Data Analysis and Interpretation

In order to generate meaning out of the responses I received from the surveys and the

information I gathered during the follow-up interviews, I went through an inductive approach

driven by the data (Boyatzis, 1998). Seeing as this is an inductive study looking to generate

meaning from participant responses as opposed a deductive study (testing a hypothesis),

generating meaning from the data was the best choice. In the following sections I will include

quotes directly from participants written survey responses or spoken interview responses,

because using the exact words of participants is another way to strengthen the validity of my

study (Patton, 2002). From the qualitative data I collected through online survey methodology

and follow-up phenomenological interviews I wanted to find themes that emerged from

participant responses.

Analysis of the data revealed that, to this population of adult ESOL instructors, the

affective domain is of utmost importance in their classroom. The data revealed three main areas

where the affective dimensions of adult ESOL instruction are especially important: student-

teacher relationships, classroom environment, and self-compassion. The overarching theme

evident in the responses within the above three subcategories was empathy, or, the instructors

practice of trying to view situations from the perspective of their adult ESOL learners. The

following sections describe my data analysis process and report the findings related to themes

developed from participant responses.

Thematic Analysis

I wanted to identify common patterns among participant responses, so I chose to utilize

thematic analysis. Thematic analysis requires the researcher to find themes pertinent to

describing the phenomenon being examined. My study aimed to generate themes based on
different elements of the affective dimension that adult ESOL instructors value in their

classrooms. Some of the themes emerged directly from survey questions. For example, one of

the themes that will be discussed is student-teacher relationships. This theme developed from an

ideal position question (Merriam, 2001) from the survey asking, How would you describe your

ideal student-teacher relationship? The next section will discuss more specific coding

procedures related to my data analysis.

Prior to coding the qualitative data I received I printed out every survey response that I

received. I read each survey four times, each time with a different goal. The first read-through

was to get an overall idea of the participants perspective regarding the affective domain in adult

ESOL classrooms. Next, I highlighted key emotive words that popped out to me and directly

related to the affective domain in orange, such as: support, empathy, friendly, and warm, just to

name a few. For the third read-through I highlighted details expanding on a specific emotive

word in yellow. For example, a survey respondent named Ruth said that she prioritizes safety in

her classroom. I highlighted the word safety in orange, as it stuck out to me as an emotive word

related to students affective filter, and also meets Maslows safety needs section of the

hierarchy. Ruth went on to give a more detailed description of how this term safety externally

manifests in her classroom. I underlined this more detailed description in yellow. One way that

Ruth manifests safety in her classroom learning environment is allowing students [to] share

questions or answers in anonymous ways by writing them on a 3x5 card or putting an answer on

the whiteboard with no name attached. This lowers the anxiety of asking/answering in front of

others. This example helps me to better conceptualize ways adult ESOL instructors approach

lowering students affective filters, and also demonstrates that Ruth finds value in attending to

learners affective domain. On my fourth and final read-through of the survey responses I
underlined powerful quotes (in blue ink) giving specific examples of circumstances these adult

ESOL instructors have experienced that include affective dimensions. These meaningful teacher

experiences will be directly quoted throughout this section.

In order to conduct thematic analysis on both the survey responses and interview

responses I transcribed my interviews immediately after conducting them. I transcribed my two

phenomenological interviews on the computer and utilized a transcription program that can slow

down the speaking speed of an interviewee. I recorded my phone interviews and was able to

upload this recording to the transcription program and slow the speed to 50%. This program was

very helpful and allowed me to produce extremely accurate transcriptions, which was very

helpful for the coding process to follow. In total I collected forty-three pages of typed interview

transcription. Then, I repeated the same process with my transcriptions as I did with my survey

data. I read through each transcription four times: the first for general meaning, the second

highlighting key emotive words in orange, the third highlighting elaborative details in yellow,

and fourth underlining meaningful quotes in blue ink.

Coding Procedure

To code my data, I first created a code manual for each individual survey question, noting

which emotive words appeared most frequently. This code manual served as a data management

tool for organizing segments of similar or related text to assist in interpretation (Crabtree &

Miller, 1999). The code manual for each survey question included 3 columns: the participants

name, key emotive words used in their answer to the survey questions (pulled from the terms

highlighted in orange from the survey responses and interview transcriptions), and details, which

were incorporated from the details highlighted in yellow from the survey responses and
interview transcripts. Seeing as there were 11 questions in total from the survey, I had 11

separate code manuals printed for each (Appendix C).

