[lg policy] Study abroad: Stories Bring It Home

[Harold Schiffman]

 Stories Bring It Home
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 *Kate Nguyen* and *Nile Stanley* research resilience in language learners
and its relationship to storytelling

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

*Resilience*
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.

*Resilience and Storytelling*
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.

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.

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).

The following research question was addressed: What are the protective
factors or coping strategies adult language learners use for resilience?

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.

*Participants *
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.

*Procedures*
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.

*Instrument*
*Semi Structured Narrative Interview*
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:

*Questions*
*1.* When did you start studying Chinese or English language?
*2.* Why did you choose to study this language?
*3.* Has someone influenced your choice to study this language?
*4.* 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?
*5.* Have you had any challenges while studying a second language? If you
have had challenges, what are they?
*6.* How do you overcome the challenges of studying a second language? What
are your solutions?
*7.* Is your study of a second language difficult? Why? What important
things make studying the language successful?
*8.* Who has played an important role in your achievement of learning
Chinese (English) language?

*Results*
*Qualitative Analysis*
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.

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.

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.


*Challenges/Adversity (n=19) *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.
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.”

“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.”


*Social Competence (n=17) *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.”

*Problem Solving (n=14)*
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.”


*Autonomy (n=12) *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.”

*Sense of Purpose (n=10)*
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.
“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.”

*Use of Storytelling (n=11)*
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).

“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.”

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.

“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.”

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).

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.

*Implications *
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.

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.

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.”

*References*
Benson, F., Bodycott, P., & Brown, J. (2013). *Second language identity in
narratives of study abroad*. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. eBook.
Bernard, B. (1993). “Fostering resiliency in kids” *Educational Leadership*,
51 (3). 44–48.
Bernard, B. (1995). “Fostering resilience in children.” Retrieved from ERIC
database.
Di Maria, D. L., & Kwai, C. K. (2014, February). “Developing an
international student retention
strategy.” Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association of
International
Education Administrators, Washington, D.C. PowerPoint retrieved from
http://www.aieaworld.org/assets/docs/Conference_Materials/2014/docstoupload2/di%20maria%20kwai%20presentation.pdf
Dingfielder, S. (2008). “Storytelling, American style.” Monitor, 38, 10.
Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/11/storytelling.aspx
Dube, C. (2009). “Chinese language study is rising fast.” USC US-China
Institute. Retrieved from
http://www.china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=1565
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.” *Psychotherapy Theory, Research, Practice,Training*, 45,
268-272. DOI: 10.1037/0033-3204.45.2.268
Harvey, H.B. (2013). *The art of storytelling: From parents to
professionals.* [Course Audiobook Guide] Chantilly, VA: The Teaching
Company.
Lu, Chi-Jung (2008). Coding Analysis Toolkit. [Software]. Available from
http://cat.ucsur.pitt.edu/
Narra-Tumma, P. & Claudius, M. (2013). “A qualitative examination of Muslim
graduate international student’s experiences in the United States.”
*International
Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation*, 2. 132–147.
DOI: 10. 1037/ipp0000003
Nguyen, K. and Stanley, N. ( 2014) “Narrative resilience rating scale.”
Unpublished survey.
Nguyen, K., Stanley, N., & Stanley, L. (2014). “Storytelling in teaching
Chinese as a second/foreign Language.” Linguistic and Literature Studies, 2
(1) 29-38.
Stanley, N.,& Dillingham, B. (2013, April). “Family storytelling: A
powerful parenting strategy for developing intellect, language, literacy,
and values.” Language Magazine. Retrieved from
http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=6133
Trees, A. R., &Kellas, J. K. (2009). “Telling tales: Enacting family
relationships in joint storytelling about difficult family
experiences.” *Western
Journal of Communicatio*n, 73, 91–111. DOI: 10.1080/10570310802635021
Ungar, M., Brown, M., Liebenberg, L. Othman, R., Kwong, W. M, Armstrong M,
& Gilgun, J. (2007). “Unique pathways to resilience across cultures.”
*Adolescence*, 42, 287–310.
Wilson, T. (2011). *Redirect: The surprising new science of psychological
change*. London, Penguin Books.
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

*Kate Nguyen*, katepsyedu at gmail.com, is a doctoral candidate in educational
psychology at Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China.

*Dr. Nile Stanley*, nstanley@ unf.edu, is an associate professor of
childhood education, literacy, and TESOL.


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