Social Distance, Positioning, and Investment of an Arabic Student in a US Elementary ESL Classroom with Korean Peers

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to examine how an Arabic student formed social distance from his Korean peers and positioned himself in an Elementary ESL classroom in the United States, and how his social distance and positioning influenced his ESL learning and construction of investment. The guiding concepts of this study were Norton Peirce’s (1995) concept of investment, which also served as a theoretical framework, and Schumann’s (1976) concept of social distance.
 Methods One Arabic student in the fifth grade and his ESL teacher participated as main informants in this study, and four Korean students were secondary participants. In this qualitative research, data sources included non- participant classroom observations and interviews with the main participants. Thematic coding served as an analytic framework.
 Results It was found that as the Arabic student formed social distance from Korean students, he had difficulty with language learning, suggesting that if he formed greater social proximity, he would have a more supportive language learning environment. Also, although his present positioning (Kayi-Aydar, 2014) as needing help in the ESL classroom may suggest a negative language learning circumstance for the Arabic student, the social interaction and community involvement of getting that help may broaden his learning spectrum and construction of investment. However, it is important to keep in mind that young students’ social distance and positioning is not fixed but keeps evolving in relation to social power (Norton, 1997), which may influence construction of investment.
 Conclusions Thus, the ESL teacher’s role is critical, particularly the ability to provide diverse language pedagogies that are applicable to students who are in foreign situations like that of the Arabic student and other students.