Susan Parks

TITLE: Strategy Use by Nonnative-English-Speaking Students in an MBA Program: Not Business as Usual! SOURCE: The Modern Language Journal 88 no3 374-89 Aut 2004 The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article in violation of the copyright is prohibited. To contact the publisher: www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk SUSAN PARKS; PATRICIA M. RAYMOND ABSTRACT Despite the long-standing interest in strategy use and language learning, little attention has been given to how social context may constrain or facilitate this use or the development of new strategies. Drawing on data from a longitudinal qualitative study, we discuss this issue in relation to the experiences of Chinese students from the People's Republic of China, who, following study in English for Academic Purposes courses, registered in a Master's in Business Administration program in a Canadian university. Specifically, we focus on how the contact with the native-English-speaking Canadian students mediated the Chinese students' strategy use in 3 domains: reading, class lectures, and team work. In contrast to the rather simplistic notion evoked in certain portrayals of the good language learner, strategy use as reported herein emerges as a complex, socially situated phenomenon, bound up with issues related to personal identity (Leki, 2001; Norton, 1997, 2000; Spack, 1997). ALTHOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATegy use for language learning has long been recognized (e.g., D ๖ rnyei & Scott, 1997; Ehrman, Leaver, & Oxford, 2003; Oxford, 1989a, 1989b; Rubin, 1975), little attention has been given to how social context may constrain or facilitate this use or how new strategies are appropriated. One social context where an enhanced understanding of this issue could be of interest pertains to nonnativeEnglish-speaking students who register in North American English-medium universities. In this article, we discuss this issue in relation to the experiences of Chinese students from the People's Republic of China, who, following study in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses, registered in a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) program in a Canadian university. However, prior to engaging in this discussion, we will briefly focus on how strategy use has been conceptualized within the language teaching literature. We will also discuss the context of the study, in terms of who the participants were and what their program of study was, and the methodology used. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS Within the field of Applied Linguistics, most of the literature dealing with strategies, which began to emerge in the 1970s, has been construed in reference to cognitive and psycholinguistic perspectives on language teaching and learning. Although definitions vary widely, for the purpose of this article, we are interested in those strategies designated as learning strategies, and which Oxford, Lavine, and Crookall (1989) referred to as "actions, behaviors, steps, or techniques--such as seeking out target language conversation partners, or giving oneself encouragement to tackle a difficult language task--used by learners to enhance learning" (p. 29). As further noted by these authors, such strategies "facilitate the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information" (p. 29). Within this literature, one of the main contributions has been the elaboration of taxonomies, which focus on a range of strategy types (Hsiao & Oxford, 2002; Oxford, Lavine, & Crookall, 1989; Wenden & rubin, 1987). In elaborating these taxonomies, a key assumption has been that an understanding of the types of strategies used by good language learners will, from a pedagogical perspective, be beneficial to those learners who have been less successful. In addition to the identification of strategy types, research has also sought to explain individual differences in strategy use in relation to various learner characteristics such as motivation, age, gender, and cognitive style (Ehrman & Leaver, 2003; Griffiths, 2003; Nyikos, 1990; Oxford, 1989a; Oxford & Nyikos, 1989). Despite the many interesting insights provided by such studies, the focus and methodological approaches have shed little light on how contextual factors relate to learners' use (or nonuse) of known strategies or to the development of new ones. As is more generally typical of research within the cognitive/psycholinguistic paradigm, the learning strategies literature has likewise largely focused on the individual and his or her mental processes. Of particular note in this regard is the often-evoked or implicit opposition between the good and the poor language learner, a portrayal that tends to imply that success at language learning is primarily a matter of individual initiative, notably in terms of strategy use and personal motivation. This relatively static, unproblematic, and individualistic portrayal of the language learner is clearly reflected within Rubin's (1975) seminal article in such statements as:

The good language learner seems to have a high motivation to communicate, no matter where he is.... [in reference to three factors related to language learning--aptitude, motivation, opportunity] What is clear is that the good learner has or creates all of these and the poorer learner does not.... He will seek out opportunities to use the language by looking for native speakers, going to movies or to cultural events. He initiates conversations with the teacher or his fellow students in the target language.... He will usually take advantage of every opportunity to speak in class. (pp. 43-47) More recently, data obtained using Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning was used by Griffiths (2003) to identify what she referred to as "plus" strategies, those strategies that, based on her sampling of classes in a language school, appeared to be used by the most successful advanced learners. Elsewhere, Peacock (2001), focusing specifically on the strategies used by nonnative speakers in EAP courses at the City University of Hong Kong, spoke to the "need to draw up a list of the attributes of the good EAP learner" (p. 270). With respect to efforts to relate patterns of individual strategy use to learner characteristics, of particular note here is the use of questionnaires involving predetermined schemes such as those used to measure motivation and attitudinal variables (Gardner, 1985; Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Gardner, Tremblay, & Masgoret, 1997) or cognitive style (Ehrman & Leaver, 2003). Although questionnaires offer the advantage of providing large scale quantifiable data, as measures of individual differences such instruments are increasingly criticized (LoCastro, 2001; McCarthey, 1998; Potter & Wetherell, 1987) because they tend to depict character traits as relatively fixed, innate attributes of the individual and are thus less likely to change across contexts. In addition to a research agenda largely focused on the individual in experimental settings, recommendations as to how learners can enhance their language learning efficiency through a change in strategy use (D ๖ rnyei & Csizer, 1998) also tend to be aimed at the individual, as if such use largely pertained to individual will and knowledge. Although in contrast to the presumed innateness of learner characteristics, Oxford and Nyikos (1989) further suggested that learning strategies are "readily teachable" (p. 291). To date, few studies have explored this issue, and they have met with mixed results. In contrast to the cognitive/psycholinguistic paradigm, perspectives on learning that epistemologically are more socially and culturally oriented appear better adapted to an exploration of situated strategy use. In this regard, three perspectives, which may be viewed as complementary, are of particular note: Vygotskian and neoVygotskian sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1998), Norton's notion of investment (Norton, 1997, 2000; Peirce, 1995), and Bakhtinean theory (Bakhtin, 1981, 1986). Within