Publication Date

2019

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Macdonald, Doris M.

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of English

Abstract

The descriptive multi-case study asks three adult migrants, first-language (L1) Spanish-speakers from México, about their interpretations of their own and others’ silences as they navigate daily life, jobs, family, and English-language learning in the United States. Subjective opinions about silence, their second-language (L2) acquisition processes, comfort levels in various speaking situations, functions of L2 communication, and affective and social dimensions of language learning are related to participants’ willingness to communicate (WTC), a construct that measures a predisposition to talk, rather than stay silent, in L2 interaction.

The research, through daily language-use surveys and semi-structured Spanish-language interviews with the three English-language learners, provides naturalistic narrative data to help learn how WTC changes as learners negotiate their L2 identities and nonnative-speaker status. Participants address L2 speaking anxiety, inner speech, cases of linguistic and racial discrimination, listening strategies, and the influence of both native-speakers and Spanish-English bilinguals on their decisions to stay silent or to speak English in contexts such as family, job, health care, schools, commerce, and government.

A range of social and cross-cultural factors is also shown to affect informants’ opportunities for speaking English and communicating in authentic L2 settings. These extralinguistic factors include demographics of the Latino(a) community, judgments about Spanish-language power and vitality, levels of social isolation, and economic pressures. Coding of sequences from participant interviews allows content analysis by theme and later synthesis of narratives to add to knowledge about the potential value and risks of silence in second-language acquisition.

Extent

206 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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