Beliefs, identities and social class of English language learners: a comparative study between the United States and Brazil

• Ano de defesa: 2018
• Autor(a) principal: Palmer, Margaret Marie
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Viçosa
• Palavras-chave em Português: Língua inglesa - Estudo e ensino - Falantes estrangeiros; Aquisição da segunda língua; Classes sociais; Linguística Aplicada
• Link de acesso: http://www.locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/21324

Identity studies have grown in Applied Linguistics, understanding the concept as a crucial factor in learning an additional language, whether a second or foreign language (LEFFA, 2012; NORTON, 2001; TELLES, 2004). In addition, the concepts of beliefs and identities have been considered interrelated (BARCELOS, 2015). However, while common aspects of identities such as gender, race and orientation are discussed, social class is rarely considered (BLOCK, 2014). At a time where immigrant rights are being discussed in the United States and public education funds are being cut in Brazil, the aim of this study is to identify and compare the identities, beliefs and factors of social class between two groups of participants in two contexts: immigrant students to the United States and Brazilian students, both groups in their first year at a public high social class, this study considers the influence of habitus, fields and capital (BONAMINO ET AL, 2010; BOURDIEU, 1986; SANTOS & MASTRELLA-DE-ANDRADE, 2016) and the intrinsic relationship between beliefs and identities (BARCELOS, 2015). The twelve (12) participants in this study are students of English as an additional language in the above-mentioned contexts that completed a questionnaire, an interview, and written and visual narratives as data collection instruments. The results have suggested English expressed as a form of capital (PENNYCOOK, 1997) and a cyclical relationship between beliefs, identities and social class. Access to English capital seems to affect both personal and societal beliefs about English learning, which in turn affects the efforts to access the English-speaking world in different manners and degrees. While the immigrant students to the United States make efforts to enter into the inner circle of English speakers in their community, the Brazilian students either adhere to the beliefs within their social class that English is inaccessible to them or they try to break out of the cycle by investing in the imagined community of English speakers (NORTON, 2001). This study brings implications for learning English as well as possible social impacts of the use of English in an increasingly globalized world.