Honoring voices: Understanding and communicating respect in adult ESL contexts

The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how adult English as a Second Language (ESL) students conceptualize respectful teaching and respectful classroom communication within ESL contexts. The researcher also sought to include ESL students' voices in the discussion of what defines respectful teaching. In addition, the study was designed to elicit the ESL teacher's perspective on respect and examine incongruity between students' and teachers' conceptualizations of respect.;The qualitative research methodology for this study involved 42 in-depth interviews and 22.5 hours of participant observation. Participants consisted of ESL teachers and students in two different educational settings: a private, intensive English program (IEP) and a community college ESL program. The researcher observed ESL classrooms representing a variety of levels and ESL skill areas.;Findings of this study indicated a type of "mindful respect" comprised of four key concepts: respect as intentional appreciation, respect as caring relationship, respect as supportive help, and respect as comfortable space. Additionally, the study showed that students felt they were treated disrespectfully when aspects of mindful respect were missing from their learning experiences. The findings also revealed incongruity between teachers' and students' understanding of respect, as well as specific types of attitudes and behaviors that communicate respect/disrespect.;Using Lingenfelter and Lingenfelter's (2003) prototype teacher roles, the researcher found that an analogous patron-client role was generally associated with a "respectful teacher." The findings demonstrate that student and teacher participants constructed a "respect exchange" to negotiate the giving and receiving of respect.