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North American International Students in China: Language Learning and Identity Negotiation

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North American International Students in China: Language Learning and Identity Negotiation North American International Students in China: Language Learning and Identity Negotiation by Li Mao A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Adult, Community and Higher Education Department of Educational Policy Studies University of Alberta © Li Mao, 2018 NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN CHINA ii Abstract In this study, I critically investigate the language learning experiences of North American Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) international students in China, specifically those related to their investment and identity negotiation in Chinese social networks. Adopting the theoretical core and tools of critical hermeneutics, I focus on the power dynamics that CFL learners encountered in the multi-layered social context of a Northern Chinese city. The research findings show a big gap between participants’ vague and idealized understandings of China as imagined communities and the complexity of their actual investment beset by isolation and discrimination. In the target universities and programs, many aspects of the teaching and administrative philosophies, policies and practices were disadvantageous to the social interactions between the participants and local peers. In local communities, certain identity categories of North American CFL learners, such as mother tongue (native English speakers), race and ethnicity, and gender, brought out overt and covert othering practices towards the participants and led to the ambivalence of social privileges and vulnerabilities. Facing differentiated treatments, the participants to different extents took their personal initiative and fought for equal and full social participation. However, without sufficient and sustainable social support, agentive acts are a feeble solution to fulfill their social needs in Chinese homogeneous and hierarchical society. NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN CHINA iii Preface This thesis is an original work by Li Mao. Some part of Chapter 5 of this thesis has been published as Mao, L. (2014). China as an imagined community and its construction in CFL classrooms. In Proceedings of the 8th Canadian TCSL International Conference (pp. 45-52). Vancouver, Canada: The Canadian TCSL Association. The research project, of which this thesis is a part, received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board, Project Name “CFL International Students’ Language Learning Experiences in China”, No. Pro00039798, June 21, 2013. NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN CHINA iv Dedication I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my parents Huizhen Wu and Qingchen Mao, and my husband Chris Gallant. Thank you for all your love and support. NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN CHINA v Acknowledgements This dissertation cannot be finished without the people who have given me help. First, I would like to thank my co-supervisors Dr. Jerrold Kachur, Dr. Joe Wu and Dr. Donna Chovanec for their constant guidance, inspiration, and encouragement. I am very grateful to Dr. Jerrold Kachur who “adopted” me halfway of the PhD program after my previous co-supervisor Dr. Donna Chovanec passed away. His full support was a big source of confidence for me to go through the hardest times of this study. Besides, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Joe Wu who has always been behind me during the past seven years. His academic and emotional support was critical to the development of this research, particularly the cultivation of my critical thinking. Moreover, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to late Dr. Donna Chovanec who had been working on the feedback to my writing until the last month of her life. She was not only a mentor full of wisdom and passion but also a close friend embracing me to her family. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Olenka Bilash to serve on my supervisory committee with her valuable discussions and suggestions. I am also thankful to Dr. Xiaoting Li and Dr. Lorin Yochim for their time and effort as advisory committee. On top of that, special thanks go to all the participants, informants, and facilitators of this study. Finally, I am highly indebted and grateful to my parents and husband for their endless care and encouragement along the way. Their unconditional love is my biggest driving force. NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN CHINA vi Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ..................................................................................................................................... iii Dedication ................................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables .......................................................................................................................... xii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 Introduction............................................................................................................ 1 Locating myself as a linguistic and cultural minority in Canada ........................................... 2 Purpose of the study ............................................................................................................... 9 Significance of the study ...................................................................................................... 10 Organization of the dissertation ........................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2 Literature Review ................................................................................................ 17 Cognitive and sociocultural approaches to language learning research .............................. 17 Language learning as a dialogic participation in communities of practice .......................... 19 Critical identity approach to language learning research ..................................................... 21 Identity as subjectivity ..................................................................................................... 22 Investment and identity negotiation in actual and imagined communities ...................... 23 Investment in language and identity. ........................................................................... 23 Investment and identity negotiation in imagined communities ................................... 25 Representation and empowerment of linguistic minorities. ........................................ 26 Sociocultural-orientated research on North American CFL learners in China .................... 27 Target population, programs, and cities ........................................................................... 28 Research methodologies .................................................................................................. 30 NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN CHINA vii Research findings ............................................................................................................. 31 Learning motives, expectations, and outcomes ........................................................... 31 CFL learning in host programs .................................................................................... 33 CFL learning and social networking in local communities ......................................... 35 Chapter 3 Research Methodology and Design .................................................................... 42 Methodology: critical hermeneutics .................................................................................... 43 Philosophical hermeneutics: Gadamer ............................................................................. 43 Incorporating critical social theory into Hermeneutics: Habermas ................................. 46 Methodological core of critical hermeneutics .................................................................. 47 The selection and recruitment of participants and informants ............................................. 50 The selection and recruitment process ............................................................................. 51 Power relationships during recruitment and solutions ..................................................... 56 Data collection tools ............................................................................................................ 57 Daily language use logs ................................................................................................... 58 Semi-structured interviews .............................................................................................. 60 Secondary or existing data ............................................................................................... 64 Data analysis ........................................................................................................................ 66 Coding through Nvivo and theme identification ............................................................. 66 Critical hermeneutic
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