Vygotskian and neo-Vygotskian sociocultural theory, a basic premise pertains to the fact that cognition in general has its roots in social interaction. In terms of depicting the relationship between strategy use and social context, Activity theory (Wertsch, Minick, & Arns, 1984), especially Engestr ๖ m's (1991) version, appears of particular interest. Within this latter version, an individual's construal of the underlying motive (or goal) of a given activity is related to the means (including strategies) used to enact it, choices which in turn have implications for the end product, or outcome, of the activity. Specific reference to the individual (referred to as the subject) formally highlights the role of agency and draws attention to how personal history and experiences may mediate learning. As activity systems, university courses can be characterized in terms of two main culturally prescribed goals (Dias, Freedman, Medway, & Par้, 1999; Dias & Par้, 2000): learning (an epistemic goal) and evaluation (an instrumental goal). Through evaluation, which ultimately fulfills a ranking function, the university may be viewed as creating symbolic capital--cultural capital in Bourdieu's (1990) terms--which for students has direct implications in terms of the material resources to which it may give access, for example, scholarships or future job prospects. Within a given university program or course, students may differentially orient to the culturally prescribed goals (Dias et al., 1999; Dias & Par้, 2000; Parks, 2001). Drawing on feminist poststructural traditions, Norton's (1997) notion of investment, originally formulated in regard to language learning (Peirce, 1995), also presents a view of language learners as socially situated actors whose actions are contingent on the social contexts in which they are involved. In contrast to traditional second language (L2) acquisition research, which tends to place the onus for seeking contact with native speakers (and access to input) on the individual L2 learner, Norton stressed how such interaction may be much more problematic, given that it may be bound up with issues related to the learner's own social identity. I have used the term investment to signal the socially and historically constructed relationship of learners to the target language and their sometimes ambivalent desire to learn and practice it.... The construct of investment conceives of the language learner as having a complex history and multiple desires. An investment in the target language is also an investment in a learner's own social identity, which changes across times and space. (p. 411)

With respect to Bakhtinean theory (1981), one aspect of particular interest to on eventual consideration of situated strategy use pertains to Bakhtin's distinction between authoritative and persuasive discourse. Authoritative discourse refers to the various ideologies (political, religious, moral, pedagogical, etc.) to which individuals are invariably exposed as members of a given society and which mediate the emergence and shape of individual consciousness. However, this process of becoming may be more or less harmonious depending on the degree to which the individual personally adheres to a given discourse, or, in other words, the degree to which he or she finds the latter internally persuasive. Thus, as in the case of Norton (1997), the way an individual orients to others and to their words or discourses (inevitably ideological in nature) is bound up with issues pertaining to selfidentify. Although still relatively sparse, studies that have made reference to strategy use in situated contexts (either as a focal point or more indirectly) and have drawn increasingly on the above (or other socially oriented) theoretical perspectives suggest how their use (or nonuse) is variously constrained or facilitated by the way the individual is positioned within specific social contexts (Ang้lil-Carter, 1997; Benson, 1994; Gillette, 1994; Goldstein, 1997; LoCastro, 2001; Maguire, 1997; McKay & Wong, 1996; Norton, 1997, 2000; Parks, 2000, 2001; Peirce, 1995; Thesen, 1997). As pertains specifically to academic study by international students in North American universities, a study by Spack (1997), which focused on a 3-year longitudinal case study of a Japanese student, underscored how her strategies for reading and writing changed as she attempted to adapt to course requirements in her program of study. Although within the language learning strategy literature seeking out contact with native speakers (often referred to as a "social strategy," Oxford, 1989b) is typically viewed as one of the hallmarks of the good language learner, recent studies involving international students in academic contexts have suggested that such initiatives may not be so easy. As reported by Benson (1989), international students, even those with high Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores, may have great difficulty speaking out in participatory style lecture classes, where, within the North American context, such interaction is highly valued. Developing the relevant discursive competencies (as suggested by the learner showcased in this latter study, a Saudi Arabian) may be particularly difficult for those international students whose prior educational experiences have taken place in cultures where such modes of classroom behavior were not the norm. In the case of Chinese students, their often-noted reticence to speak out has been attributed to the enduring influences of Confucianism which in social relations emphasizes the importance of preserving good harmony through cooperation and avoidance of loss of face (Flowerdew, 1998). Within educational contexts, these values are reflected in students' deference for the authority of the teacher and a reluctance to challenge openly the opinions of others, either the teacher's or peers'. However, in addition to these intercultural constraints, international students, like many native speakers, may also choose silence over interaction so as not to appear incompetent (Beer, 2000; Foster, 1998). Although we are not aware of studies involving international university students, the problem in whole-class settings of fostering interaction amongst academically disadvantaged mainstream students, notably in elementary and high school contexts, has been abundantly discussed. In terms of helping such students to become more actively involved, of particular importance is the teacher's role in structuring assignments and providing relevant support or "scaffolding" (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976) during discussion periods (Dysthe, 1996; Mercer, 1995; Nystrand & Gamoran, 1991). From an epistemological perspective, pedagogical approaches influenced by socioconstructivist/sociocultural theory have proved much more effective in this regard than transmission modes of teaching (focused on lecturing). Although within North American university contexts socioconstructivist/sociocultural approaches are beginning to appear, lecture style transmission modes of teaching are still very prevalent; to be successful, international students, like their mainstream counterparts, must learn to master the discursive norms implicit in such activity settings (Beer, 2000; Benson, 1989, Schneider & Fujishima, 1995). As one example of pedagogical action aimed at empowering international students in dealing with such classrooms, Benesh (1999) reported using her EAP course successfully to encourage students to ask more questions in a psychology course with which it was linked. To counter the reticence of Chinese students to speak out in lecture settings and adopt a more critical stance, Flowerdew (1998) suggested that group work, if skillfully designed to draw on the Confucian values of cooperation, could be resorted to as a first step. She reported having successfully used this approach with Chinese students in Hong Kong. In considering the ability of international students to cope in North American universities, Morita (2000) noted that the latter may tend to overestimate the abilities of native speakers. In a university course where students were required to give oral presentations, she reported that the native speakers could sometimes feel "just as nervous, tongue-tied, or insecure" (p. 305) as their nonnative speaking counterparts. Indeed, in this instance, some native speakers considered the presentations by the nonnative speakers to be as effective or even more effective than those by the native speakers. Within the North American university system, research on how international students fare in group work with native-speaking domestic students is scant. Nevertheless, studies by both Mohan and Smith (1992) and Leki

