Why Is The Girl "Invisible" As A Learner?--A Critical Ethnographic Study On An English Major Student's University Experiences

The past decades have witnessed the progressive development of studies on under-achievers or low-achievers from different perspectives. It has gone through the transition from general statistical surveys to in-depth case studies and the research methods have also undergone a shift from quantitative methods to an integration of quantitative and qualitative research methods with qualitative research receiving more and more attention from educational researchers.The subject of the present study is Farida (a pseudo name), an English major student at a normal university in China. Farida was not involved in the English classes to such a degree that she once considered quitting university education; besides, she could not fit in her class community, either. As a result, Farida has become "invisible" at the university. To understand the "invisibility" of Farida as an English major student in university, a qualitative research from a critical ethnographic approach has been conducted from 2008 to 2010. Data collected in the research process include classroom observation field notes and audio-records and their transcripts, pictures, interviews and narrative writings. The data are analyzed from the perspective of Foucault's discursive formation theory in order to answer the following two questions: 1). Why is the girl Farida "invisible" as a learner at university? 2). What educational implications can we draw from the stories of the "invisible" Farida?The analysis shows that discourse of standard testing or standard education has functioned as a controlling power veiling learner individuality. Statements around her learning achievement from different agents including the research subject herself, her classmates and her teachers have collaborated to form a legitimate knowledge that testing scores seem to be the only authoritative criteria to evaluate learners and failure to meet the examination requirement means the total failure as a learner; and it has hindered their understanding of Farida's various learning abilities. It is also shown from the analysis that Xinjiangren(新疆人)discourse served as a stereotype label concealing Farida's learner individuality and individual culture. Farida as a learner from Xinjiang is considered as a "special" student needing special treatment, which has become an obstacle for her to fit in the learning community.As a tentative study, this paper is hoped to offer some educational implications, particularly for the marginalized students like Farida. A more diverse evaluating system is necessary for the students like Farida and cultural diversity is called for to better involve the marginalized students into the community to ensure more rewarding educational experiences for the students like Farida.