Contextual Affordances Research Articles

‘I view teaching differently’: identity development of university teachers doing professional doctorates

ABSTRACT Through the lens of identity, this study explored the lived experiences of two Chinese university English-as-a-foreign-language teachers who were doing a professional doctorate for professional development. Adopting a narrative case study design and informed by activity theory, the study drew on a rich dataset comprising narrative frames, interviews, informal communications, netnographic observations and artefacts. Thematic and activity systems analyses revealed how the two focal teachers developed different identities through interacting with the external influences in the dual activity systems of professional work and doctoral study. In particular, the analyses unravelled hidden structural tensions inherent in the dual activity systems and showcased the participants’ mediated actions and strategies for dealing with these tensions. The study suggests developing sustainable mechanisms and tailored programmes to support in-service teachers’ degree studies, while also calling for teachers to creatively retool contextual affordances for continuing professional development.

LEARNER AGENCY, ENGLISH PROFICIENCY, AND LEARNING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: LESSONS FROM TEN ADVANCED EFL LEARNERS

Within the framework of sociocultural theories, this study investigated how affordances in various beyond the classroom settings supported the development of agency and English proficiency among advanced EFL learners. The participants were 10 Taiwanese college students, each with at least B2 proficiency according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Data were gathered through a qualitative approach encompassing semi-structured interviews, writing samples, and a 23-item questionnaire. A grounded theory approach was adopted to analyze and interpret the data. The findings revealed that contextual affordances were not always immediately accessible or apparent to learners and exhibited considerable variability across different locations, which could impede or facilitate the learners’ development of agency and English proficiency. The mediator played an indispensable role in guiding learners toward effectively utilizing these resources. Furthermore, the development of learners' English proficiency in beyond-the-classroom settings was intricately intertwined with that of their agency, both of which were deeply rooted in and shaped by sociocultural contexts. As learners enhanced their English proficiency through the mediator’s strategic engagement with contextual affordances, their agency concurrently flourished, prompting them to proactively seek additional affordances and explore further opportunities for autonomous decision-making and action.

A Social Cognitive Career Theory Study of Agricultural Mechanical Trade Workers

Attracting and retaining skilled workers in agriculture is a global problem. Shortages of essential workers disrupt supplies of goods and services from the point of production on farms through manufacturing, transport, to ultimate consumption. The global pandemic’s effect on food supply was a salutary lesson in the effects of a diminished agricultural workforce. Agricultural mechanics are vital to productivity. The present research used the social cognitive career theory to explore agricultural mechanics’ careers. An exploratory qualitative study deployed interviews to collect data from N = 19 mechanical trade workers. Interviews were centered on participants’ descriptions of their work regarding theoretical constructs including self-efficacy, outcome expectations, satisfaction, dispositional traits, and contextual affordances. Reflective thematic analysis of the data produced concordance with key constructs of the social cognitive career theory sufficient to justify its utility for research with this specific agricultural occupation. This research makes an important contribution to the literature of vocational psychology which can and should contribute to solving the complex problem of supporting a workforce needed for agriculture’s ongoing challenge of feeding and clothing the world’s growing population.

Exploring EFL Learners' Academic Literacy Development: An Ecological Perspective

AbstractAcademic literacy development is shaped by multiple individual and contextual factors that mutually interact with one another. Previous studies have identified some of the factors, but few explored their complex and dynamic interactions in students' writing practices. The study adopts a case study method to examine EFL learners' academic literacy development from an ecological perspective. Findings reveal that (1) affordances and constraints are not predetermined categories but are interactive and emergent; (2) personal traits largely shape the way learners perceive, appropriate, and interact with contextual affordances; (3) complex person‐environment interactions are generally situated within the dialectical relationship between agency and structure in connected literate activities; (4) the way students characterize and shape their relations with contextual affordances/constraints bears developmental effects. The study unveils complex person‐environment interactions in EFL learners' academic literacy development while shedding light on relevant pedagogical practices.

Learning Through Teaching: How Physicians Learn Medicine in Authentic Clinical Contexts.

