgeneralise and simplify, instead of planning learning situations that prepare them for intercultural dialogue. We also explored the limits and potential of the expressions ‘journey’, ‘discover a reality’ and ‘openness to a world’. In my role as a mediator, I challenged the pre-service teachers to think of EFL teaching as a pedagogy of discovery (e.g. using cooperative projects or inquiry-based activities). The promotion of children’s curiosity about the English language and languages in general was seen as an important springboard for the development of other skills. Therefore, this was an opportunity to discuss how the planning of learning activities should consider the socio-affective dimension of plurilingual and intercultural competences.

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The drawing was also an opportunity to discuss the pre-service teachers’ previous experiences of EFL teaching, how they organise the classroom and the type of classroom interaction they tend to privilege. This allowed us to address the roles of teacher and students, as well as classroom organisation and interaction. Overall, the student teachers acknowledged their tendency to teach from the front, despite also using individual work and work in pairs. They recognised that working in groups is important, and that more authentic interaction opportunities that develop children’s speaking skills need to be favoured, but that this makes classroom management more difficult. I then made a link to the importance of integrating into their planning and action tasks of a varied nature: biographic (recovering and making children’s experiences part of the class content, thus making classroom activities more meaningful), exploratory (namely resorting to project work, allowing children to take on a more participatory role) and cooperative (favouring more interdependent learning). Similar conversations were triggered by the group analysis of the other four pre-service teachers’ sets of metaphors and drawings. The information gathered helped me to make decisions about DCEL, particularly what topics, strategies, tasks and dynamics to privilege during the semester. At the end of the semester, considering their learning path, the pre-service teachers were asked to review their initial drawings and metaphors. Reanalysis of the drawing by Pre-service Teacher A

When writing her meta-reflection at the end of the semester, Preservice Teacher A expands her drawing (Figure 12.2), adding a globe and keywords as a way of expressing an evolving perspective on EFL teaching. As she explains, she is beginning to grasp the importance of citizenship and plurilingualism in EFL teaching: … I would keep my initial metaphor, because I think that it is the best illustration of my role; yet I would add topics related to the values and attitudes of citizenship as the core of the ‘touristic trip’. The global topics would be the motto for the discovery of that culture and the learning and communicative use of the English language would happen through those topics. […] it is my hope that students learn that, deep down, we are all equal, despite our differences in language, culture and way of living …

At this point, the pre-service teacher’s multimodal narrative is a mirror for the coexistence of old and new discourses about the profession and EFL, which can be interpreted as a sign of meaning-making processes, temporary attachments and demarcation lines about what she projects for herself as a language teacher. When reflecting on her identity project, she acknowledges that she needs to be the author of her own story, and concludes: While reflecting upon my former and future teaching practice, I think that the challenge will be to change my way of thinking and to plan the

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Figure 12.2 Drawing 2 of Pre-service Teacher A: Tourist guide

teaching of linguistic contents having at the core not those linguistic contents per se, but such themes [that are] so relevant and important to students’ global development. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

In this study, I combined visual narratives with written texts based on the use of metaphors and oral discussions to elicit pre-service teachers’ experiences regarding EFL teaching and their self-image as teachers, when learning about the topic of citizenship and plurilingual education. As Rosaen and Florio-Ruane (2008: 718) point out, having teachers’ experiences as the foundation for decision making brings implications to teacher educators as mediators and ‘designers of experience’, particularly when research has strongly reinforced the powerful role of pre-service teachers’ beliefs and how difficult it is to change them (Beijaard et  al., 2004; Bullough, 1997; Pinho & Moreira, 2012). By adopting a practitioner research approach, my ultimate purpose was to carry out a meta-reflection on the course design of the DCEL module, taking into consideration the study’s research question: To what extent is this module mediating EFL pre-service teachers’ professional learning and identity development in a transformative way? Bearing the fi ndings in mind, which steps could be taken to improve the module? The answers to these questions are intertwined and, thus, organised around two axes as a result of the lessons learnt: focus on the personal and the

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collective; and discovery of ‘plurilinguality’ and development of the didactic repertoire. Focus on the personal and the collective

As Pre-service Teacher A’s drawings and comments show, echoed by her colleagues, temporality is foundational in the development of a teacher’s mindset and identity, and to the reconciling of old and new ideas about EFL teaching (Ovens et al., 2016; Pinho, 2008). Citizenship and plurilingual education as a lens to rethink language teaching can be a ‘mindchanger’ insofar as pre-service teachers’ trajectories are recognised, valued and utilised in designing initial teacher education programme modules. Whereas Pre-service Teacher A decided to simultaneously keep and incorporate new ideas into her image-as-teacher, Pre-service Teacher B, who fi rst drew an octopus to represent her feeling of having to reach everywhere and out to every student (Figure 12.3), decided to make a new drawing, due to a change of perspective about what she felt was more meaningful and a priority to her at the end of the semester. The metaphor is related to ‘ship, crew and a captain’, as she explains: ‘I would represent the teacher together with the students because this is an inseparable relationship. It is a joint dynamic, like a ship that can only sail with the effort of a crew, where each plays an important role with implications to the individual and collective success of the “trip”.’ These two situations illustrate continuities and discontinuities in the pre-service teachers’ mindset, and how the same curricular module can lead to individual trajectories. Since experience is context bound, it is important to be aware of these transitions as much as of the factors behind them. Bringing citizenship and plurilingual education to the foreground, one of the challenges to be faced by me as a teacher educator is to contemplate learning strategies that respond to the shared but also the idiosyncratic aspects of the images of each pre-service teacher (Carter & Doyle, 1996). One shared aspect is the centrality given to the teacher. Pre-service Teacher A, in particular, has a strong ‘native speaker’ idealised view associated to the target culture, whereas Pre-service Teacher B displays an emphasis on the pedagogical relationship and a caring attitude (‘I’m hungry!’ and ‘My tooth fell’ are two of the speech bubbles in Figure 12.3). Consequently, it seems crucial to decide on strategies that support pre-service teachers in becoming knowledgeable about their professional learning, and make them aware of their own process of professional identity development, education philosophies, transitions and resistances, and the reasons underlying them, and thus authoring their sense of direction (Korthagen, 2004). It is, therefore, important to give continuity to the reconstruction and reanalysis of pre-service teachers’ visual narratives during the initial teacher education programme, transforming them into a cross-disciplinary instructional strategy, along with (personal) learning projects. Whether

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Figure 12.3 Drawing 1 of Pre-service Teacher B: Octopus

complemented with other forms of expression (Orland-Barak & Maskit, 2017) or pedagogical tasks, visual narratives may help pre-service teachers become more aware of the interplay between the factors that shape their identities and their professional projects as language teachers. Moreover, I should envision opportunities for pre-service teachers to consider a diversity of perspectives and viewpoints. Brown and Sawyer (2016) stress the power of ‘dialogic reflection’ or ‘dialogic practice’ as a mediation strategy supporting awareness, interpretation and transformation of experience as lived. They conceptualise it as a form of reflection that ‘engenders a practitioner’s critical thinking and meaning making in relation to new images and narratives’ (Brown & Sawyer, 2016: 4). Accordingly, dialogic reflection leads to disruption and reconceptualisation, taking up the role of ‘generator of further reflection and new ways to perceive and imagine practice’ and experience in the company of others (Brown & Sawyer, 2016: 1–3). Visual narratives and metaphors as an education strategy have the potential of revealing or unveiling the complexity of identity. Additionally, and based on our experience in the DCEL module, visual narratives have the potential to be enriched through more participant methodologies (Mitchell et al., 2011), which help pre-service teachers analyse such narratives in more structured and intentional ways. Accordingly, drawings can be retrieved as prompts to address specific topics or to propose group activities.

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Discovery of one’s ‘plurilinguality’ and development of the didactic repertoire

The discovery of their own ‘plurilinguality’, or the ability of thinking, be(com)ing and acting plurilingually as teachers of EFL, needs to be at the core of the design of the DCEL module, in close connection to the preservice teachers’ life stories and professional knowledge development (Ovens et al., 2016; Pinho, 2008; Pinho & Andrade, 2009; Young, 2014). The analysis of the pool of data collected reinforces the potential of the recovery of their experiences as language learners, competing discourses about language teaching, concepts of a (native and plurilingual) language speaker, or views of the language classroom, to name but a few. Therefore, complementing visual narratives about oneself as a teacher with (multimodal) language biographies can be a useful instructional strategy. Processes of reinterpreting experience, the re-construction of takenfor-granted images to make them more complex or sophisticated, and reinventing oneself in terms of mission, identity and professional project call for conditions that foster pre-service teachers’ didactic knowledge (or pedagogical content knowledge), combining critical and reflective dimensions with more technical ones (Beijaard et al., 2004; Bullough, 1997; Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2008; Pinho, 2008; Pinho & Andrade, 2009; Pinho & Moreira, 2012; Pinho et al., 2011). Preparing pre-service teachers for citizenship and plurilingual education demands not only the development of a renewed mindset, but also a set of skills which has in the foreground their dispositions and understanding. Although the planning of an interdisciplinary project in groups was an important task in helping pre-service teachers enact citizenship and plurilingual education principles and approaches, the fact that they did not have a chance to experience it with their students diminishes its potential effect on their practical knowledge and the ‘enactment’ of a new identity. The gap between theory and practice – the action gap – and the role of contexts as places where the profession is learnt are enduring issues in initial teacher education programmes (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Flores, 2011, 2016). For now, the DCEL module does not have a direct connection to the teaching practicum component of the programme. Considering the importance of practice to the development of pre-service teachers’ new theories and understandings of EFL teaching, their image-as-teachers and didactic repertoire, it seems crucial to strengthen the ties to the practicum, both in terms of context analysis and assignments. Specifically, it would be helpful to ensure that the observed and lived discourses and practices taking place in the different contexts of the teaching practicum become the object of ‘professional conversation’ with peers and myself as the teacher educator in the DCEL module. An additional step to expand pre-service teachers’ didactic repertoire and skills would be the development of a professional learning community involving pre-service and in-service schoolteachers in partnership with a local school. In this case, the interdisciplinary

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projects planned in the DCEL module could be further discussed and/or cooperatively planned with more experienced schoolteachers, with those contexts offering new prompts for action-planning. Briefly, these can be some of the supportive instructional strategies to be combined with the use of visual narratives, to promote the professional identity development of pre-service EFL teachers. Acknowledgements

This work is fi nanced by national funds through the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, IP, within the scope of the Unidade de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Educação e Formação – UID/CED/ 04107/2016, of the Institute of Education of the University of Lisbon. References Alerby, E. (2015) ‘A picture tells more than a thousand words’: Drawings used as research method. In J. Brown and N.F. Johnson (eds) Children’s Images of Identity (pp. 15–25). Rotterdam: Sense. Barkhuizen, G., Benson, P. and Chik, A. (2014) Narrative Inquiry in Language Teaching and Learning Research. New York: Routledge. Beauchamp, C. and Thomas, L. (2009) Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education 39 (2), 175–189. Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. and Verloop, N. (2004) Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education 20, 107–128. Brown, H. and Sawyer, R. (2016) Dialogic reflection: An exploration of its embodied, imaginative, and reflective dynamic. In H. Brown, R. Sawyer and J. Norris (eds) Forms of Practitioner Reflexivity: Critical, Conversational, and Arts-Based Approaches (pp. 1–12). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Bullough, R.V. (1997) Practicing theory and theorising practice in teacher education. In J. Loughran and T. Russell (eds) Teaching about Teaching: Purpose, Passion and Pedagogy in Teacher Education (pp. 13–31). London: Falmer Press. Carter, K. and Doyle, W. (1996) Personal narrative and the life history in learning to teach. In J. Sikula (ed.) Handbook on Research on Teacher Education (2nd edn) (pp. 120– 142). New York: Macmillan Library Reference. Clandinin, D.J. and Connelly, F.M. (2000) Narrative Inquiry. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Cochran-Smith, M. and Fries, K. (2008) Research on teacher education. Changing times, changing paradigms. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser, D.J. McIntyre and K. Demers (eds) Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (3rd edn) (pp. 1050– 1093). New York: Routledge. Flores, M.A. (2011) Curriculum of initial teacher education in Portugal: New contexts, old problems. Journal of Education for Teaching 37 (4), 461–474. Flores, M.A. (2016) Teacher education curriculum. In J. Loughran and M.L. Hamilton (eds) International Handbook of Teacher Education, (Vol. 1, pp. 187–230). Singapore: Springer. Gajo, L. (2014) From normalization to didactization of multilingualism: European and Francophone research at the crossroads between linguistics and didactics. In J. Conteh and G. Meier (eds) The Multilingual Turn in Languages Education: Opportunities and Challenges (pp. 113–131). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

