Becoming Researchers: Language Minority Community College Students and Critical Information Literacy

• In Event: Poster Session 3
  In Poster Session: College Student Learning and Outcomes Poster Session 2

Abstract

This critical ethnographic case study examined the information literacy acquisition of a cohort of 23 community college language minority students enrolled in a unique learning community composed of an advanced ESL course and a one-unit course introducing students to finding, evaluating and using information. Examining students’ dynamic and recursive processes for choosing research topics, the study traced obstacles encountered by students, strategies for overcoming these difficulties, and the broader implications of these findings for designing English language acquisition instruction in community college. Students faced two challenges in choosing research topics: narrowing and committing. These were addressed by three solutions: explicit instruction, contextualized learning, and dialogue. Language acquisition and information literacy acquisition were found to be simultaneous, intertwined processes.

Author

• David Jay Patterson, University of California - Berkeley