Dissertations and Theses

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Department

English

First Advisor

Missy Watson

Second Advisor

Thomas Peele

Keywords

Critical Pedagogy; Critical Discourse Analysis; Language Ideology; Multilingualism; English language learning; Haitian-Creole; Haiti

Abstract

This paper draws on data collected from a critical self-reflective writing workshop series within an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom in The Republic of Haiti. This Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) case study investigates 7 students’ critical self-reflection writing to uncover language-related ideologies embedded within the meaning-making experiences of multilingual language users at a community-based organization. Although students generally show positive or negative attitudes towards language, the use of critical classroom discourse allows students to move beyond generic positive and negative framing when talking about language. Using Gardner’s L2 learner motivation model, this case study explores “instrumental” and “integrative" motivations of student participants within geopolitical contexts. An analysis of student writing reveals various geopolitical factors that enhance the ways student motivations and language ideologies are represented and enacted in their classwork. Data also highlights a distinction in attitude towards dominant and non-dominant varieties of English. According to student data, attitudes that correlate to extrinsic/instrumental motivations tend to prioritize dominant varieties of English, whereas student attitudes correlating to intrinsic/integrative motivations tend to prioritize non-dominant varieties of English.

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