English Learners’ Identity Formation as Low and High Investors in their Learning Process

Abstract

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.

The peace tree in ELT: A problematizing exploration

“…Indeed, Pennycook (2001), Davies (1999Davies ( , 2007 and Quintero-Polo (2019) constitute important critical voices discussing alternative comprehensions which go beyond an instrumental interest. Thus, multiple domains seem to be inserted in AL to ELT, from structural and communicative ones (Zúñiga, 2003) to more socio-critical regarding English language policies (Guerrero, 2008), intercultural awareness (Henao, Gómez and Murcia, 2019), identities (Moná and Gómez-Rodríguez, 2019), or even multimodality and linguistic imperialism (Aldana, 2014).…”

The Factors of Students’ Investment in Learning English During Online Learning at One of SMPN in Musi Rawas

“…Assalahi (2018) also states that the motivation to learn English actually is not the same as being involved in investing in language learning, because the investment involves commitment from students and the practice community. Similarly, Moná and Rodríguez (2019) also explain that, despite their motivation to learn a language, students may put little effort into their studies as a result of marginalization, racism, intolerance, classism, and other forms of prejudice. These inequitable relations of power could affect learners' investment despited their high level of motivation to learn the foreign language.…”