EFL
STUDENTS’ IMAGINED IDENTITIES AND INVESTMENTS
IN THEIR LEARNING PROCESS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
SANDRA PRISKILA
112012036
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA
SALATIGA
i
EFL STUDENTS’ IMAGINED IDENTITIES AND INVESTMENTS
IN THEIR LEARNING PROCESS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
SANDRA PRISKILA
112012036
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA
SALATIGA
iii
EFL STUDENTS’ IMAGINED IDENTITIES AND INVESTMENTS
IN THEIR LEARNING PROCESS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
SANDRA PRISKILA
112012036
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA
SALATIGA
2016
Approved by:
Gita Hastuti, M.A. Athriyana S. Pattiwael, M.Hum.
iv
PUBLICATION AGREEMENT DECLARATION
As a member of the Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana (UKSW) academic community, I verify that:
Name : Sandra Priskila Student ID Number : 112012036
Study Program : English Language Education Program Faculty : Faculty of Language and Arts
Kind of work : Undergraduate Thesis
In developing my knowledge, I agree to provide UKSW with a non-exclusive royalty free right for my intellectual property and the contents there in entitled:
EFL Students’ Imagined Identities and Investments in Their Learning Process
along with any pertinent equipment.
With this non-exclusive royalty free right, UKSW maintains the right to copy, reproduce, print, publish, post, display, incorporate, store in or scan into a retrieval system or database, transmit, broadcast, barter or sell my intellectual property, in whole or in part without my express written permission, as long as my name is still included as the writer.
This declaration is made according to the best of my knowledge. Made in : Salatiga Date : August 2 2016
Verified by signee, _________
Approved by
Thesis Supervisor Thesis Examiner
v
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.
Copyright@ 2016. Sandra Priskila and Gita Hastuti, M. A.
All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners of the English Language Education Program, Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Cover Page ……….……….…..… i
Inside Cover Page ………...…………..…… ii Approval Page ... iii
Publication Agreement Declaration ……… iv
Copyright Statement ……… v
Table of Content ………... vi
Abstract ………...………... 1
INTRODUCTION………..… 1
LITERATURE REVIEW………..……….…... 3
Sociocultural Context in Identities…………...……….. 4
Identities ……….. 5
Imagination ……….... 5
Imagined Identities and Imagined Communities …..……….………… 6
Investments ……….…………...… 6
Learning Process ... 7
Previous Study ………..………. 7
Identity, Investments, and Learning as Interrelated Concepts ………... 8
THE STUDY ………..…… 9
The Method ………..……….. 9
Context ……….……….. 9
The Participants ………..……. 10
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FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION …..………..………. 12
EFL Students‘ Imagined Identities Developed in Their Learning Process
(RQ1)…….………... 12
EFL Students‘ Investments in Their Learning Process (RQ2) ………....…… 15 Investments stated by the participants ………. 16
Asking questions to the teacher ………...….. 16
Taking notes………..…. 16
Investments as perceived by the teacher ……….. 17
Answering teacher’s questions………...… 17
Investments revealed through classroom observations ……….. 17
Interacting with friends by own initiative……….……….… 17
Interacting with friends as a part of learning activities ….…………... 18
Repeating the correct pronunciation given by the teacher ………. 18
CONCLUSION ……… 21
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……….. 23
REFERENCES ……….... 24
APPENDICES ……….. 27
Appendix A ………..……….... 27
Appendix B ……….. 28
Appendix C ……….. 29
Appendix D ……….. 30
Appendix E ……….. 31
1
EFL STUDENTS’ IMAGINED IDENTITIES AND INVESTMENTS IN THEIR
LEARNING PROCESS
Sandra Priskila
Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana
Abstract
A lot of interests have been drawn to identity research in language learning, which used post-structuralist approach (Lamb, 2009). There are many constructs developed to relate identity and language learning, but research using imagined identity and investment concepts are limited, especially in EFL context. To fill in the gap, this
study aimed to examine EFL students‘ imagined identities and investments in their learning process. In imagined identities, ―learners imagine who they might be, and who their communities might be, when they learn a language‖ (Jenkins, 2005 & Jenkins, 2007 as cited in Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 420). On the other hand,
investment ―is a sociological construct, and seeks to make meaningful connections between a learner‘s desire and commitment to learn a language and their changing
identities‖ (Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 420). These notions are relevant with learning process itself since there is a certain social context in which learners can participate and that context creates possibilities to learn English (Norton & Toohey, 2011). Thus, when language learners invest in the target language, they also invest in their own identity (Norton, 2001). The data were obtained through Focus Group Discussions, classroom observations, and an interview. Findings of the study showed that participants imagined different future jobs that represented their future identities. They could also define their imagined communities and how both were related to their current language learning. Besides, their investments in classroom activities were evident and they were able to recognize in which practices they invested more.
