<div dir="ltr"><div id="content">
<h2 class="">Stories Bring It Home</h2>
<div class="" id="post-123265">
<div class="">
<div class=""><a href="http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=123265#" title="Facebook" class=""><span style="background-color:rgb(48,88,145)" class=""><span class="">Share on facebook</span></span></a><a href="http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=123265#" title="Tweet" class=""><span style="background-color:rgb(44,168,210)" class=""><span class="">Share on twitter</span></span></a><a href="http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=123265#" title="Email" target="_blank" class=""><span style="background-color:rgb(115,138,141)" class=""><span class="">Share on email</span></span></a><a href="http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=123265#" title="Pinterest" target="_blank" class=""><span style="background-color:rgb(200,40,40)" class=""><span class="">Share on pinterest_share</span></span></a><a href="http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=123265#" class=""><span style="background-color:rgb(252,109,76)" class=""><span class="">More Sharing Services</span></span></a><a href="http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=123265#" title="View more services" target="_blank" class="">0</a></div><div>
<div><img title="Stories Bring It Home" src="http://languagemagazine.com/internetedition/images/stories_mar15.jpg" alt="" height="330" width="495"></div>
<div>
<h3><em>Kate Nguyen</em> and <em>Nile Stanley</em> research resilience in language learners and its relationship to storytelling</h3>
</div>
<p>International students who study a second language abroad may
experience more adjustment problems than their domestic peers
(Narra-Tumma & Claudius, 2013). The challenges they face can include
problems with immigration/visa status, separation from family, limited
financial resources, isolation due to difficulty speaking a new language
and learning unfamiliar customs, and negotiating a new educational
system. Di Maria and Kwai (2014) explored the attitudes toward foreign
students of staff members in student-affairs offices at colleges and
found that as many as 64% said their offices were not doing anything
specifically to accommodate the international student population, and
90% said they wanted more training on how to help such students be
successful. The researchers concluded that the conversation for
international educators should shift from recruit.</p>
<p>To succeed and maintain their wellbeing, foreign language learners
must be resilient. Benson, Bodycott, and Brown (2013) emphasized that
study abroad is a holistic experience with a variety of potential
benefits including linguistic, cultural, personal, professional, and
intercultural. Achieving personal outcomes of language proficiency and
competence requires individuals to overcome challenges, and to form and
project a new second-language identity. </p>
<p>Storytelling is an educational technique that may play an important
role in the process of language development. Not enough is known about
the relationship between storytelling and the psychological resilience
of the adult learner. Adults draw upon stories for strength in multiple
contexts. </p>
<p>“Stories make life coherent; they give us a sense of who we are and
where we’ve come from, and they give us a picture of the future that we
can either work toward or avoid,” writes H. B. Harvey (2013, p5). The
stories our language learners tell reveal their deepest longings, hopes,
and fears.</p>
<p>One can recall the stories of childhood; one can recall the past and
present stories of adulthood; and one can tell stories, and some learn
to teach through stories. Storytelling forces learners to self-reflect
on what makes learning a language easy or difficult. Listening to our
students’ stories is therapeutic and can help us get a handle on the
trajectories of their lives.</p>
<p>The purpose of this research study is to produce information about
the relationships between experiencing storytelling as a child and adult
resilience in language learning. A narrative interview technique,
informed by the research, is discussed for language teachers to diagnose
and nurture their students’ resilience.</p>
<p><strong>Resilience</strong><br>
Researchers stated that while debate continues as to what constitutes
resilient behavior and how best to measure adaption to hardship, certain
trends have emerged (Zolkoski & Bullock, 2012). Psychologists have
moved away from vulnerability/deficit models of resilience. A paradigm
shift has occurred that focuses on strengths as opposed to deficits and
on health as opposed to illness. Resilience is viewed as part of
ordinary healthy development, rather than as extraordinary. Resilience
is not viewed as a one-dimensional trait that an individual either has
or has not. Resilient behaviors are often expressed in various degrees,
depending on the context of the challenging circumstances. Further
research should focus on finding assets and resources that promote
healthy outcomes.</p>
<p><strong>Resilience and Storytelling</strong><br>
Storytelling plays an important part in the development of identity and
autobiographical memories as children mature into adults (Dingfielder,
2008). Storytelling creates a sense of belonging and connectedness.
Family histories are an important vehicle through which to create
meaning and a sense of intergenerational self. Storytelling links past
experiences to the present, while providing a rich resource for
emotional coping and psychological resilience to face life’s events.
