The adjustment process of sojourning English language teachers

256 Pages·2016·1.69 MB·English

University of Iowa
Iowa Research Online
Theses and Dissertations
Summer 2014
The adjustment process of sojourning English
language teachers
Jeremy Daniel Slagoski
University of Iowa
Copyright 2014 Jeremy Slagoski
This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/1397
Recommended Citation
Slagoski, Jeremy Daniel. "The adjustment process of sojourning English language teachers." PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis,
University of Iowa, 2014.
http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/1397.
Follow this and additional works at:http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd
Part of theTeacher Education and Professional Development Commons
THE ADJUSTMENT PROCESS OF SOJOURNING ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TEACHERS
by
Jeremy Daniel Slagoski
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in Teaching and Learning
(Foreign Language and ESL Education)
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
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August 2014
Thesis Supervisors: Associate Professor Leslie L. Schrier
Assistant Professor Lia M. Plakans
Copyright by
JEREMY DANIEL SLAGOSKI
2014
All Rights Reserved
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Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
_______________________
PH.D. THESIS
_______________
This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of
Jeremy Daniel Slagoski
has been approved by the Examining Committee
for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy
degree in Teaching and Learning (Foreign Language and ESL Education)
at the August 2014 graduation.
Thesis Committee: ___________________________________
Leslie L. Schrier, Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Lia M. Plakans, Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Pamela M. Wesely
___________________________________
Carolyn Colvin
___________________________________
Sonia Ryang
To my wife, Jenevieve M. Nelson, and to my daughter, Autumn, who provided the love,
support, and happiness I needed to endure the process of earning my PhD.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my dissertation committee co-chairs, Dr. Leslie Schrier and
Dr. Lia Plakans for their support and patience with my meticulous transition to becoming
a researcher. Their advice and feedback helped me stay focused while keeping in mind
the larger scope of this project. I also owe my gratitude to my other committee members:
Dr. Pamela Wesely for her thorough suggestions, Dr. Carolyn Colvin for providing new
perspectives, and to Dr. Sonia Ryang for keeping my viewpoints and interpretation of
culture honest. Before enrolling at the University of Iowa, I gained my confidence to
pursue my PhD degree through my discussions with my mentor Dr. Jodi Crandall, who
was my advisor from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and my interactions
with Dr. Ludmilla Kozhevnikova, who was my counterpart and mentor during my Senior
English Language Fellowship in Russia. I am grateful to both Dr. Crandall and Dr.
Kozhevnikova for helping to provide me with the mindset and the preparation to become
a researcher.
My best ally through this whole process has been my colleague, Hiromi
Takayama, who knew me as an English language teacher at the University of Wisconsin
at La Crosse and who grew with me as a PhD student and candidate at the University of
Iowa. Together we learned more about our strengths and our potential, and I felt lucky to
have her as a friend. I would also like to thank my fellow English language teachers who
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helped me both directly and indirectly on the road to my PhD degree: Adam Halbur for
his insight and editing skills, the 2011 summer intensive English program faculty team at
the International University of Japan for their help and interest in my pilot research
project, and everyone at the ESL Institute at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse for
their wonderful farewell as I left their program to develop professionally in Iowa.
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ABSTRACT
This multiple case study was designed to explore the adjustment and cultural
learning of sojourning English language teachers (ELTs) in Japan and South Korea.
Qualitative research methods were used to design the study and to collect the data. Using
Holliday’s Host Culture Complex model (1994) as a theoretical framework, shared
patterns in the adjustment process emerged from the participants’ blogs and interviews.
The patterns provide evidence supporting cultural learning through relationships with
various people in different parts of the host culture complex. The strongest pattern
revealed that the relationship between sojourning ELTs and their co-teachers was one of
the more beneficial relationships for the sojourners’ cultural learning. However, these
relationships were only found in government-sponsored English language programs, such
as the JET Program in Japan and EPIK in South Korea. Another strong pattern revealed
that the participants’ relationships with their significant others marked a shift in their
adjustment patterns in one or more parts of the host culture complex. This study
prompted the creation of a new revised host culture complex, which includes foreigners
within the target culture. These foreigners, some who are also sojourning ELTs, have
shown to influence the adjustment process of the participants. Additionally, this study
demonstrates the use of social media for research and professional development in
English language education.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................1

Research Project Overview ...............................................................................1
Situating the Principal Investigator in Online Communities for
Sojourning ELTs ...............................................................................................4
Investigating Sojourning ELTs .........................................................................5
Implications for Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) .......................8
Purpose ...........................................................................................................10
Research Questions .........................................................................................11
Secondary research questions ..................................................................11
Definition of Terms and Acronyms (through all chapters) ............................12

CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ......................................................15