Key words: imagined identity, investment, learning process
INTRODUCTION
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institutions. It might imply that English is important for either their study or later career. Looking upon this phenomenon, two questions arose: ―Do the students know what they want to be later?‖ and ―How is this related to their learning now?‖
In the area of TESOL, there seem to have been a lot of recent studies that
investigate students‘ future identities in relation with their language learning. These studies dominantly used post-structuralist approaches (Lamb, 2009). Some studies used future selves and L2 self to talk about identity (e.g. Taguchi, Magid, & Papi, 2009; Yashima, 2009; Lamb, 2011). However, not many discussed the issue using the notion of imagined identities and investments (e.g. Norton, Jones, & Ahimbisibwe, 2011; Norton & Toohey, 2011). Imagined identities can be defined as the identities that are imagined by the language learners, in which ―learners imagine who they
might be, and who their communities might be, when they learn a language‖ (Jenkins,
2005 & Jenkins, 2007 as cited in Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 420). On the other hand,
investment ―is a sociological construct, and seeks to make meaningful connections
between a learner‘s desire and commitment to learn a language and their changing identities‖ (Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 420). Thus, investment can be seen as what learners can do or get to accommodate their willingness in learning a language in order to connect with their identities.
The present study is based on the recommendation from Norton, Jones, and
Ahimbisibwe‘s (2011) study on the relationship between learners‘ investments in
language practices of the digital literacy course and their identities. They recommended examining the relationship between the ability to imagine identities and learning success (Norton, Jones, & Ahimbisibwe, 2011). However, this study only takes the recommendation partially, focusing on examining the investments and imagined identities in EFL students‘ learning process.
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1. What are the imagined identities that EFL students develop in their learning process?
2. What do the students do to invest in their learning process?
This study may generate the results of students‘ imagined identities and investments. Therefore, it might be helpful for the students in imagining their future identities as well as reflecting on their individual investments. By understanding their own imagined identities and investments, hopefully they can improve in their learning process. On the other hand, teachers can also reflect on their ways of teaching while thinking and taking into account of what students can invest in the target language. Since there are not many studies about this in EFL context, conducting this study might be useful in enriching the studies about imagined identities and investments. Moreover, this study can give other researchers idea to do
further studies regarding EFL students‘ identities in their language learning.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Recently, identity discussion has been a great innovation in applied linguistic research (Ricento, 2005), mostly using post-structuralist approach (Lamb, 2009). Post-structuralist approach believes that language is not only an independent set by putting aside the speakers or the speaking, but also highly related to how people socially communicate and create meaning (Bakhtin, 1981, 1984, 1986 as cited in Norton & Toohey, 2011).
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2009; Taguchi, Magid, & Papi, 2009; Yashima, 2009; Lamb, 2011). Psychological dimension emphasized more on the insights of self-psychology and individual‘s main focus of preventing failure (Lamb, 2009). Most of identity research used motivation constructs as the psychological dimension, but there are other aspects to cover such as extraversion and individual differences (Dewaele, 2005). This dimension argued that
learners are ―individually internalizing stable system of language knowledge‖
(Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 419). Therefore, psychological dimension underlined individual aspects in identity formation.
Also included in post-structuralist approach is the sociocultural dimension of identity, as proposed by Ricento (2005) and Norton (2006). Sociocultural dimension
emphasized on ―the ways in which identity is constituted through and by language,
and how these processes occur within broader social discourses with their inscribed
power relations‖ (Ricento, 2005, p. 895). Sociocultural dimension viewed learners as having different position in social and historical communities who use language and language learning as dynamic tools (Norton & Toohey, 2011). Some of the sociocultural elements in identity are investment, gender, race, and ethnicity (Ricento, 2005). Thus, since investment is included in sociocultural dimension, this research will focus more on identities in a sociocultural context.