After creating the code manuals for the survey questions I went through and re-

highlighted the commonalities between the responses. Each color highlighter represents a

different key word identified in the survey response. After going through each of the key words

identified from participant responses, three themes emerged in relation to elements of the

affective domain adult ESOL instructors value: student-teacher relationships, classroom

environment, and self-compassion. In other words, adult ESOL instructors look at affective

dimensions of their classroom from three different perspectives: forming relationships with

students, ways in which it helps them establish a classroom community, and lastly, addressing

affective dimensions in reference to their own selves. These three themes and the questions that

elicited the three main themes will be discussed in more detail in later sections.

After completing the coding manuals I went on to corroborate and legitimize my coding

themes (Fereday, 2006). In order to corroborate my codes and find subcategories, or, themes

within the codes, I created a sheet of paper for each different code with the theme on written on

top. Then, I wrote the words that appeared most commonly that were highlighted from the eleven

code manuals on post-its. I stuck the post-its with key emotive words under the category in

which they were used in order to generate sub-categories of emotions considered within the three

areas that adult ESOL instructors most value affective dimensions: student-teacher relationships,

the classroom learning environment, and awareness of their own personal well-being. A visual

artifact of this process can be found in Appendix D. The overarching commonality under which

these themes and subcategories fall is empathy. Versions of empathy were externally manifested

through teaching practices. Specific examples of this external manifestation of empathy will be
discussed later. Adult ESOL instructors also internally value empathy as a vital component to

being an effective educator. Participants named empathy as one of the key components allowing

them to address the affective dimensions of second language acquisition in their adult ESOL

classrooms.

Lastly, I found it necessary to demonstrate examples and provide rich details gathered

from the written survey responses and transcribed interviews. I was able to go back through the

survey answers and interview transcriptions and pull out relevant details, which were previously

highlighted in yellow. In order to stick to my social constructivist worldview and take full

advantage of the phenomenological interview approach, I wanted to provide stories from adult

ESOL instructors in their own words. By doing so, I was able to get a better idea of what these

emotive themes actually looked like in the adult ESOL classroom. The personal stories provided

by the follow-up interviews were more detailed than the stories discussed in the written survey

responses. However, some extremely thoughtful insights derived from personal stories were also

given as written responses to the survey. Examples of these direct quotes, underlined in blue ink

in the previously discussed steps within my coding procedure will be incorporated throughout

the thematic analysis sections below.

Underlying Themes

All of the adult ESOL instructors who participated in my study highly valued addressing

the affective dimensions of teaching and learning. Participants highlighted three main areas in

which it is crucial to addressed affective dimensions of teaching: cultivating meaningful student

teacher relationships, fostering an environment that keeps student affective filters low, and trying

to exercise self-compassion by considering the internal affective dimensions within themselves

they feel necessary to tend to. Embedded in all of these themes was the concept of empathy, or,
the practice of envisioning their [students] world perspective (Patricia, personal

communication, 2017). I have interpreted these components of empathy and organized it into the

following preliminary theory: empathy requires a three-pronged approach. Adult ESOL

instructors practice academic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal empathy in order to holistically

address the complex affective dimensions of teaching adult ESOL learners.

Student-Teacher Relationships. The four emotive words that were used most when

participants were discussing their relationships with students included: friendly, authoritative,

supportive, and respectful. These themes emerged directly from one of my research questions,

asking participants to describe their ideal student-teacher relationship. A follow-up probing

question to that was, how do you go about cultivating the ideal relationship described

above? Another survey question that was categorized as eliciting information directly regarding

the affective dimensions of student teacher relationships was: How would you describe your

relationships with your students?

Adult ESOL instructors highly value having good relationships with their students. I

wanted to better understand what this looks like and get more details about how adult ESOL

instructors go about cultivating and maintaining these relationships. According to the data,

friendly encompasses being close, sharing personal information about yourself, and greeting

students when they arrive in the classroom to name a few examples provided. When talking

about being close with students, Kelly, a 29 year-old female adult ESOL instructor with 6

years of experience disclosed, Some of my students have ended up being good friend [of mine].

