How a Short-Term Study-Abroad Experience Changed a Taiwanese TESOL Student\'s Language Learner/Teacher Identity: Insights from Social Identity Theory

• Main Authors: Abu Hmeidan, Haneen, 莫哈妮
• Other Authors: Chao, Chin-Chi
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/vqhgfq

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 英國語文學系 === 107 === Studying abroad is an experience that many students look forward to. However, they may not be aware that this cross-cultural experience could involve major transition and change in cultural identity and intergroup relations. Although research has been done on the process and transitions sojourners might face during the exchange experience, the TESOL graduate student's experience as both a language learner and future teacher has not been fully addressed. This study investigates how a Taiwanese TESOL graduate student coped with her intercultural encounters during exchange in the U.S. from the eye of the Social Identity Theory (SIT), and the impact such experience had on her identity as an English learner and teacher. The data was collected through three extended and in-depth interviews, as well as the participant’s diary and blogs. Two aspects are highlighted within the theory, the first being the role of social categorization and social comparison in relation to self-esteem, coupled with in-group favoritism and out-group derogation (Tajfel and Turner 1986), and the second is the varied effects of specific cross-cultural diversity. This sort of development has made her become more confident as a competent English teacher as she broke off the anxiety that emerged from not being a native speaker and accepted herself as a Taiwanese and a bilingual. Suggestions are provided to help TESOL students benefit from exchange experiences by raising awareness to what to expect before study-abroad trip.