Sociocultural Context in Identities
Norton (2006) noted that there are five characteristics of identity as a sociocultural conception: 1) identity is conceived as dynamic and changing across
time and place; 2) identity is ―complex, contradictory, and multifaceted‖; 3) identity ―constructs and is constructed by language‖; 4) ―identity construction must be understood with respect to larger social processes, marked by relations of power that
can be either coercive or collaborative‖; and 5) identity theory is often linked with
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constructed, with some sociocultural dimensions related to identity, such as language, power relations, and classroom practice.
Identities
In complement to Norton‘s (2006) sociocultural identity characteristics, post-structuralist approach pointed out that identities ―are seen as multidimensional,
hybrid, and fluid‖ (Faas, 2008, pp. 164). Furthermore, it allowed ―contradiction and
multiple categories of identity‖ which are expected not to be reconciled (pp. 64). In addition, the fluidity of identity seem to be supported with post-structuralist
theoretical framework which challenged ―the idea of a single monolithic truth and identity and regards all absolutes as constructions‖ (pp. 164). In summary, both post -structuralist approach and sociocultural conception agreed that identities are complicated, dynamic, and multidimensional, and that there is no one fixed concept
of one‘s identity.
Imagination
Obviously, the notion of imagination sets a significant point in the constructs of imagined identities and imagined communities. Imagination constructs ―an image of ourselves, of our communities, and of the world, in order to orient ourselves, to
reflect on our situation, and to explore possibilities‖ (Wenger, 2000, pp. 228). In
addition, imagination is required when we think of ourselves as a member of a community and is important to our sense of self and to how we interpret our social
world participation (Wenger, 2000). Therefore, imagination in both learner‘s identity
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Imagined Identities and Imagined Communities
There is a concept of identity that was developed by Kanno and Norton (2003), and Norton and Pavlenko (2007), as cited in Norton and Toohey (2011). This concept integrated imagination with identities; imagination accommodates our desire for future identities and connects this with the communities that we want to be allied with, regardless time and space limit (Norton & Toohey, 2011). This notion is called as imagined identities, with another notion to follow, imagined communities.
Imagined identities and imagined communities ―focus on the future when learners imagine who they might be, and who their communities might be, when they learn a language‖ (Jenkins, 2005 & Jenkins, 2007 as cited in Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 420). Imagined identities are envisioned through imagined communities and it can
impact learners‘ participation in educational practices (Kanno & Norton, 2003). Thus, imagined identities cannot be separated from imagined communities and both are related to language learning process.
Investments
As a complement of motivation constructs, the concept of investment was developed (Norton Peirce, 1995; Norton 2001, 2010, in press as cited in Norton and Toohey, 2011). Investment, as Norton and Toohey (2011) pointed out, ―recognizes that learners often have variable desires to engage in the range of social interactions
and community practices in which they are situated‖ (pp. 420). It differs from motivation since motivation is more likely a psychological construct (Dörnyei, 2001
as cited in Norton & Toohey, 2011), while investment ―is a sociological construct, and seeks to make meaningful connections between a learner‘s desire and
commitment to learn a language and their changing identities‖ (Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 420).
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contains ―knowledge, credentials, and modes of thought that characterize different
classes and groups‖ (Norton & Toohey, 2011, pp. 420). By investing in their target
language, learners can increase the value of their cultural capital and reflect on their desires for the future (Norton & Toohey, 2011).
The existence of this concept can stimulate a question: ―What is the learner‘s investment in the language practices in this classroom?‖ (Norton & Toohey, 2011,
pp. 421). Thus, instead of discussing learner‘s motivation in learning, we may find out the action that learners take and things they learn to prove their commitment in learning.
Learning Process
According to Wenger (2000), learning in social context is a combination between personal experience and social competence. Similarly, Rogoff (1994) assumed that people‘s participation in sociocultural activities in their community can initiate learning and development. This means that there is a certain social context in which learners can participate and that context creates possibilities to learn English (Norton & Toohey, 2011). Referring to Lave & Wenger‘s (1991) formulation of social practice, Norton (2001) argued that language learning is included in it as it
involves learners‘ complicated identities. In conclusion, learning occurs when the learners experience a gap between themselves and a certain social context in which they think they belong to.
