Social Identity Construction Through Positionality and Conceptualization of Silence in a 10th-Grade ESL Biology Classroom

• In Event: 34.079 - Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: 34.079-3 - Aspects of Co-Constructed Identities

Abstract

This case study examines how learner identities emerged in one tenth-grade ESL biology class for one Somali female adolescent in culturally and linguistically diverse classroom interactions. Ethnographic methods and discourse analysis were employed over a four-month period of fieldwork to document how participants position one another and conceptualize silence operated in different social groups. Over time, the Somali student was positioned as a disruptive and incompetent student due to her silence. Findings suggest an interpretation of silence is essential in understanding ethnic minority students’ participation and their identity construction in a classroom. Two ways of conceptualization of silence provide insights about the pedagogical infrastructure of supports for ethnic minority students.

Author

• Minseok Choi, The Ohio State University - Columbus