| This dissertation presents action research conducted in a beginning-level course for adult learners of English for speakers of other languages. It examines learners' development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) when engaging in community-based communication investigation activities. Seventeen learners participated in four communication investigations, three language log assignments, and several in-class activities that positioned them as researchers of their own and others' use of English. Data collection included learners' written work, audio recordings and transcripts of in-class discussions, and field notes of classroom observations. The following discourse and sociolinguistic frameworks informed the analysis: speech acts, pragmatics, participation structure, code switching, translanguaging, and intertextuality.;Description of the learners' findings and analysis of their investigations illuminate their observations of authentic language use, strategies for participating in conversation, and the use of one text in the construction of another. Case studies of four learners reveal the specific learning strategies that they employed. These include referencing one's identities and roles when taking the floor in conversation, employing different languages (English, Haitian Creole, French) and registers, using repetition in conversation to serve multiple functions, asking different types of questions, and referring to previous texts to inform the topic and structure of one's own writing. A case study of the teacher/researcher demonstrates the ongoing development of her sociocultural awareness.;The analysis explores what it means to acquire ICC while in early stages of language acquisition. Learners enacted their multicompetence through code switching, translanguaging, and applying previous knowledge to familiar and new genres of discourse. As learners gained entrance into and expanded participation in English-speaking and multilingual speech communities, they demonstrated the use of multiple registers and attention to contextualization cues. Ideology and asymmetries of power in relation to language use are addressed at the discourse, curricular, and national levels. This study exemplifies second language learning in language use. It illustrates beginning-level adult language learners as astute observers of communication and highlights the benefits of embracing the complexity of intercultural communication in early stages of second language acquisition. Implications for teachers pursuing a participatory approach to the development of ICC are identified. |
