ERIC Number: EJ1469943
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1534-8458
EISSN: EISSN-1532-7701
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Do Bi/Multilingual Learners Play by the Rules of the Game? A Postmodern Approach to L1/L2 Use and Learner Investment
Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, v24 n3 p711-724 2025
The concomitant relationship among language, identity and power has been intimately connected to the ELT world. The bi/multilingual learner identity negotiation has been viewed as a site of struggle from a postmodernist perspective. To this end, learners' existing capital in relation to their involvement in new capital is a significant issue in educational inquiries. In this narrative inquiry, the researchers aimed to uncover bi/multilingual learners' beliefs of L1/L2 use in relation to learner investment. The data were collected through a biographical narrative, a life story interview, a reflection paper and a semi-structured individual interview from five preparatory school students. The findings reiterated the pervasive situation of English as a form of social, cultural and academic capital. The benefits of L2 regarding a new identity and community, better job opportunities and empowerment appear to have a negative effect on participants' view of L1 as capital. The paper concludes that language teachers should draw on the principles of translanguaging pedagogy and call attention to the whole ecology of languages as valuable assets for meaning making.
Descriptors: Bilingual Students, Bilingual Education, Multilingualism, Second Language Learning, Postmodernism, Student Attitudes, Language Attitudes, Beliefs, Learning Motivation, Learner Engagement, English (Second Language), Self Concept, Language Teachers, Second Language Instruction, Code Switching (Language), Native Language, Cultural Capital
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Middle East Technical University Northern Cyprus Campus; 2Eastern Mediterranean University