(2001) suggest that such contexts, which, in theory, should be highly conducive to fostering social interaction, may, at least in certain cases, prove problematic. In the Mohan and Smith (1992) study, which involved a graduate adult education course, the international students had difficulty intervening in small group discussions because the native speakers tended not to regard them as "equal partners," presumably due to the former's perceived gaps in linguistic and cultural knowledge. In attempting to explain their reticence to speak out in whole-class sessions, the Chinese students cited their unwillingness to waste their classmates' time. In Leki's study (2001), the international students, who were involved with native English speakers in course-sponsored group projects, were, for the most part, relegated to subordinate roles with little opportunity to participate in the completion of assignments in significant ways. For these students, the supposed benefits of working with native speakers in group work (e.g., opportunities for language development and sharing of cultural knowledge) did not materialize. As Leki observed in regard to the native English-speaking students, "consciously or not, [they] appeared to be positioning themselves as experts, masters, or at least more senior members of a community of practice and their bilingual group mates as novices, incompetents, or apprentices" (p. 60). CONTEXT FOR THE STUDY: PARTICIPANTS AND PROGRAM OF STUDY The participants in this study consisted of 18 Chinese students, 10 women and 8 men, whose average age was 27.8 years. They had all been educated in the People's Republic of China and had never previously studied abroad. All had completed undergraduate degrees in a variety of disciplines including accounting, finance, computer science, law, and English as a foreign language. In keeping with the general MBA requirements, all had work experience (from 6 months to 15 years), although not necessarily in business. As seen in the Appendix, the students' program of study may be divided into three phases. In Phase 1, the students were enrolled in EAP courses based on the results of the CanTEST.(FN1) According to this test, all of the students had a highintermediate proficiency level. Following the completion of the EAP courses, which represented conditional admission to the MBA program, the students registered in a special MBA program where they initially took core courses in a sheltered format. In this sheltered format, the course content was the same as for "regular" (Canadian) MBA students, but the Chinese students were in special groups only for them (Phase 2). In Phase 3, the students continued to take core courses in the sheltered format; however, what distinguished this phase was that they also began to come into contact with native English speakers(FN2)--the regular students--in the context of their electives. Also of note within the MBA program was the importance accorded to team work. As in the regular MBA program, the Chinese students, prior to the start of Phase 2, were placed in teams, which were supposed to remain intact for the duration of their program. The rationale for such teams, which included members with a variety of backgrounds, was that they would afford the students the opportunity to deal with issues from a variety of perspectives as well as involve them in experiences related to team building and conflict resolution. Given that regular Canadian students were not involved in the core courses, the teams set up at the start of Phase 2 only included Chinese students. It was during the elective courses in Phase 3 that the students first had the opportunity to work in teams with the Canadian students. For the elective courses, the students were allowed to choose their own teammates, and these teams would change from one course to the next. METHODOLOGY The present research project grew out of the involvement of one of the authors in setting up and administering the original EAP program for the language institute attended by the Chinese students reported on in Raymond and DesBrisay (2000). In order to understand how the students evolved in the EAP and MBA programs, she decided to follow these students through both programs. A common interest in disciplinary socialization led the two researchers to work together. Data for the study were gathered through qualitative research procedures (Merriam, 1988) over a period of 2 years which corresponded to the length of the students' program of study in both the EAP and MBA programs. At the start of the study, all of the students were invited to participate; however, this participation varied at different points in time. Data collection procedures included interviews with the students, EAP teachers, and MBA professors; observation of classes; and collection of various documents (course outlines, samples of students' work, etc.). Of particular relevance to this study were interviews conducted toward or at the end of Phase 3 in which the students were specifically asked to comment on differences between their experiences in the sheltered core courses and the electives where they found themselves with regular students. Following transcription, the interviews were coded in order to identify segments where the students discussed their perceptions of these differences. Within the study, the validity and reliability of the findings have been enhanced notably through attention to the following aspects of the design. First, long-term observation at the research site enabled the researchers to develop an in-depth understanding of the nature of both EAP and MBA academic contexts in which

the students were involved as well as how they perceived studying in both of these over time. Second, triangulation of data was achieved through multiple data sources (interviewing, classroom observation, documents). The fact that two researchers, who independently read through all the transcripts and checked each other's interpretations, were involved throughout also contributed to overall reliability. Third, due to the long-term contact with most of the informants, a form of member checking ensued: During successive interviews, reference to previously elicited comments provided opportunities for the latter to clarify, elaborate on, or correct them. STRATEGY USE As previously reported in the study by Raymond and Parks (2002), the move by the Chinese students from the EAP to the MBA program (sheltered core courses) resulted in changes in their strategy use in regard to reading, writing, and team work. The present article focuses on Phase 3 (the Integrated MBA) when, for the first time, the Chinese students came into contact with the Canadian students (the regular students) in the context of their elective courses. As amply noted within the language learner strategy literature, social strategies are key strategies associated with good language learners. These strategies are exemplified by those language learners who seek out opportunities to interact with native speakers and maximize their opportunities to speak and use the target language. In the following discussion, we highlight how this newly configured social context where the Chinese students found themselves with native speakers had an impact on strategy use in three areas: reading of textbooks, participation in classroom lectures, and participation in team work. In the case of reading, we wish to illustrate how social interaction was instrumental in mediating