Previous Studies
This study is based on the recommendation from Norton, Jones, and
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the end of the course, and also analyzing journal entries from both the instructor and participants. The researchers found out that learners invested in different areas, which are digital literacy, digital information about HIV/AIDS, digital resources, and learner-centered pedagogy. Besides, by being digital literate and broadening their resources, they could project and imagine future identities. Thus, the findings showed that there are learners‘ multiple investments, which are closely related to their imagined identities.
Identity, Investments, and Learning as Interrelated Concepts
Identity, investments, and learning can be seen as interrelated concepts and processes. Wenger (1998) as cited in Pavlenko and Norton (2007) pointed out:
Learning, in turn, will be seen as a situated process of participation in particular communities of practice, which may entail the negotiation of ways of being a person in that context. Thus, ―because learning transforms who we are and what we can do, it is an experience of identity‖ (p. 215), a process of becoming, or avoiding becoming a certain person, rather than a simple accumulation of skills and knowledge. (pp. 670)
Moreover, when personal transformation is combined with evolving social structures, learning takes place (Wenger, 2000). This implies that learning contains the process of identity formation, which is related to the imagination of certain communities a learner hopes to belong to.
In the construct of investment, a language learner is perceived to have ―a
complex history and multiple desires‖ (Norton, 1997, p. 411). This means that when language learners invest in the target language, they also invest in their own identity (Norton, 2001). Besides, ―a learner‘s imagined community invited an imagined identity, and a learner‘s investment in the target language must be understood within
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THE STUDY
This study was based on the research questions:
1. What are the imagined identities that EFL students develop in their learning process?
2. What do the students do to invest in their learning process?
The Method
This study is a qualitative research study, with Focus Group Discussion (FGD), interviews, and classroom observations as the research instruments. It is different from Norton, Jones, and Ahimbisibwe‘s (2011) study, since the research instruments are different. Norton, Jones, and Ahimbisibwe‘s (2011) study seemed to use open-ended questionnaires, while in this research, Focus Group Discussion and interviews were used. For the observations, there were observation protocols, so they can represent teacher‘s journals like what was done in Norton, Jones, and
Ahimbisibwe‘s (2011) study.
Context
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Specifically, one of the Speaking Basic classes was chosen since the context is the learning of English as a Foreign Language, whose learners still need to strengthen their basics to step to the more complicated lessons in learning English.
Furthermore, this is the only class suitable to the research‘s time span and the
availability of the students. Thus, this class matched the context and requirement that the researcher had.
The classroom context for classroom observations will be described as follows by mentioning the topics and activities used during those meetings. In the first classroom observation, the topic was cooking ingredients and the agenda was vocabulary drilling. In this meeting, the activities were vocabulary memorization, written exercises, and a game. The second classroom observation was a discussion class. There were presentations of cooking recipes (the delayed assignment from the
previous topic), discussion on a case of choosing Sophie‘s future husband, and discussion on their fantasy boyfriend. The last classroom observation had a question-led discussion on advertisement. Further details of related activities are explained in necessary parts in Findings and Discussion section.
The Participants
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The participants were three students of Faculty of Information and Technology and two students of Faculty of Economics and Business who joined the same Speaking Basic class in that course. It needs to be students from different majors because the researcher would like to have different views about this issue. For further information, the participants were all female students. However, this research did not take gender into account, so it did not impact the research result. To ensure their confidentiality, they were given pseudonyms, which are Audrey, Diana, Elaine, Ophelia, and Viola. The ones from FIT are Audrey, Diana, and Viola, while the ones from FEB are Elaine and Ophelia.
In addition, I included their teacher as a supporting participant. She was interviewed to seek teachers‘ views of their students‘ investments and improvements. She was also given a pseudonym which is Ms. Patricia.
Data Collection
The data were collected using two FGD sessions for the students at the beginning and approaching the end of the course. The teacher was interviewed once approaching the end of the course. Classroom observations were done three times, with the range of four to six meetings in between.
The data collected from the first FGD session were about their imagined identities, investments, and learning process. Then, the observations were done in order to prove and match the investments that the students said in their first FGD.