Little is known about the clinical knowledge and skills that are acquired by physicians through teaching, how such learning occurs, or the factors that influence this process. This study explored how physicians acquire clinical knowledge and skills through clinical teaching and examined the contextual elements that influence this learning. Two theoretical frameworks informed this interpretive description study: situated learning and cognitive apprenticeship. From March to November 2021, semistructured interviews and follow-up discussions were conducted at McGill University with clinician-teachers who regularly supervise internal medicine residents. Participants were asked to describe how they learned clinical medicine through spontaneous clinical teaching, guided by questions relating to what they learned, memorable teaching moments, and factors influencing this learning. Data were analyzed iteratively, using both a deductive and inductive approach. Of the 87 contacted physicians, 45 responded, expressing interest (n = 22) or declining participation (n = 23), and 42 did not respond. All 22 clinicians who responded positively were interviewed, with 7 follow-up discussions. Results suggested that clinician-teachers encountered myriad opportunities to learn clinical medicine during spontaneous interactions with trainees. These interactions, embedded in authentic patient care, were influenced by clinician-teacher characteristics, trainee characteristics, and contextual affordances. Clinician-teachers were stimulated to learn by trainee presence and through discrete interactions with trainees. These stimuli often led to feelings of "performative pressure" to role model and teach effectively or "slowing down" in thinking, prompting clinician-teachers to engage in learning processes (e.g., reflection, collaboration, and articulation), which resulted in knowledge acquisition, reinforcement, and refinement. Learning through teaching is an underappreciated strategy that can help clinician-teachers improve their clinical knowledge and skills. This study uncovered some of the processes through which clinicians learn during spontaneous clinical teaching and the factors that modulate this learning.

Prospective methodological considerations in L2 written feedback research

The current study draws on the findings in L2 written feedback research to propose some key empirical and methodological issues which can be considered in new feedback studies. It delineates the characteristics of feedback literate L2 writers to underline the pivotal role of student feedback literacy within a writing-to-learn framework, within which it then calls for empirical tolerance toward attaining L2 development. Rejecting a rigorous prescription for selecting a focused, semi-focused or unfocused WCF scope for a wide range of writing contexts, it introduces a proportional WCF scope arguing that the selection of target structures for feedback processing is a dynamic and context-specific decision-making process mediated by learner-specific and contextual affordances and constraints. In the same vein, it argues against the inclusion of a no-WCF group in future quantitative studies as research findings to date suggest little contribution for practice effect alone unless the inclusion is empirically justified for specific purposes. The study also calls for conducting equal-weight mixed-methods studies in L2 written feedback research and for employing well-defined interview protocols and open-ended questionnaires to gain clearer perspectives about the learners' writing experience and to better substantiate quantitative findings.

Teacher learning as a polyphonic endeavor: A context sensitive model of teacher professional development

ABSTRACT Despite an increasing interest in the sociocultural aspects of teacher professional development and the recognition of context in teacher education, there is a lack of a conceptualisation of how professional learning occurs within and across various contexts. To this aim, we take up a view of professional learning that is dialogic and apply the concept of ‘polyphony’ to conceptualise teacher practice and teacher professional learning as the teacher’s orchestration of multiple voices within context. Inviting ‘polyphony’ to the realm of teacher education refers to the composition of multiple co-existing contextual affordances and constraints affecting teacher practice. It is the multitude of various and at times disagreeing voices surrounding teacher practice. Our proposed model offers a reflexive definition of ‘teacher agency’ that involves the recognition of the voices that the teacher draws upon so that they can be interrogated and deliberately invoked or suppressed in practice for particular contexts. We discuss two methodological implications including a polyphonic design methodology of professional learning opportunities, and a polyphonic education research method in addressing the problem of teachers’ implementation and adjustment to new practices.

“I Promised Growing up I Would Not Become a Teacher”: Exploring the Career Trajectory of a Language Teacher through Social Cognitive Career Theory

AbstractDespite some research attention given to expatriate native‐English‐speaking teachers' (NESTs) identities and the national educational ideologies that have led to their international recruitment, surprisingly little research has addressed their career trajectories as TESOL professionals. To address this gap, this case study explores the career of a long‐serving expatriate TESOL professional through the lens of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), which was designed to understand how people develop interest in, make decisions about, and commit to a particular career. The methods are qualitative, involving a deductive analysis of interview data and a career timeline according to constructs from SCCT. Despite an initial reluctance to enter the profession, the participant's interest in language teaching began after teaching part‐time as a young adult. After this experience, he changed his career interests and continued his educational pursuits in Korea. His background contextual affordances, predispositions, learning experiences, and Korean language proficiency provided new opportunities and outcome expectations as he advanced his career. Although we focus on a single case, the SCCT model is further explored for its potential to better understand the factors involved in the development and commitment to a career in TESOL and for illustrating the career trajectories of TESOL professionals at scale.