a change in strategy use and how, in regard to class lectures and team work, the students' efforts at interaction were constrained by aspects of the social context and the way they were positioned therein. USE OF TEXTBOOKS AND READING MATERIAL During Phase 2 (Raymond & Parks, 2002) when the Chinese students moved from the EAP courses to the MBA sheltered courses, one of the main changes in their strategy use related to reading their textbooks and other material was that, in order to cope with the quantity of readings, they became highly selective in what they actually chose to read. This change in strategy use suggested how constraints related to the need to function in a particular academic context forced the students to reevaluate their strategies in relation to the goal at hand, that is, passing the course. Although this coping strategy continued to be widely used during Phase 3, one student, Helen,(FN3) also provided evidence as to how social interaction in group work with native speakers prompted her to begin taking notes from her readings. Up to that point, like most of the Chinese students in the study, Helen's main strategy for studying from textbooks was to read and underline or highlight information she deemed important. In recounting why she changed, Helen first pointed out that during group discussions she had observed that the Canadian students were able to discuss information from the readings much more skilfully than the Chinese students. She further attributed this greater conversational savvy to the fact that the Canadian students had taken notes from the readings and used them, as necessary, to support their arguments. Because she wished to participate more actively in the group, she, too, began to take notes, a strategy that she found useful in promoting both her comprehension and recall of the material: "That [notetaking] makes the reading understandable and I can remember it." In terms of why Helen changed her strategy use, lack of familiarity with notetaking as a study strategy was not an issue. Amongst other things, this strategy had been introduced for such purposes in the EAP course. However, despite this familiarity in terms of knowledge, it was her personal experience in the group with native speakers that helped her appreciate how this strategy could be used to help her achieve per own goal of wanting to participate more actively in group discussions. From a Bakhtinean perspective, the EAP teachers' recommendations as to the value of notetaking may in this regard be viewed as authoritative discourse; by contrast, the lived experience in the group rendered this discourse internally persuasive. Helen's case also demonstrates how self-identity may be bound up with decisions pertaining to the use or nonuse of strategies: In seeking the means to partake more fully in group discussions with her native speaking counterparts, she was affirming her wish to be perceived by others as a capable student, one able to contribute meaningfully to the task at hand. CLASS LECTURES As revealed in interviews, one of the main changes occasioned by the Chinese student' contact with the native English-speaking Canadian students was that they were led to reevaluate their own competency in English. Whereas in the sheltered classes the only other interlocutor had been the professor, during whole-class discussions in the elective classes, students had to contend with a large range of voices. Following such exchanges proved

difficult for the Chinese students. Frank, for example, alluded to the difficulty posed by multiple interlocutors when he remarked very pointedly: "Sometimes I don't understand their response." In a similar vein, Helen recalled how problems of comprehension arose for her in an elective dealing with activity-based costing systems. In the following excerpt,(FN4) she recounted how she had difficulty understanding a classmate's allusion to kitchen appliances and baking ingredients. And I remember one time there is a girl, I think she is native speaker, and when she described, ah the teacher asked us to give a example for, of any kind of process, and she give us an example of making cookie, cookie or something, cake or cookie, she describe process and she talk about a lot of this ingredients and also the appliances, the kitchen appliances they used, for all the names of the ingredients and those kitchen stuff, I really had no idea of what. So, for the whole process I think I miss anything [things] and understand nothing. It seems to me the other students [Canadians] react very quickly, but four or five Chinese students in the this class, just like me, sat very quietly and no reaction and so I think there is still some problem there [re: listening ability].... I find out some differences between the nonnative speaker and the native speaker in the listening. As seen in her comments, her observation of the other Chinese students in the class, who, unlike the Canadians, did not react to the speaker's comments, led her to conclude that the problem was not hers alone. In addition to problems with comprehension, the Chinese students were also struck by the fact that the Canadian students asked many more questions in class than they did. As reflected in Frank's comment, this difficulty on the part of Chinese students, was not surprisingly attributed to lack of language proficiency. F: Actually we [Chinese students] found some difficulty to talk to the prof in class, such as ask the questions. I think the reason is because of the language, I don't ask questions because of language. I: Because you feel embarrassed? F: Just feel difficult to organize your idea and to express your mind is very difficult. I: What about in sheltered classes, did you ask questions? F: Yes, sometimes. I: But now it's more difficult? [with regular students] F: Yes. I: Because of other students around you? F: Yes. If you can't express yourself clearly, you consume many time of the class, of your classmates [re: asking questions in class].... Sometimes I feel embarrassed, or maybe I think I shouldn't waste the time of my classmates because I ask the prof questions. Sometimes I don't understand their response, just because of language, so there is loss of time [classmates' time]. As reflected here, the difficulty in asking questions appeared to be increased by the presence of Canadian students and the reticence of Chinese students to take up too much class time. As Frank also pointed out, the Chinese students not only had difficulty asking the professor questions during whole-class discussions, but they also had difficulty asking fellow students questions following team presentations. As he pointed out, even during the sheltered classes, despite the professors' requests to do so, the Chinese students typically did not ask questions of their compatriots. Like the other Chinese students, he was surprised that the Canadian students actually asked "a bunch of questions" during such activities. He commented on the fact that the other Chinese students also had difficulty answering questions and, as he did, felt "embarrassed." However, in considering the degree to which the Chinese students interacted in class, two mitigating factors need to be taken into account. The first is their perception of professors' attitudes toward them, notably whether or not the latter were truly interested in what they had to say. In the following excerpt from an interview, Grace recalled how two professors' attitudes and teaching styles encouraged her to participate frequently in class discussions. G: I took a general management, with Molson. I always asked him questions and the prof told me he really appreciated it and all the time good idea. I: How does that make you feel? G: It's great! I tried my best to participate and convey my ideas. I: He encourages you to participate. G: Yeah. He's a good prof. He, actually a lot of my colleagues[other students] like him very much. He's a good prof. He can talk you very efficiently. He can teach you, convey his ideas very deficiently. G: Another prof in financial management in high-tech firms I: Prof. Ross.

