30.1181, Review: Applied Linguistics: Kramsch, Zhang (2018)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-30-1181. Thu Mar 14 2019. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 30.1181, Review: Applied Linguistics: Kramsch, Zhang (2018)

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Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2019 15:05:05
From: Jennifer Burton [jennifer.burton at mail.utoronto.ca]
Subject: The Multilingual Instructor

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/29/29-3229.html

AUTHOR: Claire  Kramsch
AUTHOR: Lihua  Zhang
TITLE: The Multilingual Instructor
SUBTITLE: What foreign language teachers say about their experience and why it matters
SERIES TITLE: Oxford Applied Linguistics
PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press
YEAR: 2018

REVIEWER: Jennifer Burton, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto

SUMMARY

 In the book titled, The Multilingual Instructor, scholars Claire Kramsch and
Lihua Zhang lead us into the lives and hearts of foreign language (FL)
instructors negotiating their multifaceted and often contradictory
professional, sociopolitical, and personal identities. From the preface, the
authors invite us into their intersecting life trajectories as FL instructors
at UC Berkeley: Claire a French citizen who studied German language and
literature in Paris and becomes the German language program coordinator at the
UC Berkeley and Lihua a Chinese citizen who studied German in Shanghai and
becomes the Chinese language program coordinator at the same UC Berkeley. The
authors’ positioning lays the foundation for the rich narratives that underpin
their research, which, broadly speaking, inquires about the characterization
of the multilingual and multicultural experiences of FL instructors. 

 In Chapter One, the authors delve right into one of the most contentious
issues in language teaching; that is, the dichotomy between native/non-native
(N/NN) speakers in the teaching of languages other than English. Despite the
N/NN distinction being alive and well, Kramsch and Zhang want to address what
they see as a more critical distinction in the field: the distinction between
monolingual and multilingual instructors. This shift in distinction allows for
more emphasis to be placed on a “translingual mindset” (p. 5) and on how
multilingual instructors manage their linguistic repertoire in differing
cultural contexts. To capture the paradoxes and discontinuities of FL
instructors across time, the authors adopt an ecological framework and
simultaneously draw on the dimensions in Larsen-Freeman’s (2011) complexity
theory, providing what the authors call an “ecological architecture” (p. 20)
for their inquiry. Briefly, their ecological framework, as applied to FL
education, considers alternative trajectories for complex dynamic systems that
need to be viewed as ever changing due to the imbalance of symbolic power. 

 Chapter Two reports on the quantitative results of two electronic surveys of
48 N and 35 NN multilingual instructors in campuses across California; of the
total 78 instructors surveyed, 58 are female and 19 are male. The survey was
designed to gather information on the participants’ general and professional
background, cultural experiences and misunderstandings in the classroom, and
the dynamics of change and adaptation. The descriptive statistics presented in
various tables and discussed in further detail are supplemented with snippets
of participant stories, including deeply emotional and painful accounts of
misconceptions and prejudices. The findings from the survey indicate that
instructors are highly educated multilingual professionals who have kept in
contact with their native/ target country. In regard to N and NN participants’
cultures, the survey shows that participants from both groups share more views
about American culture than the cultures of the language they teach, which the
authors posit might be due to the global status of English. 

 Chapters Three through Six mainly report on the qualitative data from the
one-hour semi-structured interviews with 18 N and 12 NN FL instructors,
specifically their challenges pertaining to their legitimate status, social
and historical identity, and educational role. Broadly, Chapter Three
addresses instructors’ struggles for legitimacy in relation to institutions
across linguistic, academic, cultural, professional, experiential, legal,
social, racial and political borders. Next, the authors discuss the bridging
of differing historicities and subjectivities via narrative to address the
dynamic and open nature of the ecological model in Chapters Four and Five.
Specifically, the conversation in Chapter Four, addresses the responses to one
main interview question about whether FL instructors tell their students about
their experiences with FL and culture in their country and in the US. While
the plot, text, and narration differ across the four stories shared in this
chapter, what they have in common is that they bridge the gap between the
foreign world of the target culture with the students’ familiar world. Chapter
Five considers stories that instructors’ feel that they cannot and may not
tell in their classrooms. Interestingly, the authors observe that the younger
instructors, under the age of forty, more freely share their feelings and
engage in more sensitive topics with their students. Instructors in their
forties are more forceful and have an educational mission, while more senior
instructors or instructors with painful experiences are more vigilant in what
they expect from their students in these sensitive topics. Taken together, the
personal accounts in both chapters demonstrate that FL teaching is fraught
with much tension. 

