Xin Liu , pp. 86. MAM/Sektionen för Management, 2009.
Society is labeled as the knowledge society, information society, network society, risk
society. Economy is also characterized as knowledge-based economy and the creative
economy. Knowledge and the quality of knowledge production is as an important criteria
for the comprehensive national strength, as a capacity of organizational development and a
token of power. Researchers have been debating over and emphasizing the importance of
innovation, creativity, knowledge production or continuous work-based learning for the
current economy, where it is no doubt that knowledge is the key.
When speaking of knowledge, I suppose, the notion of learning should also be considered.
One may often come across terms such as “knowledge sharing”, “ knowledge acquisition”,
“knowledge production”, “knowledge construction” and “knowledge creation”. If the
above terms are linked up as an ongoing and continuous procedure of knowledge
receiving, perception, negotiation, production and reproduction, individuals' learning is
permeable throughout the whole procedure. Knowledge is not only the impetus for an
individual to learn, but also the outcome of learning.
Social constructionist Wenger (1998) interprets the social theory of learning, where
learning is as doing, as becoming, as experience and as belonging. Vygotsky notes “zone
of proximal development”(Vygotsky 1978:86) emphasizing on the learning environment
and learning context that learner is engaged in as well as the learning capacity that
contributes and is produced by the continuous learning process (Matthews and Candy
1999). Marton and Ramsden (1988) suggest in accordance with the learning-in-context
arguments that “the way individuals learn is a function of the way they perceive the
learning task and the learning analysis environment” ( Matthews and Candy 1999:51).
In this paper, the issue of emotional resonance of shared native language is looked upon in
the context of multilingual communities of practice. The purpose of this study is to find
out in a multilingual context: how the ERSNL negotiates the course of one's meaning
making; how the ERSNL shapes one's engagement in the practice and one's relationship
with others; how the ERSNL interacts with one's membership acquisition and selfidentification.
The qualitative approach and the case study strategy are applied in the paper. On the
account of understanding the linguistic and emotional issues studied, observation and
interview methods are mainly used for collecting data.