G: He's an excellent prof, he's so excellent. He never used any books. We never had any textbook material, no. He just taught us in class, in a simple way. We can learn a lot from him. Because I think I'm interested in it, and I like his teaching way so I participated a lot and asked him questions. We can learn a lot from him and I also feel very good... and he always, most of his slides [for PowerPoint presentation] is very dark, is blue. So I don't know [how] to make it [them] because I can't see it [couldn't figure out]. He just told me: "Oh please actually, there is a kind of black and white, and you just put it in the black and white." And he told every students: "Actually I at the first beginning, I do not know how to do it either. It took me one month to do it." He just don't want me feel embarrassed. I: ... and this is part of his teaching style? G: Yeah, it's teaching style. I: And that's what you like? I like it very much. I: And you feel good about this, and when you're in the class, the language doesn't G: Doesn't matter. As can be gleaned from Grace's comments, an aspect of Professor Ross's teaching style that appeared to appeal to her was his self-effacing, modest attitude. In his response to a question on how he made a certain type of slide for his PowerPoint presentation, he tended to downplay his expertise, mentioning that the technology was new for him, too, and implying it took him a long time to learn. Indeed, this mode of interaction on his part might be viewed as a form of face saving vis-เ-vis his interlocutor, given that Grace seemed to grasp the underlying social function as not wishing to embarrass her ("He just don't want me feel embarrassed"). Although it is based on our observation of classes and not explicitly mentioned by the Chinese students, a second factor that appeared to influence the degree to which they participated in class was the professor's approach to teaching, or epistemological stance. During our observations, we saw that most of the MBA professors subscribed to a transmission mode of teaching, that is, their basic teaching strategy comprised the formal lecture with, to varying degrees, opportunity for questions and discussion (participatory lecture style). In these classes, Chinese student participation was generally very limited. This limited participation contrasted, however, with their participation in classes where the professor adopted a more socioconstructivist approach to teaching. This was particularly the case for classes taught by Professor Ross, whom most students considered their favorite professor. In Professor Ross's class, the students were involved in various types of activities that were constructed in a way that required their active participation. One such activity was team debates. For this activity, teams of four or five students were given an assigned topic for which they had to prepare arguments for or against. In class, the two designated teams, who were positioned at the front of the class, presented and rebutted each other's points in a systematic way. They also fielded questions from the other students in the audience, who then voted for the best team. Despite the Chinese students' difficulties with active class participation noted previously, it should be mentioned that moving from sheltered courses to electives with Canadian students generally appeared to have a positive impact on their level of attentiveness in class and on their behavior. As Henry noted, some Chinese students, who had lacked discipline in the sheltered classes, were much better behaved in the electives. H: The Canadians they put more attention to what the prof is says, and the Chinese students, I just want to explain, Chinese students, they, some of them really didn't pay attention to what professor's saying [in the sheltered courses]. They walked out and in the classroom, and they don't pay attention to the discipline and order of the classroom. This is, I really hate that. They were not interested in the subject of the class.... And when I went to the elective courses [with Canadian students], I felt that all the students are so interested in the courses, and they pay more attention than the Chinese students and to the lecture, and they try to answer all the questions. They are so encouraged to ask questions and they are mature and they are so, how to say, they are disciplined. I: ... how do they [Chinese students] act now that they're not in sheltered courses any more? Do they pay more attention than when they were in a sheltered course? H: Yes, this is the difference. I saw the students that did not pay attention at the sheltered courses, they did pay more attention in the elective course so I really appreciate the mix up with other Canadians. In addition to improving the Chinese students' attentiveness to class lectures, the presence of Canadian students also appeared to influence the Chinese students' preparedness for team work positively, as Doris noted. D: You know, I found another strangeness. When we work with the Canadians, most of our classmates prepared, when they go to the team work they will prepare because they don't want to have nothing to say with the Canadians. They want to practice and they want to exchange idea with the Canadians. But when we work with the Chinese students, some of them did not prepare, because they have just talk, talk, talk and nothing. But when they work with Canadian students, they try to find opportunity to exchange ideas and to practice their English, so they will prepare well before they go.

In a similar vein, Susan also commented: I: So working in a team with students who are not all Chinese is -S: It's maybe it's different. Maybe our Chinese students are very, many are very familiar with each other, so sometimes we organize a meeting. Some people were always late and don't do anything, they don't do anything some of them. I: [checking] The Chinese students? S: Yes, in team. And some ways are very lazy--always do their work very late. In fact, all the peoples need to finish the report, but work with the foreigner student, maybe we notice that we must catch up with their speed. So, nobody late on the meeting. We don't want to give bad impression to Canadian student. I: That's why the team was successful? S: Yeah. As suggested in these comments, contact with the Canadian students appeared to push the Chinese students to reassess the image they had of themselves as good students and to make adjustments, as necessary. As a consequence of their contact with Canadian students in the electives, the Chinese students were led to reevaluate the structure of the MBA program that had been specially set up for them, that is, a strand of sheltered courses reserved for them alone followed by electives with regular students. Although the Chinese students at times had difficulty interacting with Canadian students, they nonetheless recognized that this contact was indispensable first as a means of helping them become aware of problems in their English and second, as a means of overcoming these problems through practice with native speakers. As Doris remarked, the sheltered courses, although well intended, could, if provided in excess, actually hinder the students' efforts at developing their competency: "because you give them too much shelter, just will do harm to them, because they cannot speak English, because they just work in Chinese and then their English cannot be improved." In addition to the need to be with Canadian students in order to perfect their English, some students also stressed the importance of being in classes with Canadians in order to prove to themselves that they were academically able. In the excerpt below, Helen, for example, had wondered whether, in the sheltered classes, the Chinese students had been marked more leniently than would have been the case for regular students. H: Before I mix up, we were mixed up with all the regular students, I have, maybe it's not correct, I have a kind of feeling the teachers paid, pay little pity for the Chinese students, maybe when they mark the Chinese students, they will ignore