Definition: Identity of Language Learners

There are many factors that impact the way a language learner views him or herself. The identity of self is viewed through a particular lens: (e.g., race, class, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, [dis]abilities, language, nationality, culture). A language learner’s identity can be negotiated (Heller, 1987), recalculated, reconstructed, constructed, forged, or created into "a hybrid identity” (Nieto, 2011).

Identity is shaped very much by culture. Dr. C. George Boeree introduces "Culture 'Personalities'" where we see more vividly the categories of these "personalities" as influenced by cultural ideals: 1) Power distance, 2) Individualism vs. collectivism, 3) Masculinity vs. femininity, 4) Uncertainty avoidance vs. tolerance for uncertainty, and 5) Long-term vs. short-term orientation. (Source: Boeree, 2007)

By learning a new language and rediscovering one’s own language, “a person negotiates a sense of self within and across different sites at different points in time” and “gains access to...powerful social networks that give learners the opportunity to speak” (Heller 1987).

B.N. Peirce (1995) called for a need for “current conceptions of the individual SLA theory...to be reconceptualized” and for a better integration of “the language learner within the language learning context”, including the “relationship of language learners and to the target language”. Peirce also suggests that we should visualize this relationship in terms of “investment rather than motivation” because of the difficulties that exist with labeling and defining a language learner from the outsider perspective (Peirce, 1995, p. 9). Learner identity is fragile and affected by a variety of factors, as seen in the personal account of one with Spanish as his L1 (Baez, 2002).

This sun graphic doesn't have enough rays to cover all of the factors that impact a person's identity. Source: here.

What do teachers need to know about the identity of their language learners?

Teachers need to be aware of the variety of influences and motivators of student identity in the classroom. The new influences result in “identity construction” and a “negotiation with self, with others, and within the discourses that present in one’s life”. Students can choose to “construct, adopt, and reject identity positions for themselves” (Reeves, 2009, p. 35). Reeves (2009) talks about “positioning theory” with regard to identity investment as the teacher positions him or herself “in relation to non-ELL others or contexts” (2009, p. 36). In Reeves study, we also see the findings that raising awareness of “teacher awareness of identity construction (teachers’ own and their students’) may compel teachers to reexamine their own identity construction and its consequences” (2009, p. 40).

Peirce introduced a way of learner identity that “must be understood with reference to social relations of power that create the possibilities for language learners to speak” (Peirce, 1995, p. 26). This research assists us, as educators, in finding ways to “engage the social identities of students” so as to better equip them with the tools to learn language outside of the classroom. Her objectives are very clear and understandable.

How does this concept concern your current and future students?

My students are coming from all over the world at a very vulnerable stage in each of their lives. These students arrive in America with loaded stereotypes of U.S. culture and, often, find themselves disillusioned as they are bombarded with the influences that attempt to negotiate with their identities. Due to spending many hours a day in a language classroom in intensive English study, they, at times, adapt more powerfully with their classmates in a social, collaborative or cooperative, group learning environment.

One of the most notable theories of social identity was developed by Tajfel, a social psychologist who believed that identity is derived from group membership (community). Tajfel defines social identity as ‘that part of an individual’s self-concept which derives from his knowledge of his membership of a social group (or groups) together with the emotional significance attached to that membership’”. These individuals have the option “to change group membership if their present one does not adequately satisfy those elements of the social identity that they view positively” (as cited in Hansen, J.G. and Liu, J., 1997, pp. 567-568).

Giles and Johnson (influenced by  Tajfel’s theory) came up with an “ethnolinguistic identity theory, focusing on language as a salient marker of group membership and social identity”. Through inclusion and group membership, our students are judged by their skills with language, and, this results in the creation of “a positive social identity” (as cited in Hansen, J.G. and Liu, J., 1997).

What does the identity of language learners 'look like' in the classroom?"

Recognizing each variety of identity and the effects that help shape language learners' identity is a complicated process. Benjamin Baez in his essay "Learning To Forget: Reflections on Identity and Language" talks about the ways his identity was shaped by his classroom experiences (Baez, 2002). Even in the lack of acknowledgement of Baez' home identity, he felt that his "sense of loss is compounded by my inability to reconnect in any significant way with my past" (2002, p. 124). In similar ways when we disregard, fail to appreciate, and devalue the family culture of our students, this can impact our students' identities and connections with their past. There are many ways in which this can be done. Baez recalls his teacher's suggestions "to practice English everyday" and "speak to my family in English", and this resulted in him later forgetting Spanish and devaluing the worth of it. (See "disciplinary nature of language coercion" Baez, 2002, p. 130).

Baez insists that "Language is the instrument of subjection: It gives meaning to identity and culture, and to discrimination and oppression...regulates social existence" (2002, p. 129). These thoughts are about language, specifically; however, the depth that language has in a person's identity must be recognized in the classroom. Teachers need to nurture students where they are at and be sensitive in the power we give to our advice and helpful suggestions. It is important for us to join together and create community with students; we need "to work together to prevent the inability (or refusal) to speak in a certain way from providing the stage for forgetting, for punishing, or for blinding us to the inequalities of our lives" (Baez, 2002, p. 132). It is true that "student's identities are shaped by the communities they participate in" (as cited on Community page; therefore, let us recognize and communicate fully with our students about each community they may find themselves a part of.

It's important to recognize that our students' identities might appear to be distinctive and even contradictory when learning a new language, but are to be equally validated.

Source: here.

Further Reading About Identity of Language Learners

Baez, B. (2002). Learning to forget: reflections on identity and language. Journal of Latinos and Education, I(2), 123-132.

Hansen, J. G., & Liu, J. (1997). Social identity and language: Theoretical and methodological issues. TESOL Quarterly, 31(3), 567-576.

M. de la Luz, M. (2011). Words were all we had: Becoming biliterate against the odds. New York: Teacher's College Press. (Especially piece by Nieto, S.)

Nieto, S. (2009). Language, culture, and teaching: Critical perspectives. (p. 280). New York: Routledge.

Norton, B. N., & Toohey, K. (2001). Changing perspectives on good language learners. TESOL Quarterly, 35(2), 307-322.

Pavlenko, A., & Blackledge, A. (2004). Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts. (1st ed., p. 351). Tonawanda, NY: UTP.

Peirce, B. N. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9-31.

Reeves, J. (2008). Teacher investment in learner identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 34-41.