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Hunter, L. (2017) If you see what I mean? Visual narratives – stories told through, with and by visual images. In R. Dwyer, I. Davis and e. emerald (eds) Narratives Research in Practice: Stories from the Field (pp. 89–116). Singapore: Springer. Kalaja, P. (2016) ‘Dreaming is believing’: The teaching of foreign languages as envisioned by student teachers. In P. Kalaja, A.M.F. Barcelos, M. Aro and M. Ruohotie-Lyhty (eds) Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (pp. 124–146). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Korthagen, F. (2004) In search of the essence of a good teacher: Towards a more holistic approach in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education 20, 77–97. Mitchell, C., Theron, L., Stuart, J., Smith, A. and Campbell, Z. (2011) Drawings as research method. In L. Theron, C. Mitchell, A. Smith and J. Stuart (eds) Picturing Research: Drawing as Visual Methodology (pp. 19–36). Rotterdam: Sense. Orland-Barak, L. and Maskit, D. (2017) Methodologies of Mediation in Professional Learning. Cham: Springer. Ovens, A., Garbett, D. and Hutchinson, D. (2016) Becoming teacher: Exploring the transition from student to teacher. In J. Loughran and M.L. Hamilton (eds) International Handbook of Teacher Education, (Vol. 2, pp. 353–378). Singapore: Springer. Pinho, A.S. (2008) Intercompreensão, identidade e conhecimento profi ssional na formação de professores de línguas [Intercomprehension, identity and professional knowledge in language teacher education]. PhD thesis, University of Aveiro. See http://ria. ua.pt/handle/10773/8216. Pinho, A.S. and Andrade, A.I. (2009) Plurilingual awareness and intercomprehension in the professional knowledge and identity development of language student teachers. International Journal of Multilingualism 6 (3), 313–329. Pinho, A.S. and Moreira, G. (2012) Policy in practice: Primary school teachers of English learning about plurilingual and intercultural education. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature 12, 1–24. Pinho, A.S., Gonçalves, L., Andrade, A.I. and Araújo e Sá, M.H. (2011) Engaging with diversity in teacher language awareness: Teachers’ thinking, enacting and transformation. In S. Breidbach, D. Elsner and A. Young (eds) Language Awareness in Teacher Education: Cultural-political and Socio-educational Dimensions (pp. 41–61). Bern: Peter Lang. Riessman, C. (2008) Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rodgers, C. and Scott, K. (2008) The development of personal self and professional identity in learning to teach. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser, D. McIntyre and K. Demers (eds) Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (3rd edn) (pp. 732– 755). New York: Routledge. Rosaen, C. and Florio-Ruane, S. (2008) The metaphors by which we teach. Experience, metaphor, and culture in teacher education. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. FeimanNemser, D. McIntyre and K. Demers (eds) Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (3rd edn) (pp. 707–731). New York: Routledge. Stake, R. (2000) Case studies. In N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd edn) (pp. 435–454). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Thomas, L. and Beauchamp, C. (2011) Understanding new teachers’ professional identities through metaphor. Teaching and Teacher Education 27, 762–769. Young. A. (2014) Looking through the language lens: Monolingual taint or plurilingual tint? In J. Conteh and G. Meier (eds) The Multilingual Turn in Languages Education: Opportunities and Challenges (pp. 89–109). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

13 Awareness of Plurilingual Competence in Teacher Education Mireia Pérez-Peitx, Isabel Civera López and Juli Palou Sangrà

This chapter reports on a longitudinal study that sought to examine how two courses on language teaching methodology affected the awareness of and beliefs about plurilingual competence held by a group of student teachers (N = 50) at the University of Barcelona, Spain. The courses were given in the fi rst and second years of their studies, and data were collected at the beginning of the courses. The students were asked to produce two visual narratives in response to the same prompt, ‘Me and my languages’, each time complemented with verbal (written) comments. The fi ndings suggest that a change in the type of visual narrative from one phase of data collection to another may be an indication of the development of plurilingual awareness. In addition, a shift toward a more complex vision of plurilingual competence was identified after the first course.

Introduction

One of the major questions facing education systems is how best to train teachers for the learning of languages and interculturality, and the plurilingual environments in which we all live and work. This chapter examines student teachers’ awareness of the concept of plurilingual competence, and explores how this awareness may be enhanced by the introduction of some reflective tasks in the course of their teacher education. It presents the early results of an ongoing research project we are conducting at the University of Barcelona, focusing on the plurilingual competence of student teachers. In this chapter, we will highlight the changes identified during a one-year period in which students have their first formal contact with the fundamental elements of plurilingual competence. The aim of 232

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the project is to explore student teachers’ belief systems, and to establish whether reflective tasks – in the form of visual narratives and explanatory texts – may enhance the depth and breadth of their belief systems. Our specific focus, within belief systems, is on plurilingualism and attitudes toward language and culture. A total of 50 student teachers participated in the study, and the data collected consisted of both a visual and a written narrative. A secondary aim is to contribute to the exploration of the use of visual narratives as a research tool, adding to previous work done in the field. Our research thus far indicates that both the confrontation and the confluence of student teachers’ beliefs with regard to the proposals made in The Common European Framework for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001) can be enhanced by including such reflective tasks in their teacher education. Background to the Study

The theoretical background we present here addresses two main areas: recent thinking regarding training for plurilingual and pluricultural competence, and teachers’ perceptions of plurilingual competence. Educating for plurilingual and pluricultural competence

In October 2015, the European Commission (2015a, 2015b) presented their report on schools and educators, in which three issues for debate were identified: school multiculturality, access to education, and the recognition of the potential and development of other language skills. The report highlights the fact that teacher practice improves when teachers participate in reflection groups. The CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001: 4) defi nes the development of plurilingual competence as a complex process, in the sense that it is not formed by the simple juxtaposition of separate pre-existing competencies, but rather by building a new competence which includes knowledge of a diversity of languages: The plurilingual approach emphasises the fact that as an individual person’s experience of language in its cultural contexts expands, from the language of the home to that of society at large and then to the languages of other peoples (whether learnt at school or college, or by direct experience), he or she does not keep these languages and cultures in strictly separated mental compartments, but rather builds up a communicative competence to which all knowledge and experience of language contributes and in which languages interrelate and interact. (Council of Europe, 2001: 4)

The term competence, as used here, acknowledges that true symmetric bilingualism rarely exists. It also acknowledges that, even within a language, there is often significant variation in the individual’s level of

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Figure 13.1 Plurilingual competence

proficiency in the different language skill areas. An additional imbalance is observed between the individual’s plurilingual and pluricultural competence: a sound knowledge of another language is not necessarily accompanied by a similar awareness of the culture or cultures shared by the speakers of this language. Obviously, the reverse is also true: an extensive awareness of another culture is not always accompanied by a sound knowledge of the language. Figure 13.1 illustrates this complex interplay. At one end of the horizontal axis of the figure we see an isolated conception of languages, and at the other, an integrated one. We understand the isolated conception as one that perceives languages to be separate and compartmentalised within an individual’s repertoire; this is based on a perception that the individual must develop mastery of each language through separate processes, with the goal of becoming a ‘perfect speaker’ of each one (Coste et al., 2009). The integrated conception is situated at the other extreme, and is related to an awareness of the connections that can be established between languages. This conception can be seen to relate to the common underlying proficiency, as defi ned by Cummins (1981). The vertical axis reflects different conceptions of pluriculturalism: assimilated at the lower extreme, and dialogic at the upper extreme. Using the same criteria employed to describe the plurilingual competence axis, we perceive an assimilated representation to encapsulate the idea of adding one culture to another, where one is dominant. A dialogic representation, in contrast, recognises the need to construct a shared space with other cultures. Ricœur (2006), at the beginning of his work Discours et communication, diff erentiates between communication perceived as fact and

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communication perceived as an enigma. Here we understand communication as an enigma, because the adaptation of register always forms part of an uncertain game, conditioned by the players mobilising their repertoires of knowledge, both linguistic and cultural. Plurilingualism and pluriculturalism help create an individual who, in a particular communicative situation, is equipped with strategies to manage linguistic and cultural imbalance. These strategies allow the individual to develop a capacity to explore all available communicative resources, and to manage a wide field of knowledge and abilities, thus enhancing mutual understanding. The CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001: 133) outlines a number of factors which indicate a certain imbalance as well as a wide variability in speakers’ plurilingual and pluricultural competence. These include: • •

•

Individuals generally achieve a greater proficiency in some languages rather than in others, depending on their linguistic biographies. Individuals may have different degrees of competence within their multilingual repertoires (for example, a learner may have excellent oral skills in two languages, while only having a good level of written expression in one of them). An individual’s pluricultural profi le may differ from her/his plurilingual profi le (for example, s/he may have a sound knowledge of the culture of a community but a poor knowledge of its language, or a poor awareness of a culture in whose language, however, s/he is highly competent).

The response to the recognition of plurilingualism and cultural diversity should not be simply to teach more languages, or the characteristics of another culture. It is not a question of knowledge, but rather of recognising the otherness of distinct languages and cultures. The first step toward moving in this direction is to enhance the individual’s linguistic and cultural experience; this, as Coste (2010) indicates, necessitates addressing the plurality of plurilingualisms, since every experience is constructed in a unique context. Teachers’ awareness of plurilingual competence

Our research group, PLURAL,1 specialises in the analysis of teacher beliefs and the teaching and learning of plurilingualism. As part of an international research project, we conducted a study with the cooperation of university lecturers in France, Hungary and Italy. In each of these countries, practising teachers were asked to write a text about their linguistic repertoire (family languages, languages studied, languages habitually used, languages with which they have some level of familiarity, etc.). The fi ndings of this project were reported by Birello and Sánchez-Quintana

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(2013). Those which have the most relevance for the purposes of this study include the following: • •

• • • •

Despite the fact that many participants expressed a sense of personal failure related to language learning, they nonetheless demonstrated a great interest in studying languages. Learning which occurs in extra-curricular courses tended to be more highly valued by participants than learning in formal contexts. They attributed this to three elements: more oral work, a wider range of teaching resources and a preponderance of native speaker teachers. The participants in the study tended to have a compartmentalised vision of languages, and showed a lack of awareness of the fact that one language may facilitate learning another. The term plurilingualism did not appear in the participants’ discourse, even though the plurilingual dimension should be evaluated by primary teachers as part of linguistic competence. The concept of the ‘perfect speaker’ was recurrent, with no reference to partial competence. Some of the texts demonstrated a belief that the approach used to teach languages can increase or reduce the learners’ motivation; approaches which do not focus solely on grammar or vocabulary were believed to increase motivation.

These results led to a number of insights; one of the most important was that there is a need to intervene in the initial training of future teachers in order to guide them toward a re-evaluation of their own beliefs. These future teachers attended school from the age of three, until at least 16. During this period, they internalised a particular type of behaviour in relation to language learning. In the case of Catalonia, which is a bilingual community, the educational system, at a curricular level, incorporates the obligation to achieve communicative proficiency in at least three languages: Catalan, Spanish and a foreign language, usually English. In the vast majority of schools, these three languages are taught by different teachers with different methodological approaches, which are based on their own belief systems. This is the reality upon which future teachers construct their own belief systems (Causa, 2012; Lortie, 1975). Each teacher’s belief system has a strong emotional component. It tends to be directly connected with the individual’s life experience, and is more characterised by its affectivity than by its reflexivity. These considerations perhaps explain a resistance to change (Borg, 2009; Woods & Çakir, 2011), given that the belief system can evolve more effectively once the individual becomes aware of her/his own actions. To further understand the evolution of belief systems, it is worth mentioning the central-peripheral dimension of beliefs (Rokeach, 1968). This holds that the closer the belief is to the core, the more difficult it is for

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change to occur. Thus, core beliefs are both more dominant and more resistant to change, while peripheral beliefs are subordinate and more variable (Gabillon, 2012). The challenge we are dealing with at the level of initial training is to explore ways in which we can prevent student teachers from simply reproducing familiar systems – ensuring, rather, that they actively participate in a process of reflection which allows them to internalise the key concepts that sustain the notion of plurilingual competence. Context of the study: Initial training at the University of Barcelona

In order to promote change in the belief systems of pre-service teachers at the University of Barcelona, students are encouraged to examine their own linguistic and cultural repertoires, as a first step toward beginning the cognitive process which favours reconceptualisation. The multimodal linguistic biographies we ask them to produce at the beginning of the language methodology course function as mediators between the first level of awareness – offering a more static vision of multilingualism – and a more reflective level, which views multilingualism as being more dynamic. In this latter view, there is an understanding that different languages will be developed to different levels of proficiency, and that all languages spoken and understood may be used to interact in the multilingual environments of a globalised world. The concept of translanguaging, as described by García (2009), effectively synthesises this idea of dynamism, in that it does not represent a language – a system of rules and structures– but is, rather, the product of a social activity closely related to cultural discursive practices, such as job hunting, participating in a social event or simply formulating a question. When undergraduate education students produce their linguistic biographies by writing a multimodal narrative, focusing on their language learning trajectories, they are given an opportunity to reflect on their own linguistic experience. This metacognitive process allows for the transformation of linguistic experiences into the dynamic knowledge and understanding necessary for teaching practice. Reflecting on their own linguistic and cultural trajectory allows these future teachers to develop new frames of reference for plurilingual education (Palou & Fons, 2013). The investigation that the research group PLURAL has conducted during the last few years has led to a process of our rethinking current training models. As a result, we propose the development of training strategies which provoke a profound change in our students, both in cognitive processes and in language teaching practice in the classroom. These changes will only occur if we have the capacity to create training contexts in which the recognition and analysis of lived experience occupy a prominent position.

