Linguistic Diversity: A qualitative analysis of foreign language teachers' category assembly

Abstract

The importance of the topic of linguistic diversity is more patent than ever when considering within the framework of the increasing numbers of newly arrived students to the Catalonian schools. Considering teachers' perspectives about linguistic diversity is especially relevant if taken into account within a theoretical framework which considers linguistic diversity an important tool for the acquisition of further languages. This doctoral thesis, "Linguistic Diversity: A Qualitative Analysis of Foreign Language Teachers' Category Assembly" presented by Melinda Dooly Owenby on the 25 April and directed by Dr. Luci Nussbaum, studies foreign language teachers' perspectives towards students whose language is different from the school's vehicular language.<br/>The research was carried out through a qualitative analysis of the way in which both inservice and preservice teachers constructed categories during conversations about linguistic diversity. The principal questions of the research were the following:<br/>- Question: Are there any predominant categorizations of linguistic and cultural diversity in the interactions between groups of preservice and inservice teachers and if so, which ones?<br/>- Question: Are there any significant differences in their categorizations of linguistic and cultural diversity between preservice and inservice teachers and if so, which ones?<br/>- Question: With preservice teachers, does it make a difference if they have participated in international and intercultural projects, exchanges or experiences, compared to the attitudes of preservice teachers who have not?<br/>- Question: Is there indication of evolution in the category assemblies over the course of the research?<br/>In the theoretical part of the research, the first chapter discusses some previous studies on cognitive schemes and how they affect teacher behaviour and subsequent expectations in the classroom. It also introduces the rationale for the Baktinian, dialogic approach taken in the research and explains how it fits with the ethnomethodological understanding of categorizations, stemming from a common "stock of social knowledge". The chapter also discusses the reasons behind taking a qualitative approach rather than a quantitative one and provides a literature review of teacher expectations because categorization concerning teacher expectations is a key issue in the research. <br/>The second chapter of my research goes into further detail about how I adapted Sacks' Membership Categorization Analysis as a principal part of the research approach. It explains what MCA is and how it can be applied to the research, as well as providing some definitions and examples of the more technical aspects of MCA.<br/>The other theoretical chapters enter into the topic of diversity, which is the principal focus of the analysis and how conversation participants often categorize the "other" according to features of diversity. Reflective teaching and language awareness is considered since it provides the main focus of the proposals made in this research, based on the results of the category analysis. I also provide a theoretical background of the approach taken as well as a practical outline of its application to the research.<br/>The analysis itself consists of a qualitative conversation analysis of over 100 extracts taken from approximately 25 hours of recordings of three groups, one inservice and two preservice groups, all of whom are discussing linguistic and cultural diversity. The extracts were selected according to the frequency of the category mentioned (e.g. linguistic diversity categorized as a problem) and how the actual category was constructed (the negotiation of the category, attenuating features, common background knowledge which was visibly accessed, etc.). This is followed by a closer examination of some of the categories, particularly looking at differences in the way in the positive and negative category were assembled by the preservice groups and the inservice teachers.