Occupying the 'third space': perspectives and experiences of Asian English language teachers
This chapter is drawn from a larger study which describes the experiences and perspectives of a group of Asian English language teachers who were also postgraduate students in a Master's program provided offshore in Vietnam and onshore in Australia by an Australian university. Case study data w...
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| Format: | Book Chapter |
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Springer
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30266 |
| _version_ | 1848753039007023104 |
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| author | Dobinson, Toni |
| author2 | Dunworth, K. |
| author_facet | Dunworth, K. Dobinson, Toni |
| author_sort | Dobinson, Toni |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This chapter is drawn from a larger study which describes the experiences and perspectives of a group of Asian English language teachers who were also postgraduate students in a Master's program provided offshore in Vietnam and onshore in Australia by an Australian university. Case study data were gathered from the two sites through semi-structured interviews, related documents and primary texts. Finding relating to one of the key interview questions, which investigated Asian postgraduates' responses to Western educational discourses, form the basis of the chapter. Asian teachers reported feeling very influenced by pedagogical approaches which had originated in the West, and felt professional inspired by them to search for new, innovative teaching approaches. They also recognized the benefits of a synthesis of Western and local approaches. Despite occupying this "Third Space", however, Asian postgraduates reported feelings of inferiority, disruption, and frustration on both personal and pedagogic levels when attempting to work within Western discourses and, in some cases, when working alongside Western teachers. In this chapter I argue for greater recognition of what Asian teachers can offer in terms of ability to 'adapt' rather than to 'adopt' and 'recast' rather than imitate. This cultural and education acumen could form the basis for more dialogue between language teachers in the Asia Pacific region. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:18:10Z |
| format | Book Chapter |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-30266 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:18:10Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-302662023-02-27T07:34:31Z Occupying the 'third space': perspectives and experiences of Asian English language teachers Dobinson, Toni Dunworth, K. Zhang, G. Asian English language teachers Transnational education Third space Educational discourses Intercultural competence This chapter is drawn from a larger study which describes the experiences and perspectives of a group of Asian English language teachers who were also postgraduate students in a Master's program provided offshore in Vietnam and onshore in Australia by an Australian university. Case study data were gathered from the two sites through semi-structured interviews, related documents and primary texts. Finding relating to one of the key interview questions, which investigated Asian postgraduates' responses to Western educational discourses, form the basis of the chapter. Asian teachers reported feeling very influenced by pedagogical approaches which had originated in the West, and felt professional inspired by them to search for new, innovative teaching approaches. They also recognized the benefits of a synthesis of Western and local approaches. Despite occupying this "Third Space", however, Asian postgraduates reported feelings of inferiority, disruption, and frustration on both personal and pedagogic levels when attempting to work within Western discourses and, in some cases, when working alongside Western teachers. In this chapter I argue for greater recognition of what Asian teachers can offer in terms of ability to 'adapt' rather than to 'adopt' and 'recast' rather than imitate. This cultural and education acumen could form the basis for more dialogue between language teachers in the Asia Pacific region. 2014 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30266 10.1007/978-3-319-06185-6_2 Springer restricted |
| spellingShingle | Asian English language teachers Transnational education Third space Educational discourses Intercultural competence Dobinson, Toni Occupying the 'third space': perspectives and experiences of Asian English language teachers |
| title | Occupying the 'third space': perspectives and experiences of Asian English language teachers |
| title_full | Occupying the 'third space': perspectives and experiences of Asian English language teachers |
| title_fullStr | Occupying the 'third space': perspectives and experiences of Asian English language teachers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Occupying the 'third space': perspectives and experiences of Asian English language teachers |
| title_short | Occupying the 'third space': perspectives and experiences of Asian English language teachers |
| title_sort | occupying the 'third space': perspectives and experiences of asian english language teachers |
| topic | Asian English language teachers Transnational education Third space Educational discourses Intercultural competence |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30266 |