Researchers (Duke, Lazarus, & Fivush, 2008) discovered that
knowledge of family history, specifically from family storytelling, can
be a predictor of a person’s ability to overcome psychological
challenges. Children who knew more about their family histories had 1)
lower anxiety and behavioral problems and 2) greater self-esteem,
internal control, family functioning, and family cohesion. Knowing
family stories, when facing the negative events of life, was
significantly correlated with increased resilience, better adjustment,
and improved chances of good clinical outcomes. </p>
<p>Trees and Kellas (2009) indicated there were two primary functions of
storytelling: 1) narratives help people make sense of difficult
experiences, and 2) stories provide insight into people’s
conceptualizations of the world, including their understandings of their
family relationships.</p>
<p>Storytelling can help people form new identities in times of
conflict, recall old wisdom, and transform endings to challenges of
life. This helps develop resilience, a way to face the challenges of
life, facilitated by the deep and personal meaning of storytelling
(Dingfielder, 2008). </p>
<p>The following research question was addressed: What are the
protective factors or coping strategies adult language learners use for
resilience?</p>
<p>To address this question, the researchers used interviews with a
narrative analysis to attempt to understand the protective factors of
resilience. The focus on the lived experiences of students employed the
qualitative research approach steeped in phenomenological methodology.
Writing and telling a story revealed a deeper understanding of the
participant, the person they had been in younger years, and the person
they would like to be in the future. Responses to adversity involved
understanding emotions which are best explored through the safety of
reflecting and reframing the stories of our lives. </p>
<p><strong>Participants </strong><br>
Participants were 19 adult learners (18–35 years old), of which 15 were
studying Chinese as a second language and four were studying English as a
second language at Shaanxi Normal University (Xi’an, China). The
learners came from different countries and spoke different primary
languages. </p>
<p><strong>Procedures</strong><br>
The narrative interviews (n=19) were conducted in English by a
multilingual female Vietnamese doctoral psychology candidate fluent in
English, Mandarin Chinese, and Vietnamese. Clarification of questions
was provided in the participants’ first languages, or in English.</p>
<p><strong>Instrument</strong><br>
<strong>Semi Structured Narrative Interview</strong><br>
The researchers developed the narrative interview to identify and to
describe the role of storytelling in fostering resilient behavior among
adult language learners at a foreign university. The purpose of the
narrative interview was to explore the unique experiences of
international second language learners in China. Participants related
detailed and complex stories about how they overcame adversity to learn a
second language. The interview consisted of a list of eight “catalyst”
questions (Ungar et al, 2009) which stimulated the participants to tell
their stories about learning a second language:</p>
<p><strong>Questions</strong><br>
<strong>1.</strong> When did you start studying Chinese or English language?<br>
<strong>2.</strong> Why did you choose to study this language?<br>
<strong>3.</strong> Has someone influenced your choice to study this language?<br>
<strong>4.</strong> Did that person tell you his or her own stories
related to Chinese (or English) study? Do you remember certain stories?
What did they teach? How did they make you feel?<br>
<strong>5.</strong> Have you had any challenges while studying a second language? If you have had challenges, what are they?<br>
<strong>6.</strong> How do you overcome the challenges of studying a second language? What are your solutions?<br>
<strong>7.</strong> Is your study of a second language difficult? Why? What important things make studying the language successful?<br>
<strong>8.</strong> Who has played an important role in your achievement of learning Chinese (English) language? </p>
<p><strong>Results</strong><br>
<strong>Qualitative Analysis</strong><br>
Both sensitizing concepts derived from previous studies (Bernard, 1993,
1995; Nguyen, Stanley, and Stanley, 2014), and indigenous concepts that
arose directly from the data were used to identify common themes in the
present study. To gain deeper understanding of the data, both
researchers listened to the recordings of the participants’ narratives,
transcribed the data, and read the transcripts multiple times. The
themes of the narratives were also analyzed using the Coding Analysis
Toolkit (Lu, 2008). This was used to code raw text data of each
participant’s narrative and measure inter-rater reliability of the two
researchers. It helped to understand the role of the factors that lead
to different language-identity outcomes for second language learners. </p>
<p>The researchers developed a scoring rubric (see Table 1) based on the
research of Bernard (1993, 1995) to categorize and evaluate the
emerging themes of the narratives, which were then analyzed for the
presence of these traits: (1) social competence, (2) problem-solving
skills, (3) autonomy, (4) sense of purpose, and (5) use of storytelling.
