Abstract
ABSTRACT Multilingual identity is an area ripe for further exploration within the existing extensive body of identity research. In this paper we make a case for a conceptual framework that defines multilingual identity formation in terms of learners’ active involvement, and proposes the classroom as the hitherto underused site for participative identity (re)negotiation. After reviewing three key theoretical perspectives on identity (the psychosocial, sociocultural and poststructural) for points of intersection and difference, we propose a new framework for a multi-theoretical approach to the conceptualisation and investigation of multilingual identity. This places it at the nexus of (a) individual psychological development, (b), the relational and social, and (c) the historical and contextual. Arguing that a participative perspective can take the field forward, we present a theorised model for classroom practice that provides a structure within which individual learners of a foreign language might explore, with reference to a range of sociolinguistic knowledge, the extent of their current linguistic repertoire. In addition, they are asked to explicitly consider their identity and identifications and offered the agency to (re)negotiate these in terms of multilingual identity, the development of which may be important for investment in language learning.
Highlights
IntroductionIn this paper a case is made for using the language classroom as a site where learners are offered the agency to develop a multilingual identity
Identity remains one of the major constructs for debate and research in the early twentyfirst century
Hitherto underused as a space for participation in identity formation, we present a model for classroom practice that provides a structure within which individual learners might exercise their agency in developing a multilingual identity
Summary
In this paper a case is made for using the language classroom as a site where learners are offered the agency to develop a multilingual identity. In order for this to happen we argue that learners need sociolinguistic knowledge in order to understand and explicitly reflect on the languages and dialects in their own and others’ linguistic repertoires, whether learned in school, at home or in the community. Within the context of the existing literature on identity formation, we consider how a participative perspective can take the field forward, arguing that identity might be theorised as participative processes within a multi-theoretical framework. Hitherto underused as a space for participation in identity formation, we present a model for classroom practice that provides a structure within which individual learners might exercise their agency in developing a multilingual identity
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