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Aims of the Study

In this study, we investigate, from a longitudinal perspective, the belief systems that future teachers hold in relation to multilingual education, and examine how these representations evolve through reflective inquiry. The study we report here has three main aims. The fi rst addresses the importance of exploring student teachers’ belief systems in relation to plurilingual competence in order to discern signs of change during the period of initial training. The second aim relates to the design of reflective processes, which will help destabilise student teachers’ established belief systems. The fi nal aim focuses on the use of visual narratives as a tool to facilitate the reconceptualisation of beliefs. The research questions underpinning this investigation are: (1) What beliefs do student teachers have with regard to plurilingual competence? (2) How do the belief systems regarding plurilingual competence change during the one-year period of the study? (3) What kind of relationship exists between the narrative type used in the task and the participants’ plurilingual competence? In order to investigate these questions, a task was administered to a group of 50 students of primary education at the University of Barcelona. These students were asked to complete the same task twice: once at the beginning of the fi rst year of their degree programme, and then again at the beginning of their second year. The notion of plurilingual competence is introduced during the first year of the degree programme. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures Data collection

The longitudinal study reported in this chapter has been conducted within the scope of two concurrent ongoing government-funded projects: an R + D2 project investigating the impact of teacher education on student teachers’ beliefs in the process of building plurilingual competence; and a regional government-funded project (ARMIF), investigating language as a mediation tool for learning. The context of the study is the primary education undergraduate degree at the Faculty of Education of the University of Barcelona (Spain). A total of 50 student teachers between 18 and 20 years old participated in both phases of the study – 42 women and eight men. All of them speak Catalan and Spanish (Catalan being the first language of approximately half of the participants, while Spanish is the first language of most of the others) and have studied English for a number of years. The task was designed by the PLURAL research group and data were collected both by members of the group – including one of the authors of this chapter – and

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by other teachers of the faculty, who were asked to collaborate with us. The first set of data was collected at the beginning of the First Language Teaching Methodology 1 course, in the first year of the degree (February– June 2016); the second set of data was collected at the beginning of the First Language Teaching Methodology 2 course (February–June 2017). Student groups are not the same in the different subjects, which meant that, whereas nearly all students completed the task in the fi rst year, only 50 completed both the first and second year tasks. In both cases, on the first day of the course, before the programme was explained, the participants were asked to carry out the task ‘Me and my languages’, which consisted of two parts. First they were asked to design a visual narrative, which could be made, such as a drawing or a collage, or found, for example a photograph (Riessman, 2008). Participants were told that this visual narrative should portray not only the languages that constituted their repertoires, but also the languages present in their environment, both personal and academic. They were also asked to write a text in which they explained the key ideas portrayed in their visual narrative. Thus, altogether, the study generated 100 visual narratives and 100 interpretive commentaries. The participants were given a brief background to the study and were reassured that the data they provided would be used without disclosing their identity.

Analysis procedures

The analysis of visual narratives implies taking into account both content and form. It is grounded, since the parameters set to analyse the tasks are not pre-established, but rather emerge in the process of analysis. The criteria we followed in order to establish the categories of analysis were based on a number of different studies (Borg et al., 2014; Kalaja et al., 2013, 2016; Pavlenko, 2007; Riessman, 2008, among others). The research process involved the following four steps: (1) reviewing the visual narratives produced by the 50 participants in the fi rst phase of data collection in order to establish different types of visual narratives, focusing on the form adopted by the participants; (2) generating a procedure that could be used to analyse the content of both the visual narrative and the explanatory text together; (3) refi ning the categories of analysis and coding the data from the two phases of data collection; (4) interpreting the data. During Step 1, the analysis of participants’ work generated four types of visual narrative: –

symbolic representation (Figure 13.2), where an image is used to synthesise a key principle or idea, very often a metaphor;

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Figure 13.2 Example of symbolic representation

Figure 13.3 Example of sequence

– – –

sequence (Figure 13.3), which shows a series of events, and involves the presence of time; in this study, sequences usually show the process of acquisition of one or more languages; mind map (Figure 13.4), which organises the concepts provided and visualises connections between them; collage (Figure 13.5), where a group of ideas is represented without any specific order or structure.

Step 2, following the division of the visual narratives by form, was the generation of a procedure that could be used to analyse the content of both the visual narratives and the explanatory texts together. Having

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Figure 13.4 Example of mind map

examined all the participants’ work, we initially established three major themes: one relating to languages in general; one to identity; and the last to the different stages associated with the process of language learning. These three themes constitute the first three categories of analysis: – –

OPP: the origin and process of learning languages, as well as the projection of languages (how the participants envision their relationship with languages in the future); NL: the number of languages which appear in each task, as well as whether or not these languages are classified in some way;

Figure 13.5 Example of collage

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IR: identity relationships, which comprise emotional, sociopolitical and cultural factors.

During Step 3, we refi ned categories for analysis and coded data. Having identified three major themes, we then considered the key elements in the defi nition of plurilingualism offered by the CEFR, quoted above, and decided that three additional categories were needed in order to describe the degree of isolation/integration of languages as perceived by the student teachers. The following categories constitute the horizontal axis of Figure 13.1 (see above), which relates to conceptions of the individual’s experience of languages: – – –

IsV (isolated view): when the participants conceive the languages they refer to (mainly the ones they have learnt or would like to learn) in different mental compartments; PIV (partially integrating view): in the cases in which the student teachers establish some kind of relationship between the languages they refer to; InV (integrating view): in the cases in which the participants make explicit in different ways that languages interrelate and interact.

The vertical axis (see Figure 13.1) was generated as a result of the recognition of the need to take into account the cultural aspects associated with languages. Thus, the following categories were added: – – –

NRLC (does not relate language and culture): does not acknowledge any relationship between language and culture; RCL (relates culture and language): acknowledges cultural aspects involved in languages and language learning; IC (interaction between cultures): refers to various types of interaction between cultures.

The visual narratives depicted young people, families, schools, university grounds, photographs of different cities (such as London, Paris or Pisa), flags from many countries, the globe, different alphabets, and symbolic images such as a river, a road, a tree, an open book, etc. They also included text, with key concepts such as family, secondary education, films, Spanish, Catalan, interaction, personality, freedom, etc. The richness of the visual narratives alone provided a huge body of data for analysis; however, for the purposes of this study, we decided to analyse both the visual narratives and the explanatory texts together. Once we had established the nine categories of analysis, we began the process of coding the two tasks together (those tasks collected during the first and the second phases of data collection), looking for progress in the participants’ belief systems, or for indications of the impact of the first language (L1) teaching methods courses. Step 4 involved interpreting the data. Having established the four types of drawings as well as the categories of analysis, we were able to

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interpret the data. We made a point of considering not only that which had been depicted and expressed, but also that which was not present, or had been omitted or ignored. Findings

In order to explore student teachers’ belief systems in relation to plurilingual competence, and the changes in these systems (Research Questions 1 and 2, as outlined above), four cases will be discussed. This discussion focuses on the most relevant information offered by the combination of visual narratives and explanatory texts, as well as the evolution from the first to the second phase of data collection. The first two cases show students whose beliefs regarding plurilingual competence seem to have developed (represented by movement on both axes), Amira and Nora. The third and fourth – Noemi and Lena – are examples of students whose work does not reflect any change in beliefs with regard to plurilingual competence. Change on the plurilingual competence axis: Amira and Nora

The first time Amira does the task, she creates a mind map (Figure 13.6), where the first ‘balloon’ corresponds to Spanish, the second one to Catalan, the third one to Arabic and the last one to English. The position of each balloon is associated with performance in each language, where the first one – even though it has the smallest representation – is the one she is most comfortable with and the last is the one she needs to

Figure 13.6 Amira’s 2016 visual narrative

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Figure 13.7 Amira’s 2017 visual narrative

improve the most. In this visual narrative, her overall conception seems to be primarily cumulative, although it should be noted that each language depicted seems to be built on the foundations of the previous language, which could be seen as a reference to the common underlying proficiency. Thus, this visual narrative can be seen as representing a partially integrating view. The visual representation of the task is rational rather than personal, as she adds national flags to the composition. Here, we can identify the social conceptualisation whereby each language is represented by a flag (suggesting a country) – and each country by one language. When Amira completes the task during the second phase of data collection (Figure 13.7), she produces a very different visual narrative, one that would seem to indicate a significant change in her beliefs. Instead of making a narrative based on the description of the languages she speaks, she chooses to draw a symbolic image which represents herself and her heritage culture at the moment of drawing. The concept of identity is very strong because the entire narrative is constructed around the desire to learn Arabic. When she does the task this time, she does not seem to be referring to language competence in terms of fluency, but rather to be focusing on elements that can be associated with languages – elements such as origins, identity, emotions, and cultural and sociopolitical implications. She goes from representing languages and the countries with which she associates them, to focusing on herself and her own culture. Even though she does not move on the linguistic axis (she is located in the partially integrated view), on the cultural axis she moves from a position of no recognition of this cultural component of languages to a clear acknowledgement of its importance. In the narratives she completed in both stages of data collection, Nora solves the task by providing a symbolic representation. Although she does not change the type – both fit into the symbolic category – there are other important changes to be considered. For example, in the first narrative (Figure 13.8), she uses national flags to represent languages. In the second narrative (Figure 13.9), completed one year later, she uses a much more metaphorical image: the idea of a system (the Solar System) composed of units (planets). There is a major body – the sun – which has no language label, and orbiting planets which have the following language labels: Catalan, Spanish, English, Galician and French. It is important to highlight the inclusion of

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Figure 13.8 Nora’s 2016 visual narrative

Figure 13.9 Nora’s 2017 visual narrative

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other unnamed planets (languages) orbiting in the same system. A powerful idea underlying the metaphor is that the system reflects balance – that each component is necessary and brings something to the whole. Her drawing of the solar system suggests that all languages have a place in this system – even though she only names those which form a part of her own linguistic repertoire. It is also very interesting to note the inclusion of Galician, because it is a heritage language that was not mentioned in the visual narrative nor in the explanatory text completed in the first phase of data collection. In both cases described above (Amira and Nora), there have been interesting changes between the first and second phases of data collection. In the first narratives there is a clear assimilation between language, country and flag, while in the productions of the second phase, this relationship is not made explicit. In the second narratives the level of introspection seems deeper: Amira makes a connection between language and culture, and associates them both with her identity, while Nora incorporates Galician, a heritage language. It is worth noting, however, that Nora’s new linguistic recognition does not imply any changes in her linguistic identity. Lack of change on the plurilingual competence axis: Noemi and Lena

The visual narrative produced by Noemi in the first phase of data collection (Figure 13.10) was categorised as a mind map. The alphabet seems

Figure 13.10 Noemi’s 2016 visual narrative

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Figure 13.11 Noemi’s 2017 visual narrative

to be the background from where she starts her composition. Three languages are located in three different areas. In each space she outlines the contexts of learning and use of each language. At the top, we can see the Spanish flag, and a drawing of a family under a roof, possibly representing home. She adds two little drawings to this context: a book and a computer, one on each side. Then there are two other languages depicted at the bottom of her drawing. On the left, we can see the Union Jack flag, accompanied by a TV set because she watches TV series, a poster with ‘English classes’, notes, and a plane circling the Earth. The last language is Catalan – represented by the drawing of the Catalan flag, together with personal activities depicted by, for example, a basketball basket and a university folder. A year later, at the second phase of data collection (Figure 13.11), Noemi offers another type of visual narrative, a symbolic one. She still divides the narrative into three parts, but this time she goes beyond the contexts and uses a single powerful image for each language. She indicates which language is to be associated with each picture by using the colours corresponding to the countries’ flags. The illustration she draws for the Spanish language is an hourglass, representing time, since Spanish is her mother tongue and the one she uses most. She also adds (in the written explanation) that it is the language she feels most comfortable with. Catalan, represented by an open book, is for academic purposes. Finally, the plane is used to represent English, because it is the language she uses when she travels. Although the style of her drawings is different,

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Figure 13.12 Lena’s 2016 visual narrative

and suggests some conceptual change, the languages are still represented as separate; Noemi has an isolated view of languages (IsV) and does not make any reference to culture (NRLC). Lena is another participant whose work shows no significant change between the two phases of data collection. The lack of change is represented on two fronts: she opts for the symbolic narrative format at both stages; and, furthermore, her vision of both language and culture seems unchanged. Her drawings show the same isolated vision of languages – with no connections or contact points – and do not include any references to the cultural component of language. In the first narrative (Figure 13.12), a globe represents the idea of multiple languages; however, no distinction is made between them and no mention is made of a relationship between them. In her written texts, she establishes her starting point: she mostly uses Catalan, which is the language spoken in the territory where she lives. Her drawing seems to suggest that all languages have the same communicative function. However, the programme of teacher education that she is following requires that she learn English. From the powerful metaphor she represents at the second phase of data collection (Figure 13.13), it can be inferred that, for her, language learning is clearly an obstacle – a brick wall. Although she identifies the benefits of overcoming this obstacle by adding a gift on the far side of the wall, the wall must first be climbed; the drawing suggests that her concept of language learning is that it is a barrier to be overcome. Both participants share the same view of languages based on functionality. While Noemi depicts a different use for each language (mother

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Figure 13.13 Lena’s 2017 visual narrative

tongue, language of education and language of the future), Lena emphasises the difficult relationship she has with English and the requirement that she must learn it to become a teacher. They both have a very compartmentalised conception of languages. However, there are also notable differences between the two participants. For example, Noemi uses flag colours to represent each language – making the association between language and country – whereas Lena focuses on what language learning means for her. Clearly, her narratives are highly influenced by her experience in learning English. General observations

A number of general observations have surfaced during data analysis. Perhaps the most interesting stems from the third research question, which examines the relationship between narrative type and plurilingual competence. Although no direct relationship has been established between the type of visual narrative – mind map, symbolic, sequence or collage – and the individual’s conception of plurilingual competence, it does seem that changing the type of narrative may be an indication of movement along the plurilingual axis. Fourteen of the 18 participants whose narrative type differed between the two phases of data collection (more than 75%), showed movement on the plurilingual axis. On the other hand, only four out of the 24 participants who did not show any variation on the plurilingual axis changed the type of drawing that they used (Table 13.1). An additional observation of interest refers to the fi rst research question, which seeks to explore student teachers’ beliefs regarding plurilingual competence. When describing the origin and the process of learning

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Table 13.1 Changes on the plurilingual competence axis and change/maintenance in the type of narrative Type of narrative/ plurilingual axis

Participants changing the type of visual narrative (36%)

Participants maintaining the type of visual narrative (74%)

Total

Movement (52%)