In fact, I plan on inviting a few of them to my upcoming wedding, (Personal Communication,

2017). However, the data indicated that adult ESOL instructors feel it is essential that their
relationship with students is somewhat authoritative, which involves a level of

professionalism.

This balance is difficult to achieve, as revealed in a written survey response from Brooke,

a 32 year-old female adult ESOL instructor with 7 years experience. Brooke said, I always seem

to be too friendly with my students. I think having the students feel a little scared or intimidated

may be best, (Personal Communication, 2017). This also touches on the value adult ESOL

assign to having an authoritarian role with their students. Another element that participants

considered when describing their ideal student teacher relationships was their own age. As

previously stated, the mean age of participants was 32 years old. This is fairly young, and

Christina revealed that being 28 years old definitely impacts the boundaries she sets in terms of

student teacher relationships. She describes this balance by saying,

I often know a little about their personal lives and share parts of mine as well. However,

it is also a professional relationship; as a young teacher, I shy away from disclosing much

information, sharing contact information beyond my school email, or sharing social

media sites, (Personal Communication, 2017).

The data showed that the ideal student teacher relationship is very subjective and depends

on the individual adult ESOL instructor. However, it was interesting to see that many of the same

emotive descriptors emerged from the participants. While the participants may manifest these

qualities in different ways, having examples about how to cater to some affective dimensions of

student teacher relationships is very helpful for me. For example, if an adult ESOL instructor

cites being supportive as a crucial element of a student teacher relationship, I can remember that

Patricia said, I want them [students] to come to me if they have issues or concerns. I want them

to feel that I am a safe confidant (Personal Communication, 2017). Then, I can choose whether
or not I personally value that as an adult ESOL instructor. After deciding whether or not that is

something I want to cultivate in my student teacher relationships, I can choose to externally

manifest support in my relationship with students in either a way suggested by participants or

through other means I feel more comfortable with.

One example really stuck out to me from one of the written survey responses. This

response gave a concrete example of how Audrey, an adult ESOL instructor who teaches at a

private language institute, was acutely aware of some affective dimensions negatively impacting

her students. Audrey reported,

I had one student who was struggling all semester, and after several emails and a few

office hours to catch him up, he finally admitted that he had depression and that was

keeping him from being able to do work at home. I asked if he wanted to see a counselor

at the school, and he said yes, so I walked him over to the center and ensured that he

would have a meeting set up as soon as possible. I let him do the talking but was there for

any issues with communication and to support him. (Personal Communication, 2017)

This demonstrates a high level of empathy on Audreys part. Instead of assuming that the student

was struggling because of a cognitive issue, Audrey took the time to find out the reason behind

his subpar performance. By being able to adopt his perspective and understand why his

performance was struggling, Audrey ultimately discovered the underlying reason. Not only did

she discover why, but she also took the time to find a solution with the student to help him.

Classroom Environment. The data showed that the most important thing for the

classroom environment of the adult ESOL learner is to ensure students affective filters are low.

As previously explained, a low affective filter is achieved in adult learners by reducing levels of

anxiety, shame, fear, and stress (Krashen, 1996). The most commonly used emotive descriptors
detailing how adult ESOL instructors lower their learners affective filters were acceptance,

support, friendship, safety, and cohesiveness. While the participants value balancing friendly

student teacher relationships with an element of authority and professionalism, they were also

acutely aware of how their behavior impacts their classroom environment.

A commonly cited component of safety was students feeling comfortable enough to

approach professors with questions. To quote Mike, a 29 year old community college adult

ESOL instructor, I share information about myself during my lessons so that I am more

approachable, (Personal Communication, 2017). This is an external manifestation of Mike

exercising awareness of affective classroom dimensions because he is thinking about how he can

make students feel more at ease in the classroom. His ultimate goal for doing this is that students

will feel more confident approaching him with questions about the class. I consider this

interpersonal empathy because he is exercising empathy with other people.

Ruth provided an account to help illustrate what support looks like in her classroom

between students. She aims to foster a classroom community, and described an example of

what this looks like in her classroom:

For instance, during a presentation, one very shy and quiet student stumbled, forgot the

rest of his speech, and immediately tried to sit down. A classmate shouted out, No, no,

you can do it! Keep going! and they all started clapping. (Personal Communication,

2017).