some minor mistakes or they will give me A [grade], or they mark us in a more, in a easier way than the regular students, so even we can get a better mark by that, but I don't feel it. I myself don't feel confident about our own abilities, but by mixed up with the regular students, I can find out if them [can find out if they are as good as Canadian students]. They [Canadian students] can speak more fluent English than ourselves, they can understand some culture stuff which we are not familiar with, but for the courses itself, I don't think I am less capable than them in understanding [the content]. For some students, who, prior to their contact with Canadian students had tended to imagine that the Canadians were all good and able, the mixed classes brought a more realistic appraisal of the latter's abilities. Based on her experience, Angel, stated, for example: A: I just will say some Canadian students they cannot do as well, they cannot do very well, [as] I expect before. I always think before this Block [with electives where they found themselves with Canadians], I always think Canadian students, including part-time students and full-time students, they all excellent and they all have a good writing, everything, they have a good [sense of] responsibilities. TEAM WORK Although seeking opportunities to interact with native speakers is generally viewed as a characteristic of good language learners, gaining access to them may be easier said than done. When the Chinese students began to take elective courses with the regular Canadian students, they quickly became aware of the fact that not all of the Canadians were interested in having them on their teams. As Fanny reported, the regular students were reticent to work with the Chinese students because they believed the Chinese students would drag down their marks. F: For the elective course, actually I have a feeling Canadian student don't really want to mingle with us. I: What makes you think that? F: Once my cousin told me that two Chinese students ... they have team work with three other Canadians and once they [the Chinese students] are being late and overhear what they [Canadian students] talking about with each other that two Chinese students is coming, we have to wait them, and another guy said, "Actually they usually sleep, they are no contribution at all." I: What you're telling me is that you've avoided working with Canadian students? F: I'm not avoiding ... in the first day some Canadians ... complained [that] those Chinese students is too poor-they will make our whole team grading getting low. I think that that is probable. We can't say they're not right,

because our English is absolutely not as good as them. Thus, although the Chinese students may have wished to interact with the Canadian students, the negative views that Canadians had of them could make such contact problematic. For some Chinese students, one way to save face was simply to avoid groups with Canadian students. Although for those students who attempted to get into groups with Canadians, some experiences were positive, other experiences, as in Angel's case, were conflictual. During one of her electives, Angel found herself in a group with another Chinese student, Peter, and a Canadian woman, Cathy. Angel reported that Cathy had difficulty doing her share of the work because she had a child, lived far from the university, and was often late for meetings. In an effort to accommodate her, Angle, who, in this instance, was the team leader, arranged for her to do an easier part of the assignment. However, with the deadline looming, Angel felt obliged to email Cathy to request that she immediately email them her part because she and Peter still had to make final changes and get the PowerPoint slides ready for the oral presentation the following evening. In the return email, which was sent as 3 AM in the morning, instead of excusing herself, Cathy lashed out, trying to blame Angel for her own negligence. Indeed, Cathy accused Angel of sending her a "rude" email and claimed that if she had not done her part of the work it was due to Angel's poor writing, which had made it difficult for her to understand the text Angel had sent her: "and you know why I didn't write the report because you are poor in writing!" Upon receiving Cathy's email, Angel, who considered herself a good student and, in fact, had been getting A's in her MBA courses, felt crushed. However, rather than passively accepting Cathy's characterization, Angel decided to assert herself, reminding Cathy of all her contributions to the assignment to date and, giving Cathy an ultimatum: Either Cathy would do her part of the assignment and send it to Angel, or Angel would hand it in without Cathy's name on it. In order to avoid any repercussion on her own mark, Angel decided to stay up all night to write Cathy's part as a back-up. In the following excerpt Angel recounted this incident in her own words. A: So, I wrote this email to her. I don't think what she think. About 3 o'clock in this morning she gave me a email and said I: 3 o'clock in the morning? A: Yes. And I didn't sleep that night. And she said: "What do you think you are.... What do you want achieve in this, in your rude email?" So I just think "Oh dear!" and ... she said, "you pretend to take care my risk, take care of my safety [well being] ... and you know why I didn't write the report because you are poor in writing!" ... and at that time I feel very, very bad and this the first time I tell Canadian, that's the first time I began to cry. Now I find this very interesting, but at that time, I feel very frustrated, so I wrote a letter to her. That's the first time I introduce myself so strongly.... "Yes, I'm not Canadian. I'm a second language person, but since I come here 9 months, I've got A average level. You say, yes, I admit I have [am] a poor student, I have a poor writing, but I have cooperate with other, I spent lots of hours to arrange everything, I spent lots of hours to draw the whole picture, the structure [the outline for the report] and discuss with the professors. And I spent hours to arrange the study times, study room, everything. I wrote a note, every time I wrote a note for the meeting." ... So I wrote everything, ... I sent this email to her and I say, "So if you think I'm not a good students, and that's [what] you think ... I will not feel bad just because what you said. And what we can do is just to deal with the problems. If you cannot do tonight, I will not sleep now. I will write your part as a back-up. If you cannot hand in, I will hand in without your name." That's what I said.... So, at that time, I send the email to her and began to work until morning--8 o'clock. Then I go to classes and have courses and headache very much, but that's ok, because I just want to say, "Yes, I'm a second language [student], I don't want to stay your Canada forever. I don't think you can look down to me as like dirt." As it turned out, during the team presentation of their assignment the following evening, Angel observed that Cathy, despite the fact that she was a native speaker of English, did poorly whereas she made what she felt was an excellent presentation. Realizing that she could successfully compete with a native speaker and even do better helped her regain the self-confidence that the experience with Cathy had until then eroded. As Angel pointed out in the following excerpt, Cathy eventually apologized to her, acknowledging that she was, in fact, a "good student." In the next day afternoon, I, we have a meeting. I treat her like everything's, nothing happened. We prepared our presentation [with PowerPoint] ... and at that night in the presentation, she was very, very nervous and she cannot do as she said so good or something. But I did very well. We, I mean ... Peter [Chinese student] and I get the good, make a beautiful slides and with music, everything in the slides.... In presentation I talk about, talk for 10 minutes without any stop and very confidence, everything.... At that time I get my confidence back and I say, "Look, I did better than you," and at last I just say, "ok thanks ... we finished this, thank you, we are team member"

