Transportable Identities in Conversational Interaction among Batna 2 University Students of English

Abstract

The relationship between language and identity was an issue of huge debate over the last few years. It is observed, mainly in educational institutions, that the interrelation between identity and language does exist in various conversational interactions to portray modes of thinking and venues of interacting with knowledge. This issue has gained momentum among researchers and experts. This paper endeavors to shed light on the feasibility of transportable identities that engage and motivate learners of English. It aims to showcase how transportable identities can generate genuine discourse in classroom settings. The current study might enrich the existing literature, especially in the Algerian context, knowing that transportable identities were not addressed before in Algeria. The data gathered will provide empirical evidence of the viable impact of transportable identities within conversational interaction. Hence, this study is a reasonable attempt to improve the quality of both English as a Foreign Language learning and teaching. To equate with research objectives, an exploratory study was conducted to address the following research question: “To what extent can English as a Foreign Language conversational interaction, supported by transportable identities, generate authentic classroom discourse and, by extension, enhance learning?” Research findings obtained confirmed that conversational interaction that engages learners’ transportable identities engendered genuine discourses and impacted their proficiency positively.