14

12

26

4

20

24

Lack of movement (48%)

languages, and the projection of languages in the future, two contexts – home and school – were consistently emphasised. The large majority of participants (76%) made some reference to one or both contexts when attempting to explain the process of L1 acquisition. When talking about projection – that is, languages to be learned or improved in the future – English stands out as the priority. The desire to learn English, it should be noted, does not tend to be associated with a desire to learn more about other cultures, but is rather expressed in terms of professional development or as a necessity for travel. There is a broad lack of representation of those languages which do not form part of the formal education system; the majority of the participants (78%) refer only to those languages which they consider to be academic languages or heritage languages (78%). This view tends only to be altered as a result of personal circumstances, such as the need to learn Swedish because of a Swedish partner, or Galician for heritage reasons. The criteria the participants employ to classify languages are based on their personal experience, expressed for example in terms of the languages they speak, the order in which they have learned languages and their level of fluency in each language. Very few participants (12%) take into account other possibilities for classification, such as the origin of languages or the similarities and differences between them. We have also observed that most of the participants (70%) talk about their emotional relationship to a language, specifically in terms of whether or not they feel comfortable with it. On the other hand, only six participants talk about the sociopolitical implications of languages – for example, threats to languages represented by government policies. The third component of the identity relationships category of analysis – cultural aspects – was identified by almost half of the participants during the second phase of data collection (46%), while only one out of four participants mentioned it the fi rst time (26%). Another interesting phenomenon noted was a shift toward a more complex vision of the possibilities inherent in the task. This complexity is manifested in a number of ways: through the participants’ reference to a greater number of categories during the second phase of data collection (both in their visual narratives and the explanatory texts); in the shift from an interpersonal perspective to an intrapersonal one, as Amira and

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Lena move from referring to languages in a general sense toward talking about languages in their own lives; and also in the way in which images produced by Nora and Noemi in the second phase were more condensed – they were able to represent their ideas through a simpler, more powerful image than in the fi rst phase. Discussion and Concluding Remarks

In the course of this study, much has been learned about student teachers’ beliefs regarding plurilingualism and pluriculturalism, and the relationship between the two. The study has also led to the development of a deeper understanding of the use of multimodal tasks in research. The way a task is designed has a great influence on the typology of visual narratives produced. Also, performing the same task with a different type of narrative seems to have an impact on the reconceptualisation of plurilingual competence. Even though it cannot be said that changing the type necessarily leads to movement on the plurilingual competence axis, changing the type of narrative between the two phases of collection seems to be associated with a reconceptualisation of plurilingual competence itself. In further studies, it would be interesting to focus on the change, and whether form or content changes fi rst. The design of the R + D project has shown its effectiveness regarding the tracking of change. Considering both how complex it is to change established beliefs and the short period of time covered by this study, some evidence of change has been identified. One of the more interesting indicators of change is the evolution of the participants’ perception of plurilingualism. While the first phase of data collection saw most participants focusing on their school languages, during the second phase much more personal repertoires are evident. It would seem that the project is helping participants to see the differences between individual repertoires, and to highlight the ‘plurality of plurilingualisms’ existent in the class (Coste, 2010), and in society as well. It is also interesting to observe that, at this stage, the project seems to have had an impact on peripheral beliefs rather than core beliefs (Gabillon, 2012), in that none of the participants has demonstrated a significant change in the plurilingual competence schema (see Figure 13.1). Nonetheless, some changes have been detected, and they appear to have had an impact on individuals’ belief systems. As mentioned above, the first time that the participants engaged with the task, they referred almost exclusively to languages taught at school, whereas when they did the task again a year later, reference was made to many more languages. It is clearly a challenge to destabilise students’ representations (Borg, 2009; Woods & Çakir, 2011) regarding linguistic repertoires. They have experienced so many years of isolated perspectives regarding languages that a great deal of effort is needed to establish plurilingual competence at the core of language education and teacher training as proposed by the

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European Council. Again, the main challenge in teacher education is to make students aware of their past as well as their present trajectories, and to work with them to explore how these experiences have helped shape them into the pre-service teachers that they are (Causa, 2012; Lortie, 1975). Only by building up students’ awareness of their beliefs can we help them to deconstruct the representations upon which they have founded their view of languages and language acquisition, in order for them to begin to construct new views – a process which the CEFR defines as desirable (Palou & Fons, 2013). The construction of plurilingual competence is: a shared process, because it takes place in a social context with other individuals, such as classmates and teachers; an irregular process, because there is no constant or equal rhythm for the people involved; and a personal process, because each student has to acknowledge and explore his/ her own beliefs in order to achieve plurilingual competence. Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the substantial contribution made by Jane Howes in the editing of this chapter. Notes (1) PLURAL research group: Plurilingualism and Language Learning. See www.ub.edu/ plural. (2) A project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education (EDU2015-69332-R). Desarrollo de las competencias para la educación multilingüe. A project funded by the Catalan Department of Education – 2015 ARMIF 00032: Millora del coneixement i ús de les estratègies del discurs que promouen el desenvolupament de les habilitats cognitives superiors, and 2014 ARMIF 87142: La millora de l’ús de les llengües a l’aula com a mediació per a l’aprenentatge interdisciplinari.

References Birello, M. and Sánchez-Quintana, N. (2013) Conceptualizaciones sobre las lenguas y creencias sobre el plurilingüismo de los docentes a través de sus relatos de vida lingüística. RILA 2–3, 191–205. Borg, S. (2009) Exploring tensions between teachers’ grammar teaching beliefs and practices. System 37 (3), 380–390. Borg, S., Birello, M., Civera, I. and Zanatta, T. (2014) The Impact of Teacher Education on Pre-service Primary English Language Teachers. London: British Council ELT Research Papers. Causa, M. (2012) Réflexions autour de la mise en place d’une éducation au(x) plurilinguisme(s) en formation initiale à l’enseignement des langues. DIRE 2. See http://epublications.unilim.fr/revues/dire/171 (accessed 24 July 2017). Coste, D. (2010) Diversité des plurilinguismes et formes de l’éducation plurilingue et interculturelle. Les Cahiers de l’Acedle 7 (1), 141–165. Coste, D., Moore, D. and Zarate, G. (2009) Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence: Studies towards a Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Learning and Teaching. Strasbourg: Language Policy Division, Council of Europe.

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Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cummins, J. (1981) The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. In California State Department of Education (ed.) Schooling and Language Minority Students: A Theoretical Framework (pp. 3–49). Los Angeles, CA: California State University. European Commission (2015a) Language Teaching and Learning in Multilingual Classrooms. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. European Commission (2015b) Language Teaching and Learning in Multilingual Classrooms: How Schools and Communities Can Help Learners with Different Linguistic Backgrounds Strengthen their Language Skills in Order to Succeed Better in School and Life. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Gabillon, Z. (2012) Revisiting foreign language teacher beliefs. Frontiers of Language and Teaching 3, 190–203. García, O. (2009) Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Kalaja, P., Dufva, H. and Alanen, R. (2013) Experimenting with visual narratives. In G. Barkhuizen (ed.) Narratives in Applied Linguistics (pp. 105–131). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kalaja, P., Barcelos, A.M.F., Aro, M. and Ruohotie-Lyhty, M. (eds) (2016) Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Lortie, D.C. (1975) Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Palou, J. and Fons, M. (2013) Relats de vida lingüística. Articles de Didàctica de la Llengua i de la Literatura 61, 5–8. Pavlenko, A. (2007) Autobiographic narratives as data in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics 28 (2), 163–188. Ricœur, P. (2006) Discours et Communication. Paris: Carnets de l’Herne. Riessman, C.K. (2008) Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rokeach, M. (1968) Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values: A Theory of Organization and Change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Woods, D. and Çakir, H. (2011) Two dimensions of teacher knowledge: The case of communicative language teaching. System 39 (3), 381–390.

14 ‘The Class of My Dreams’ as Envisioned by Student Teachers of English: What is There to Teach about the Language? Katja Mäntylä and Paula Kalaja

As part of a bigger project on the motivation of future EFL teachers, this chapter sets out to fi nd out what a group of student teachers (N = 67) in Finland thought teaching English would involve once they had graduated from an MA programme and entered the profession a few years later. They were asked to envision ‘An English class of my dreams’ as the fi nal home assignment on one of their fi rst professionally oriented courses. The envisioning was done visually, so the students produced pictures (by a variety of means), and provided further details about the class in writing on the reverse side of the task sheet. The pool of multimodal data collected was subjected to content analysis, and it revealed a total of five different aspects of the English language the participants wished to teach. In addition, the comparison of three case studies indicated that the amount of pedagogical studies and/or teaching experience made a difference to the quality of the visions: with more years on our MA programme, the principles and practices envisioned tended to become more complex/ sophisticated.

Introduction

The motivation of second language (L2) or foreign language learners has been studied extensively and from a variety of diff erent starting points over the past few decades (for reviews, see, for example, Dörnyei 254

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& Ryan, 2015: 72–105). This chapter, however, is about L2 teachers and their motivation. It reports on a study conducted as part of a larger project that addresses L2 teacher motivation within quite a novel framework, that is, as a motivational self-system, and explores further the possibilities of imagining visually and verbally a future event of L2 teaching. To this end, we asked a group of student teachers to produce a visual representation of an ideal English class that they would like to give after they have entered the profession as novice teachers in a few years’ time, and comment on it in writing. The student teachers were attending one of their fi rst professionally oriented courses as part of their English studies at a Finnish university. The overall idea of the course was to make the students aware of their Ideal L2 Selves and compare and contrast their past experiences of L2 learning and teaching with their ideals, and see how close together these might be at this point in their studies. In this chapter we will focus on how the student teachers see language and what they would ideally like to teach about the English language in the future. How they envision their own teaching is closely related to how motivated they will feel about entering the profession after graduating from our MA programme. We will fi rst provide some background to our study by describing the context in which it took place and by reviewing some relevant studies with comparable groups of student teachers who have already entered working life. After this, we will report the details of our own study: its aims, the data collection and analysis, and our fi ndings. Finally, we will discuss the implications of our study. Background to the Study Context of the study: Teaching and learning English in Finland

English is by far the most popular foreign language taught and learnt in the Finnish educational system. Its study used to start in Year 3, i.e. at the age of nine, with well over 90% of school children choosing to study it as their fi rst foreign language. In the 2010s, the aim has been to start English studies as early as in Years 1 and 2. In Finland, the teaching of English or any other foreign language is regulated by a number of guidelines. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001, for short CEFR) provides very general guidelines. The national core curricula, on which towns or municipalities and schools base their own curricula, are more specific and influential in practice. The CEFR provides a shared understanding of what teaching, learning and assessing foreign languages involves in Europe – and these days also in other parts of the world. This is viewed in terms of language activities, domains and competences. Language activities are divided into four

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types: (1) reception (listening and reading); (2) production (spoken or written); (3) interaction (spoken and written); and (4) mediation (translation and interpreting). Domains describe in which contexts the language activities take place: personal, educational, public and/or occupational. Competences indicate to what extent a learner has developed in carrying out specific language activities in specific domains. For the purposes of planning teaching and assessing learning, the CEFR provides a six-point scale of proficiency levels, A1–C2. The CEFR takes a very functional view toward language, and its starting point is what learners can do in the language. The Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education (Years 1–9; Finnish National Board of Education, 2014, for short NCC 2014) and for Upper Secondary School (Years 10–12; Finnish National Board of Education, 2015, for short NCC 2015) have just been revised, as have the local curricula that are based on the NCCs. These new guidelines have been effective since August 2016. The NCCs 2014 and 2015 specify three main aims for the teaching of foreign languages in Finland. Basically, these three aims are the same as they were before, but their order has been revised. Now the fi rst aim is to raise students’ awareness and appreciation of multilingualism and multiculturalism, and of languages in general. The second aim is to provide students with practice in learning-to-learn skills, and the third is to develop their proficiency in English in three abilities or skills: in the ability to interact, interpret and produce oral, written and multimodal texts. Importantly, it is now acknowledged that the status of English has changed from that of a foreign language to that of a lingua franca or global language, even though the language has no official status in Finland. However, young people in Finland learn and use English not only in formal school contexts but also, and increasingly, in a variety of informal contexts such as hobbies, spare time activities, travelling and using modern IT with all its applications. The diversity of learning contexts is recognised in the revised curricula. The curricula also suggest that English could be used for looking for information, and for teaching content through English as a medium of instruction (content and language integrated learning: CLIL). The CEFR proficiency scale is used as a reference point in teaching foreign languages in Finland. The aims are set higher for the teaching and learning of English in any language activity compared with the aims for other foreign languages, reflecting the prominent role English has in the life of any Finn these days. The revisions in the NCCs over time reflect global changes in views on language skills and proficiency. A relatively new feature included in the most recent NCCs is language awareness. However, the NCCs do not defi ne language awareness in any way, nor do they provide teachers or students with much advice as to how it could be fostered. More recent research has acknowledged the importance of language awareness to

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language learning (see, for example, Kerz et al., 2017), both implicit and explicit. For instance, the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL, 2015) has incorporated comparisons with other languages and cultures into their standards for language learning. The ACTFL standards cover communicating, interacting and using the foreign language. The connection between language and culture is very strong, as is recognising and understanding other languages and their speakers/ users. In this sense, the standards are similar to the NCCs in Finland. However, recent research has added new dimensions to investigating foreign language learning that perhaps have not yet received so much attention in the Finnish school context: in second language acquisition (SLA) research, the complexity of language has been explored by adding dimensions such as complexity, accuracy and fluency to the elements of language skills such as reading and speaking (Housen et  al., 2012). Similarly, various elements of language and language skills have been looked at from new angles that cannot easily be seen in Finnish schools or the curricula: for example, the idea that grammar skills have been shown to involve more than just knowing the right forms and being able to use them (Larsen-Freeman, 2003), or that vocabulary skills can be seen to consist of different levels and dimensions (Mäntylä & Huhta, 2014). To conclude, the teaching of English in Finland is now faced with new challenges not only in terms of its aims, with consequent changes needed in classroom practices, teaching materials and the roles of teachers and learners, but also in terms of how language and language skills are understood (for details, see Kalaja et al., 2018). Learning and teaching English in Finland: Past experiences and visions

In a study by Leppänen and Kalaja (2002), students of English, half of whom were student teachers, were asked to recollect their past experiences of learning English and write an autobiography. The study was discursive, and it identified a total of five thematic elements in their writing: (1) effortless acquisition; (2) struggling; (3) infatuation; (4) suffering; and (5) learning as by-product. Within these elements, the role of the students varied from hero – in which case they had learned English as a result of a special magical characteristic of their own, or because of the time and effort they had invested in learning the language or just by pure luck – to victim and anti-hero. The role of others, that is, external factors, including teachers, classmates, textbooks and trips abroad, varied accordingly, from no role at all to that of assistants and adversaries. Furthermore, the language being learned played different roles: it could be an outcome of a student’s talents, a reward for struggling, a beloved, a reason for suffering, or an instrument making possible the student’s pursuit of something else than just learning the language.