One of the ways that Lisa went about cultivating her ideal environment (an answer elicited by the

survey question: how would you describe your ideal classroom environment? with the follow

up question of, how do you go about cultivating this environment?) was through specific
instructional methods. In regard to keeping the classroom environment close, like a community,

she said she that:

My overarching goal is that my students view each other as friends. I encourage my

students to do activities on the weekend and give them extra credit if they show me

photos of them getting together.

More than half (seven in total) of the participants indicated that they prioritized safety in their

classroom culture. Of those participants, all of them cited an external manifestation of safety as

making sure students take risks and participate. Jacob elaborated on this by saying, Learning is

hard, and it requires going through some misunderstanding before we come to full

understanding (Personal Communication, 2017). He makes sure to explain this to his students

and repeat it throughout the semester.

In one of the follow-up in-depth interviews with Marian, a female community college

instructor of adult ESOL, addressed the concern of balancing a friendly classroom environment

while still acknowledging it as an academic space. She explained how she does this in the

following quote:

I have very, very busy students and so, they tend to invest in the social experience of the

classroom because its one of the few times where they can actually just relax with other

people when theyre not at home with their family, at work, or with their kids. So trying

to encourage them to also make that a time to invest in each others learning experience is

important. For my beginning level students often times that means choosing to speak

English since many of my beginning level students speak the same native language.

I interpreted this as a manifestation of academic and interpersonal empathy. By empathizing with

her students through acknowledging they dont get much social time to relax, Marian tries to
adapt a classroom environment conducive to student-talk and collaboration. Here, she exercised

interpersonal empathy by understanding where her students are coming from emotionally in

terms of their lives outside of the classroom. and created group-activities and a space for students

to enhance their language ability. By taking her interpersonal awareness, she acted on it by

creating group-activities and a space for students to enhance their language ability. This is an

example of academic empathy because she is planning her teaching methods through the

perspective of what would be most enjoyable for the students.

Self-Compassion. One of the questions from my survey was, What is some advice you

can provide incoming TESOL instructors about managing some of the complexities of this

work? This question elicited responses highlighting the importance of being kind to oneself as

an adult ESOL instructor. The data revealed that participants also considered their personal

wellbeing to have a great impact on their students and classroom environment. This is in line

with the CASEL social-emotional competency criteria along with the prosocial classroom model

(Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). Dana, a female participant who has been teaching for 13 years,

adamantly stated, Even when your life feels like it's out of control you can't never, ever, EVER

bring that into the classroom (Personal Communication, 2017).

While the importance of teachers personal wellbeing is consistently highlighted as

crucial to student performance (CASEL, 2008; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009 Nieto, 2012;

Noddings, 2013) I wanted to understand how adult ESOL instructors go about practicing self

compassion to maintain personal wellbeing, if they find this to be of value to them. Two main

subcategories emerged within self-compassion from the inductive thematic data analysis I

conducted. Those subcategories included maintaining strong mentor and colleague connections,

along with prioritizing their physical health and emotional wellbeing.

 Again, I wanted to find out the details of how these adult ESOL instructors had

personally created meaning from their experiences surrounding self-compassion in the teaching

realm. The responses I received were divided into two realms: academic and personal. When I

say academic, I mean references to the importance of continued professional development,

finding mentors, and creating strong relationships with fellow teaching colleagues. In one of my

in-depth phenomenological interviews following up on a participants survey responses, Marian

said:

Professional development opportunities give me the chance to learn and grow. Like

going to conferences or attending workshops at my school. Things that, you know, give

me the opportunity to try out new things or get input. Because as a teacher sometimes I

feel like Im giving out so much and that continuing to have those opportunities to

contribute to my own knowledge is really helpful.

In terms of personal well-being and self care, all participants mentioned the importance

of tending to their own personal well-being in order to best support their students. Teaching adult

ESOL learners is very complex, and deals with a historically disenfranchised community of

learners. This can weigh heavily on adult ESOL teachers, and again, requires balance. This is

illuminated by the following quote:

I work with a lot of immigrant students and refugee students. I think sometimes that can

add a little bit to just the weight of my profession. I think thats true of a lot of teachers,

you know, they kind of carry around some of the things that their students are dealing

with or that the population of students deals with. Learning to balance being

compassionate and involved and educating myself about what is going on with
 appropriate boundaries and appropriate detachment to protect my own emotional health

has been important to learn and I think its something Im still learning.