Exploring EFL learners' cognitive/emotional dissonance in content-based foreign language instruction: An ecological perspective

Affective factors play an important role in language and cognitive development, but relevant research on students' cognitive/emotional experiences in foreign language instruction has been rather limited. The study adopts a case study method to investigate two EFL learners' reactions to cognitive/emotional dissonances in content-based foreign language instruction from an ecological perspective. Data include learners' retrospective interviews and reflections. Findings show that firstly dissonance not only reflects the challenges learners face but also triggers them to restructure their cognition and emotion that mutually transform one another in embodied actions. Secondly, learners' cognition, emotion and action constitute an amalgam in their attempts to resolve dissonances, through which personal traits (e.g., cognition, emotion and action) mutually interact with one another and with the contextual affordances (e.g., teacher, pedagogy and assessment). Finally, a curriculum that is relevant, meaningful and cognitively challenging inspires learners' resilience and engagement in learning while unlashing their developmental potentiality. Findings suggest the need to study cognitive/emotional dissonance in situated learning practices, to regard personal traits as dynamic and malleable and developing a foreign language curriculum that is personally meaningful and relevant.

The importance of personal and contextual background factors on declaration of STEM majors: A focus on Native American undergraduates

AbstractUtilizing Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), we investigated the importance of identity‐based factors such as personal inputs and contextual affordances (e.g., having children, being married or employed, school‐family conflict, stress, participating in Native American cultural activities) in understanding Native American undergraduates' intentions and decision to major in STEM fields. Past studies have examined the role of SCCT in undergraduate students' major choice and the underrepresentation of certain marginalized groups in STEM majors. Yet few studies have examined if these relationships extend to Native American undergraduates or how the SCCT model may vary based on the complex identities Native American peoples may hold. The findings highlight the importance of contextualizing major choice through a Native American lens. For Native American students, we find being married or employed, having children, and family stress negatively impact intent to major in STEM fields. We also find support for several SCCT variables and intent to major in STEM disciplines. Specifically, we discuss fostering identity as a scientist as a fruitful avenue for increasing intent to major in STEM fields. Results are compared to a White undergraduate group and implications are discussed for institutions of higher education and Tribal governments and leaders.

Situated Practices in the Construction of Language Technologies

A number of recent studies have pointed to the lack of both standard documentation and discipline-based codes of ethics to explain the ways in which the practices of data science have resulted in allocational and representational harms to user communities of language technologies. Yet relatively few researchers have undertaken the in-depth study of these practices in context. The need to empirically document the practices of data scientists remains pressing, as digital language technologies will only continue to grow in importance for the expression of rights and identity online and offline. This poster presents work in progress toward an ethnographic study of data scientists working on indigenous language technologies in Mexico. A background literature review covers data science for language technologies, interdisciplinarity in data science, ethical codes in computing, and documentation practices of data scientists. This work is viewed through the lens of Huvila’s (2009) ecology of information model, which supports the exploration of the situated and contextual affordances and constraints of information infrastructure and information work, both of which influence the possibilities for making knowledge claims. The results of the literature review suggest both structure and content for an interview protocol, which will lay the groundwork for further in-depth ethnographic work.

Unpacking language teacher beliefs, agency, and resilience in the complex, unprecedented time: A mixed-method study.

We conducted this mixed-method study by focusing on the influx relationship among teacher beliefs, agency, and resilience during the pandemic and exploring the relationships and tensions among these constructs or capacities. Specifically, we surveyed 93 language teachers across seven different regions in China and collected their perceptions and beliefs about challenges and solutions during the first wave of the pandemic. In a further step, we interviewed six participants, analyzed the transcripts of the interviews, and then explored how their agency and resilience emerged and developed during the pandemic. From the quantitative statistics, we reported teacher beliefs about emotional, physical, mentoring, and support challenges in emergency remote teaching and their adopted strategies to handle these challenges during the pandemic. We also reported significant correlations among different perceived challenges and solutions. From the qualitative analysis, we found that language teacher beliefs, agency, and resilience co-evolved from intrapersonal and interpersonal reflections through temporal and contextual affordances. Drawing from the sociocultural theory, we contributed a theoretical framework for studying language teacher beliefs, agency, and resilience. We discussed our findings around the global traits that language teachers are required to develop in the increasingly complex world and also offered implications for language teacher education programs.