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Data Analysis
The data analysis was based on the themes framed and other themes that emerged in the FGD, interview, and classroom observations. The themes framed are students‘ imagined identities (RQ1) and students‘ investments (RQ2). Other issues surfaced from the FGD and classroom observation were included in both themes, such as other investments seen in classroom observations, which were not mentioned in FGD. Following-up the theme grouping of FGD, interview, and observation results, all of them will be synthesized and related to the literature.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The data collected from the Focus Group Discussions, interview, and observations will be presented based on the research questions:
1. What are the imagined identities that EFL students develop in their learning process?
2. What do the students do to invest in their learning process?
For research question 1 (RQ1), the data are analyzed and discussed based on the
similarities and differences in participants‘ ideas. Meanwhile, the data for research question 2 (RQ2) are classified into the kinds of investments that the students did.
EFL Students’ Imagined Identities Developed in Their Learning Process (RQ1) For this research, the context of imagined identities is narrowed down to
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learning process. Therefore, their answers are discussed based on the similarities and differences in their ideas.
Although the participants had different choices of future jobs, there is one job that some of them had in common: an entrepreneur. Audrey, Ophelia and Viola were
the ones who expected this job. The desire to become an entrepreneur is ―because I don‘t like to be a follower. So I want to lead,‖ as Ophelia said. Although she wanted
to be an entrepreneur, Viola would like to experience working in a company first as a
hardware support. Later, ―I don‘t want to be an employee all my life; I want to become an entrepreneur, opening my own business.‖
The other two chose different jobs. Diana, who majors in Technology and Information Department, preferred to be a database analyst. Other than related to her field of study, she also reasoned that, ―…database analysts are needed in every
company.‖ On the other hand, as a Business Management student, Elaine aimed to be a CEO of a company. She mentioned that CEO is one example of notable positions in a company. However, she has not yet had any goal of what kind of company that she wanted to work in.
Basically, they chose the job that suited their current major. However, interestingly, Audrey chose to be an entrepreneur, which is not really related to her study in Technology and Information Department. She was specifically interested in
culinary business, but ―I want to apply what I‘m studying now for my business…only
in some areas, though.‖
Imagined identities are envisioned through imagined communities (Kanno & Norton, 2003). The participants‘ were able to imagine their future identities because they knew what kind of communities that they may belong to in the future. Generally, they expected to interact with foreign people. These people can be their colleagues or business partners, depending on their expected job.
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had different future job choices—even a job that is different from their major in college now. Their dream jobs are also related to their imagined communities, which they expected to involve foreign people as colleagues or business partners. Elaine
mentioned, ―Indonesia will join AEC [ASEAN Economic Community] soon, so there will be people from other countries coming here.‖ She was aware of what might
happen in the future and it became her desired community also. Therefore, since they have imagined identities and imagined communities, they hoped to be able to become people with those identities by learning.
These students, despite their busy college life, must have their own reasons for joining a private course. Generally, their reasons to learn English are to be confident in speaking English, to be able to communicate with foreign people, to add more value to their competence, and to be able to compete in getting a job. This implies that learning English is not only for their personal improvement, but there may also be a demand from the society in terms of ability.
This kind of phenomenon is related with the concept of learning described by Wenger (2000). Learning can be socially defined as a crossroad of social competence and personal experience (Wenger, 2000). Competence and experience, as Wenger pointed out, pull each other in different situations and when they do, learning
happens. In participants‘ cases, social competence seems to pull its rope. All of them agreed that ―being able to speak English shows that we are competent.‖ They took account of what people think of those who have certain positions, like CEO and business owners. As in Elaine‘s view, ―What would people think of a CEO who cannot speak English? It‘s embarrassing.‖ Besides, Viola argued, ―A business for people to look up to has to have a educated business leader. When a
well-educated business leader can speak English, I guess it‘s good [for his/her business].‖
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reflect on their experience and improve the lacks by learning. In refrain with the other participants, Audrey admitted that they ―want to be fluent in conversing; not only in writing or just understanding, but also speaking. So, they [the interlocutors]
understand what we‘re saying.‖ Participants‘ admittance proved that they ―need to
align experience with the competence ‗they‘ define‖ (Wenger, 2000, p. 227), with
‗they‘ here refers to the society.