The two researchers reread the narratives, looking to code statements
representative of the five traits (Bernard, 1993, 1995) and noting other
indigenous concepts found in the data. Using the rubric, a score was
assigned from 1 (“absent”) to 5 (“clearly stated”) for each of the five
factors with a total possible score rating of 25. The total score was
then divided by five to the familiar Likert-Type 1-to-5 scale. The
average score for the 19 participants, using the narrative scoring
rubric, was 18 or 18/5 = 3.6.</p>
<p>Data analysis revealed that the five traits identified by previous
researchers (social competence, problem solving, autonomy, sense of
purpose, and use of storytelling) were generally present in the
narratives of 16 respondents. The qualitative findings were quantified
using a scoring rubric. The five traits and other concepts and selected
participants’ illustrative responses for each trait or concept are
summarized in the following sections.</p>
<p><strong>Challenges/Adversity (n=19)<br>
</strong>All of the participants reported feeling anxiety about the
challenges of moving to another country by themselves and not speaking
the language fluently. They expressed experiences of social isolation
and of missing family and friends.<br>
This response captures the adversity second language learners face when
studying abroad: “They stare at you because your skin color is different
and they can tell you are not from here. Language instruction classes
can often be boring. Instructor quality can be very uneven.”</p>
<p>“You have to study long hours. You have limited resources. If you can
get a job, then you don’t have enough time to study. The weather seems
to be either very cold or very hot.”</p>
<p><strong>Social Competence (n=17)<br>
</strong>Most of the participants expressed seeking social interaction
to make friends and to practice their language skills and moving between
two or more cultures, e.g., “The only way that I can overcome the
problems is to keep studying very hard and try to talk as much as
possible to Chinese classmates. Also, I like to meet new people and
share our stories.”</p>
<p><strong>Problem Solving (n=14)</strong><br>
Most participants developed strategies to compensate for the
shortcomings of their language program, e.g., “My instructor wasn’t
effective. I wasn’t learning. I started watching Chinese TV and
listening to language audio-tapes. I would force myself to write to my
friends every day in Chinese on Facebook and RenRen.”</p>
<p><strong>Autonomy (n=12)<br>
</strong>Most of the participants had a clear sense of identity and
self-direction, e.g., “I know whether I learn Chinese is totally up to
me. I will succeed, I have set my mind to it. I believe in my
abilities.” </p>
<p><strong>Sense of Purpose (n=10)</strong><br>
Half the students had clear personal and career goals for studying a
second language, while the other half of students did not express clear
goals, priorities, or the focus of their studies.<br>
“I started studying Chinese in high school because it’s a fast-growing
economy and America is trading with it more. I want to become an
American diplomat to China.”</p>
<p><strong>Use of Storytelling (n=11)</strong><br>
About half of the participants reported recalling favorite personal
family stories from childhood from which they could draw strength and
life lessons. This finding is commensurate with the authors’ two
previous studies (Stanley & Dilliligham, 2013; Nguyen, Stanley,
& Stanley, 2014).</p>
<p>“My mom told me stories of women who were infatuated with brand-name
fashion. When I asked my mom to buy me some brand-name clothes, my mom
got very angry with me. Her reason is she did not want me to be someone
else’s brand, she wanted me to be my own brand. I learned always to be
true to myself.”</p>
<p>Three participants displayed reframing (Wilson, 2011), which
capitalizes on the subjective nature of personal stories to uncover
underlying, underemphasized themes in people’s stories that are
potentially helpful. Its purpose is to arrive at an authentic and
helpful story, one that does not eliminate the pain that hardship can
cause, but that also includes the strength that is forged in the
struggle to prevail.</p>
<p>“At first I was sad when I came to study in China because I separated
from my boyfriend and did not see my mother. Most of my decisions had
depended on my Mum and my boyfriend. Whenever I had a difficulty, I
would ask my Mum or my boyfriend to help me to make a decision or for
advice on what to do. I realize now they were very controlling and I was
immature. I have had to learn to be more independent and that is a good
thing, and I am stronger.”</p>
<p>The qualitative analysis has helped us understand the role of the
factors derived from previous resilience studies ( Bernard, 1993, 1995)
in the context of different language-identity outcomes for second
language learners (Nguyen, Stanley, & Stanley, 2014).</p>
<p>Researchers observe that qualitative research allows for a more
in-depth report of lived experiences (Benson, Bodycott, & Brown,
2013; Narra-Tumma, & Claudius, 2013). Language teachers should
encourage their students to tell their stories by using the eight
“catalyst” questions (Ungar et al, 2009) previously discussed. The
Narrative Resilience Rating rubric in Table 1 can assist in the scoring
and interpretation of student-written or student-dictated narratives.</p>
<p><strong>Implications </strong><br>
Despite the small sample size, the findings suggest important
implications for using storytelling as both a research method for
studying resilience and a practical intervention for promoting
resilience. Di Maria and Kwai (2014) observed that educators need to
ensure that international students succeed academically, because
retention is so important. Understanding the role of resilience for
retention can provide better training for both faculty and staff
members. Using the narrative storytelling and scoring rubric expands
students’ resilience and awareness of storytelling’s role for promoting
resilience. This activity itself may be beneficial in reducing stress
and identifying coping strategies. The act of students discussing and
telling stories about how they are overcoming struggles not only
promotes the use of a second language, but may be therapeutic and
motivates social connections that will hopefully continue outside of
class. </p>
<p>Previous research (Nguyen, Stanley, & Stanley, 2014) found
instructors and learners reported using storytelling in the classroom,
but the researchers concluded storytelling is not used as it could be
and its full potential has not been realized. Further research is needed
to focus on finding psychological aspects of tellers and listeners
during the storytelling process. Research needs to illuminate the
principles/guidelines that would better inform instructors how to use
storytelling for teaching and therapeutic psychological benefit.
