East Asian students' negotiation of silence in a university intensive English reading class: An examination of cross-cultural transition within a Project-Oriented CALL approach

Abstract

English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom learning demonstrates a dynamic situation in that learners encounter adjustment issues in relation to linguistic and cultural differences. This study incorporated a technology-mediated language teaching method, called project-oriented computer-assisted language learning (PrOCALL), into the research framework to gain an understanding of how the PrOCALL approach to ESL reading instruction facilitates East Asian students' cross-cultural transition. To investigate the influence of this approach on the target students' learning and transition to the target classroom norms and practices, the study drew on New Literacy Studies, sociocultural theory, and transactional theory. This study relied on an interpretive sociocultural case study to provide an in-depth investigation into the cultural crossing made by the target students throughout their ESL classroom experiences within the context of a university intensive ESL program for international students. As the results of this study showed, PrOCALL has much potential to be practiced as an integrated cross-cultural transition tool in ESL curricula. The PrOCALL approach brings about implications for instructors in any language teaching setting who use authentic texts and tasks; it is practical to various skill classes and proficiency levels with modifications. By infusing a cultural lens into the usually linguistic domain of university intensive English instruction, this study attempted to address the issue of cross-cultural transition to American university ESL classroom culture, and sought to push the field to consider the necessary relationship between language and culture in teaching and learning.