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Date of Award

2013

Rights

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Document Type

Thesis: EWU Only

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA) in English: Teaching English as a Second Language

Department

English

Abstract

"Current language policies are based on faulty notions of the historical and contemporary linguistic landscape of the U.S. However, simply because the student is studying in the U.S. at an English medium institution, does not necessarily indicate that the student plans on being a lifelong member of any English community of practice. Pressures on these students to converge to English occur because of the faulty notions that make the basis of current language policies. This study looks at the implications of the pressure to converge within two sections of an ESL composition course at a state university. The pressure to converge makes these students re-evaluate their linguistic priorities and can be demotivational to their language learning. Keeping in mind their imagined communities of practice, reducing the pressure to converge can make these students integratively motivated to learn and grant them access to the dominant discourse community."

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