When discussing self-care practices, the data demonstrated a connection between physical and

emotional well-being. Exercising, getting enough sleep, eating healthily, and staying connected

to outside interests and relationships were all identified as vital elements of practicing self-

compassion towards oneself. Including self-care in ones teaching practice is practicing self-

compassion, what I have come call intrapersonal empathy, or, extending empathy towards

oneself. Another interesting detail showing the value of maintaining a life outside of teaching

came from Christina, when she said:

For me, when my lesson didn't go well or I'm confused about how to approach a class or

a student, knowing that I am still a competent and capable person in other aspects of my life is

validating. It also reminds me that my students also have other things going on, and are people

outside of the classroom as well. (Personal Communication, 2017)

This shows that practicing self-compassion, or, intrapersonal empathy can actually help adult

ESOL instructors connect with their students even further. Therefore, intrapersonal empathy

actually aids interpersonal empathy, because it can lead to more meaningful student relationships

if adult ESOL instructors share interests outside of the classroom.

The Role of Culture

The role of culture cannot be understated when teaching any ESOL learner, especially

when teaching adults from a diverse range of countries with extensive life-experience

(Mazlaveckiene 2012; Nieto 1999; Schwarzer 2009). As mentioned in the literature review,

adult ESL learners need to learn about the new culture in real-life situations, (Schwarzer, 2009,
p31) as someone cannot be taught a language without also being taught the cultural elements

necessary to properly communicate in that language.

This came up in multiple times in survey responses and both interviews. One example of

instilling cultural awareness in adult ESOL learners appeared under the subcategory of respect.

Ruth mentioned how it is necessary to let students know that, they are expected to participate

and to make eye contact, and it is ok for them to ask for clarification from a professor (Personal

Communication, 2017). When probed on her reasoning for this, she said, I let students know

that [because] the expectations in an American classroom may be unfamiliar to them (Personal

Communication, 2017).

Oftentimes, it is easy to forget what would be difficult to for someone from another

country to do on a day-to-day basis. Jacob, one of the follow-up interview participants, noted:

In my in my universe, most of the students are coming from the far East from an

environment where theyve never been able to make any choices on their own. Knowing

that they know where they go to the market to find food to eat, knowing that they know

how to get home properly, knowing that they know how to ask questions to their host

parentsthats important to meI care about that. Simple things that seem like nothing

that people may not be asking them. I know that for me when I was adapting to a new

place feeling like, I sure wish I knew how to send the food back when it was made

wrong, or sure knew I wish I knew how to ask the bus driver to stop at my stop

properly. (Personal Communication, 2017).

Jacob was able to anticipate what may be difficult for his specific demographic of adult

ESOL learners by putting himself in his adult learners shoes. He was able to draw directly on

his own experience being immersed in another culture. Other participants cited personal
intercultural experiences that have helped them empathized with their students as well, such as

the various things that are interpreted as polite (Christina, Personal Communication, 2017), and

what is considered respectful behavior in-class during discussions and group work (Patricia,

Personal Communication, 2017). This study was able to provide more detail into the specific

ways in which adult ESOL instructors teach and pay attention to culture in their classrooms.

Adult learners

The primary difference between adult learners and pre-adult learners is the large amount

of life-experience that adult learners, especially adult ESOL learners, bring into the classroom.

While research has explored whether instructors teach children and adults in similar manners

(Beder & Darkenwald, 1982; Caruth, 2014; Gorham, 1985), this study conducted detailed

analysis of how teaching the specific adult demographic of ESOL learners differs from that of

pre-adult instruction. Every adult ESOL instructor that participated in this study mentioned the

importance of showing respect towards students as adults by valuing and incorporating their life

experiences. When asked about how she manages some of the complexities of teaching adult

ESOL learners, Brooke answered with:

Most importantly, try to remember these are adults with entire lives, careers, families

and experiences that are sitting in your classroom. Some are much smarter than you and

their ability to speak English does not define their intelligence. (Personal

Communication, 2017)