Introduction

Community is one of the central foci of my study. In this chapter, I describe and analyze the community of Middlebury College and the practices of the Japanese School. What makes the Middlebury Language Schools a community? What constitutes the Japanese School as a community of practice? I thus present an in-depth analysis of the social community in which my focal students were embedded. I first describe the macro context in which Middlebury College is situated, including its historical background, campus location, campus buildings and practices, and then move on to an analysis of the community of Middlebury Language Schools – what is the very essence of this hybrid community created for the purpose of learning an L2? Finally, I will present my analysis of the Japanese School as a community. The goals of this chapter are: (a) to present a description of the research site to take my readers into the community of the Middlebury Language Schools as if they were there in the summer of 201x; and (b) to provide my analysis of the community to convey a sense of what my focal students' lives were like, what practices they engaged in and what social milieu they lived in.

Middlebury College

The campus of Middlebury College is located on the hill of a valley between two mountain ranges in northern New England: one on the west side of the state and another on the east side. The main campus, with its 350 acres and 2200 trees, provides a home for the Middlebury College students and faculty. The Facility Services Office oversees the maintenance of all the facilities and the landscape of the campus, including academic and business buildings, residence and dining halls, faculty/staff rental properties, the athletic field, sidewalks, roads, parking lots, trees, lawns and so on. Adirondack chairs are placed here and there, so that people can sit and talk, take a nap, read, study or just enjoy being outside. Old limestone buildings and modern architecture are well blended and create a rigorous, yet relaxing, atmosphere.