ERIC Number: EJ946887
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1534-8458
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
ESP Reading Literacy and Reader Identity: A Narrative Inquiry into a Learner in Taiwan
Lee, Beryl Chinghwa; Chern, Chiou-lan
Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, v10 n5 p346-360 2011
This study aims to investigate whether English for Specific Purposes (ESP) reading relates to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' identity and how they relate to each other if there is a link between the two. Via purposeful sampling, an experienced Taiwanese ESP reader in her 40s was recruited and received three life-story interviews. Borrowing Wenger's (1998) notion of social identity, the participant's ESP reading history is examined along (a) mutuality of engagement, (b) accountability to an enterprise, and (c) negotiability of a repertoire. The results show that ESP reading is tightly interwoven with the three dimensions. It is therefore determined that the two are related. Moreover, it is found they are highly interdependent and correlated as the participant's ESP reading proficiency varies with her positions in the communities of practice. Pedagogical implications relate to the need for teachers and ESP readers to raise their awareness of the learners' literate identities.
Descriptors: Communities of Practice, Foreign Countries, English for Special Purposes, Reading Skills, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Self Concept, Sampling, Interviews, Accountability, Correlation, Language Proficiency, Language Teachers, Consciousness Raising, Personal Narratives, Language Usage, Native Language, Chinese, Graduate Students, Asians
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Taiwan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A