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As part of the project From Novice to Expert, a study by Kalaja et al. (2011) focused on university students’ past experiences of learning English and Swedish before they entered an MA programme in Finland. The study compared the students’ experiences across the two languages and across two contexts: in school and out of school. The students were asked to fi ll in a questionnaire which consisted of a set of open-ended questions. The experiences of the two groups of learning the languages in school were comparable: they felt that the main emphasis had been on formal aspects of learning, i.e. practising grammar and vocabulary. In out-of-school contexts, however, their experiences of learning, or rather using, the languages for real communication had been quite different. While the students of English had been active/agentive in looking for opportunities to use the language (e.g. travelling, with friends, in hobbies or other spare time activities) and had been exposed to plenty of input in English including print and electronic media, this was much less the case with the students of Swedish, despite the language being the second official language in the country. The same group of university students of English was followed over a period of five years (Kalaja, 2016a). They were asked to do a set of sentence completion tasks concerning English as their L2 and Finnish as their fi rst language (L1), twice: fi rst, when they were fi rst-year students, and secondly, when they had just graduated or were about to graduate from the MA programme. The study was discursive, and it identified a total of four interpretative repertoires that the students resorted to in comparing English with Finnish: (1) affection, (2) aesthetics, (3) vitality and (4) challenge. The students felt either close to or distant from the two languages. They found them: beautiful or ugly; global or local as languages; and fi nally, easy or difficult to learn. The students acknowledged that their identity had evolved over the years from learners of English as a foreign language into users of English as a lingua franca. However, they had a tough time regarding themselves as multilingual, on account of two assumptions that they made: they should have learned English from birth; and they should have had full competence in their L2, too, being evidence for a monolingual bias (see, for example, Ortega, 2014). Furthermore, they indicated very little awareness of, for example, social or regional variation in either language. In addition, the project From Novice to Expert marks the beginning of Kalaja and her colleagues’ exploration of the possibilities of using narratives in visual form to look into aspects of learning and teaching EFL. The group of English majors and minors mentioned above were also asked to produce drawings of themselves as learners of English and comment briefly on these in writing (for a summary of the early experimentation, see Kalaja et al., 2013). The studying of English at school was depicted as a lonely business, as if no others had been involved in the process, and very much dependent on written materials, i.e. books.

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In a follow-up study, Kalaja and her colleagues (Alanen et al., 2013; Kalaja, 2016b) asked a comparable group of student teachers of English and other foreign languages to imagine ‘My Language X class in a year’s time after graduation’. They were asked to depict the class visually by producing a drawing by hand and to comment on it briefly in writing. The pools of data were subjected to content analysis. For the most part, their teaching in the near future would take place in a regular classroom with a board and desks. They would ensure their students plenty of opportunities to communicate and/or practise oral skills/speaking while they themselves took on the role of guide in the class. Instead of textbooks, they would make use of authentic materials and modern IT. They wanted to ensure a relaxed atmosphere and the joy of learning in their classes, smiling faces being evidence of this in their drawings. To sum up this review of previous studies, the learning and/or teaching of English as subjectively experienced by specific groups of student teachers in Finland, and at times compared with another language, have been studied widely over the past few years. Methodologically, the studies have made use of a variety of data collection methods ranging from questionnaires and sentence completion tasks to narratives – initially written ones, more recently visual ones.1 In the earlier studies, narratives were used for looking back in time to recollect past experiences, but more recently they have been used for looking forward to imagine future events. Importantly, all these studies illustrate that learning and teaching a foreign language involves more than mastery of the language as a system, as a tool for communication or as social interaction: it is a system of symbols, and thus the language and its learning and teaching can take on additional subjective meanings, arouse either positive or negative feelings in learners or teachers, and affect their identities, as has been pointed out even earlier by Kramsch (2009). However, it is only after these studies that we became aware of further developments in research on motivation, and realised that vision or envisioning (Dörnyei & Kubanyiova, 2014) is in fact related to the L2 Teacher Motivational Self-system 2 (e.g. Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009; Dörnyei et al., 2015). Like L2 learners, L2 teachers are assumed to have a variety of selves: a Present Self and a Future or Possible Self; the latter divided into an Ideal Self, an Ought-to Self and a Feared Self. In other words, as professionals in the field, L2 teachers have ideas about what they would ideally like to be, and these are reflected in the principles and practices they apply in their classes: what they see as feasible for themselves; what they believe others expect of them; and what they themselves fear or would not wish to end up being/becoming. Of the L2 Teacher Selves, the Ideal Self is related to how motivated teachers feel and how they manage to cope with the new challenges that they are bound to face in the course of their careers. In sum, motivation, envisioning and identity seem to go hand in hand.

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Aims of the Study

At the Finnish university where we work, teacher education is a joint undertaking of two departments: the Department of Teacher Education offers studies in pedagogy, including practical teacher training in cooperation with local schools, while the Department of Language and Communication Studies organises two introductory courses on learning and teaching any foreign language that are compulsory for all student teachers. The English Section of the department goes on from there to offer student teachers of English intermediate and advanced courses, including Current Issues in Teaching English (CITE, 5 ECTS credits). Being involved in the education of future English teachers, we decided to set up a new project. The project is based on the recent developments in the field of L2 teacher motivation and previous research carried out in Finland reviewed above, but with further refi nement in research methodology and with a more recent group of student teachers as participants. Overall, our goal is to make this group aware, fi rst, of their Ideal L2 Teacher Selves, i.e. what they think they will expect of themselves once they enter working life as qualified novice teachers of English in a few years’ time and, secondly, of their current teaching principles, practices and ideals. We also wanted to make them aware of the various aspects they need to consider: the roles of the teacher and learners; how people learn; and what there is to learn about English. Our project seeks to fi nd answers to the following research questions: What would an ideal class of English be like and, more specifically, where would the class take place, what would be taught there, and how? Some preliminary findings have already been reported as a pilot study (Kalaja & Mäntylä, 2018) with a smaller number of student teachers of English. In this chapter, we will focus on one of the key sub-questions listed above in greater detail, that is: What would be taught in the class of their dreams? Or, to put it another way: How does this specific group of student teachers see what teaching language and, more specifically, teaching English, involves? In order to answer the research question, we asked the student teachers to envision an English class of their dreams, but a class that it would still be feasible to give after graduating and entering the profession in a few years’ time, and to describe it in two modes – visually and verbally. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures Participants

The participants in the study were student teachers of English (N = 67) at a university in Finland. Most of the students were second- or third-year English majors, enrolled on a five-year MA programme. A dozen students wanted to become elementary school teachers, qualifying to teach young

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children English or in English, i.e. to offer CLIL courses. In addition, a couple of exchange students attended the course. All the participants had some pedagogical studies behind them, although the second-year English majors had only very little. Some, especially those minoring in English, had also completed their practical teacher training and/or worked as supply teachers. In sum, the participants formed quite a heterogeneous group in a number of respects; what they did have in common, however, was that they had all been studying English either as their major or minor subject. As part of their English studies, the students attended CITE in the academic year 2015–2016 or 2016–2017. The course is compulsory for future teachers of English. The students had weekly reading assignments from an introductory textbook by Hummel (2014), complemented with recent journal articles, and the topics were discussed in class. The course focused on the teaching of English in the context of Finland. Recognising that the field of language learning and teaching is full of controversies and inconclusive findings, it was interesting to us as teachers and teacher educators to see how the student teachers, having completed all the compulsory courses in our department, made sense of the pedagogical knowledge they had acquired so far during their studies, including the recently revised NCCs. Also, we wanted to see how they managed to turn this knowledge into a set of principles and practices that they could imagine applying in their future work as teachers of English. Data collection and analysis

A task sheet was designed for the purposes of the research project of which this study is a part. It drew on ideas from a study by Hammerness (e.g. 2003), and was our attempt to explore further the possibilities of visual narratives for the purpose of envisioning (e.g. Kalaja, 2016b; Kalaja & Mäntylä, 2018; Kalaja et al., 2013). The task sheet consisted of Tasks 1 and 2. Task 1 asked the participants to produce a picture with the title, ‘An English class of my dreams’, in which they showed a class that they could imagine giving after graduating from the five-year MA programme. The images could be drawn by hand or done on a computer, possibly making use of an image bank, or produced by compiling a collage out of magazine or newspaper clippings. In addition, the participants were asked to comment on the picture, writing a few sentences in response to the question, ‘What would be taking place in your class?’, followed with a justification, ‘Why?’ Task 2 on the reverse side of the task sheet asked the students to consider the envisioned English class in greater detail (and in a more systematic way than before; e.g. Kalaja, 2016b; Kalaja et al., 2013). This gave the students a chance to elaborate on the target group that they would like to teach, the roles of the teacher and the students, what they would teach and how, where their teaching would take place, and what equipment they would like to use (for further details, see Kalaja & Mäntylä, 2018).

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The students completed the task sheet in Finnish as the last home assignment of CITE, the introductory course we offered. However, the few exchange students attending the course did this in English, and even some Finnish speaking students chose to complete the task in English. The visions were shared and discussed in English during the very last session of the course – either in late November 2015 or 2016 or in April 2016 or 2017. The students were asked for their permission in writing to use the data anonymously for research purposes. Tasks 1 and 2 were given as homework in the hope that the students would have a week to reflect on the issues addressed on the course before completing them. However, as often is the case with homework, some left it to the last minute. Of the alternative ways of producing the visual image, most of the students chose to draw a picture by hand and in black-and-white. In the analysis of the multimodal data, we relied on theory-driven thematic content analysis (Dörnyei, 2007; Eskola & Suoranta, 2005). The content of the visual narratives, complemented with their verbal commentaries, was first roughly categorised on the basis of how the participants saw language. In other words, we tried to analyse their drawings of the class of their dreams to find clues to their understanding of language and language skills. After all, it could be assumed that when asked to depict a single class that they could design freely, the participants would concentrate on matters close to their heart and on what they considered to be important. Indeed, in the commentaries on the visual images, nearly all the participants stressed the importance of what they had chosen to teach in the class of their dreams in order to improve their students’ skills in English. Our analysis produced a total of five different categories into which the content of teaching English fell: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

language for communication and interaction; language in connection with culture/authentic situations; metaknowledge about language/analysing language; language for learning about other school subjects; and language as discrete elements to be learned.

As is often the case with categorisations, it was very difficult to draw clear boundaries between the categories and determine unequivocally into which one each picture fell. In fact, almost all the visual images and their commentaries contained elements from several categories (see also Cases 1–3 below). Findings

The fi ndings will be reported in two stages. We will fi rst discuss each of the five categories of what there would be to teach about English and provide some examples from the pool of multimodal data, and then describe three case studies to illustrate variation among the students.

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Teaching language: The five content categories

The first thematic category, i.e. communication and interaction with other people, came as no surprise, as the previous NCCs that had been in effect when the participants themselves were still at school heavily emphasised communicative skills in learning and teaching foreign languages. This aim was realised as group work and classroom discussions. Communication and interaction was mentioned in practically all the narratives, with only very few exceptions. Figure 14.1 shows how this was often also reflected in classroom organisation, with students sitting in small groups. The picture was drawn by Manu. He said he wanted to encourage group work by not having individual desks but tables for bigger groups. He elaborated further that ‘students would be allowed to discuss various topics at their own pace’ and he would teach ‘conversational skills if necessary’. This optimism perhaps reflects the role of English in Finnish society: since opportunities for informal learning are many and students are used to using English in their everyday lives, Manu seems to think that they already possess the skills they need and can talk freely in class. Manu himself had attended an international school, which has no doubt affected his views as he had had experience of talking in English at school. Even though the importance of spoken language is recognised, it is still not much practised in reality in Finnish schools. Kirsi, another participant, said that she would teach ‘discussion in English, courage to speak’, and this quite aptly sums up the visions that emphasised oral skills in English: these are not practised enough in schools, even though they are a vital aspect of learning and using the language.

