A novice ESL teacher\u27s experience of language learning in France: an autoethnographic study of anomie and the Vulnerable Self

This thesis combines diary study with autoethnography to report an MATESL candidate\u27s study abroad experience as an advanced learner of French. The writer summarizes language-learning experiences in Quebec and France while focusing on his second study abroad experience in France, where he encountered an educational system that was inconsistent with his training as a language teacher and his learning style as a language learner. He discusses challenges he faced in a language institute he was required to enroll in before he could matriculate in the university. Rote memorization and test preparation were the primary focuses of two classes, but the other three were more engaging. The author contrasts his teaching philosophy with the learning arrangements he experienced in his third study abroad experience. He concludes with a discussion of what he learned from the experience and how the learning environment influenced his future practices as a language teacher --Document