Acknowledging Learner Multiple Identities in the EFL Classroom
Keywords:
identities, imagined communities, bilinguals, multicompetence, community of practice
Abstract
Students in any educational settings represent a wide array of social and cultural identities: as men/women, as foreigners or locals, as native speakers or non-native speakers, as individuals with particular beliefs, as members of families, organization, ethnic groups or society at large. Despite their multiple identities, English language pedagogy continues to subsume these diverse identities into a single linguistic basket labeled non-native speakers. Although the label has now been widely challenged (see, among others, Jenkins, 1996; Phillipson, 1992; Seidlhofer, 1999; & Shuck, 2006), the label persists because suggestions have not been accompanied by microlevel classroom techniques on how to address students’ various identities in the classroom. This paper seeks to address this gap by recommending practical classroom techniques to accommodate learners’ multiple identities.Downloads
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References
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Seidlhofer, B. (1999). Double standards: Teacher education in the expanding circle. World Englishes, 18, 233-244. [CrossRef]
Shardakova, M., & Pavlenko, A. (2004). Identity options in Russian textbooks. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 3, 25-46. [CrossRef]
Shuck, G. (2006). Racializing the nonnative English speaker. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 5, 259-276. [CrossRef]
Su-Kim, L. (2003). Multiple identities in a multicultural world: A Malaysian prespective. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2, 137-158. [CrossRef]
Ueno, J. (2001). Detraditionalisation: Japanese students in the USA. Language, Culture, and Curriculum, 14, 76-89. [CrossRef]
Waas, M. (1997). First language loss: Reflex, responses, repartee and sound symbolism. Language Problems and Language Planning, 21, 119-133. [CrossRef]
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Armour, W. S. (2004). Becoming a Japanese language learner, user, and teacher: Revelations from life history research. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 3, 101-125. [CrossRef]
Bashir-Ali, K. (2006). Language learning and the definition of one’s social, cultural, and racial identity. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 628-639. [CrossRef]
Block, D. (2006). Identity in applied linguistics. In T. Omoniyi, & G. White (Eds.), The sociolinguistics of identity (pp. 34-49). London: Continuum.
Block, D. (2007). Second language identities. London: Continuum.
Bosher, S. (1997). Language and cultural identity: A study of Hmong students at the postsecondary level. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 593-603. [CrossRef]
Boxer, D., & Cortes-Conde, F. (2000). Identity and ideology: Culture and pragmatics in content-based ESL. In J. K. Hall, & L. S. Verplaestse (Eds.), Second and foreign language learning through classroom interaction (pp. 203-219). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Canagarajah, S. (1993). American textbooks and Tamil students: Discerning ideological tensions in the ESL classrooms. Journal of Language, Culture, and Curriculum, 6, 143-156. [CrossRef]
Cook, V. (1992). Evidence for multicompetence. Language Learning, 42, 557-591. [CrossRef]
Cook, V. (1999). Going beyond the native speaker in language teaching. TESOL Quaterly, 33, 185-209. [CrossRef]
Ha, P. L. (2008). Teaching English as an international language: Identity, resistance, negotiation. Clevedon: England Multilingual Matters.
Hall, J. K. (1995). (Re)creating our worlds with words: A sociohistorical perspective of face-to-face interaction. Applied Linguistics, 16, 206-232. [CrossRef]
Hall, S. (1996). Introduction: Who needs 'identity'? In S. Hall, & P. D. Gay (Eds.), Questions of cultural identity (pp. 1-17). London: Sage Publication.
Kanno, Y., & Norton, B. (2003). Imagined communities and educational possibilities: Introduction. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2, 241-249. [CrossRef]
Kinginger, C. (2004). Alice doesn’t live here anymore: Foreign language learning and identity construction. In A. Pavlenko, & A. Blakcledge (Eds.), Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts (pp. 219-242). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kubota, R. (2001). Discursive construction of the images of U.S. classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 35, 9-38. [CrossRef]
Jenkins, J. (1996). Native speaker, non-native speaker and English as a foreign language: Time for change. IATEFL Newsletter, 131, 10-11.
Jenkins, J. (2007). English as a lingua franca: Attitude and identity. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lam, W. S. E. (2000). L2 literacy and the design of the self: A case study of a teenager writing on the internet. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 457-482. [CrossRef]
McKay, S. L., & Wong, S. C. (1996). Multiple discourses, multiple identities: Investment and agency in second-language learning among Chinese adolescent immigrant students. Harvard Educational Review, 66, 577-608.
Norton, B. (1997). Language, identity, and the ownership of English. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 409-429. [CrossRef]
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity, and educational change. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Ochs, E. (1993). Constructing social identity: A language socialization perspective. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 26, 287-306. [CrossRef]
Ogbu, J. U., & Simons, H. D. (1994). Final report: Cultural models of achievement: A quantitative test of Ogbu’s theory. [ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 376 515].
Pao, D. L., Wong, S. D., & Tueben-Rowe, S. (1997). Identity formation for mixed-heritage adults and implications for educators. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 622-631. [CrossRef]
Pavlenko, A., & Lantolf, J. (2000). Second language learning as participation and reconstruction of selves. In A. Pavlenko, & J. Lantolf (Eds.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 155-178). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pavlenko, A. (2000). L2 influence on L1 in late bilingualism. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 11, 175-205.
Pavlenko, A. (2002). Poststructuralist approach to the study of social factors in second language learning and use. In V. Cook (Ed.), Potraits of the L2 user (pp. 277-302). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Pavlenko, A. (2003). I never knew I was a bilingual: Reimagining teacher identities in TESOL. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2, 251-268. [CrossRef]
Peirce, B. N. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 9-31. [CrossRef]
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistics imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Seidlhofer, B. (1999). Double standards: Teacher education in the expanding circle. World Englishes, 18, 233-244. [CrossRef]
Shardakova, M., & Pavlenko, A. (2004). Identity options in Russian textbooks. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 3, 25-46. [CrossRef]
Shuck, G. (2006). Racializing the nonnative English speaker. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 5, 259-276. [CrossRef]
Su-Kim, L. (2003). Multiple identities in a multicultural world: A Malaysian prespective. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2, 137-158. [CrossRef]
Ueno, J. (2001). Detraditionalisation: Japanese students in the USA. Language, Culture, and Curriculum, 14, 76-89. [CrossRef]
Waas, M. (1997). First language loss: Reflex, responses, repartee and sound symbolism. Language Problems and Language Planning, 21, 119-133. [CrossRef]
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Published
2010-11-09
How to Cite
T. Zacharias, N. (2010). Acknowledging Learner Multiple Identities in the EFL Classroom. K@ta: A Biannual Publication on the Study of Languange and Literature, 12(1), 26-41. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.12.1.26-41
Section
Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License
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