In this review article on identity, language learning, and social change, we argue that contemporary poststructuralist theories of language, identity, and power offer new perspectives on language learning and teaching, and have been of considerable interest in our field. We first review poststructuralist theories of language, subjectivity, and positioning and explain sociocultural theories of language learning. We then discuss constructs of investment and imagined communities/imagined identities (Norton Peirce 1995; Norton 1997, 2000, 2001), showing how these have been used by diverse identity researchers. Illustrative examples of studies that investigate how identity categories like race, gender, and sexuality interact with language learning are discussed. Common qualitative research methods used in studies of identity and language learning are presented, and we review the research on identity and language teaching in different regions of the world. We examine how digital technologies may be affecting language learners' identities, and how learner resistance impacts language learning. Recent critiques of research on identity and language learning are explored, and we consider directions for research in an era of increasing globalization. We anticipate that the identities and investments of language learners, as well as their teachers, will continue to generate exciting and innovative research in the future.

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Identity, language learning, and social change

The promotion of ‘Global Citizenship’ (hereafter GC) has emerged as a goal of schooling in many countries, symbolising a shift away from national towards more global conceptions of citizenship. It currently incorporates a proliferation of approaches and terminologies, mirroring both the diverse conceptions of its nature and the socio-politico contexts within which it is appropriated. This paper seeks to clarify this ambiguity by identifying and mapping from the literature the diverse conceptions of GC. We construct a typology to map this diversity and identify two general forms of GC: cosmopolitan-based and advocacy-based. The former incorporates four distinct conceptions of GC, namely the political, moral, economic and cultural; the latter incorporates four other conceptions, namely the social, critical, environmental and spiritual. Subsequently, we briefly illustrate how the typology can be used to evaluate the critical features of a curriculum plan designed to promote GC in England. The typology provides a novel and powerful means to identify and distinguish the key features of the very diverse range of educational policies and programmes that promote GC.

Global Citizenship: A Typology for Distinguishing its Multiple Conceptions

What constitutes a 'good teacher' and 'good teaching' has come under much scrutiny in an age of globalization, transnationalism, and increased demands for accountability. It is against this evolving landscape and the pathbreaking work of the Douglas Fir Group (DFG, 2016) that this special issue engages the following two broad questions: (a) In what ways is language teaching 'identity work'? and (b) To what extent does a transdisciplinary approach to language learning and teaching offer insight into language teacher identity? We begin this Introduction with a discussion on identity research in second language acquisition and applied linguistics, and then address innovations in language teacher identity research, exploring how this work has been advanced methodologically through narratives, discourse analysis, and an ethical consideration of research practices. We then consider how the transdisciplinary framework of the DFG, and its focus on macro, meso, and micro dimensions of language learning at the ideological, institutional, and classroom levels, respectively, might contribute to our understanding of language teacher identity. In the final section, we argue that the host of complementary theories adopted by the six contributors supports the view that a transdisciplinary approach to language teacher identity is both productive and desirable. Further, the contributors advance the language teacher identity research agenda by taking into consideration (a) how teacher identity intersects with the multilingual (Higgins and Ponte) and translingual (Zheng) realities of contemporary classrooms, (b) the investment of teachers in developing the semiotic repertoires of learners (Stranger-Johannessen and Norton) and a socially inclusive learning environment (Barkhuizen), and (c) the emotions (Wolff and De Costa) and ethical practices (Miller, Morgan, and Medina) of teachers. Central to all articles in this special issue is the need to recognize the rich linguistic and personal histories that language teachers bring into the classroom in order to promote effective language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Identity, Transdisciplinarity, and the Good Language Teacher

Recent scholarship in sociolinguistics and language education has examined how race and language intersect each other and how racism influences linguistic and educational practices. While racism is often conceptualized in terms of individual and institutional injustices, a critical examination of another form of racism—epistemological racism—problematizes how racial inequalities influence our knowledge production and consumption in academe. Highlighting the importance of the intersectional nature of identity categories, this conceptual article aims to draw scholars’ attention on how epistemological racism marginalizes and erases the knowledge produced by scholars in the Global South, women scholars of color, and other minoritized groups. In today’s neoliberal culture of competition, scholars of color are compelled to become complicit with white Euro-American hegemonic knowledge, further perpetuating the hegemony of white knowledge while marginalizing women scholars of color. Valorizing non-European knowledge and collectivity as an alternative framework also risks essentialism and male hegemony. Conversely, the ethics promoted by black feminism emphasizes a personal ethical commitment to antiracism. Epistemological antiracism invites scholars to validate alternative theories, rethink our citation practices, and develop critical reflexivity and accountability.

Confronting Epistemological Racism, Decolonizing Scholarly Knowledge: Race and Gender in Applied Linguistics

Author Information Aya Matsuda is Assistant Professor of English at Arizona State University. Her primary research focus has been the global spread of English, its use as an international language, and its implications for pedagogy, and her work on these topics has appeared in several leading journals as well as a number of edited collections. She currently services on the editorial boards of TESOL Quarterly and World Englishes, and co-edited the ‘World Englishes’ and ‘Language Ideology’ sections of The Encyclopedia for Applied Linguistics. Description This book critically examines current ELT practices vis-à-vis the use of English as an international lingua franca. It bridges the gap between theoretical discussion and the practical concerns of teaching English as an international language, and presents diverse approaches for preparing competent users of English in international contexts. Review This volume offers chapters by an impressive array of geographically diverse authors, who truly explain the principles and practices of teaching English as an international language. Each chapter provides a substantial reference list and presents solid information that teachers and program administrators can actually use in developing courses, materials and lesson plans. Kathleen M. Bailey, Monterey Institute of International Studies, USA

Principles and Practices of Teaching English as an International Language

Acknowledgements Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 2 - Language, Culture and Identity Chapter 3 - The Politics of English as an International Language and English Language Teaching Chapter 4 - Identity Formation: Negotiations of Apparently Contradictory Roles and Selves Chapter 5 - Identity Formation: The Teacher and the Politics of ELT Chapter 6 - An EIL Teacher's Identity Formation Chapter 7 - Teacher Identity and The Teaching of English as an International Language References

Teaching English as an International Language: Identity, Resistance and Negotiation

This book embarks on an ever-expanding array of language, academic mobility, neoliberalism, and accompanying rich scholarly debates, with a focus on the day-to-day work experiences of international English language teachers in Saudi Arabia’s higher education.

International TESOL Teachers in a Multi-Englishes Community

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Teaching English as an International Language: Identity, Resistance and Negotiation

International TESOL Teachers in a Multi-Englishes Community

Teaching English as an International Language: Identity, Resistance and Negotiation