Figure 14.1 Communication and interaction (Manu)

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The second thematic category, which was also the second most often mentioned, language in connection with culture, tended to go hand in hand with the first category or, more specifically, speaking. Approximately half of the participants mentioned that their ideal class would contain culture. For instance, a discussion evolved around native speaker visitors from different English speaking countries. It was seen as important not only to bring authentic language but also cultural knowledge and, for instance, varieties of English into the classroom. Literature, music and films were also mentioned in the narratives; they were considered to be not only important ways of learning English but also something that learners ought to know about. Authenticity and culture were taken furthest in a picture drawn by Simo (Figure 14.2): he would organise a road trip around the UK. He explained that authentic situations and real language use are essential for language learners, and a road trip would give rise to all kinds of language use. He saw writing and creating language on and about the trip as an important goal for teaching. Knowledge about culture is certainly an extension of the traditional view of language as something we either produce or receive. Similarly, knowing about language as a system, being able to analyse it and having metaknowledge about language, could be seen as further extensions of the traditional view. Analysing language was the third thematic category of

Figure 14.2 Language in connection with culture/authentic situations (Simo)

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Figure 14.3 Metaknowledge about language/analysing language (Pinja)

the teaching content, and discussions and cooperation would be used for this purpose, as can be seen in Pinja’s drawing (Figure 14.3). The narratives included some, albeit very few, comments about language that concerned metaknowledge and awareness of how language is and can be used. For instance, some mention was made of social aspects of language use, such as gendered language, and language and equality. In her written comments, Pinja said she wanted to teach about language and gender and about the language used in literature. One could, however, have expected there to be even more mentions of language awareness, given its prominent role in the new NCCs. Factors affecting language teaching and learning could also be seen in terms of metaknowledge about language. This would suggest that the students’ ideals also touch upon the learning-to-learn skills that are mentioned in the NCCs. The fourth category concentrated on English as a medium for content. Of course, those students (and their narratives) that attempted to incorporate aspects of culture into their teaching of English could be included in this category as well, but more specifically we considered here those who wanted to teach another school subject, such as history or art, using English as the medium of instruction. A picture by Noora (Figure 14.4) is a good example of this. On the other hand, she also depicted quite a multilingual

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Figure 14.4 English as a medium for content (Noora) Translations: älytaulu ‘smart board’; pädit ‘iPads’; kuvia kohdekielen maista ‘pictures from the countries where the languages are spoken’; oppilaiden töitä ‘reports by students’; pelejä ‘games’.

environment: not just English but several other languages too can be found in her picture, reflecting the aims of the new NCCs. In her comments, she wrote that she wanted to teach language, but also other content such as history, and possibly integrate English with other school subjects. This would mean group projects, which were present in the lesson and in the pictures posted on the classroom walls: these were about the countries where the languages to be learned (including English) were spoken. In the new NCCs, phenomenon-based teaching plays a role, and CLIL can also be seen as a reflection of this. Some participants took content teaching even further: one student said he would teach ‘life’, while another considered educating his students to ‘be good people’ to be one of his aims, as well as teaching conversational skills. Hence, teaching and learning a foreign language may include not only teaching and learning other school subjects in that language but also education in general. The fi fth category of content that we found in the data represented perhaps the most traditional view of learning a foreign language, i.e. English being viewed as a set of discrete linguistic elements to be learned. Heidi’s picture (Figure 14.5) illustrates this.

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Figure 14.5 Language as discrete elements to be learned (Heidi)

Since there has been a lot of discussion about the spoken language and pronunciation in Finland, pronunciation, phonetics and accents got quite a few mentions when the participants were asked to specify the content of the English class of their dreams. Various grammar items were mentioned, for instance, how to form questions or other sentence structures. Some respondents wanted to concentrate on vocabulary, and either mentioned topics they wanted to teach, such as months or colours, or parts of speech they would focus on, e.g. verbs. Considering the foci of the new and the previous NCC on communication, such a heavy emphasis on linguistic elements by not just one but almost a dozen participants was not expected. What was interesting was that these participants did not really consider language use or situations their students would encounter, or skills they would need, but a language element as such seemed to be a sufficient ingredient in the class of their dreams. Three cases

Having looked into the five main categories of what there is to teach about English in a future class as envisioned by a group of student teachers, we will now turn to the three cases: Pirjo, Mikko and Aino. There is some variation in the amount of pedagogical studies they had already

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Figure 14.6 Pirjo: Pedagogical studies completed, some teaching experience

completed and their teaching experience. We will provide more background information about these three participants. Case 1: Pirjo

Pirjo was majoring in education and had English as a minor subject, and she was already in her fi fth year of English studies. In addition to having completed her pedagogical studies, she already had some experience of working as a teacher. We do not know whether or not she had spent time abroad. In her picture (Figure 14.6), ‘we would be learning about different cultures and how English is present in the lives of people around the world’. Interestingly, Pirjo did not talk about students learning, but used the pronoun we, implying that the teacher would be learning as well. The content of teaching would be speaking and culture, and Pirjo wanted to encourage her students to speak even if they were not yet fully competent, thus reflecting a communicative and functional view of language skills. Pirjo emphasised the global role of English: she did not want to restrict her teaching to concern only English speaking countries but rather, like the NCCs, wanted to include English as a lingua franca. Besides, Pirjo saw communication as more than speaking and oral communication as she also mentioned writing and singing and did not forget today’s technological devices. Pirjo wanted to teach all this through projects and group work,

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Figure 14.7 Mikko: Pedagogical studies completed, no teaching experience

which may also be a result of her having studied primary education, where great emphasis is placed on action-based collaborative learning. Perhaps this was also the reason for her drawing her class without any walls. Case 2: Mikko

Mikko was a fi fth-year student majoring in Russian and was thus an English minor. He had spent a considerable time in Russia as an exchange student. He had already completed his pedagogical studies but did not have any experience of working, e.g. as a supply teacher. He wanted to teach ‘life’ and his idea of language was strongly functional and situational, as can be seen in Figure 14.7. Mikko said he would incorporate literature, cooking, social media and travel into his English class(es), emphasising learning-by-doing. He did not want to teach language as an object but rather his approach was heavily action based. Interestingly, Mikko was the only person who mentioned using the L1 in class, as he also wanted to take into account less proficient learners, offering content such as cultural history in Finnish to ensure that everyone would have an opportunity to learn something. Hence, in his concept, culture was very prominent and significant. The classroom as a setting did not appeal to Mikko as he envisioned his class(es) taking place anywhere, i.e. not just in a classroom within four walls at school. He also emphasised lifelong learning.

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Figure 14.8 Aino: Few pedagogical studies, no teaching experience

Case 3: Aino

In contrast to Pirjo and Mikko, Aino was an English major, in her second year. She had just started her pedagogical studies and had no experience of teaching. She made no mention of having stayed abroad. Of all the teaching approaches reviewed on the CITE course, Aino chose one – total physical response – to apply in her class (see Figure 14.8). Aino expected young learners to like physical activity. In her opinion, the activity would be a way for her pupils to learn different verb structures, because they could mimic her and repeat actions after her (standing in the middle). In addition, she said she would compile a pack of cards with pictures to help her pupils memorise vocabulary items. In her class she would stick to the L2, i.e. not use Finnish, which for the majority would be their L1. Her class would take place in a regular classroom or, as Aino put it on second thoughts, possibly outdoors. Aino’s class is an attempt to apply action-based learning, which is one of the core concepts in the new NCC, but still with traces of teaching about the language as discrete linguistic units such as specifi c grammar items and words.

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Discussion and Concluding Remarks

In the context of the guidelines for teaching foreign languages in Finland (the NCCs), the visions of future classes of English by the participants in this study clearly concentrated on the third aim, i.e. the ability to interact, interpret and produce texts in different modalities. The emphasis seemed, however, to be on promoting oral interaction or communication, which was mentioned in nearly all the narratives. This is possibly a reflection of the attention oral skills have received in public discussion recently, e.g. in the media. Multilingualism and multiculturalism, the fi rst aim in the NCCs, was not very evident in the visions, but that may be because the students had been asked to produce their ideal English class, and any language in a Finnish school is still taught very much in isolation from other languages, as a separate subject (for the possibilities of translanguaging, see, for example, García & Li Wei, 2013). Learning-to-learn skills, the second aim, were present at least implicitly, as the participants often mentioned projects, group work and out-of-school contexts, which partly fall under abilities to interact and produce texts, but are also about seizing opportunities to learn English. On the other hand, the aims that were already visible in the previous NCCs – communicative skills and interaction – were very strongly present in the visions. This may be due to the fact that the NCCs in question were already effective when the students themselves attended school. Even though in informal discussions our university students often complain about the lack of opportunities to speak English at school, they seem to have already absorbed the idea of interaction and also the idea of language as functional and situational. English as a lingua franca or as present in Finnish society was reflected in the recurrent mentions of culture, and the different uses and varieties of English. As for the role of pedagogical studies and teaching experience, for us as teacher educators it was quite encouraging to see that these seemed to matter. More advanced students and those with more pedagogical studies behind them approached the question of what there is to teach about the language, or the content of what they would try to teach in the future, differently, as is evident from the cases of Pirjo and Mikko, with their greater awareness of the complexity of issues including principles and practices involved in giving a single class of English, let alone in teaching and learning a foreign language in general. Their teaching experience did not necessarily show in what they would teach, but rather in how they would teach it. This was quite intriguing; it might well be a reflection of what is taught at school and, once again, of the role of English in the university students’ everyday lives. Since the students are accustomed to using English in different spheres of life  and, for instance, do most of their studies at the university in English, functional and situational views might come naturally to them.

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However, one crucial issue left very much unaddressed by the participants was multilingualism as subjectively experienced, although it is an important aspect of learning and teaching foreign languages as advocated by the current NCCs and as evident in the previous studies reviewed above. Finally, the methodology used, i.e. the visions produced visually and verbally, did provide fruitful material for the purposes of our research project. Visual images alone do not always tell us very much, so participants’ written comments can add depth to the data and contribute to its interpretation by researchers. In this study the collection of verbal data was more structured than before to ensure systematic comparisons of the visions in a number of respects. In future we could consider other ways of encouraging participants to elaborate on their ideas, to gain even deeper insights into their thinking and more detailed justifications for their choice of teaching principles and practices in their future classes, e.g. by conducting interviews. As for pursuing further research on this topic, it would be worth gathering data from in-service teachers of English in order to compare their visions with those of pre-service teachers or teachers of other foreign languages with a different status in Finland. Furthermore, since we know that, for various reasons, people do not always act according to their ideals, it would be worth exploring how the ideals compare with what actually goes on in the classroom. Notes (1) Drawings can be viewed as visual narratives (see, for example, Rose, 2016). (2) Initially the focus was on L2 learners; only more recently has it been on L2 teachers and their Motivational Self-system.

References ACTFL (2015) World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. Alexandria, VA: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. See https://www.actfl.org/ sites/default/fi les/publications/standards/World-ReadinessStandardsforLearningLa nguages.pdf (accessed 10 May 2017). Alanen, R., Kalaja, P. and Dufva, H. (2013) Visuaaliset narratiivit ja valmistuvien aineenopettajien käsitykset vieraiden kielten opettamisesta [Visual narratives and beliefs about foreign language teaching held by graduating student teachers]. In T. Keisanen, E. Kärkkäinen, M. Rauniomaa, P. Siitonen and M. Siromaa (eds) AFinLA-e 5 – Soveltavan kielitieteen julkaisuja 2013 (pp. 24–40). See http://ojs.tsv.fi /index.php/ afi nla/article/view/8738/6423 (accessed 10 May 2017). Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. See https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?d ocumentId=0900001680459f97 (accessed 10 May 2017). Dörnyei, Z. (2007) Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Dörnyei, Z. and Kubanyiova, M. (2014) Motivating Learners, Motivating Teachers: Building Vision in the Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dörnyei, Z. and Ryan, S. (2015) The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited. New York: Routledge. Dörnyei, Z. and Ushioda, E. (eds) (2009) Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Dörnyei, Z., MacIntyre, P. and Henry, A. (eds) (2015) Motivational Dynamics in Language Learning. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Eskola, J. and Suoranta J. (2005) Johdatus laadulliseen tutkimukseen [Introduction to Qualitative Research]. Tampere: Vastapaino. Finnish National Board of Education (2014) Perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteet 2014 [National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014]. Helsinki: Finnish National Board of Education. See http://www.oph.fi /download/163777_ perusopetuksen_opetussuunnitelman_perusteet_2014.pdf (accessed 10 May 2017). Finnish National Board of Education (2015) Lukion opetussuunnitelman perusteet [National Core Curriculum for Grades 10–12]. Helsinki: Finnish National Board of Education. See http://www.oph.fi /download/172124_lukion_opetussuunnitelman_ perusteet_2015.pdf (accessed 10 May 2017). García, O. and Li Wei (2013) Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Hammerness, K. (2003) Learning to hope, or hoping to learn? The role of vision in the early professional lives of teachers. Journal of Teacher Education 54 (1), 43–53. Housen, A., Kuiken, F. and Vedder, I. (eds) (2012) Dimensions of L2 Performance and Profi ciency. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Hummel, K.M. (2014) Introducing Second Language Acquisition: Perspectives and Practices. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Kalaja (2016a) Student teachers’ beliefs about L2 and L2 discursively constructed: A longitudinal study of interpretative repertoires. In P. Kalaja, A.M.F. Barcelos, M. Aro and M. Ruohotie-Lyhty (eds) Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (pp. 97–123). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P. (2016b) ‘Dreaming is believing’: The teaching of foreign languages as envisioned by student teachers. In P. Kalaja, A.M.F. Barcelos, M. Aro and M. Ruohotie-Lyhty (eds) Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (pp. 124–146). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P. and Mäntylä, K. (2018) ‘The English class of my dreams’: Envisioning teaching a foreign language. In S. Mercer and A. Kostoulas (eds) Language Teacher Psychology (pp. 34–52). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Kalaja, P., Alanen, R., Palviainen, Å. and Dufva, H. (2011) From milk cartons to English roommates: Context and agency in L2 learning beyond the classroom. In P. Benson and H. Reinders (eds) Beyond the Classroom (pp. 47–58). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kalaja, P., Dufva, H. and Alanen, R. (2013) Experimenting with visual narratives. In G. Barkhuizen (ed.) Narrative Research in Applied Linguistics (pp. 105–131). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kalaja, P., Alanen, R. and Dufva, H. (2018) ELT in Finland. In J.I. Liontas and M. DelliCarpini (eds) The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell. See https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ 9781118784235.eelt0930. Kerz, E., Wiechmann D. and Riedel, F.B. (2017) Implicit learning in the crowd: Investigating the role of awareness in the acquisition of L2 knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 39 (4) 711–734. doi:10.1017/S027226311700002X Kramsch, C. (2009) The Multilingual Subject: What Multilingual Language Learners Say about Their Experience and Why it Matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Larsen-Freeman, D. (2003) Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring. Boston, MA: Heinle ELT. Leppänen, S. and Kalaja, P. (2002) Autobiographies as constructions of EFL learner identities and experiences. In E. Kärkkäinen, J. Haines and T. Lauttamus (eds) Studia linguistica et litteraria septentrionalia: Studies Presented to Heikki Nyyssönen (pp. 189–203). Oulu: Oulu University Press. Mäntylä, K. and Huhta, A. (2014) Knowledge of word parts. In J. Milton and T. Fitzpatrick (eds) Dimensions of Vocabulary Knowledge (pp. 45–59). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Ortega, L. (2014) Ways forward in a bi/multilingual turn in SLA. In S. May (ed.) The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA (pp. 32–53). New York: Routledge. Rose, G. (2016) Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials (4th revised edn). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

15 Conclusion: Lessons Learnt With and Through Visual Narratives of Multilingualism as Lived, and a Research Agenda Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer and Paula Kalaja

This chapter wraps up the main conclusions of Chapters 2–14 (discussed under ‘lessons learnt’ in each) and adds a critical and reflexive stance toward the use of visual narratives to study the complexity of multilingualism as lived, subjectively perceived and (re)constructed by individuals. The validity of visual narratives as research data as well as their epistemological nature in the fields of applied language studies, sociolinguistics and teacher education will be addressed in order to draw a research agenda, including research objects, methods and deeper reflexivity.