The Host Culture Complex .............................................................................15
The Six Parts of the Host Culture Complex ............................................17
Culture .....................................................................................................18
Sojourning English Language Teachers in the Host Culture Complex .........20
The Contact Zone: Adjustment in the Classroom ...................................20
Student Culture .................................................................................23
Types of Classroom Cultures ...........................................................25
Teacher Identity and Learners’ Needs and Expectations .................26
Teacher Identity ........................................................................26
Learners’ Needs and Expectations ............................................28
Conclusion ........................................................................................29
The Role of the English Language in Japan and Korea ..........................30
English language teaching in Japan .................................................31
English in Japanese Elementary and Secondary Schools .........33
English in Japanese Universities ...............................................35
Private English Language Schools in Japan .............................37
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English in Japanese Culture and Society ..................................39
English language teaching in South Korea ......................................40
English in Korean Elementary and Secondary Schools ............41
English in Korean Universities .................................................43
Private English Language Schools in South Korea ..................44
English in Korean Culture and Society .....................................45
Conclusion ........................................................................................47
Sojourning English Language Teachers and the Host Culture Complex ......48
Assistant Language Teachers ..................................................................49
Higher Education in Japan and Korea .....................................................52
Private Language Schools .......................................................................52
Conclusion ...............................................................................................53
The Adjustment Process of Sojourners...........................................................53
Sojourners ................................................................................................54
Theories in Sojourner Studies .................................................................56
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Culture Shock and Cultural Learning ...............................................56
Culture Shock and the U-curve Hypothesis .....................................57
Identity Change ................................................................................59
Sojourner Studies and English Language Teachers ................................60
Conclusion ......................................................................................................62

CHAPTER THREE METHODS .......................................................................................64

The Study ........................................................................................................64
Multiple Case Studies .....................................................................................65
Qualitative Research ................................................................................65
Constructivist Paradigm ..........................................................................66
Negotiated Perspective ............................................................................67
The Host Culture Complex ......................................................................67
Case Study Studies .........................................................................................69
Single and Multiple Case Studies ............................................................69
Holistic and Embedded Case Studies ......................................................71
Data Collection ...............................................................................................72
Target Sites ..............................................................................................72
Target Population ....................................................................................72
Participant Selection Process ...................................................................73
Blogs ...............................................................................................................74
Interviews .......................................................................................................77
Asynchronous Interviews ........................................................................78
Synchronous Interviews ..........................................................................79
Differences between Internet and Traditional Interviews .......................81
Data Collection Procedures ............................................................................84
Data Collection Timetable .......................................................................85
Data Analysis ..................................................................................................86
Blog Data .................................................................................................87
Interview Data Analysis ..........................................................................89
Qualitative Validity ........................................................................................90
Credibility .......................................................................................................91
Member checks and Collaborative modes of research ............................92
Researcher’s biases ..................................................................................92
Triangulation ...........................................................................................94
Online Research and Blogs ..............................................................95
Reliability ................................................................................................96
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Transferability .........................................................................................97
Conclusion ......................................................................................................97

CHAPTER FOUR OVERVIEW OF THE FINDINGS .....................................................98

The Participants ..............................................................................................99
Co-Teachers as Primary Cultural Informants ...............................................103
Relationships with Japanese or Korean English language teachers
(ELTs) ....................................................................................................104
Phil’s Co-Teachers ................................................................................105
Co-Teachers as Part of the Host Institution Culture.......................110
Luke’s Co-Teachers ...............................................................................112
Phil and Luke’s Adjustment Process ..............................................117
Dionne’s Co-Teachers ...........................................................................119
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John’s Co-Teachers ...............................................................................122
Summary ................................................................................................123
Adjusting to the National Culture .................................................................124
Importance of Adjusting to the National Culture ..................................124
Early Social Patterns ..............................................................................127
The Importance of the Significant Other ...............................................134
Phil’s Girlfriend ..............................................................................135
Sophie’s Fiancé ..............................................................................139
John’s Wife ....................................................................................141
Luke’s Girlfriend ............................................................................143
Significant Others and Cultural Learning ......................................143
Single Case Findings .............................................................................144
Dionne’s Faith ................................................................................144
John’s Home ...................................................................................147
Adjusting to the Host Institution Culture......................................................148
Adjusting to Private Language Schools ................................................149
Adjusting to Higher Education Institutions ...........................................151
Social Media ..........................................................................................153
Adjusting to the Classroom Culture .............................................................154
Adjusting to the Professional-Academic Culture .........................................158
Adjusting to the Other Parts of the Host Culture Complex ..........................160
Amendment to the Host Culture Complex ...................................................163
Revised Host Culture Complex .............................................................163
Adjusting to Other Foreigners ......................................................................167
Luke’s Foreign Friends ..........................................................................168
Social Media ..........................................................................................171
Other Sojourning or Migrant ELTs .......................................................173
Foreigners outside the ELT Profession .................................................174
Leaving Japan and Korea ..............................................................................175
Phil’s Departure .....................................................................................176
Luke’s Planned Departure .....................................................................177
Leaving the Host Culture Complex .......................................................178
Chapter Summary .........................................................................................179

CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS .....181

Introduction ...................................................................................................181
Shared Variations of Adjustment..................................................................181
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Describing Adjustment .................................................................................183
External and Internal Factors ........................................................................185
Ways of Adjusting and Failing to Adjust .....................................................186
Cultural Learning and Adjustment ........................................................186
Significance of the Study ..............................................................................187
Implications of the Study ..............................................................................190
Implications for Sojourning ELTs .........................................................190
Implications for Professional Development ..........................................192
Teaching English for Glocalized Communication .......................................194
Recommendations for Further Research ......................................................194
Limitations on Participants ....................................................................195
Limitations Enforced in Analysis ..........................................................197
The Revised Host Culture Complex ......................................................200
Recommendations for Other Disciplines ......................................................202
Second Language Education Studies .....................................................202
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