Understanding Chinese Language Teachers' Experiences in U.S. Classrooms: A Sociocultural Perspective

• In Event: Roundtable Session 52
  In Roundtable Session: Emergent Language Use in Multilingual Settings

Abstract

This is an ethnographic case study designed to explore the teaching experiences and classroom practices of 23 Chinese as foreign language teachers in secondary U.S. schools in relation to the sociocultural, sociopolitical, and ideological factors of language planning and policy. Data were collected through multiple sources: interviews, classroom observations, policy documents, and artifacts. Several theoretical conceptualizations including neo-liberalism, nationalism, Bourdieu’s theory of habitus, field, and capital, language ideology, Confucian philosophy of education, and cultural historical activity theory were used to frame the inquiry. Findings of the study revealed interplay of educational practices and the external, sociocultural, and worldwide forces acting on educational systems and practices, which provide us a comprehensive understanding of connectedness and complexity in modern foreign language education.

Authors

• Juanjuan Zhao, University of Cincinnati

• Gulbahar H. Beckett, Iowa State University