Introduction

Visual methods are currently involved in the renewal of applied language studies, sociolinguistics and teacher education. Indeed, these methods, in their diversity of forms and materiality, are playing a role in the reshaping of methodological landscapes and empirical research, by approaching new or reshaped realities through new semiotic resources. Visual methods such as visual narratives are thus inscribed in the ‘growing interest in multimodal approaches in applied linguistics, and in biographically oriented research’ (Busch, 2017: 49). Visual methods allow, for example, new approximations to audiences such as those with limited literacy and linguistic skills (Kalaja et al., 2013; Martin, 2012; Molinié, 2009; Moore & Castellotti, 2001; and Chapter 4 by Melo-Pfeifer & Schmidt in this volume). We could also think about using these methods 275

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in researching different aspects of Deaf audiences. From this perspective, regardless of the method used, resorting to a ‘multimodal voice’ allows researchers to revisit research and education scenarios, research settings and contexts, research topics, approaches to individuals and, most importantly, issues related to (Melo-Pfeifer & Simões, 2017): •

•

interdisciplinary dialogues, opening up new paths in the cooperation between psychology, psychoanalysis, publicity, design, cinema and journalism, just to refer to disciplinary areas that resort to heuristic terms like frame, positioning, perspective or plot; ethics in the selection of data collection instruments and the interpretation of collected pools of data, as it calls attention to the ideological positioning of the researchers themselves (for ethical issues, see Chapter 4 by Melo-Pfeifer & Schmidt and Chapter 5 by Molinié in this volume).

Therefore, resorting to visual methods challenges a ‘lingualist’ methodological, epistemological and heuristic landscape (Block, 2014) which tends to value text and discourse above all the possible array of outputs individuals may be called on to produce. ‘Most qualitative researchers analyze data that are words. But people do not make meaning or express it only through words’ (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016: 65). This ‘linguistic bias’ or ‘lingualism’ is challenged by the confrontation with the semiotic complexity of visual materials: multisemiotic and multimodal analyses do not exclude verbal data; instead, verbal data should be combined with visual features (as illustrated by much of the research reported in this volume). Thus, the interpretation of the verbal data should be assessed, contextualised and interpreted in dialogue with non-verbal elements. The increased value given to visual methods has accompanied the discussions about the status and role of emotions, representations, motivation, the symbolic and the ‘untold’ (even the ‘untellable’), as psychological aspects involved in teaching and learning a language (Williams et al., 2015). These methods focus on the individual’s complexity and holistic nature, which can be difficult to describe when resorting to words alone. Consequently, to the well-established narrative turn (Pavlenko, 2007; see also Barkhuizen et al., 2014; and Chapter 11 by Brandão and Chapter 12 by Pinho in this volume), we can add an ongoing and emergent turn: the visual turn (Kalaja & Pitkänen-Huhta, 2018). The first turn values linguistic and discursive productions of individuals; the second highlights the role of multisemioticity to better understand individuals’ experiences. Both are attracted by the ‘lived lives’ and by the way individuals interpret, reconstruct and ‘narrate’ their lives. Just like verbal narratives, visual narratives can also provide insights into the subject (a student, a teacher, a child, a refugee, etc.), the object (language, multilingualism, teaching and learning experiences, etc.) and the context (life, teaching and learning circumstances). The term visual narratives is frequently used to refer to visual materials produced by individuals. Even if the use of the concept narrative in this

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field can be subject to critical scrutiny, we will adopt it here, as we agree with Squire (2008) in the following: unlike many qualitative frameworks, narrative research offers no automatic starting or fi nishing points. Since the defi nition of ‘narrative’ itself is in dispute, there are no self-evident categories on which to focus, as there are with content-based thematic approaches, or with analysis of specific elements of language. (…) Narrative research offers no overall rules about suitable materials or modes of investigation, or the best level at which to study stories. (Squire, 2008: 4)

In this sense, it is useful to address visual narratives resorting to conceptual tools of narrative analysis, such as frame, temporality, spatiality and subject/characters, among others, reinforcing the demand for an interdisciplinary approach in the analysis. In the next sections, we will reflect on the lessons learnt using visual materials in research on multilingualism as lived and on the perspectives opened up by the use of such materials. In doing this, we will revisit Chapters 2–14 of this volume, to establish a dialogue with other research available in applied language studies and teacher education. Lessons Learnt

The majority of the studies reported in this volume reveal a preference for combining verbal and non-verbal material in the collecting and analysis of data. The studies are usually anchored in a case-study paradigm – cases that may be isolated (as in Chapter 2 by Chik or Chapter 11 by Brandão in this volume) or may be composed of groups of teachers or learners – in which the amount of visual data is, frequently, reduced or at least modest. In the case of studies resorting to a significant amount of data (see Chapter 8 by Ahn and Chapter 10 by Umino & Benson in this volume; also MeloPfeifer, 2017), the authors show that it is possible to combine quantitative and qualitative approaches in data analysis and interpretation. The studies in this volume show the complexity of the research on multilingualism and multilingual repertoires, whether they refer to multilingualism as lived in migratory contexts or foreign language learning in formal settings (school, university). In the following sections, we will provide a more detailed account of the lessons learnt, resorting to visual materials, in two specific fields: (1) the heuristic validity of using visual narratives in the study of individual multilingualism; and (2) the epistemological status of the data collected. The heuristic validity of using visual narratives in the study of individual multilingualism

The studies reported in this volume establish a dialogue with previous research on multilingual subjects using visual materials. In foreign

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language education, such methods have been used in research and in teacher and student education, being integrated in classroom activities and in teacher education, as a pedagogic strategy. The topics traditionally addressed in applied language studies and teacher education range from social representations about languages and cultures, bilingualism and multilingualism or heteroglossic repertoires to language teaching and learning (Busch, 2017; Castellotti & Moore, 2009; Kalaja et al., 2013; Martin, 2012; Melo-Pfeifer, 2015; Molinié, 2009; Moore & Castellotti, 2001, 2011; Perregaux, 2011). While the chapters reported in this volume also address these themes, they cover further contexts and audiences (e.g. the establishment of communities of practice abroad or perceptions of social integration by refugees). The chapters of this volume show that visual materials can be used to foster interaction in the classroom, to elicit (further) information on specific themes (related to specific research goals) and to nurture individual reflexivity, all of them increasing our access to the psychological sphere of individuals. More specifically, the studies reported are multifaceted in the way they address different aspects of multilingualism, crisscrossing theoretical approaches from foreign and Heritage Language education, cultural studies, literacy and multiliteracy studies, linguistic and social integration and psychology of language learning and teaching (PLLT), among others. Identity is a concept regularly used across the contributions, namely by Ibrahin, Sylvén and Pinho (in Chapters 3, 7 and 12 in this volume). We can recall the tripartite framework developed by Ibrahin; much of the visual material presented integrates individuals’ perceptions of person-place-experience in multilingual settings, sometimes presented in polarised, hybridised and/or contradictory ways (see Chapter 3 by Ibrahin, Chapter 5 by Molinié and Chapter 6 by Skinnari in this volume; also Melo-Pfeifer, 2017). The research reported acknowledges that semiotic repertoires – where languages combine with other ‘meaning-makers’ (objects, forms, colours, size, selection and disposition of visual elements) – are complex ensembles allowing access to the psychology of the multilingual self, by uncovering multilingual experiences and perceptions as well as their affective and emotional impacts on the individual. Thus, lived multilingualism is always the multilingualism experienced by an individual, under certain circumstances and with different consequences on his or her life story and psychological development, namely depending on whether multilingualism was chosen or imposed by the circumstances. It is also the hic et nunc recall and (re)interpretation of this lived experience during the data collection by the researcher(s) that should be taken into consideration when addressing the validity of visual narratives as heuristic tools: Under which research circumstances were the data collected? How can we describe the relationship between researcher(s) and the multilingual individuals being researched? Visual narratives give us access to those experiences and how they develop and evolve, and what impacts and consequences those

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circumstances can have on an individual’s identity. This broad access is largely caused by the reflexivity inherent in the production of such visual narratives and, eventually, their subsequent verbal description and interpretation. Consequently, the analysis of visual narratives through interpretation of metaphors becomes a very promising approach to understanding the symbolism attached to biographic and educational paths (see Chapter 5 by Molinié, Chapter 9 by Paiva & Gomes Junior and Chapter 12 by Pinho in this volume). Just like verbal narratives, visual narratives (sometimes accompanied by objects) leave sediments of interpretation at the surface of what appears as obvious, allowing a second layer of analysis that goes beyond the immediate materiality. Furthermore, whether through their retrospective (e.g. with a focus on the reconstruction of past events) or prospective (e.g. with a focus on envisioning future linguistic, educational or professional experiences) nature, visual narratives allow us to gain deep insights into: (1) individuals’ linguistic imagination; (2) their trans-semiotic repertoires; and (3) how they live, interpret and reconstruct their experiences. So, these methods reveal the nuanced complexity of individuals’ psychologies in terms of beliefs, emotions, values, motivations and agency, self-esteem and identity.

The epistemological status of the data collected

The study of visual materials, just as when using other materials, is situated and can be the object of different research approaches, perspectives and interpretations. Both the production and the interpretation of visual materials are situated and contingent. The validity of the data collected and their interpretation seem to depend on several aspects, such as: • • • • •

•

the coherence of the selected theoretical framework and of previous empirical results, regardless of the methodologies employed; the consistency of the methodological framework, designed to reach specific goals and conceived through an appropriate task design (Chapter 13 by Pérez-Peitx, Civera & Palou in this volume); the clarification of the cultural and social context in which the materials are produced (Chapter 2 by Chik in this volume); the transparency of research aims and processes as well as of task instructions for all the individuals involved in the research process; the transparency and accurate account of the relationship between researcher and participants, including the following issues: insider/ outsider status, positionalities (such as race, gender, social class, professional ranking, sexual orientation) and researcher’s reflexivity (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016: 63; and Chapter 4 by Melo-Pfeifer & Schmidt in this volume); the existence of redundancy and hierarchies in different layers of meaning in the visual materials and the possibility of resorting to

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systematic comparisons of the productions through structured and regular data collection (see Chapter 14 by Mäntylä & Kalaja in this volume); Another aspect to bear in mind in the interpretation is the articulation between an etic point of view (i.e. based on interpretations by a researcher) and an emic one (i.e. based on interpretations by the participants in a study). The second perspective implies an approximation to or adoption of individuals’ perceptions and their own reading of their lives (namely of the circumstances under which they developed their linguistic repertoires). Data collected by using visual methods, just as when resorting to merely verbal methods, give us an account of situated emotional landscapes and are signs of the ‘performance of the self’, mainly when the context underlying the data collection implies a certain posture (a teacher or a future teacher, a pupil, an exchange student, etc.) or a certain hierarchy. We should bear in mind that the ‘insider/outsider status issues can affect whether one has access to participants, as well as to the kinds of stories they will tell the researcher’ (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016: 63; see also Chapter 2 by Chik in this volume). Therefore, as in other narratives told by an ‘I’, the subject performs and stages his or her ‘self’ in visual narratives. This does not mean that they deliberately fail to give an account of the truth, but that they are able to reconstruct, reinterpret and resignify experiences and emotions depending on the different contexts in which they are called to ‘read’ their narrative out loud. Moreover, every context has its own interpretative limitations and affordances, which can help to explain variation in individuals’ accounts (see Chapter 6 by Skinnari in this volume) in different times and spaces, and with different interlocutors. These considerations are useful to understand some criticism of the analysis of visual materials, specifically its volubility, instability and uncertainty (especially when carried out without follow-up interviews or collection of written reflections about the visual materials produced; see Chapter 6 by Skinnari in this volume). Even if we recognise that the subsequent explanation of the visual material necessarily adds new elements to the analysis, we need to acknowledge that no narrative is neutral: the choice of words or non-verbal elements is the product of a complex process of selection and materialisation. This means that the selection of an element always entails a more or less conscious choice and, consequently, abandoning some elements in favour of others (see Chapter 9 by Paiva & Gomes Junior in this volume). As a result, even when subjects are called to interpret their productions (with shorter or longer distance regarding the moment of production), it is not possible to ascertain the legitimacy, ‘veracity’ or completeness of their own interpretations (see Chapter 4 by Melo-Pfeifer & Schmidt and Chapter 6 by Skinnari in this volume), because of, among other aspects, the asynchronicity between the moments of production and interpretation. Finally, we should also remember that

