Tag Archives: identity

Considerations for fostering students’ sense of self in the foreign language


Written by - Bruno Drighetti, Canada

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Abstract

It is a common concern among second-language (L2) learners to feel that their identity changes when speaking a foreign language compared to their mother tongue (L1). To some extent, this is a natural process and relates to the new possibilities of viewing the world offered by the new language; on the other hand, it can be an issue if learners do not feel like themselves or feel like a less interesting version of themselves, as shown in the presented analyses. In this scenario, instructors have an essential role in promoting alternatives that can contribute to the learners’ comfort in the second language and help their L1 identity show in their L2. Given the importance of this matter,  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Identity, Language
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The language I love or my love language?


Written by - Kanika Verma, Canada

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कोस-कोस पर बदले पानी, चार कोस पर वाणी (Kos-kos par badle paani, chaar kos par vaani). The English translation of this famous Hindi idiom is: In India, the taste of water changes after every mile & language after every four miles. This rhyming poetic aphorism reflects the diversity of languages and dialects in India (Narayan, 2017), where citizens experience multilingualism almost unconsciously in their daily lives. I was born and raised in India, a country of 22 scheduled languages with official status (not including English), around 400 languages spoken by a million or more people each (Gopinath, 2023), and thousands of recognized dialects and identified mother tongues. Most children are multilingual before beginning primary school,  Continue Reading →

Categories:
culture, Identity, Language
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The Native Speaker Myth and re-storying oneself within a disempowering discourse


Written by - Ivana Stanisavljevic, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, Canada

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It was in high school that I started toying with the idea of pursuing teaching as a career. Having not known much about what I needed to pursue for this career path initially, I assumed my plan to earn a university degree in literature would be enough. When I found out that teacher’s college was a necessity as well, I was somewhat surprised. I wondered, what about teacher’s college would make me a teacher per se, was not simply knowing the subject matter that I would be teaching enough? This is a topic which I continue to ponder to this day: What makes a teacher? To be more precise, what makes a competent teacher? Is knowing the subject matter simply enough or is there something more?  Continue Reading →

Categories:
ESL, Identity, Language, Teaching
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An ESL immigrant teacher’s insight into languages


Written by - Lana F. Zeaiter, McGill University, Canada

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As a recent immigrant to Canada, I involuntarily find myself in between-situations, driven by a set of choices that diverge me away while preserving bits and pieces of my natural habitus (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977). As a native speaker of Arabic and an ESL teacher who mainly spoke English and French back home, I never realized how liberating it is to be given the choice to use Arabic, my mother tongue, until that choice was no longer an option. When I was still in Lebanon, I barely used Arabic, except with family and friends. Despite being one of the most complex languages to learn globally (Wahba et al., 2014), speaking Arabic is considered unprestigious in Lebanon. The Lebanese context clearly distinguishes between standard and prestigious languages.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
culture, ESL, Experiential, Identity, Language, Reflection, Teaching
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Identity in undergraduate L2 writing: A juxtapositionof academic voice and internal voices


Written by - By Gulnigar Baham, Humber College (Kansai Foreign Languages University), Canada

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Abstract
Despite mounting research on the potential that cultivating self-identity affords students, it is often forgotten in most academic contexts, whether in instruction or assessment, that L2 writers have an L1 identity. In all avenues of higher education, researchers agree that multiple, complex, and simultaneous identities of students are advantageous for their advancement in academic writing (Cohen, 2011; Cummins, 2001; Leki, 2008); however, institutional practices, persisting social conventions, and student-teacher relationships (or lack thereof) place a greater pressure for L2 undergraduate students specifically. International and immigrant/generation 1.5 undergraduate students arrive in their new settings with their L1 knowledge base and are often expected to forego rhetorical strategies of their L1, as well as their linguistic and cultural repertoire,  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Curriculum, EAP, ESL, Identity, Language, Uncategorised, Writing
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Exploring Multilingual International Students’ Identity-related Experiences through Pictures


Written by - Vander Tavares, Sheridan College and York University, Canada

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Abstract
This paper shares findings from an investigation connected to a larger research study which sought to holistically understand multilingual international students’ socio-academic and linguistic experiences at a university in Ontario. In here, the focus is placed on the students’ identity-related experiences in light of post-structuralist theory in applied linguistics. By drawing on interviews and participant-generated photography, this study seeks to link theory and experience, and to illustrate some of the complexity, diversity, and subjectivity of identity and identity-related experiences for multilingual international students for whom English is an additional language.

Background
Canadian universities and colleges have experienced a rapid increase in the number of international students over the last decade. International students contribute to the diversification of their host academic communities in multifaceted ways.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Identity, Journal, pedagogy
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Narratives: Portraying Students’ Identity as Writers


Written by - Fredy Orlando Salamanca González, Colombia

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Abstract

The objective of this research study was to analyze B.A. students’ writers’ identity based on their narratives.  The theory for this research was based on the poststructuralist perspective of identity and on theoretical concepts for personal narratives.  For the methodology, the Case Study approach was taken into account.  Students argued that a writer creates stories and contexts.  Hence, students see themselves as apprentices that like to write, but not as writers.  For the participants, there is a difference between a teacher that writes and a writer, and also none of the participants mentioned academic texts as writing.  For them, writing is related to tales, poetry, and fiction.

Resumen

El objetivo de este estudio fue el de analizar la identidad como escritores de estudiantes de licenciatura en idiomas con base en sus narrativas.   Continue Reading →

Categories:
Curriculum, Identity, Research, Writing
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Shuai vs. Sean: What’s in an English name for students?


Written by - Alice Sun-mi Kim, Toronto, ON

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“A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” – Dale Carnegie

It is well-known in the TESOL community that many students take on an English name different from one’s birth name, and it is more common in some groups of students than others. In fact, among some Asian students, the practice of taking on an English name is almost de facto and one that is practiced not only in English-speaking countries, but in many schools in Asia as well (Chien, 2012; McPherron, 2009). As such, a Haeda might also be known as Heidi, Mohammed becomes Moe, and Sun-mi goes by Alice. The instructor will use the chosen English name for the student and,  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Identity, Other
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