 Chapter Six considers possibilities for change and transformation in FL
education. It discusses the educational and ethical roles and responsibilities
of multilingual instructors. Here, researchers ask the FL instructors to
complete the following statement: ‘teaching this language in the US is
(like)…’ Comparing the similes and metaphors across N and NN instructors
yielded interesting results on instructor subject positioning. For example, N
instructors were seen as a guide on students’ journeys of exploration, acting
as a linguistic and cultural ambassador. With the exception of one
participant, the NN speakers were seen as border crossers, modeling the
process of discovering foreign countries for their students. Interestingly,
both groups do not mention teaching as simply a profession, which as the
researchers report, means that the instructors have an idealistic view of
their job. Additionally, while the instructors rejected the idea that their
role was to change their students’ worldview, they did view themselves as
catalysts for their students’ personal transformations. Another topic this
chapter addresses is how the ecological theory, as different from other
language education theories, assists in explaining instructors’ ethical
commitments in their profession. The authors conclude that the ecological
theory enacts an ethics of responsibility. Finally, the transformative element
is one of “growth and complexity” rather than “revolution and regime change”
(p. 155). 

 In Chapters Seven and Eight Claire and Lihua elaborate on the ecological
perspective by providing first-hand accounts of teaching experiences in their
own classrooms. In Chapter Seven, Claire talks about bridging the historical
gap in the German teacher training workshop and upper-intermediate German
class. One example of students negotiating meaning across languages in a poem
written in German and translated to English particularly stands out: 

 One student noted that by meshing the German with the English, without
putting the German in italics, as if the two were one and the same language,
the translator seemed to make the English complicit in the crimes committed in
German, and the student wondered whether it was not a politically and
historically ‘unfair’ translation. Some students felt such a translation was
morally wrong; others felt it captured the ambivalent role of the United
States towards the Jews in World War II (p. 177).

The take away from this chapter is that FL instructors need to exercise a
great deal of reflexivity in designing pedagogy that mediates several
languages across differing histories and memories—neither an easy nor innocent
endeavor. 

 Similarly, in Chapter Eight, Lihua aims to bridge the educational gap in the
Chinese classroom by giving examples of various pedagogical activities
designed to teach Chinese as a relational and transformative practice. Some
examples include, having students critically reflect on a textbook, analyzing
the construction of a father-son relationship in a poem, comparing
translations to provide students the chance to examine subject positions as
they apply to language use, asking students to respond to pictures to elicit
feelings, imaginations and memories, and comparing titles of texts. Taken
together, these activities provided a platform for students to become aware of
the complexity imbued in meaning-making. This chapter ends with an eloquent
depiction of Lihua’s process of transformation and realization that
“multilinguals live in the world much differently than do monolinguals” (p.
209). Now, Lihua is able to view China through Chinese and Western eyes.
Finally, by positioning herself as a multilingual instructor, she is able to
enhance her professional legitimacy and break free from previous feelings and
attitudes that were quite confining. 

 The last chapter in this book, Chapter Nine, ends by addressing three
questions: one about the theoretical and empirical insights of the ecological
framework; another question pertaining to the benefits of instructors viewing
themselves as multilingual over monolingual; and the final question about how
the ecological framework helps instructors understand the ethical dimensions
of being multilingual instructors. In sum, the ethical commitment FL
instructors have is one of self-reflection and multidimensionality. As they
negotiate their contradictory identities and ethical responsibilities across
several different languages, one thing is certain: the rich personal knowledge
of the instructors in this study provides readers with a glimpse into the
compelling lives of multilingual FL instructors. 

EVALUATION 

 This book has several strengths. The rich narratives address a breadth of
topics related to FL education, some extending beyond the walls of the
classroom. It is evident there was a great deal of trust between the
researchers and the participants, which could be due to the researchers’
social positioning and personal investment as FL instructors themselves. The
authors’ achieve their goal of “reveal[ing] the nested levels of personal,
professional, and historical time on which language instructors operate” (p.
21) by means of the innovative ecological architecture that frames their
inquiry. The pronounced strength of this study is the researchers use of their
theoretical framework in guiding the questions they ask in their surveys and
interviews. The main contribution this study makes is theoretical,
particularly the application of the ecological framework for future studies
and the consideration of the ethical role of multilingual instructors.

 While reading, I felt compelled to view the issues raised by this book
through the lens of my work as a native-speaking English language instructor,
researcher, and teacher-educator. What I found interesting was the
researchers’ analytical decision to view the multilingual instructor through
the lens of the N/NN speaker dichotomy, a choice they consciously made. I was
curious as to how their data collection methods and findings would have
differed if they had not made this decision from the onset of this study.
Perhaps, a clearer delineation of their analytical process as guided by their
ecological framework would have resulted in a better understanding of their
rationale. That said, I appreciate the in-depth analysis that included
examples of different languages and pedagogical genres. This book is an
intriguing read for experienced practitioners and researchers interested in
better understanding the complex lives of FL instructors. 

REFERENCES

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2011). A complexity theory approach to second language 
development/acquisition. In D. Atkinson (Ed.), Alternative approaches to
second language acquisition (pp. 60-84). New York, N.Y: Routledge


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Jennifer Burton is a PhD student at the University of Toronto (OISE), Canada
with over 12 years of English language teaching experience: 5 years in South
Korea and 7 years in Canada. Her research interests include heritage language
education, plurilingual language instruction, and English language assessment
and policy in higher education.





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