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An Immigrant Student’s Strategic Use of In- and Out-of-school Resources in the Bidirectional Movement between Her Personal and Academic Lives: A Longitudinal Case Study of a Korean Adolescent

Oh, Hyon Ju
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1565895896499759

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, EDU Teaching and Learning.
The largest population of second language learners in educational settings in the United States is adolescents. Adolescent immigrant students, the focus of the current study, have had at least some education in another country and know a language other than English. They also have experiences and an identity associated with their native country. As such, they may encounter a number of challenges as they attempt to navigate the new social and educational settings in the U.S. An important issue for anyone facing challenging conditions is the resources available to them and that they choose to use to cope with the demands they face. However, little research has explored the use of resources during the movement across different cultures, languages, and educational settings, and in response to both personal and academic needs. This study examined a Korean immigrant high school student, Sooji, with respect to her strategic use of in- and out-of-school resources in the movement between her personal and academic lives. I employed an ethnographic, longitudinal single-case study design in a Midwestern city in the U.S. for one year and looked closely at her personal and academic lives as well as her movement across those lives. Multiple sources of data were collected and then analyzed inductively, with a particular interest in 1) the kinds of in- and out-of-school resources Sooji used in the movement between her personal and academic lives, 2) the notable features of her use of resources as she moved across her personal and academic lives, and 3) the factors that influenced her use of in- and out-of-school resources within her personal and academic lives. The findings revealed that Sooji had various personal and academic problems and issues, often related to her immigrant student status, and she drew upon a wide array of resources to resolve them as she navigated across her academic and personal lives. The kinds of in-school resources she used for her personal life included academic English literacy skills, academic learning experiences, and academic content knowledge. Regarding out-of-school resources used in her academic life, she was particularly adept at taking advantage of her lived experiences as well as her Korean background and identity to meet her academic needs. One notable feature of Sooji’s use of in- and out-of-school resources in her life was her ability to identify and use appropriate resources. She had learned how to locate and transfer these resources to cope with needs she encountered. Another feature in her use of resources was that Sooji was able to strategically use each of the languages (Korean, English) at her disposal, depending on the circumstances at hand. The primary factors guiding Sooji’s use of resources within her personal and academic lives were a strong degree of motivation as well as experiences of marginalization and isolation that reinforced her motivation. In this sense, she reconstructed isolation as a source of motivation. What will be of special interest to adolescent literacy researchers is how Sooji strategically utilized resources to try to resolve her immigrant-related frustrations, sense of resentment, and conflicts both in her personal and academic lives. In this regard, Sooji had learned how to treat literacy resources in these different domains as “tools” to be used in strategic ways. A key takeaway from this finding for researchers and teachers is how adolescent immigrants like Sooji can be resourceful in their identification and transfer of resources across domains and in response to specific needs, and how understanding this characteristic can be an asset, especially when applied to pedagogical practices.
Alan Hirvela (Advisor)
Youngjoo Yi (Committee Member)
George Newell (Committee Member)
231 p.
English As A Second Language; Literacy
adolescent literacy; out-of-school literacy practices; adolescent immigrant students; funds of knowledge; in-school resources; out-of-school resources; coping strategies

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Oh, H. J. (2019). An Immigrant Student’s Strategic Use of In- and Out-of-school Resources in the Bidirectional Movement between Her Personal and Academic Lives: A Longitudinal Case Study of a Korean Adolescent [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1565895896499759

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Oh, Hyon Ju. An Immigrant Student’s Strategic Use of In- and Out-of-school Resources in the Bidirectional Movement between Her Personal and Academic Lives: A Longitudinal Case Study of a Korean Adolescent . 2019. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1565895896499759.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Oh, Hyon Ju. "An Immigrant Student’s Strategic Use of In- and Out-of-school Resources in the Bidirectional Movement between Her Personal and Academic Lives: A Longitudinal Case Study of a Korean Adolescent ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1565895896499759

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1565895896499759
231
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.