970: Resistance and Subversion in Foreign Language Teaching
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Chavez, Sem 1 MW 8:00-9:15
In this seminar-style class, we will first review concepts pertaining to identity, agency, power, norms, policy, expertness, Activity Theory, and Language (and professional) Socialization and then examine how these help describe and possibly explain, instances of resistance, subversion, or non-participation in the specific (and limited) context of the foreign/second language classroom. Agents of resistant behaviors can be learners as well as teachers. Their behaviors can target the language and/or its associated speech community, the need (or "requirement") to learn the language, language-use and/or social norms of the classroom community, members of the classroom community (including the teacher/learners and peer teachers or learners), professional conventions, carriers of norms and requirements (for example, the course supervisor, the "profession", the university), the curriculum and/or instructional materials, pedagogic objectives and practices, and loss of/change in/threats to identity.
Participants will contribute to class discussions, based on intensive readings in the earlier phase of the course. After assignments aimed at exploring the viability of potential research questions (e.g., interviews, class observations), participants will form collaborative research teams, each undertaking an originally-designed study. Each participant will also draft at least two versions of an abstract of his/her group's research project, which could later be submitted to a professional conference. Readings will be drawn from recent (2000 or later) volumes of various professional journals and be available in the form of a course reader at Bob's Copy Shop (on Johnson Street) just before the beginning of the semester.
The course will be conducted in English. Expertise in second language acquisition is not a pre-requisite.
There will be a packet of xeroxed material for the course readings.