The Social Media Entrepreneurship of Inexperienced People: From the Learning Process Perspective

Myriad people with no prior experience in business and entrepreneurship education are using social media to undertake vlogging, live-streaming, and selling for financial gain. To address the puzzle about how such a large number of inexperienced people learn to become skillful social media entrepreneurs, we conduct an inductive, qualitative study on ‘daigou’ agents: a type of social media entrepreneur, often students, who perform re-selling and personal shopping through social media, such as WeChat and Weibo. First, our findings propose that inexperienced people initially use social media to engage in two forms of vicarious learning (i.e., observational learning and online acquaintanceship learning), which are both rapid and low-cost and also facilitated by general social media affordances (i.e., browsing, communication, networking, and knowledge-gathering). Through vicarious learning, inexperienced people acquire knowledge about contextual social media affordances that enable the conduct of operational tasks (e.g., product selection, advertising, receiving payments, building customer trust, complaint management, and recruitment) and model social media posts that visually illustrate the realization of contextual affordances. Second, our findings also show that social media features offer inexperienced people the capabilities to apply vicariously acquired knowledge in one or more of three forms of application: reproductive, selective, and experimental. Based on these findings, the implications for entrepreneurship studies and policy-makers/managers are discussed.

Unearthing the Learning of Genomic Medicine in the Workplace: a Qualitative Study

Workplace learning is fundamental in contextualizing theoretical concepts into practice, making it opportune for professionals to learn emerging concepts. With genomic testing transitioning from the research space into healthcare, there are more opportunities to engage with workplace learning related to genomic medicine. We therefore aimed to unearth how genomics was being learnt in the workplace and the opportunities and factors that influenced these learning experiences. Qualitative secondary analysis was applied to a purposive sample of interviews with non-genetic physicians who had reflected on their genomic medicine practice and education. Thematic analysis, guided by Billett’s co-participation at work theory, was conducted to identify workplace learning opportunities related to genomic medicine and any influencing factors. A coding framework was developed and iteratively refined until consensus was reached. Various workplace learning opportunities related to genomic medicine were identified from interviews with 29 physicians. Engagement occurred through established clinical work practice, contextual affordances, and agentic pursuits. Barriers and facilitators influenced participants’ experiences and access with opportunities. Some participants recognized these learning opportunities as “informal”; however, most did not. Opportunities to engage with workplace learning beyond formal training are essential to ensure the medical workforce has the knowledge and confidence to engage with practice-related developments. However, ‘work’ activities were not often recognized as ‘learning’ opportunities. With continued efforts to integrate genomics and other innovations into routine healthcare and help reduce the theory–practice gap, this study adds to our understanding of how workplace learning occurs and offers a platform on which to build a robust model for continuing education.

Social cognitive career theory and rural high school learners’ intentions to pursue an accounting career

ABSTRACT The extended social cognitive career theory (SCCT) suggests that career intentions are influenced by person inputs, background contextual affordances, learning experiences, self-efficacy expectations and outcome expectations, as well as satisfaction and well-being in academic and work settings. The main purpose of the current study was to examine the career intentions of South African high school learners towards a career in the accounting field. Using proportionate stratified random sampling, 305 learners from eight high schools in a rural community were surveyed. Respondents’ intentions to pursue a career in accounting were significantly positively correlated with self-efficacy expectations and outcome expectations. Work satisfaction, earning potential, self-efficacy expectations, personal interest, Accounting being offered as a subject and having a family member in the accounting field are factors influencing participants’ career choice. Recommendations are made that could assist in better-informed career decision-making, guidance and support for learners who wish to pursue a career in the accounting field.

Konsep social cognitive career theory

<em>Social Cognitive Career Theory</em> (SCCT) is a career development model that describes how individual inputs, contextual affordances, and sociocognitive variables influence the establishment of occupational interests, career objectives, and behaviors. SCCT emphasizes the relevance of learning experiences, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations in the career development process, and is based on Bandura's social cognitive theory. SCCT is also interested in the relationships between sociocognitive characteristics, professional interests, and other career outcomes, as well as race/ethnicity, gender, and predispositions. Existing research generally supports specific SCCT approaches; nevertheless, a study of the literature found significant SCCT research limitations. The goal is for counselors to have a better grasp of the complicated mechanisms through which people establish career interests.

