How International Students Using Communication Centers Navigate Locus of Control | Chapter 03 | Perspectives of Arts and Social Studies Vol. 3
This study documents how students
learning English as a second language exhibit various levels of internal and external
locus of control in their learning process. Focus group interviews were
conducted with 21 non-native English speakers from seven nations enrolled in an
intensive English language learning program at a mid-size research university
in the southeastern United States. All participants engaged regularly in
conversational practice at the university’s oral communication center.
Participants were asked about the processes they used for learning English and
what their sources of motivation were. Thematic content analysis revealed that
internal and external locus of control tended to operate synergistically in the
process of learning a new language and adapting to a new culture. Motivation to
initiate and persist in new language acquisition emerged from a blend of
personal agency, inspiration from family and teachers, and social exigencies.
The dynamic interplay between internal and external locus of control challenges
common portrayals of these dimensions as antagonistic. Learners often range
across levels of internal and external orientations, suggesting need to
reconsider characterizations of internality primarily as an enhancer and
externality primarily as an inhibitor of learning.
Author(s) Details
Roy Schwartzman
Department of Communication Studies, University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, USA.
Karen E. Boger
Department
of Communication Studies, University of Southern Mississippi, USA.
View Volume: https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/pass/v3
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