Dramatic Data: The Possibilities of Ethnodramatic Writing for Understanding the Experiences of English Learners in Community College Settings

Abstract

In this article, we demonstrate how ethnodramatic writing can offer critically needed insights into the language learning and educational trajectories of a significant yet little researched group of immigrant English learners in community college settings. The participants' reflections and impressions about learning English and about U.S. culture were woven into two dramatic scenes. The authors employ Bakhtinian and postcolonial perspectives to analyze participants' language-use as they narrate their experiences and position themselves as speakers of English in U.S. societies. This study suggests that ethnodramatic writing when combined with critical analysis have much to offer both to researchers hoping to engage with qualitative data with greater reflexivity and to educational practitioners striving to understand and meet the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse adult English learners.