Investment in Language, Literacy, and Identity Among Young US Learners
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Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Applied Linguistics and English as a Second Department of Applied Linguistics and English Language Dissertations as a Second Language Spring 5-10-2013 Constructing Arabic as Heritage: Investment in Language, Literacy, and Identity among Young U.S. Learners Amanda L. Temples Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/alesl_diss Recommended Citation Temples, Amanda L., "Constructing Arabic as Heritage: Investment in Language, Literacy, and Identity among Young U.S. Learners." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2013. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/alesl_diss/25 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Applied Linguistics and English as a Second Language at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Applied Linguistics and English as a Second Language Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CONSTRUCTING ARABIC AS HERITAGE: INVESTMENT IN LANGUAGE, LITERACY, AND IDENTITY AMONG YOUNG U.S. LEARNERS by AMANDA LANIER TEMPLES Under the Direction of Dr. Gayle Nelson ABSTRACT The numbers of learners studying Arabic in the U.S. have increased more than any other language over the last ten years. As a critical language, important for strategic political and economic reasons, Arabic has received considerable support from the Departments of State and Education (Jackson & Malone, 2009; Wiley, 2007). However, Arabic is also a prominent heritage language, important for cultural and interpersonal reasons to the families and communities who speak it and for whom it is a binding force (Fishman, 2001; Van Deusen-Scholl, 2003). Nevertheless, research on learners of Arabic and their learning processes is still very limited. Existing studies have compared Arabic heritage learners’ motivation and the structure of their language knowledge with that of non-HLLs (Husseinali, 2006; Benmamoun, Montrul, & Polinsky, 2010), but HLL research has hardly addressed the complex social and cultural influences on their learning processes (He, 2010; Montrul, 2010). Drawing on investment in language learning (Norton Peirce, 1995; Norton, 2000) as a theoretical lens, this study asks how learners and their families construct Arabic as heritage and its implications for their beliefs and practices. Focusing on students in a public charter middle school in the southeast U.S. who are studying Arabic as a foreign language, this study seeks to bring together language learning, identity construction, and the challenges and implications of biliteracy for Arabic learners from a range of backgrounds in an effort to understand the complexity of the Arabic learning process. To that end, it uses ethnographic methods including interviews with five focal families, class observations, and surveys and strives for grounded theory. In constructing heritage, each learner and family, from a range of national and cultural backgrounds, must balance priorities regarding the multiple varieties of Arabic, religious literacy, and the role of Arabic in local and global contexts. Results should shed light on the role of social context in language and literacy development for Arabic and comparable LCTLs, contribute to theory regarding the relationship between identity construction and language learning for heritage learners, and suggest approaches to supporting young learners of critical and heritage languages to promote a more multilingual society. INDEX WORDS: Language learning, Identity, Identity construction, Investment, Motivation, Second language literacy, Heritage languages, Heritage language learners, Critical languages, Foreign languages, Cultural capital, Arabic, Religious identity, Islam, Literacy, Biliteracy, Religious literacy CONSTRUCTING ARABIC AS HERITAGE: INVESTMENT IN LANGUAGE, LITERACY, AND IDENTITY AMONG YOUNG U.S. LEARNERS by AMANDA LANIER TEMPLES A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2013 Copyright by Amanda Lanier Temples 2013 CONSTRUCTING ARABIC AS HERITAGE: INVESTMENT IN LANGUAGE, LITERACY, AND IDENTITY AMONG YOUNG U.S. LEARNERS by AMANDA LANIER TEMPLES Committee Chair: Gayle Nelson Committee: Diane Belcher Stephanie Lindemann Nadine Sinno Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2013 iv DEDICATION To the families who shared their stories with me; to my husband John, who redefines supportive; and to my son Lawson, whose arrival in the middle of the dissertation process gave me much more insight into the complex decisions that all families face. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study has been a long journey, as dissertations tend to be, and I have had many, many wise and generous companions on that journey. Chief among these has been my advisor, Gayle Nelson, who has invested deeply in my intellectual and personal development as well as my academic tasks over many years and has been the driving force pushing me to complete and share this study. It is her imagination, in the most powerful sense of the word, that has enabled me to construct myself as a researcher. I am also very grateful for the wisdom of Diane Belcher, who has been able to cut through my many words with surgical precision to reach the heart of what I wanted to say since my first semester of graduate school. Stephanie Lindemann introduced me to research collaboration, IRBs, and conference presentations, and her perspectives as a scholar and as another Arabic learner have been invaluable. Nadine Sinno’s great enthusiasm for her own teaching and for my efforts as well as her challenging comments have shaped this work more than she knows. While my committee’s contributions have been immeasurable, any weaknesses, omissions, and flaws of the final version are my own. Without the support of the Language and Literacy Initiative at Georgia State University, who provided a generous stipend and considerable intellectual stimulation over the course of four years, this study would have been a much more daunting endeavor. The Language & Literacy Initiative’s efforts to promote interdisciplinary discourse and collaboration are setting a new standard among academic communities at GSU and beyond, and I can only hope that this fellowship will influence my career for years to come. Particular thanks to Rose Sevcik and Julie Washington. Equally important, if not more so, have been the contributions of the many individuals and families who have allowed me to tell their stories in this study. The El-Gendy, Zaki, Rowther, Brooks, and Kimball families (they know who they are, though I am using their pseudonyms here) shared their past and present with me, and I hope they will share some of their future as well as they continue on their own journeys. The students, who are all in high school now, may not have enjoyed delaying their snacks, vi pleasure reading, and homework to meet with me, but their willingness to share their experiences is all the more appreciated for that. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the administrators and teachers at Mawaarith. They hoped that this work would put them “on the map,” but the map is only beginning to be drawn. Those who are helping to draw that map around the country have inspired me, guided me, and offered suggestions at various conferences and in personal communication. The established scholars among these include Bonny Norton, Agnes He, Elabbas Benmamoun, Wafa Hassan, Elaine Tarone, Dwight Atkinson, Meg Malone, Maggie Hawkins, Catherine Ingold, and Dora Johnson, while other graduate students and young scholars include Sara Hillman, Corinne Seals, and Brajesh Samarth. I have mentioned my dissertation committee, but many other faculty members have played a role in shaping my academic identity and this work, especially Sara Weigle, John Murphy, and Eric Friginal. At the same time, many wonderful grad students have joined me on this path and helped me keep putting one foot in front of the other, including Nur Yigitoglu, Eliana Hirano, Pam Pearson, Amanda Baker, Meg Montee, Audrey Roberson, Jack Hardy, Joe Lee, Kate Moran, Jason Litzenburg, Magdi Kandil, Weiwei Yang, Brittany Polat, and Cassie Leymarie. Last but not least, I should thank the members of my personal support system. My husband, my parents, and my in-laws have often wondered if I would ever get over this mountain, but they have been happy to pull, push, and supply my progress. My son, meanwhile, has done his best to bring joy to the many caretakers who have spent time with him while Mommy sat in front of her computer. Also, a very special group of young mothers has commiserated and prayed for me over the past two years: Ava, Liz, Chrissy, and Sonia, you know how it goes. Thank you. Like all children, on long car trips I used to pester my parents with my impatient, “Are we there yet?” My mother has asked just as many times, “Are you finished yet?” I tell her that one chapter is ending and another is beginning. Without the patience and support of my own family and my academic family, I never would have reached this point and would not be able to go on. All my gratitude. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................................