A focus on learner individuality in Applied Linguistics has been considered a mark of theoretical weakness from several perspectives. One branch of second language acquisition research has systematically discounted individual characteristics in favour of a search for universal acquisition processes. Another has adopted 'individual differences' as its object of inquiry, but emphasises psychological and sociological group characteristics over those of individuals. At the other end of the spectrum, critical researchers have viewed these approaches as 'individualistic' and have emphasised instead the deeply social character of second language acquisition.
More recently, however, the qualitative approaches favoured by socially-oriented researchers have begun to bring issues of individuality to the fore. Autonomy, agency and identity have emerged as important constructs through which researchers are seeking to understand relationships between individuals and the social contexts in which they learn and use languages, and case studies of individuals have become a preferred approach to Applied Linguistics research. These developments raise important questions about the relationship between the social and individual, which has now become a key philosophical and methodological issue in research.
This volume addresses this issue through contributions from researchers who carry out their work in a variety of settings in Asia, Australasia, Europe, and North and South America. The authors explore how individuality is conceptualised in socially-oriented approaches to Applied Linguistics research, including Sociocultural Theory, Situated Learning, Imagined Communities, Complexity Theory, and Autonomy Theory. Is there a tension between the social and the individual in these approaches, and if so, how is it manifested and resolved in empirical research?
Edited by:
Phil Benson,
Lucy Cooker
Imprint: Equinox Publishing Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 20mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9781908049384
ISBN 10: 1908049383
Series: Studies in Applied Linguistics
Pages: 226
Publication Date: 09 July 2013
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Part 1: Introduction 1. The Social and the Individual in Applied Linguistics Research Phil Benson and Lucy Cooker Part 2: Theoretical Perspectives 2. Sociocultural Theory and the Dialectics of L2 Learner Autonomy/Agency James P. Lantolf, Pennsylvania State University 3. The Struggle to Belong: Individual Language Learners in Situated Learning Theory Martin Lamb, University of Leeds 4. Individuality, Imagination and Community in a Globalizing World: An Asian EFL Perspective Tomoko Yashima, Kansai University, Japan 5. Chaos and the Complexity of Second Language Acquisition Vera Lucia Menezes de Oliveira e Paiva 6. Drifting In and Out of View: Autonomy and the Social Individual Phil Benson Part 3: The Individual in Research 7. A Social-Ecological Exploration of Autonomy, Beliefs and Identity Jane Kehrwald, Massey University, New Zealand 8. Teenagers Making Senses of Their Foreign Language Practices: Individual Accounts Indexing Social Discourses Anne Pitkanen-Huhta and Tarja Nikula, both at University of Jyvaskyla 9. Individuality in L2 Identity Construction: The Stories of Two Chinese Learners of English Gu Mingyue, The Hong Kong Institute of Education 10. The Ideal Sexual Self: The Motivational Investments of Japanese Gay Male Learners of English Ashley Moore, Kanda University, Japan 11. Using Dynamic Systems/Complexity Theory in Linguistic Data Analysis: A Language Ecology Approach to the Study of Individual and Social Process Anne Whiteside, City College of San Francisco 12. A Tale of Two Teachers: Teachers Identity and the Care of the Self in an Era of Accountability Matthew Clarke, University of New South Wales Part 4: Conclusion 13. The Applied Linguistic Individual: Gaining Perspective Phil Benson and Lucy Cooker
Phil Benson is a Professor in and Head of the English Department at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, where he teaches on the Department's Masters and Doctor of Education programmes. He is also director of the Faculty of Languages Popular Culture and Education Research and Development Centre. He has published widely on the subject of autonomy, including the book Teaching and Researching Autonomy (Pearson, 2011). Lucy Cooker is a Researcher and PhD Candidate at the University of Nottingham and a consultant on self-access language learning. Prior to her doctoral studies, Lucy was a Senior Lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan where she established the award winning self-access learning centre.
