Abstract:
Mei (pseudonym) was educated in an Asian country and, later, as a teenager in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is currently a primary school teacher of migrant students. Mei initially struggled at secondary school. Left to develop her own strategies, Mei formed her own theories around English language learning. Later, while studying on the Graduate Diploma in TESSOL (Teaching English to Speakers in Schools of Other Languages) she struggled to modify or expand these theories. Mei also challenged the benefits of the social construction of knowledge through discussion of academic readings in group work.