and that's it. At last [later], she wrote a letter to me and she said she got impressed because [of] my presentation and she feel that I am a good student. She think in our email just because of we are very tired.... I really learned a little bit from this experience, it's sometimes it's hurts. Yah, this is the first times I really want to stand up to fight with [for] something, just because of I'm Chinese! I want to fight with you. But I think I give, I also get [give] her a lesson, not just because of her work, just the treatment. As illustrated by this incident, Angel's experience in team work suggests how the desire to speak and interact with native speakers may not be totally dependent on the will of the individual, on the mere knowledge that social interaction is a good learning strategy. As a Chinese second language speaker of English she had to combat a Canadian student's perception of her as a poor student. This positioning, which challenged her self-identify, undermined her confidence in herself as a student. In order to regain her confidence, to reclaim her right to speak and be heard, in Bourdieu's (1977) terminology, she needed to reposition herself vis-เ-vis her interlocutor, a process that proved face threatening for both parties and ultimately conflictual. DISCUSSION In contrast to the rather simplistic portrayal of the good language learner that is seen in the language learner strategy literature, strategy use as reported in this study emerges as a more complex, socially situated phenomenon, bound up with issues related to personal identity. Although social strategies that exhort learners to seek out contact with native speakers and seize on opportunities to speak and interact are doubtlessly important for developing competency in a second or foreign language, the actual implementation of these strategies may be far more complicated than issues of knowledge and individual learning styles may suggest. As revealed in the preceding section, the Chinese students' use (or nonuse) of strategies was variously constrained or facilitated by the way they were positioned within a specific social context, in this instance university courses with native speakers in a Canadian English-medium university. To delineate more specifically how this involvement mediated the Chinese students' strategy use, both positively and negatively, the following three points are of note. First, it is important to remember that awareness of the need to change strategy use may be mediated by involvement in a specific social context. In the case of the Chinese students, contact with native speakers in the lecture settings led them to reevaluate their ability to interact in English. Although within the sheltered MBA classes they had developed a certain ease in listening to the professors, the presence of native-speaking students in the classroom brought them into contact with a range of voices that created new challenges. However, beyond the purely linguistic aspect, the Chinese students, via the enactment provided by the native speakers, were confronted with the exigencies of speaking out and asking questions in the participatory lecture setting, a speech event highly characteristic of North American universities. As has been previously noted (Benson, 1998; Flowerdew, 1998), participation in such events is particularly difficult for students, such as the ones in the present study, who come from countries where such discursive behavior is not the norm. Although prior to their inclusion in classes with native speakers the Chinese students' relative lack of participation during lectures in the sheltered MBA classes had been duly noted by both their professors and the researchers, what changed is that the students themselves henceforth perceived their lack of involvement as an issue. In other words, in regard to their role as students, this newly configured context appeared to create sociocognitive conflict, a psychological state that has been signalled as a key factor in relation to cognitive growth and changes in strategy use (Perret-Clermont, 1980). This new consciousness of their needs was also reflected in a more critical, retrospective evaluation of their MBA program. Although aware of the difficulty of interacting with native speakers, a number of the students recommended that the structure of the program be changed to enable them to work with native speakers earlier because they realized that such contact was necessary in order to enable them further to develop their competency in English. For the Chinese speakers, the newly perceived consciousness of the need to seek out interaction with native speakers in the context of academic work in fact ranks as a metacognitive stategy, a category that has also been identified within the language learning strategy literature (Oxford, 1989b). However, what is important to note is that the recognition of the need and its solution (strategy) emerged as a consequence of students' involvement in this specific social context. As illustrated by Helen and her use of notetaking, knowledge of a strategy may not be sufficient to ensure its actual use. As previously discussed, it was Helen's involvement in group work with native speakers that helped her understand how this strategy could be useful for realizing a personal goal--becoming a more active participant in group discussions. From the perspective of sociocultural theory, this incident provides further evidence showing how the way that an individual orients to a particular activity is related to the means selected to enact it. As suggested more specifically by previous research on L2 learners (Gillette, 1994; McKay & Wong, 1996; Parks, 2000), recommending the use of strategies will have little impact on learning outcomes or the strategies may even

be eschewed if learners themselves do not personally invest in them. The second point is that the use or nonuse of strategies may be mediated by issues related to social identity. Although the language learner literature suggests that social strategies are characteristic of good language learners, engaging with native speakers is not necessarily a simple matter of individual will. As the comments of the Chinese students revealed, language learning does not evolve in a social vacuum. Within the classroom context where the Chinese students first came into contact with their native English-speaking peers, despite a desire to participate more fully, their interactions were tempered by concern over the appropriateness of their actions. As in the study by Mohan and Smith (1992), the Chinese students in this study were reticent to intervene for fear of wasting their classmates' time and of feeling embarrassed. Beyond the constraints imposed by intercultural differences in pedagogical discursive practices (Benson, 1989; Flowerdew, 1998), as in social situations involving native speakers, this reticence also appears to be related to a desire to save face by avoiding awkward interventions that could make them appear to be incompetent students (Beer, 2000; Foster, 1998). Indeed, the desire to be perceived as good students--an identity issue--surfaced directly. Thus, for example, observing how Canadian students behaved in class appeared to push certain Chinese students to be attentive and avoid disruptive behaviors. In team work with Canadian students, some Chinese students were observed to make a greater effort to come prepared and on time than had been the case in teams with only Chinese students. As signalled elsewhere (Leki, 2001; Mohan & Smith, 1992; Norton, 1997, 2000; Peirce, 1995), gaining the confidence and respect of native speakers was not a given. As in Leki's (2001) study, the Chinese students were often positioned by their native-speaking English counterparts as incompetent; due to a perceived lack of proficiency in English they were, at least at times, considered as not able to contribute adequately to the tasks at hand. Although in Leki's (2001) study, the two case study students profiled were unable to reposition