Linguistics ETDs
EFL TO ESL: A CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH L2 STUDENTS IN TRANSITION
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Abstract
This is a case study of four international English L2 students transitioning from their home countries into the academic context of a US university. It investigates the intersections of identity and investment as English L2 students interact with English resources, and how proficiency may or may not mitigate the type and quality of access to English resources. Furthermore, the study proposes a learner as agent framework for understanding the processes of gaining access to English resources. Finally, the study argues that proficiency is a complex issue that needs to be analyzed and defined locally rather than globally and that decontextualized proficiency assessments only provide a partial account of an L2 learners language skills.
