Yildiz Turgut

Social Construction of Meaning by English Language Learners- Learning Cultural Backgrounds and Its Impact on Students Yildiz Turgut

While juggling to teach English, as language teachers are we aware of the importance of learning students' cultural backgrounds and its impact on students' participation to the activities and reflections of what they have learned? This qualitative study describes the meaning making process of English language learners with different cultural backgrounds during reading and writing activities based on a social constructionism theoretical framework. Six participants are from Venezuela, Honduras, Poland, Switzerland, South Korea and Japan. As a researcher, I was a participant with a Turkish cultural background. A particular focus is set on the impact of talking on reading and writing. The analysis should help to answer the questions: -Can reading and writing discussions unite participants despite cultural and linguistics differences? - What are the differences in Asian, European and Hispanic participants' perception of classroom talk? -How does it influence their contribution to the meaning making process? - Through reading the writing of other participants, how does awareness of an audience develop in their writing? -How do peer corrections and suggestions occur in this culturally and linguistically diverse group? -How does the participants' cultural and previous experiences contribute to their meaning making process in a group? -Is peer-teaching really effective? This book is addressed to ESL/EFL teachers, instructors working at English Language Institutes, adult English language learners and researchers in education, specifically ESOL and Literacy.