Language and Faith:
Empirical Studies on Christianity and Language Learning and Teaching

Edited by Mary Shepard Wong (Azusa Pacific University; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> )
Carolyn Kristjánsson (Trinity Western University; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> )
Zoltán Dörnyei (University of Nottingham; [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> )

There has been an increased interest in exploring the relationship of faith and language teaching and learning over the past decade as practitioners and scholars in various parts of the world have begun a discussion about the possible role and impact of a teacher’s and students’ faith in the language classroom. The proposed volume intends to continue this exploration by adding a data-based research dimension to the topic. The editors have been part of language teaching conferences and publications where such discussion has occurred, and would like to invite colleagues from every area of applied linguistics and language teaching to contribute to this anthology to be published by an international publisher. At this stage we are calling for statements of intention by potential contributors (accompanied by a short abstract – see below) so that we can prepare a book proposal in order to formally approach publishers.

The proposed anthology would contain chapters that describe empirical, data-driven studies representing a diversity of experiences and perspectives that develop discussions on the philosophies, purposes, practices and theories of the interrelationship of Christianity and language learning and teaching. As editors, we are interested in how the faith of stakeholders comes to bear on the learning and teaching of English for example; however, we are also open to expanding the scope of the volume to include more languages, including the classic languages of the Bible. The editors have decided to focus this particular volume on Christian Faith in order to keep it focused; however, we anticipate and hope that researchers who hold a diversity of beliefs will submit relevant contributions, thereby widening the scope of the content.
 
Thus, the main intent of the volume is to explore the multiple links that exist between various aspects of the Christian faith and the practice of instructed second language acquisition. We would like the book to represent a variety of educational theories and research methods, leading to data-based results and conclusions. Some questions we hope to explore are: How do teachers’ faith beliefs impact their decisions to become language teachers, the pedagogy they use, and their interactions they have with students? How does the Christian faith of pre-service and in-service teachers come to bear on their engagement in language teacher education?  What is the role of faith in the motivation of Christian students and teachers to learn foreign languages? Does a view of language as God’s creation impact Christian language educators to save endangered languages? How is language teaching within the church viewed and received by students and the community? In what ways does faith enter the language classroom and what role does it play? What connections do Christian language teachers make between their faith beliefs and language policies of the state? What insights does the study of languages and pedagogy provide about the creator God?
 
If you have conducted – or are planning to conduct – any relevant study on language learning and teaching and faith and would like to be part of this volume, please send us a 100-150 word abstract and title by September 1, 2010. Full chapters will be due by June 2011, thereby hopefully allowing for the completion of projects that are at an early, perhaps even only planning, stage.
 
Please forward this call to anyone (friends, colleagues, students) who you think might be interested. In this way we hope to reach as wide a contributor pool as possible. Thank you very much! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of the editors. We look forward to hearing from you.
 
 
Mary, Carolyn, and Zoltan


Sample Abstracts:
 
The Impact of Faith on Professional Identity Formation of Christian English Language Teachers in Asia
 
This chapter describes a study that investigated the pedagogy and professional identity formation of 30 Christian English teachers in Asia. Wenger’s (1998) social theory of identity formation was used to analyze interview transcripts and helped to describe how teachers were reconciling the nexus of multimemberships of communities of practice; moving along various trajectories into, out of, and among multiple communities; and relating and belonging to global and local communities and constellations of practice. Four clusters of communities of practice emerged: 1) Christian / missional, 2) academic / professional, 3) personal / relational, and 4) national / political. The teachers’ faith impacted the teachers’ “calling” to teach (missional), their commitment to teach well (professional), their desire for deep relationships (personal), and the extent to which they recognized and struggled with dilemmas of power and privilege (political). The study reveals the significant influence that a teacher’s faith can have on teacher identity formation.

Welcome to the Neighbourhood: Church-Sponsored ESL as Spiritual Practice

This chapter investigates the perceptions and practices of stakeholders in church-sponsored ESL programs in Canada drawing on data derived from phone surveys with 34 program directors, follow-up interviews with directors of 23 programs, and case studies of three programs, including interviews with teachers and students.  Discourse analysis is applied to examine how program providers and learners construct their own identities and those of other stakeholders along with possibilities for learning and access to participation in the broader community by newcomers (Norton & Toohey, 2002; Kristjánsson, 2010).  Findings suggest that perceptions of Christian spiritual identity on the part of program providers have implications for how newcomers are viewed, power is used, tensions between declaring and embodying faith are negotiated, and program practices are constructed.  Student responses indicate that program participation affirms their identities as learners and members of Canadian society. Teaching and learning are represented as embedded in social networks.
 
The Role of Sacred Text in Enhancing Motivation and Vision in Second Language Acquisition
In his L2 motivational self system (Dörnyei 2005, 2009) proposes three major dimensions of L2 motivation: the ‘ideal L2 self’, the ‘ought-to L2 self” and the “L2 learning experience”. These constructs lend themselves to exploring the role of curriculum content in enhancing learner motivation and vision. This chapter describes a qualitative multiple case study of language learners motivated by the Biblical text as curriculum content in the process of language acquisition. Because this sacred text addresses issues concerning these learners’ core identity, it constitutes meaningful input beyond functional purposes and contributes to their sense of learning a language as a meaningful activity.