Emergent Identities in On-Line Discussions for Second Language Learning

Abstract

In this article, issues of identity in second language (L2) learning are examined by using discourse analysis and ethnographic observations to analyze electronic bulletin board postings by ESOL students in a content-based class as they participated in discussions about gay rights and homosexuality. Drawing on notions of identity construction, community of practice, and participation frameworks, we demonstrate that as the students were engaged in the language and content of the lessons, they also selected multifaceted and complex alignments with their existing values and the values promoted in the course. In turn, their stances in the discussions could either encourage or discourage their participation and opportunities to use the L2. Further, in these on-line discussions, language socialization was uniquely facilitated by the affordances of computer technology.