themselves in order to participate fully in the group assignments, Angel's case in the present study suggests how one international student resisted her positioning as a poor student and successfully fought to garner the respect of a native speaker. As further demonstrated here, this repositioning, which required a mutual renegotiation of identities, proved conflictual (Norton, 1997, 2000). As in Leki's (2001) study, the professors did not intervene in the team work. Indeed, in this particular context, the malfunctioning of groups was perceived by the MBA program administrators as an opportunity for conflict resolution, thus reflecting an aspect of the workplace that future graduates would eventually experience. In view of the problems encountered by some Chinese students during team work, it is interesting to reconsider Flowerdew's (1998) affirmation of the usefulness of this type of activity for fostering interaction given that it ostensibly incorporates principles of cooperation so highly valued within cultures influenced by Confucianism. Although Flowerdew reported success with this strategy in Hong Kong where Chinese students worked with each other, within this North American context what has not been taken into account is how the Chinese students might be viewed by their native-speaking counterparts. Indeed, as suggested by this study, the problem was not that the Chinese students lacked eagerness to participate but that their counterparts were unwilling to accept them as valued partners. Although within academic institutions learning is a primary goal, this "epistemic" goal (Dias et al., 1999) is often at odds with the instrumental goal of evaluation. In the case of the native English-speaking students, their apparent unwillingness to work with the Chinese students--at least in some instances--appeared to be dictated by the primacy they accorded to the instrumental goal of getting good grades to thus enhance their own academic cultural capital.(FN5) As a final note on how the Chinese viewed themselves as students, it is interesting to observe that, at least for some of these students, the opportunity to compete with native speakers on an equal footing served to confirm their own value as students within the North American university context. Although, as in Morita's (2000) study, the Chinese students tended to view native speaker abilities in a rather idealistic fashion, working with them, as notably evidenced in Helen's case, enabled them to gain a more realistic picture of their Canadian peers. Contact with the native speakers--the other--not only mediated a reassessment of their own strengths and weaknesses but also those of their counterparts. The third point to consider in the use of strategies by the Chinese students in this study is that the ability to interact in classroom settings may be mediated by the attitudes of professors and their teaching styles or epistemological stances. As discussed previously, the Chinese students in this study felt more at ease speaking out and giving opinions if they sensed that the professors valued their initiatives. This greater willingness to participate may also be interpreted as a response to situations that the students perceived as less threatening to face. However, beyond professors' attitudes, what also significantly influenced the degree to which the students spoke out in class pertained to their teaching style or epistemological stance. As evidenced in the present study, constructivist/socioconstructivist orientations proved more apt to promote student interaction than transmission modes of teaching. Whereas, as previously noted (Benson, 1989), participation in the more traditional participatory lecture was extremely difficult for the Chinese students, activities such as the debates organized by

Professor Ross appeared to provide the discursive scaffolding that enabled students to participate meaningfully in academic discussion. From the perspective of intercultural communication, as suggested by Flowerdew (1998), such a team event may also have successfully mobilized deeply rooted predispositions to cooperation. Whereas the traditional lecture mode appeared to position students at the periphery of the classroom activity system, activities more reflective of constructivist/socioconstructivist pedagogies allowed them to participate in more centrally relevant ways. The implications of the present study for L2 language teachers are twofold. First, as previously noted, the cognitively inspired language learning strategy literature has tended to suggest that the difference between effective and ineffective language learners is one of knowledge and personal motivation--a situation that can be remedied pedagogically through the teaching of strategies. Such an ideological underpinning also places the onus for both success and failure in language learning squarely on the shoulders of the individual language learner. However, as suggested above, a social context is not merely a neutral container. Active involvement in a specific social context may be essential in helping the individual become aware of his or her needs and may constrain or facilitate the use of various strategies. In terms of understanding why a strategy taught within a classroom context may not be appropriated, knowledge may be but a first step. As suggested here and elsewhere (Ang้lil-Carter, 1997; Gillette, 1994; McKay & Wong, 1996; Parks, 2000; Raymond & Parks, 2002), how a strategy fits in with the individual's underlying goals in the context of a specific activity also needs to be considered. Furthermore, within language classrooms, learners and teachers may be working in sheltered environments that do not necessarily reflect the experiences that the students, who are gendered and ethnically rooted individuals, may encounter within the society at large. How one is perceived by others and the image of oneself that one may wish to project may emerge as powerful mediating factors in whether or not the language learner speaks and interacts and to what degree. Second, with respect to academic study in North American universities, adjunct L2 classes that are twinned with a content course may be particularly useful for fostering socioconstructivist approaches to teaching (Benesh, 1988, 1999; Hirsch, 1988). As suggested in the preceding discussion, students are more apt to change their strategy use if they are able to understand how the changes could be useful in fulfilling a personal goal (e.g., passing a course, getting good grades). CONCLUSION In this article we have discussed how Chinese students' use (or nonuse) of certain strategies and their development of new strategies were mediated by the presence of native-English-speaking students in their MBA courses in a Canadian university. These changes were observed in relation to activities involving reading, class lectures, and team work. In contrast to the rather simplistic image of the good language learner implicit in cognitive-based approaches to learning strategies, strategy use as reported in this study emerged as a more complex, socially situated phenomenon, bound up with issues related to personal identity. Although studies of learning in situated academic contexts are beginning to appear, greater attention needs to be given to how strategy use (or nonuse) is related to the individual's personal goals and how this use may be constrained or facilitated by the particular social context in which the individual is involved. ADDED MATERIAL SUSAN PARKS Universit้ Laval D้partement de langues, linguistique et traduction Pavillon De Koninck Universit้ Laval Qu้bec, PQ G1K 7P4 Canada Email: [email protected] PATRICIA M. RAYMOND University of Ottawa Second Language Institute 600 King Edward Avenue Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Canada Email: [email protected] FOOTNOTES 1 The Can TEST measures listening, reading, writing, and speaking (optional) proficiency. Can TEST scores are reported as Bands from 1-5, with most Canadian universities accepting an average of 4.0-4.5 as evidence of a

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