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Description
The purpose of this case study was to examine the experiences of six civilian immigrant instructors teaching their native language and culture to military students. The participants were recent immigrants who spent 5 years or less in the United States. Previous research on foreign language education focused on learners' characteristics. The literature has a wealth of quantitative studies examining students' scores and efficiency of language and culture programs. The dearth of qualitative research about the experience of instructors was a motivation for this research. This qualitative case study also focused on describing the experiences of these instructors and how they used their native knowledge of language and culture to teach their students. The research questions that guided this case study explored the different instructional strategies used by the instructors and how their content knowledge influenced their teaching. The findings indicated lack of professional development led the instructors to fall back on their own experiences as former students. That consequently translated into a preference for a teacher-centered style of instruction. There was evidence the instructors lacked knowledge of the principles of adult learning and Knowles' assumptions of Andragogy. The instructors did not see that their students were capable of self-directed learning. They did not understand the relevance of the instruction to the mission of their military students. Therefore, they were unable to involve their students in the learning process. The overall recommendation of this study is to provide culturally appropriate pedagogical training for immigrant instructors on Andragogy and second language acquisition theories. The findings of the study reflected the need for intercultural communication training prior to language and culture classes—for instructors and students—to facilitate a more effective learning environment.
