science

Identity and language learning

Identity and language learning is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Identity and language learning rather than just read about it. In short: In language learning research, identity refers to the personal orientation to time, space, and society, and the manner in which it develops together with, and because of, speech development. Language is a largely social practice, and this socialization is reliant on, and develops concurrently with ones understanding of personal relationships and position in the world, and those who understand a second language are i…

Key takeaways

Identity and language learning belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Identity and language learning to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Identity and language learning from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In language learning research, identity refers to the personal orientation to time, space, and society, and the manner in which it develops together with, and because of, speech development. Language is a largely social practice, and this socialization is reliant on, and develops concurrently with ones understanding of personal relationships and position in the world, and those who understand a second language are influenced by both the language itself, and the interrelations of the language to each other. For this reason, every time language learners interact in the second language, whether in the oral or written mode, they are engaged in identity construction and negotiation. However, structural conditions and social contexts are not entirely determined. Through human agency, language learners who struggle to speak from one identity position may be able to reframe their relationship with their interlocutors and claim alternative, more powerful identities from which to speak, thereby enabling learning to take place.

Early developments The relationship between identity and language learning is of interest to scholars in the fields of second language acquisition (SLA), language education, sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics. It is best understood in the context of a shift in the field from a predominantly psycholinguistic approach to SLA to include a greater focus on sociological and cultural dimensions of language learning, or what has been called the “social turn” in SLA. Thus while much research on language learning in the 1970s and 1980s was directed toward investigating the personalities, learning styles, and motivations of individual learners, contemporary researchers of identity are centrally concerned with the diverse social, historical, and cultural contexts in which language learning takes place, and how learners negotiate and sometimes resist the diverse positions those contexts offer them. Further, identity theorists question the view that learners can be defined in binary terms as motivated or unmotivated, introverted or extroverted, without considering that such affective factors are frequently socially constructed in inequitable relations of power, changing across time and space, and possibly coexisting in contradictory ways within a single individual. Many scholars cite educational theorist Bonny Norton’s conceptualization of identity (Norton Peirce, 1995; Norton, 1997; Norton, 2000/2013) as foundational in language learning research. Her theorization highlights how learners participate in diverse learning contexts where they position themselves and are positioned in different ways. Drawing from poststructuralist Christine Weedon's (1987) notion of subjectivity and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's (1991) power to impose reception, Norton demonstrated how learners construct and negotiate multiple identities through language, reframing relationships so that they may claim their position as legitimate speakers.

The race aspect People often consider language and identity as some structured definitions from the dictionary that they just follow. Although there are structural definitions for the words "language" and "identity", some people have different perspectives on them. In the essays written by James Baldwin, he was able to grasp a new meaning and new perspective of reading and writing because of the way these authors portray these words. We have come to a point where language somewhat links with identity. The two terms at times can go hand in hand like black and white or like a pea in a pod. In the essay, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” by James Baldwin talked a lot about the way he saw language to be and the way he felt that both language and identity is linked. In his essay, he said that language is the most crucial key to identity. This statement helped to show readers that we would not be who we are without language. Also, it shows his main idea about Black English because it did not have the kind of significant personality they have today. Language, incontestably, reveals the speaker . Baldwin consistently stressed on how the way one uses language can show the person the speaker is. Which shows how important it is for a person to embrace their language for their personality to be seen positively by others. Baldwin’s stress on language and identity through his different ideas really helped to open a door in every reader's mind because it makes them think back and see how language helped to form their identity.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Identity and language learning

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Identity and language learning claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Identity and language learning before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Identity and language learning ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Identity and language learning

In research: Identity and language learning appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Identity and language learning in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Identity and language learning is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Language acquisition, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Identity and language learning outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Identity and language learning in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Identity and language learning means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Identity and language learning out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Identity and language learning in simple terms?

Why does Identity and language learning matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Identity and language learning?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Identity and language learning.