The Pragmatics of Political Claims and Social Responses amidst Covid-19 and EndSARS Saga in Nigeria

There have been few stand-alone linguistic studies on the Covid-19 virus and the 2020 EndSARS protests in Nigeria. The present study intersects these two critical events with particular focus on the political claims made by the ruling class and the corresponding social responses in line with the contextual affordances shared by the participants. Searle’s speech act theoretic approach is adopted to analyse the pragmatic intentions of the illocutionary acts which political claims perform while Juvenalian satire is used to discuss the satirical elements embedded in the social responses in a bid to ridicule leadership follies and abuses. Three popular Nigerian online Newspapers and few comments from Facebook are selected for this study. Their selection is based on their coverage of these events, coverage of these political claims and popular readership evidenced in the social responses. In all, a total of 6 political claims and 25 social responses relevant to this study are analysed. The study revealed that the pragmatic relevance of these claims is embedded in its political functions of wielding undue influence over the populace, making promises driven by rhetoric and short of initiative and calculated reticence in response to social issues. Consequently, the social responses highlight and criticise leadership vices and the weak efforts of the government in dispensing its leadership interventions. It also fulfils communicative purposes of the contextual space, promote solidarity among the people while prompting change in the political class and the society at large.

Contextualizing Social Media Ecology and Its Pedagogical Affordances: The Perspective of High School Teachers

The potential of social media technology has made its use a daily habit among individuals, institutions, and communities. However, several studies on technology adoption, especially social media use in education, focus more on its impact on the student than the teacher, who is generally perceived as a key stakeholder. This study used purposive sampling to select teachers who taught grades 7–10 and had used social media in their teaching activities. In-depth interviews were carried out with participating teachers to get their opinions and perspectives about how they used social media in their teaching activities (N=11). Inductive and deductive coding were used for the latent content analysis and four categories emerged: (1) SM technology in the classroom, (2) positive perceived contextual affordances, (3) negative perceived contextual affordances, and (4) support for social media. Results of the study show that, besides the schools’ learning management systems, YouTube was the major SM app that was regularly used by participants in their lessons. Also, all participating teachers expressed their interest in teaching with social media. However, they cited some challenges as weaknesses towards social media use in teaching.

On Making Ethical Choices in Ethnographic Research into (Young) People’s Mediated Intimacy: A Research Note

ABSTRACT People’s intimate life-worlds are increasingly taking place in networked media spaces such as social media, smartphone applications and virtual reality environments. For (digital) ethnographers, it becomes crucial to understand people’s intense intimate attachments to mediated spaces. Many researchers are already exploring networked media spaces’ affects; what opportunities they offer for people’s intimacies as well as the, albeit hidden, damage they may bring. However, there are many challenges for qualitative researchers to operate ethically when inquiring into people’s intimate life-worlds in networked media spaces. A framework of contextual integrity needs to consider what it means to live a personal life in deeply mediatised contexts. For an ethnographic researcher, being present in the intimate networked media spaces of research subjects, means tapping into affective networks. Responsible researchers should therefore understand the contextual affective dynamics and affordances of these networked media spaces; this implies understanding what it means to be present as a researcher and what the implications are of this presence.

Complexities of Continuing Professional Development in Context: Physician Engagement in Clinical Coaching.

Effective continuing professional development (CPD) is critical for safe and effective health care. Recent shifts have called for a move away from didactic CPD, which often fails to affect practice, toward workplace learning such as clinical coaching. Unfortunately, coaching programs are complex, and adoption does not guarantee effectiveness. To resolve this problem, thus ensuring resources are well spent, there is a critical need to understand what physicians try to achieve and how they engage. Therefore, we examined the types of change physicians pursue through clinical coaching and the impact of context on their desired changes. In the context of two clinical coaching programs for rural physicians, we applied a generic qualitative approach. Coachees (N = 15) participated in semistructured interviews. Analysis involved iterative cycles of initial, focused, and theoretical coding. Coachees articulated desired practice changes along a spectrum, ranging from honing their current practice to making larger changes that involved new skills outside their current practice; changes also ranged from those focused on individual physicians to those focused on the practice system. Desired changes were affected by factors in the learning/practice environment, including those related to the individual coachee, coach, and learning/practice context. These results suggest that the current focus on acquiring new knowledge through CPD may miss important learning that involves subtle shifts in practice as well as learning that focusses on systems change. Moreover, an appreciation of the contextual nature of CPD can ensure that contextual affordances are leveraged and barriers are acknowledged.