Sociocultural approach sees language learners as members of social and historical communities in different positions who use language and language learning as a dynamic tool (Norton & Toohey, 2011). The participants have imagined their future jobs, which make them have different positions in their desired communities. Besides, their goals in learning are somehow related to their imagined identities and imagined communities. They learned English to equip and prepare themselves to
obtain those sociocultural positions and meet the society‘s demand. Thus, their learning seems to be an impact of orientation towards imagined communities as it is a direct involvement in their daily life communities, just as Pavlenko and Norton (2007) suggested.
EFL Students’ Investments in Their Learning Process (RQ2)
Based on the question, ―What is the learner‘s investment in the language
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Investments stated by the participants. The investments that the
participants mentioned were asking questions to the teacher and taking notes.
Asking questions to the teacher. In the first Focus Group Discussion, all participants agreed that they needed to ask if there were difficulties. As Elaine said,
―we don‘t need to be embarrassed to ask in order to improve.‖ Mostly, the question
would be, ―What is the meaning of…?‖ They questioned the English equivalent of
certain Indonesian words and vice versa. The other question was ―How to pronounce…?‖ Ms. Patricia, the teacher, confirmed this in the interview. She could see that ―if they do not know certain word, they will ask me, ―Miss, what is the
meaning of this?‖‖ When they were not familiar with particular words, they would ask these two questions.
In a discussion, the participants asked the teacher the same question that the teacher did. It happened in one meeting when the researcher did the second classroom observation. The language point was describing people and the topic was about fantasy boyfriend. The participants were asked to describe their fantasy boyfriend. In
the end, they asked the teacher back. The questions were: ―Who is your fantasy
boyfriend and what are his characteristics?‖ and ―When did you get proposed?‖
Another occasion when they asked questions was when they got assignments. They asked questions related to the assignment, specifically the parts that they did not understand. Ms. Patricia also admitted that the participants were willing to ask about
―something that they do not know.‖ Thus, the participants invested in the language in the form of questions when they encountered new vocabulary, when they were curious about something, and when they needed further explanation on assignments.
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were not on the vocabulary list. Sometimes, they also jotted down the correct spelling when there was a mistyped word. In discussions, some of the participants also wrote down their ideas according to the questions that led the discussions. Therefore, this investment was done to record vocabularies and ideas.
Investments as perceived by the teacher. The investment that the teacher
noticed was answering teacher‘s questions.
Answering teacher’s questions. Despite having limited vocabulary and expressions, the participants still did their best to respond to their teacher‘s questions. They might speak with grammatical or pronunciation error, but they tried to share their ideas or simply answer vocabulary questions. Ms. Patricia acknowledged this as
a great effort of her students. ―Of course when they try to share their ideas, when they
try to answer my question, it‘s effort. It is different if they stay silent and not saying
anything.‖ In her opinion, their willingness to speak was the most important thing that they could learn.
Investments revealed through classroom observations. The investments
that were visible in classroom observations were interacting with friends by own initiative, interacting with friends as a part of learning activities, and repeating correct pronunciation given by the teacher.
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For arranging ideas, it happened once during the second classroom observation. Diana asked Ophelia, ―Which one do you choose?‖ It was for a discussion activity, where they were given a case of a woman named Sophie who would choose her future husband. There were three options of men and another option was to continue her career. They discussed a while of which man they would choose.
In addition, the participants also corrected each other‘s pronunciation when
there were mistakes. They would sometimes yell and shout if the same person pronounced the same words over and over again. Briefly, the participants actually initiated interaction in order to help each other to learn and to share their ideas.
Interacting with friends as a part of learning activities. In learning activities, there would definitely be interaction; moreover this class is a speaking class. These interactions happened in games and discussions. In the first classroom observation,
there was a game called ―Who am I?‖ The game‘s purpose was to find out their friends‘ identities by asking yes/no questions to them. Thus, in this game, the
interaction occurred in the form of asking questions and responding to them.
Discussions usually went on based on questions. In the second and third classroom observations, the researcher saw that there were some questions to lead the discussion. In the second classroom observation, they discussed Sophia‘s future husband, which led to a slight argument between Ophelia and Elaine. On the other hand, the discussion in the third classroom observation showed more interaction between teacher and students. The interaction among the students occurred when they
agreed with each other or when they added each other‘s opinions.
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pronunciation, they repeated it right away. Sometimes they repeated it more than once. The other occasion when they did this was when the teacher gave feedback for their presentation in the second classroom observation. Briefly, the participants repeated the correct pronunciation which the teacher gave in vocabulary drilling and presentation.
