Narratives of seven teachers concerning the phenomenon of learning factors involved in the English classes

Abstract

Sociocultural and political factors play a significant role in language learning. Previous research conducted from authors such as Kumaravadivelu (2006) and Vygotsky (1978) had found that the Second Language Acquisition process brought with it a range of learning factors that affected students on an internal and external level, but little attention has been paid to the perspectives of undergraduate and graduate teachers in-depth concerning the effects that those learning factors had over their second language acquisition process. The present qualitative phenomenology study uses semi-structured interviews to collect data on five undergraduate and two graduate foreign language teachers during their second language acquisition process. Data will be analyzed using thematic analysis and it is expected that this study will unveil the learning factors undergraduate and graduate teachers handle during their learning process. This would support the notion that both undergraduate and graduate teachers are not aware of all the learning factors involved in language learning which would bring more awareness to the pedagogical community about the importance of learning about them.

Los factores socioculturales y políticos desempeñan un papel importante en el aprendizaje de idiomas. Investigaciones anteriores realizadas por autores como Kumaravadivelu (2006) y Vygotsky (1978) habían constatado que el proceso de adquisición de una segunda lengua conllevaba una serie de factores de aprendizaje que afectaban estudiantes a nivel interno y externo, pero se ha prestado poca atención a las perspectivas de profesores de grado y posgrado en profundidad en relación con los efectos que esos factores de aprendizaje tuvieron sobre su proceso de adquisición de la segunda lengua. El presente estudio fenomenológico cualitativo utiliza entrevistas semiestructuradas para recoger datos sobre cinco profesores de lenguas extranjeras de grado y dos de posgrado durante su proceso de adquisición de una segunda lengua. Los datos se analizarán mediante análisis temático y se espera que este estudio desvele los factores de aprendizaje que los profesores de grado y postgrado manejan durante su proceso de aprendizaje. Esto respaldaría de que tanto los profesores de grado como los de postgrado no son conscientes de todos los factores de aprendizaje que intervienen en el aprendizaje de una lengua.