Multilingual Learners of English and Their Literacy-Related Identity

This blog is part of the TESOL Research Professional Council (RPC) blog series.

The identity of multilingual learners of English (MLEs) as English language users can influence their performance. This blog provides examples and ideas about conducting classroom-based research on student identity. Let’s start with some questions and answers.

What Is Literacy-Related Identity?

MLEs’ literacy-related identity refers to how they see themselves as readers and writers when they use the English language, and while they are learning to read and write in English particularly when this is a second, foreign, or new language (ESL, EFL, ENL, respectively) for them.

What Are Examples of Classroom-Based Research About MLEs’ Literacy-Related Identity?

An example of this type of research is a study (Ricklefs, 2020) I completed in an ESL classroom at a public school in the Midwest region of the United States. My purpose was to understand how MLEs’ literacy-related identity was being developed and to examine the ESL teaching practices that influenced the development of such identity.

I focused on how and what the children read and wrote and how they orally communicated in class. All this happened during the conversational sessions of a writer’s workshop in their classroom. I used observation protocols, analyzed lesson plans, and revised curriculum materials, and I also interviewed the students. My study’s results demonstrated that these young MLEs had emerging literacy-related identities that fluctuated within a continuum from one end to the other and sometimes seemed “stuck” in the middle and lower end.

This is important for language educators. We can bridge success by implementing teaching practices that enable students to “move away” from a limiting identity. How do we do that? My research also indicated that using linguistic scaffolding practices, which made meaningful connections between reading and writing tasks in English, facilitated competent and self-confident identities.

The following research studies provide other examples of English language and literacy-related identity research. TESOL members can access these publications for free:

Spencer, J. (2022). The other third culture kids: EAL learners’ views on self-identity, home culture, and community in international schools. TESOL Journal, 13(3),1–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.657   

Spencer used interviews to investigate how MLEs in Ukraine see themselves based on an English as an additional language (EAL) identity. This research also asked how external factors such as social class, home language, and community culture influence student identity in the EAL classroom.

Brooks, M. D. (2022). What does it mean? EL-identified adolescents’ interpretations of testing and course placement. TESOL Quarterly, 56(4), 1218–1241. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3099

Brooks used student records, policy documents, analytic memos, and interviews to investigate how teen MLEs in the United States develop their learner identity based on English proficiency testing and ESL-course placement at school.

What About Your Classroom-Based Research?

I invite you to reflect on the particularities of your TESOL classroom to explore various research possibilities. Every context is very different. If you would like, use the space for comments below to share your own research ideas. We can cheer and support one another.

Reference

Ricklefs, M. A. (2020). Young English learners re-construct their literacy identity. International Journal of Learner Diversity and Identities, 27(1), 15–31. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-0128/CGP/v27i01/15-31