Based on the descriptions above, it is sure that the participants actually invested in the classroom activities. Basically, they always tried to speak English as much as they can, even though sometimes they ended up using Indonesian due to lack of vocabulary and expressions. They used English to ask and to share their ideas in order to engage in the classroom activities.
Although they learned many things from the course, the ones that they most invested in were vocabularies and confidence. Ms. Patricia also approved this in the interview, saying that the most important thing to learn is the willingness and confidence to speak and followed by enrichment of vocabulary. The participants can
relate to the vocabularies in daily life, like Audrey said, ―When I see something, I know what this is [in English].‖ Besides, they also knew how to deliver a presentation appropriately and how to engage in a discussion. These two things are important to
apply ―in a meeting or brainstorming, especially in group works and if we‘re working
in a company,‖ as Audrey said. In this sense, the participants have increased their cultural capital value, specifically linguistic capital (Bourdieu, 1977), while evaluating their future desires (Norton & Toohey, 2011) which are depicted in their imagined identities and imagined communities.
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2011) or market—the social conditions where people can use the language (Bourdieu, 1977). To draw the line, in this case, the participants‘ market is their imagined communities, where they can interact with foreign colleagues and business partners. They showed the desire to engage in the community by investing in the language and its practices, and by distinguishing which are useful in the future social interactions. As shown in the previous paragraph, they realized that they needed to enlarge their vocabularies to be able to talk about more topics and issues and learn how to engage in a discussion since it might be useful in a meeting when they work later on. Furthermore, they also invested more in the confidence to speak with no fear of speaking inaccurately, which was shown in their active participation of class discussion and presentation delivery. Both teacher and students acknowledged these aspects as what they invest more in the language practices. Thus, their participation in the learning process shows that they invest in their imagined communities also (Norton, 2001; Pavlenko & Norton, 2007 as cited in Alsagoff, 2012).
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CONCLUSION
This research investigated language learners‘ imagined identities and investments in their learning process. Findings of this study suggest that learners could project their imagined identities as entrepreneurs, a CEO, a hardware support and a database analyst. Furthermore, their imagined communities were reflected in interaction with foreign people as business partners or colleagues. Thus, these projections have answered Research Question 1 (RQ1) ―What are the imagined identities that EFL students develop in their learning process?‖
The participants put efforts in their classroom activities and were able to figure out which materials or language practices were more useful for their future practices. Enriched vocabulary, ability to participate in a discussion, and confidence in speaking were the language practices that they invested more as the result of doing all the efforts. The presence of their investments have relevantly answered Research Question 2 (RQ2) ―What do the students do to invest in their learning process?‖ As they focus on their imagined identities and imagined communities, participants invest in their learning to achieve their desire. As a result, participants were able to project their future identities and relate them to their investments in the language learning process and to the language learning process itself.
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As a limitation, the sample of this study cannot be used to generalize that all students of those majors would choose their imagined identities or invest like the participants did. Besides, the participants were all female. The data could be more varied if there were male participants. Moreover, there is time limitation for this research that might be quite an issue to obtain richer data. Thus, limited number of participants, only female participants, and time span were this research‘s limitation.
Since this study takes the perspectives of learners, it might be interesting to
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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Appendices
Appendix A
FGD Protocol 1 for Students 1. Learning English
- Why do you learn English?
- Why do you choose to take a class in a private course? - What do you expect to learn in this class?
- How well do you want to improve yourself in learning English? 2. Motivation
- What is your motivation to learn English? - Does the motivation help you in learning? 3. Investments
- How do you plan to get involved in class activities? - What are your efforts in learning English?
4. Identity
- What comes up on your mind when you heard the word identity? - What do you think makes up your identity?
5. Imagined identity
- A brief explanation of what imagined identity is. - How do you project your future career?
- In relation with your career and English learning, what kind of person do you want to be in the future?
- Do you have any thought about the community you want to belong to in the future?
Does it have something to do with your future career? 6. Identity and investment
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Appendix B
FGD Protocol 2 for Students
1. Learning English
- Is your reason of learning English still the same as at the beginning of the course?
Whether it changes or not, why? 2. Investments
- How did you put some efforts in learning English in this class? - What are the most important lessons that you learn in English?
