Unsilencing the Silenced: The Journeys of Five East Asian Women with Implications for TESOL Teacher Education Programs
Unsilencing the Silenced: The Journeys of Five East Asian Women with Implications for TESOL Teacher Education Programs
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Date
2006-08-31
Authors
Park, Gloria G.
Advisor
Van Sledright, Bruce A.
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Abstract
The study focused on five East Asian women matriculated in U.S. TESOL teacher
education programs. Han Nah Jung, Liu Li, Xia Wang, Yu Ri Koh, and Shu-Ming Fung
recounted journeying through their educational experiences in their native countries as
well as in the United States. The purposes of this study were to (1) deepen and enrich our
understanding of the women?s diverse educational journeys, (2) uncover the ideological
nature of the lives of these women who may have become marginalized due to the issues
of race, gender, and language, (3) look at their experiences as juxtaposed to my own as a
person with both insider and outsider perspectives, and (4) use the women?s narratives to
make recommendations for improving TESOL teacher education programs.
This study explored the lived experiences of five East Asian women, utilizing a
past-present-future timeline (e.g., Looking Back, Reflecting On, and Thinking Forward),
grounded in critical and feminist perspectives, to examine how those experiences shaped
their identities in different learning and teaching communities. This was accomplished
through the utilization of electronic reflective autobiographical questions, electronic
educational journal entries, in-depth interviews, and informal/formal conversations.
The analysis of their narratives, as grounded in critical and feminist perspectives,
revealed the interconnectedness between language, race, gender, and social class which
were all deeply embedded in their educational journeys. Specifically, the women, despite
being from primarily privileged backgrounds, experienced varying degrees of
marginalization within their TESOL programs as a result of issues pertaining to language,
gender, and race. However, their pre-service and/or volunteer teaching experiences
served to heighten their identities as burgeoning English (Korean) language teachers.
Findings from the studies such as this should serve to begin dialogues around
renewing and reconceptualizing better TESOL curricula and teacher education programs
and provide some momentum for instituting improvements in these TESOL programs
over the coming years.