This article reports the fndings of a descriptive case study that analyzed how unfair social relationships established in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom influenced a group of adolescent English language learners’ academic investment and identity construction at a school in Bogotá, Colombia. Data associated with students’ social behaviors and identities were collected through feld notes, a questionnaire, and an interview. Norton’s theory of identity and investment served as the basis to analyze the data from a social perspective. Three main fndings emerged from the data: First, EFL learners identifed themselves as high investors and low investors in their learning, depending on their own opinions about the usefulness of English in their lives. Second, power relationships based on domination and oppression reduced productive investment in the classroom. Third, some high investors resisted unfair relationships of power by investing through collaborative learning. Consequently, participants created diverse English learners’ identities (dominant, submissive, resistant, and productive), which influenced their academic investment negatively or positively.
This case study examined how a group of seventh graders constructed their language learners' identity in an EFL classroom at a public school in Bogotá, Colombia. Data related to students' behaviors and identity were collected through field notes. Also, students' opinions about their own social status as language learners were collected through a questionnaire and interviews. Data were analyzed in light of Norton's theory of identity and investment from a social perspective. Findings indicate that participants were reluctant English learners because of several social factors such as their socioeconomic situation, academic and family demands, and the imposition of power relationships in the classroom. Consequently, participants created strategic, uns-
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