For a wide audience of students and scholars of second-language learning and cultural identity, this book relates the author's stories about how languages have integrated her being, defined and formed her sense of self.

This book relates the author's stories about how languages have integrated her being, and defined and formed her sense of self. The idea of writing autobiographical stories of her multilingual life came from her long-term commitment to foreign language teaching and from a recent, extremely rich and valuable experience teaching English to immigrants in the U.S. While reading and studying various aspects of second-language-related-theory -- linguistics, psychology, anthropology, and sociolinguistics literature -- the author realized how estranged language learners are from all the research, speculations, hypotheses, and achievements of scholarship. A Russian immigrant, the author tells stories to her ESL students to help them understand why and at what price successful language acquisition and acculturation is realistic. Not only can students learn from her stories which encourage discoveries about their own behaviors or problems, but they might want to respond and tell about their own struggles with a foreign language. By becoming writers and interpreters of her text and by making it their own, students can construct their own virtual texts. The stories told throughout are those of a language learner, who is also a linguist and language teacher. As such, they can bridge the gap between second language research and practical teaching and learning. Moreover, this book can help initiate language learners along with their teachers into scholarship. Second language teachers and graduate students preparing for a teaching career might see this book as an illustration and validation of the studied theory and an inner voice of their students at the same time. Multidisciplinary by nature, it can also be used in several college courses such as cultural anthropology, anthropo- and socio-linguistics, sociology, multicultural education, ethnography, bilingualism, and the study of immigrant experience. There are numerous applications of the book in the educational field at various levels of adult learning programs which might be determined by the objectives and by the instructor's vision of it in the curriculum. It is also intended as a message to the general public and to all thinking individuals in search of identity. It will popularize the idea of the importance of foreign language learning, language education, linguistic literacy, and metalinguistic awareness, of illuminating self-discovery through the treasure of multilingual experience, capable of giving birth to a new, sophisticated, spiritually complex and enriched multicultural identity.

This edited volume seeks to highlight the effects of self-concept on L2 learning and teaching by considering a wide range of theories as well as their practical application. The book is divided into four sections and includes: chapters discussing various approaches related to self-concept; empirical studies related to the selves of the learners; research from teachers’ perspectives on students' self-concept; and L2 motivational intervention studies associated with the development of self-concept of language learners. The volume contains a collection of studies from around the world (Central Europe, Canada, Asia and Australia) which were carried out using a variety of research methods and have a range of foci including adult and young learners, public and private education, foreign and second language settings, and teacher and learner motivation.

This book explores the role of identity in adolescent foreign language learning to provide evidence that an identity-focused approach can make a difference to achievement in education. It uses both in-depth exploratory interviews with language learners and a cross-sectional survey to provide a unique glimpse into the identity dynamics that learners need to manage in their interaction with contradictory relational contexts (e.g. teacher vs. classmates; parents vs. friends), and that appear to impair their perceived competence and declared achievement in language learning. Furthermore, this work presents a new model of identity which incorporates several educational psychology theories (e.g. self-discrepancy, self-presentation, impression management), developmental theories of adolescence and principles of foreign language teaching and learning. This book gives rise to potentially policy-changing insights and will be of importance to those interested in the relationship between self, identity and language teaching and learning.

Due to its theoretical and educational significance within the language learning process, the study of L2 motivation has been an important area of second language acquisition research for several decades. Over the last few years L2 motivation research has taken an exciting new turn by focusing increasingly on the language learner’s situated identity and various self-perceptions. As a result, the concept of L2 motivation is currently in the process of being radically reconceptualised and re-theorised in the context of contemporary notions of self and identity. With contributions by leading European, North American and Asian scholars, this volume brings together the first comprehensive anthology of key conceptual and empirical papers that mark this important paradigmatic shift.

In this volume researchers from Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North and South America employ a variety of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches in their exploration of the links between identity, motivation, and autonomy in language learning. On a conceptual level the authors explore issues related to agency, metacognition, imagination, beliefs, and self. The book also addresses practice in classroom, self-access, and distance education contexts, considering topics such as teachers’ views on motivation, plurilingual learning, sustaining motivation in distance education, pop culture and gaming, study abroad, and the role of agency and identity in the motivation of pre-service teachers. The book concludes with a discussion of how an approach which sees identity, motivation, and autonomy as interrelated constructs has the potential to inform theory, practice and future research directions in the field of language teaching and learning.

Shortlisted for the 2020 BAAL Book Prize This book brings together empirical studies from around the world to help readers gain a better understanding of multilinguals, ranging from small children to elderly people, and their lives. The chapters focus on the multilingual subjects’ identities and the ways in which they are discursively and/or visually constructed, and are split into sections looking specifically at the multilingual self, the multilingual learner and multilingual teacher education. The studies draw on rich visual data, which is analysed for content and/or form and often complemented with other types of data, to investigate how multilinguals make sense of their use and knowledge of more than one language in their specific context. The topic of multilingualism is addressed as subjectively experienced and the book unites the current multilingual, narrative and visual turns in Applied Language Studies. It will be of interest to students and researchers working in the areas of language learning and teaching, teacher education and bi/multilingualism, as well as to those interested in using visual methods and narratives as a means of academic research.

Senegal : "We English teachers, we speak English." -- Vietnam : "English is a privilege for me" -- Egypt : "Why is he comparing her to a summer's day?" -- Argentina : "Learning the language will never end." -- Turkey : "I'm better than these guys." -- Ukraine : "I know how my people think." -- Estonia : "Teachers speak better." -- Final thoughts.

This edited volume focuses on the experiences of individuals learning languages other than English (LOTEs) in a range of Asian contexts that have traditionally been under-represented in the literature. Aligning with the ‘multilingual turn’ in SLA, it views learners as individuals of a multilingual society with unique, complex, heterogenous and dynamic identities. The chapters explore the learners’ motivational trajectories, multilingual identities and their conceptualisations of the ‘ideal multilingual self’. This volume enhances our critical understanding of language learning motivation through empirical findings and conceptual insights from studies of motivation in specific regions in Asia, including Greater China, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan and Syria. Providing insight into the multilingual identities of individuals learning LOTEs, it will appeal to students and scholars in second language acquisition, researchers in language learning motivation and policymakers in language education.

Through the application of self-determination theory (SDT) to research and practice, this book deepens our understanding of how autonomous language learning can be supported, developed and understood within environments outside of the classroom. Theoretical, empirical and practice-focused chapters examine autonomy support in a range of contexts and settings, dealing with learning environments and open spaces, communities and relationships, and advising and self-access language learning. They reveal what occurs beyond the classroom, how socializing agents support autonomous motivation and wellness, and how SDT can enhance our understanding of supporting language learner autonomy. It will be of interest to language teachers, university lecturers and learning advisors who are providing support outside the classroom, as well as to graduate students and researchers who are working in the fields of applied linguistics and TESOL.