Will it be useful for your future career?
- Does the teacher teach things that you want to learn?
- Is there anything that you want to learn but you did not get in this class? - What are the most helpful and the least helpful class activities that you
experienced? Why?
3. Identity, investments, and learning process - How well did you perform in the class?
- What do you think about your improvement in English?
- While you were learning, are there any changes towards your future career? Why and how?
- Does your projection of future career help you in setting up the goals in your learning?
- By having projected your future career, how will you role in your imagined community?
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Appendix C
Interview Protocol for Teacher
1. Investments
- What do you think of students‘ performance in the class? - Can you see the efforts that they put into their learning?
What are they?
- What do you think are the most important things that students need to learn? 2. Learning process and investments
- How well do the students improve their English skills?
- Do you see any differences in students‘ skills during the course? - Do you think their efforts to learn have something to do with their
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Appendix D
Excerpt sample of FGD 1
Researcher : Yeah, right. Well, talking about career, you all have told me what you want to be. You are currently learning English, right? Do you think your future projection has something to do with your learning now?
Elaine : There surely is.
Researcher : Elaine, why? How is it related?
Elaine : Since I want to be a CEO, I might have an encounter with foreign clients. Maybe we also cooperate in the business since we not only do that with local companies. I also think suppliers from foreign companies can help my company. English is a must-mastered language. What would people think of a CEO who cannot
speak English? It‘s embarrassing.
Ophelia : An entrepreneur work not only with local people, but also with foreigners to be able to reach the goal. So, I have to learn English for the future of my business.
Viola : I agree with her. I learn English because later I will work. I want to be an entrepreneur, so I have to be able to use English well. If I can get foreign clients, I can use my English. I think a business for people to look up to has to have a well-educated business leader. When a well-educated business leader can speak English, I guess it‘s good [for his/her business].
Diana : I think so because it is very much related. If I become an analyst, the language used is not Indonesian. It uses English, so it will be helpful for my career. Audrey : I agree with them. Like what they said, it is nonsense to stick with
speaking Indonesian only. I also want…if I am successful, I want to have a relation
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Appendix E
Excerpt sample of FGD 2
Researcher : Okay. Next, what did you learn from this class? Elaine : Vocabulary, presentation…
Audrey : …and discussion.
Researcher : In your opinion, will it be useful for your future, either in career or in your study now?
Participants : Sure.
Researcher : How is it useful? For example, how is learning how to do a discussion useful for your future?
Audrey : Discussion might be useful when, for example, we work in a company. There should be meetings or brainstorming sessions, so it can be a guide for our future job. The other is when we are studying now, there are group works and we surely need discussions. We learn from that also.
Researcher : What do you think, Elaine, vocabulary is useful for?
Elaine : To enlarge the vocabulary itself and also to broaden our knowledge. Researcher : Now, let‘s discuss more on the class generally. As you mentioned earlier, you learn vocabulary, discussion, presentation. Does the teacher teach things that you want to learn?
Participants : Yes
Researcher : Then, is there anything that you want to learn or to know more but you did not get in this class? Is there any?
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Appendix F
Excerpt sample of teacher‘s interview
Researcher : Okay. From the things that the students learn, what do you think is the most important?
Ms. Patricia : The most important thing? Researcher : …in the class—in this class.
Ms. Patricia : What do you mean? Maybe about the material or…?
Researcher : It can be anything. It can be the material, like the vocabulary, or the skills like presentation skills, or speaking skills, discussion, and whatever.
Ms. Patricia : Okay. I think all is important, but…yeah, vocabulary is important to prepare them for the following discussion and presentation, so usually we put it in the beginning of the course. Maybe the first five meetings will be about vocabulary building to prepare them to be able to use the vocabulary. So, that‘s why we put vocabulary in the beginning to prepare them, so that they will have enough
vocabulary first, then later we can have presentation or maybe discussion. But I think the most important thing is the willingness to speak. Yeah, the willingness to speak,
because sometimes…the willingness and also the confidence to speak first in front of
the friends. It is the most important thing because when they have confidence to speak, they will speak fluently although sometimes the grammar is not that suitable. But if they fluently speaking, it helps a lot.
Researcher : Okay. So, I can see that there are many activities that you use in the class. What kind of activities do the students seem to be most active?