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any interpretation is a product of co-constructed and negotiated discursive procedures (prompted, for example, by question-answer protocols, usually guided by the researcher), in the presence of one or more interlocutors and taking place in particular contexts. Having stated this, the socalled ‘original sense’ may not be unequivocally reconstructed in such a dialogical situation in the presence of an audience just because the words are assigned to an author. The most we could say is that, in such situations, we are dealing with a process of dialogical co-interpretation (see Chapter 4 by Melo-Pfeifer & Schmidt and Chapter 6 by Skinnari in this volume; also Melo-Pfeifer & Ferreira, 2017). Such prejudices toward the interpretation of visual data arise, in our opinion, from two beliefs: one regarding the transparency of language; and another related to the objectivity and intentionality of the author. However, neither is language (or different languages) unequivocal, nor are individuals consistent or static in the interpretations they make of their intentions, emotions and actions. As stated by Esin and Squire (2013: 4), ‘visual materials can certainly constitute narratives, though (like other narratives) they may not be easily or similarly read’. Consequently, using methodologies that focus on the analysis of linguistic objects is insufficient to cope with non-linguistic materiality. As we saw in the different contributions to this volume, the ‘visual grammar’ of the visual compositions requires researchers to develop and adopt ad hoc and in situ multimodal methodologies, integrating verbal and non-verbal elements as equals. This means that, as always, the goals of the research have to be taken into account in the selection of the visual material to be collected, as well as in the necessity – or not – of eliciting further material: advantages and limitations have to be carefully evaluated and stated, in order to be clear about the ‘real’ results of the studies. Some researchers (see, for example, Chapter 3 by Ibrahin, Chapter 5 by Molinié or Chapter 7 by Sylvén in this volume) combine different research materials and opt for the combination of visual narratives and several sorts of additional information (artefacts, interviews and/or written texts). Finally, we should acknowledge that, because of the complexity of the research projects reported in this volume, all authors assume the impossibility of generalising research paths, research questions and results, accommodating the instability and the incompleteness of the analysis as part of the research process. This positioning, however, is not exclusive of research using visual methodologies: it is a sign of the epistemological evolution in the social sciences and humanities and, more specifically, in  applied language studies, sociolinguistics and teacher education (McIntyre & Rosenberg, 2017). Another parallel sign of this evolution is the acknowledgement of the need to address reflexivity in research, seeing the results as the consequence of choices (for example, on what to ask or what to draw), subjectivities (such as motivations, attitudes or emotions) and agency of both researchers and participants.

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A Research Agenda

The commonalities we have pointed out in the previous two sections allow us to propose some suggestions for further developments regarding the use of visual methods, without calling into question the quality of the research carried out so far. Enlarging the list of suggestions by MeloPfeifer and Simões (2017: 21–22), we would underscore the following themes: •

•

•

• •

•

Diversifying data collection instruments, through the use and intersection of different semiotic sources; this suggestion entails a more articulated, systematic and complex use of visual data collection methods. Diversifying: (1) participants (which could range from children to adults); (2) languages chosen as a research object; (3) language status (as most of the studies tend to focus on English as a foreign language); and (4) research focus, ranging from multimodal translanguaging practices (the combination of linguistic and other resources) to representations of complex psychological states and dimensions, such as beliefs, emotions and values. Developing diachronic and longitudinal research methodologies to analyse the evolution of individuals’ representations regarding their lives, repertoires, belongings and identities; for example, these methodologies could be based on a continuous data collection or on the interpretation of the same visual material at different moments of a lifespan, in order to cover a wider range of psychological status and its evolution. Developing studies that are quantitatively more relevant, as these are quite rare, which would allow an interplay of quantitative and qualitative analyses. Advancing toward more collaborative scenarios of production and interpretation of visual materials, implying moments of co-production (in peer groups) and of co-interpretation, with individuals being called upon to be co-ethnographers of their own productions as well as of the productions of their peers (member checks). Such an evolution would involve the individuals in the production process (during or after the production), as well as in the discussion of conclusions made by researchers. This possible development entails a reconsideration of subsequent individual interviews and text production as the only means to access further information. We thus claim that it is possible to conceive of more collaborative, interactive and dialogic methodologies of data collection and (re)interpretation, which could improve the emotional evolvement of the participants (see the fi nal reflection in Chapter 7 by Sylvén in this volume on this matter). Combining the description and interpretation of elements present in the visual materials and reflecting on the invisibility of other elements

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•

•

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(see Chapter 4 by Melo-Pfeifer & Schmidt and Chapter 8 by Ahn in this volume); making this reflection together with the multilingual subject would allow him to rethink and reconsider the dimensions described and foster his reflexivity about the hidden psychological dimensions of his productions. Addressing reflexivity and being critical throughout the research process and providing the reader with ‘thick descriptions’ of the research context as preliminaries to judge the validity, reliability, credibility and transferability of the work being carried out through visual narratives and of its results. Increasing interdisciplinary dialogue with research disciplines assuming ‘visual’, ‘multimodal discourse’, ‘ethics’, ‘aesthetic’ and ‘narration’ as integral parts of their research habitus, to bring more complexity to research perspectives and analytical procedures.

These expansions of research aims and research procedures would allow visual methods to become part of the canon of methodologies in applied language studies and teacher education, alongside the use of other linguistic and semiotic resources, and promote a less structuralist (and less positivist) vision of and access to the multilingual individual and their subjective psychologies.

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Index

aboriginal languages 16 action process 153 action-research 77 affordance 109, 138, 146, 162, 280 agency 33, 53, 69, 98, 109, 216, 279 ambiguity 98, 110 animate 122 artefact 17, 33, 40, 48, 60, 101, 160, 162, 222 arts-based education 218 attitudes 38, 65, 110, 136, 146, 233, 281 Australia 15, 68 authenticity 101, 109, 113, 264 autobiography (autobiographies) 8, 197, 201, 257 autonomy 59, 80 awareness 76, 91, 218, 228, 232, 256, 265

communicative competence 233 community of practice 173–193 content analysis 42, 62, 98, 103, 214, 221, 254, 262 Content and Language Integrated Learning 115–133, 256, 261, 266 creativity 45, 59, 92, 101, 113 culture 19, 41, 58, 68, 73, 99, 122, 145, 185, 204, 222–227, 233–235, 242, 264 curriculum (curricula) 57–59, 214–219, 224, 236, 256–257

belief(s) 6, 17, 39, 60, 101, 115, 130, 134, 136, 138, 146, 169, 200, 226, 232, 235–238, 251, 281 learner beliefs 118 pre-service teacher beliefs 197, 214 teacher beliefs 235 Brazil 151–172, 197–213

engagement 75, 80, 142, 174–176 personal engagement 175 English 15–32, 33–52, 97–114, 115–133, 134–150, 151–172, 197–213, 214–231, 254–274 English as a foreign language (EFL) 115, 137–138, 146, 148, 159, 165, 197–213, 214–231, 254–258, 282 English learning 138, 144, 149, 169 English language learners 97, 112, 224 envision (envisioning) 7, 53, 73, 117, 126, 138, 147, 219, 214, 254, 159–261, 279 extramural exposure 117, 128

Cantonese 25–30 caricature 98, 101, 108, 112 case study 48, 176, 197, 214, 277 Catalan 236 citizenship education 221 CLIL (see Content and Language Integrated Learning) 115–133, 256, 261, 266 comics 43, 98, 101, 109–111 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) 58, 233, 255–256

dialogical approach 98–100 drawing(s) 15, 25, 30, 33, 37, 40, 53, 58–61, 69–70, 74–76, 91–92, 97–98, 112–113, 138–139, 157–159, 201–203, 210 reflexive drawings 78

Finland 97–114, 254–274 French 33–52, 73, 94, 119, 244 French as a Foreign Language (FFL) 74, 77 function ideational function 153 interpersonal function 153 textual function 153

285

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Galician 244, 246, 250 German 25, 26–28, 39, 58–59, 62, 68–70 Germany 53–72 globalization 53 grammar of visual design 153–154, 169 historicity 75 humour 100, 103, 107, 109, 111 identity identity construction 33, 36, 48, 50, 76, 134–150, 177, 190, 215, 217, 219 identity development 173–175, 214–220 identity narratives 38, 100 identity performance 33, 47 identity transformation 138–141 imagined identity 190, 198–200 learner identity 134–138, 146–147 linguistic identity 37, 246 negotiation of identity 41, 136 professional identity 199–200, 210, 215–217, 227 social identity 175 teacher identity 137, 147, 198–201, 214–217 image-as-teacher 227, 229 individual differences 115, 118, 119 Indonesia 177 interculturality 232 international student 73–94, 173–193 integration (social) 53–72 interview(s) 6–8, 18–19, 28–30, 33–35, 40, 78, 101, 103, 109, 119–120, 130, 137, 147, 176–178, 197, 200, 219, 280 investment 136 irony 100, 101, 103, 107, 108 Italian 19–23, 29, 39 Japan 28, 43, 145, 173–193 Japanese as a second language (L2) 173–193 journal(s) 120, 197, 202 Korean 22–25, 30, 39, 134–150 L2 learning 116–118 L2 Motivational Self-System 255, 259 L2MSS (see L2 Motivational Self-System) 255, 259 language additional language 17, 39, 151, 173

first language 23, 26, 115, 175, 238, 239, 242, 258 foreign language 35, 58, 69, 115, 136, 148, 149, 198, 200, 104, 216, 236, 255, 271, 277 heritage language 30, 35, 39, 45, 47, 246, 250, 278 L1 68, 115, 242, 258, 270 L2 57, 115–133, 173–193, 198, 254–258 language biography/biographies 229 language knowledge 204, 210 language learning history (LHH) 18, 176, 192 language learning trajectory 141, 237 language maintenance 17, 22, 47 Multimodal English Language Learning History (MELLH) 151–172 third language (L3) 35, 39 lingualism 9, 59, 276 linguistic linguistic biography 3, 235, 237 linguistic portrait(s) 3 linguistic repertoire 70, 120, 235, 246, 280 literacy (literacies) 36–40, 48–49, 158, 170, 275, 278 Mandarin 25–28 mediation 59, 92, 159, 184, 218, 220, 228, 256 mediation of learning 238 mental process 153 metaphor 27, 46, 65, 87, 151, 155–172 pictorial metaphor 155 multimodal metaphor 157, 169 metonym 155–172 migrant(s) 15–19, 55–57, 69, 76 migration 15, 53, 73, 175 mobility 73–94 mode 37, 101, 107, 112, 134, 135–137, 152–157, 165, 260 written mode 112 visual mode 107, 157, 165 motivation 36, 67, 115–117, 136, 161, 201, 236, 259, 276, 281 multicompetence 2 multilingual multilingualism 16, 33, 35, 48–50, 102, 237, 256, 271, 275 multilingualism as lived 1–11, 275–284

Index

multimodal 34, 48–50, 91 multimodal analysis 134–150 multimodal ensemble 137 multimodal language learning history (MLLH) 151–172 multimodal narrative 37, 47, 219, 225, 237 multimodal resources 48 multimodal voice 53, 59, 69, 276 multimodality 37, 110 multisemiotic analysis 54 multi-voiced 9, 97–133 native speaker 2, 227, 236, 264 narrative identity narrative 33–52, 100 multimodal narrative 33–52, 219, 225, 237 narrative frame 18 narrative inquiry 18, 100, 137, 174, 197, 201 narrative research 70, 173, 277 visual narrative 33–52, 58–59, 73–94, 100–101, 112–113, 118, 130, 137, 201, 217–219, 239–243, 262, 275–284 written narrative 18, 43, 137, 145, 233 non-native speaker 173 parody 100, 103, 107 photo-elicitation 176 photograph 37, 115–133, 158–159, 173–194 plurilingual plurilingual awareness 232 plurilingual competence 233–237 plurilingual education 76, 214–231 pluriculturalism 251 plurilingualism 9, 214–231, 232–253 polyglossy 91 polyphony 91 Portugal 214–231 power 99, 100, 113, 136, 148 practitioner research approach 226 reactional process 153 reflexive distance 75 reflexivity 80, 275–284 refugee 53–72 resistance 98, 103, 107–108

287

SLA (see Second Language Acquisition) 173, 257 Second Language Acquisition 173, 257 self ideal L2 self 116–117, 129 ought-to L2 self 116–129 professional self 216 self-image 60, 220, 222, 226 self-portrait(s) 15, 37, 97, 99–112, 134, 159, 197, 219 situated learning 173, 177 social representation 40, 278, 282 South Korea 22–25, 134–150 study abroad 73–95, 173–193 Swedish 115–133, 258 teacher in-service teacher 202, 272 pre-service teacher 161, 197–213, 214–231 student teacher 232–253, 254–274 teacher identity 137, 147, 198, 200, 216–217 teacher position 107–108 teacher-researcher 74, 97 teacher education initial teacher education 214–231 teacher education curriculum 215 temporality 202, 216, 227, 277 timeline 19, 29, 141 translanguaging 1, 45, 237, 271, 282 translation 59, 110, 256 turn multilingual turn 1, 5, 34 narrative turn 276 visual turn 1, 4, 69, 218, 276 video(s) 74, 135 vision 1, 53, 73, 117, 126, 138, 147, 219, 214, 236, 237, 248, 250, 254, 257–259, 262–263, 271–272 visual visual grammar 281 visual methods 98, 146, 200, 275–277 visual narrative 33–52, 58–59, 73–94, 100–101, 112–113, 118, 130, 137, 201, 217–219, 239–243, 262, 275–284 visual-verbal narrative 98, 200 voice multimodal voice 53, 59, 69, 276 (multi) voicedness 99