This qualitative case study examines the language learning trajectory of a South Korean international undergraduate student (Stella) in the United Kingdom. Previous studies have reported a lack of research on the intricate relationships between motivation and investment. To fill this gap, this study examined Stella's shifting levels of motivation…

This collaborative autoethnography explores the intersection of heritage language (HL) maintenance, emotion, and identity from the perspectives of a mother and her 15-year-old daughter learning and maintaining Korean in the United States. The analysis of their narratives concerning critical emotional experiences relevant to HL maintenance reveals…

This article analyzes the "cuir" identity of an EFL student-teacher within the context of his pedagogical practicum. We adopt the term "cuir" as an analytical category to explore how notions of teacher identity and language pedagogy are mutually constructed. The paper challenges the traditional language pedagogy paradigm and…

Most recent research on language learning and identity emphasizes on investing learners' capital as affordance to affirm their identities (Darvin & Norton, 2015; Norton, 2013). Learners' capital refers to prior knowledge, home literacies/native languages. Drawing on data from English language academies from Pakistan, this study finds a…

The proportion of international students in Chinese higher education is increasing, however, there remains little research that explores their motivations and how their learning of Chinese influences their identities and imagined futures. In this paper, we address the need for research on South-South migration--specifically Sino-African…

Purpose: Adult student identities within EAL (English as an Additional Language) classrooms have often been positioned as static, homogenised and exoticised within scholarly literature. Within such positioning, teachers have embraced pedagogical practices which classify students by country of origin and represent student identities within binaries…

Using positioning theory as a framework, this study examined two adult learners' participatory opportunities in small group interactions when they were learning English as a second language in an American university. The study finds that control over access to participatory opportunities mainly lies in how learners manage to position themselves…

Much recent research examines how teachers navigate language policy in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) classrooms (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017; Palmer & Martínez, 2013). While previous work has illustrated that teachers' language use is varied and related to identity, little research has considered the role of emotions in this setting…

This article explores students' perspectives on English language learning in relation to the Language Introduction Programme in Sweden, which is an individual transitional programme for newly arrived immigrants and seeks to quickly transition adolescents into further education or the job market. High proficiency in English is vital in Swedish…

This narrative inquiry investigates an English as a Foreign Language teacher's storied experience of 30-year extensive reading (ER) implementation, with the aim of exploring the formation of language teacher identity (LTI) of this individual teacher. Two narrative interviews were conducted, respectively focusing on the holistic story and detailed…

Informed by Huber's (2021) framework of critical ethnography from a social justice perspective, this study aimed to (a) figure out how language teachers struggle for equity embedded within their socio-cultural contexts of schooling; (b) examine the micro, meso, and macro-factors affecting their identities with the impact of dominating ideologies;…

University mathematics classrooms are continuing to become more linguistically and culturally diverse. Students in these courses bring rich language resources for learning and engaging in classroom mathematical practices. Despite this diversity, little research has examined the role of language in post-secondary mathematics education. Using mixed…

This study examines the social experiences of Iranian female immigrants in schools in Toronto, Canada. Drawing on postcolonial theory and critical whiteness studies, I interrogate the ways in which 'Oriental' subjects are Othered among their peers, and how whiteness is established as the invisible norm. This study observes the role that having an…

This paper explores the complexities of language and identity in contemporary South Africa. The on-going English-Afrikaans debate points to broader issues of power and identity. Several scholars have convincingly shown Afrikaans as inextricably linked to Afrikaner nationalism. During apartheid, Afrikaans was contentious as the language of the…

Despite growing attention paid to the language ideologies of teachers as actors in bilingualism or multilingualism studies, little research has examined whether and how power dynamics between majority and minority languages play a role in the promulgation of a majority language to ethnic minority learners of that majority language. This paper…