However, using storytelling in the classroom in China is still viewed as
something separate, less esteemed as academic content, despite its many
benefits. </p>
<p>As Harvey (2013, p. 9) stated, “Stories act on us invisibly. Many of
the ideas we have about what is truly important in life — ideas and
values that motivate decisions — come from stories.” </p>
<p><strong>References</strong><br>
Benson, F., Bodycott, P., & Brown, J. (2013). <em>Second language identity in narratives of study abroad</em>. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. eBook.<br>
Bernard, B. (1993). “Fostering resiliency in kids” <em>Educational Leadership</em>, 51 (3). 44–48.<br>
Bernard, B. (1995). “Fostering resilience in children.” Retrieved from ERIC database.<br>
Di Maria, D. L., & Kwai, C. K. (2014, February). “Developing an international student retention<br>
strategy.” Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association of International<br>
Education Administrators, Washington, D.C. PowerPoint retrieved from
<a href="http://www.aieaworld.org/assets/docs/Conference_Materials/2014/docstoupload2/di%20maria%20kwai%20presentation.pdf">http://www.aieaworld.org/assets/docs/Conference_Materials/2014/docstoupload2/di%20maria%20kwai%20presentation.pdf</a><br>
Dingfielder, S. (2008). “Storytelling, American style.” Monitor, 38, 10. Retrieved from<br>
<a href="http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/11/storytelling.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/11/storytelling.aspx</a><br>
Dube, C. (2009). “Chinese language study is rising fast.” USC US-China Institute. Retrieved from<br>
<a href="http://www.china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=1565" target="_blank">http://www.china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=1565</a><br>
Duke, M. L., Lazarus, A., & Fivush, R. (2008). “Knowledge of family
history as a clinically useful index of psychological well-being and
prognosis: A brief report.” <em>Psychotherapy Theory, Research, Practice,Training</em>, 45, 268-272. DOI: 10.1037/0033-3204.45.2.268<br>
Harvey, H.B. (2013). <em>The art of storytelling: From parents to professionals.</em> [Course Audiobook Guide] Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company.<br>
Lu, Chi-Jung (2008). Coding Analysis Toolkit. [Software]. Available from <a href="http://cat.ucsur.pitt.edu/">http://cat.ucsur.pitt.edu/</a><br>
Narra-Tumma, P. & Claudius, M. (2013). “A qualitative examination of
Muslim graduate international student’s experiences in the United
States.” <em>International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation</em>, 2. 132–147. DOI: 10. 1037/ipp0000003<br>
Nguyen, K. and Stanley, N. ( 2014) “Narrative resilience rating scale.” Unpublished survey.<br>
Nguyen, K., Stanley, N., & Stanley, L. (2014). “Storytelling in
teaching Chinese as a second/foreign Language.” Linguistic and
Literature Studies, 2 (1) 29-38.<br>
Stanley, N.,& Dillingham, B. (2013, April). “Family storytelling: A
powerful parenting strategy for developing intellect, language,
literacy, and values.” Language Magazine. Retrieved from
<a href="http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=6133">http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=6133</a><br>
Trees, A. R., &Kellas, J. K. (2009). “Telling tales: Enacting family
relationships in joint storytelling about difficult family
experiences.” <em>Western Journal of Communicatio</em>n, 73, 91–111. DOI: 10.1080/10570310802635021<br>
Ungar, M., Brown, M., Liebenberg, L. Othman, R., Kwong, W. M, Armstrong
M, & Gilgun, J. (2007). “Unique pathways to resilience across
cultures.” <em>Adolescence</em>, 42, 287–310.<br>
Wilson, T. (2011). <em>Redirect: The surprising new science of psychological change</em>. London, Penguin Books.<br>
Zolkoski, S. M., & Bullock, L. (2012). Resilience in children and
youth: A review. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 2295–2303.
doi.10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.08.009</p>
<p><strong>Kate Nguyen</strong>, <a href="mailto:katepsyedu@gmail.com">katepsyedu@gmail.com</a>, is a doctoral candidate in educational psychology at Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China.</p>
<p><strong>Dr. Nile Stanley</strong>, nstanley@ <a href="http://unf.edu">unf.edu</a>, is an associate professor of childhood education, literacy, and TESOL.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="left">
<div class=""></div><div class=""></div> <div class="">
<p>
</p>
</div>
<div class=""><div style="text-align:center"></div></div>
</div>
<input value="" size="12" name="s" id="s" type="text"><br clear="all"><a href="http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=123265">http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=123265</a><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>