Abstract
AbstractThis paper narrates my research journey to conceptualize students’ learning experiences in English as Second Language program in higher education from structure and agency. It reviews literature of psychological and sociological research traditions that conceptualize students’ learning experiences. Using a critical perspective, each research tradition is reviewed in-depth for its strengths and limitations. However, the strengths and limitations are also seen from the perspective of my constructivist ontological and interpretivist epistemological stance. The paper critique the psychological research tradition of Phenomenography as well as the quantitative learning inventories descended from Phenomenography. It, then, focuses on Activity Theory, which is seen as a sophisticated analytical tool. However, the limitations of Activity Theory pave the way to move to sociological concepts of identity, community and institutional influences as theoretical lenses to conceptualize students’ learning experien...
Highlights
Investigating into students’ learning experiences in educational programs in higher education has been of great interest to the educationalists, policy-makers, and program coordinators, since the findings can help in improving the policies, course designs, curriculums, and teaching approaches
The paper narrates my interactions with different research perspectives and the way I have developed a theoretical framework from structure and agency
The ALT perspective is based in the phenomenographic research traditions of Marton and Säljö (1976), which was further developed by Entwistle and Ramsden (1983) and Biggs (1987) using quantitative learning inventories
Summary
Examining students’ learning experiences in ESL programs has been of great interest for researchers, as the results have implications for the teachers, course-designers, and policy-makers. Research in this area has been conducted from agentic (individuals) perspective, i.e. students’ experiences are examined in the context of the class/program/institute. The other research traditions in this area focuses more on structures, i.e. how family/societal/institutional norms, values, and policies shape students’ choices and actions. I have defined students’ learning experiences in ESL from structure and agency, i.e. I acknowledge the structural forces that shape students’ choices and actions, at the same time, I believe that students use their agency in making their decisions.
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