Butterflies in the Rain Forest? Ethnography and the Business English Student.

This study investigated the usefulness of reflective journals and ethnographic data collection methods in studying the learning experience of business English students. Subjects were two students, one Japanese and one German, observed in both business English and general English classes. The researchers were two collaborating teachers. Problems and advantages associated with both research methods are analyzed. It is concluded that the two methods allow for the emergence of hypotheses, many of them context-specific, that can be further investigated using similar or other techniques. One hypothesis formed in this study was that the learner's increasing comfort with the learning environment has a favorable effect on learning up to a point, after which the effect is either neutralized or operates negatively; a subsequent research question for this hypothesis would center on discovering the optimum length of study for students in these courses. (Contains 16 references.) (MSE)