Constructing gender identities through responses to female-centered texts

摘要

In recent years, social identity has been recognized as a salient factor in second/foreign language learning, since literacy practice is not simply a matter of acquiring pre-given knowledge and sets of strategies, but involves a complex process of negotiating identities, cultures or even power relations. This study reports how a Taiwanese university student, Sue, constructed her gender identities through reading, responding to and talking about/around female-centered texts. Sue's reading journal entries were used as key sources for data analysis, while classroom observational notes and oral interviews were applied as supplementary data to verify the data analysis and interpretations. Three approaches, holistic, detailed and selective, were used for data analysis. The findings suggest that alternative perspectives shifted Sue's reading orientation toward female-centered texts, and in turn broadened her perspectives on gender inquiry. Moreover, multiple literacies served as rich interpretive resources to enhance her textual comprehension and interpretation with critical perspectives. By using learning agency and active participation to construct her gender identity, Sue became a thoughtful and critical reader with regard to gender inquiry. However, when recontextualizing her newly acquired gender identities in a different course, Sue faced social identity conflicts. Some pedagogical implications for classroom practices are also addressed.