A Review of Literature Perspective on the Role of Identity in English Language Learning

Research in English Language Pedagogy

دوره 9، Special Issue of NTLL Conference، اسفند 2021، صفحه 102-120   

نوع مقاله: Review Article

شناسه دیجیتال (DOI): 10.30486/relp.2021.1931102.1278

نویسندگان

Jamshid Mashhadi¹؛ Mehran Memari^{* 2}؛ Amir Saki³

¹ELT Department, Ilam University, Ilam.Iran

²English Department, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

³Ahvaz Scientific and Applied University, Ahvaz, Iran

چکیده

Assuredly, learning a language other than the mother tongue is among the most complicated processes. It is a strikingly long-drawn-out experience that depends upon physical, mental, and emotional aspects. The second lan‌guage trainees should change between their understanding of self as a person speaking the first language and awareness of themselves as second language learners and this pushes them to think of how they ‘identify’ themselves. No longer have pedagogues the mere role in the worldwide education medium. Among the latest factors being studied broadly around the globe is the notion of identity. In fact, it allows for how a person figure in his or her rapport to the world and makes sense of prospect for subsequent times. Identity points up how language constructed by a variety of relationships. Bodies of reports have been carried out undertaking the research methods referring to identity showing the role of identity in learning English. This paper undertakes an analysis of the review of the studies related to two fields of identity and language. The topics in the literature are discussed over the last decades. Finally, some implications are given on identity in SLA indicating how English language learning can be affected by identity.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Identity؛ Literature Review؛ Psychological Factors؛ Pedagogues؛ Second Language Acquisition

اصل مقاله

1. Introduction

Learning a language other than the mother tongue is among the most complicated processes. It is a strikingly delicate and long-drawn-out experience that depends upon the whole person: physically, mentally, and emotionally. In such a process, the second lan­guage trainees should change between their understanding of self as a person speaking the first language and cautious awareness of themselves as second language learners and this pushes them to think of how they identify themselves. The identity of learners has been a subject of interest for some time, particularly in ESL and EFL settings, due to the multicultural and multilingual situations. As Altugan (2015) asserts, researchers and education theorists have been trying to understand the relationship between language and the social world. He adds that cultural identity can be defined as individuals' nature and nurture which includes their experiences, talents, skills, beliefs, values, and knowledge. Before the 1990s, identity was viewed from an essentialist view where identity was conceived as a fixed subject that an individual either possessed or lost (Horner & Weber, 2018). Later on, a poststructuralist perspective was proposed and received great attention and credibility in identity studies. This aspect is directed to the notion of identity as on the idea that identity shaping through language use is a constant, unceasing, and plays hardball process. Nor­ton (2013) reported that language constructs and are formed through a human’s identity. Deneme (2010) understood that learners used various kinds of learning techniques based on variables of interpersonal levels of identity. Just those with a strong identity could successfully apply highly socialized and communicative tactics. Mingyue Gu (2010) observed how students' identities in EFL classes were constructed through their English learning experiences. Tabaku (2009), Lobaton (2012), and Zacharias (2012) also researched different aspects of learners’ identities in EFL settings, a general conclusion being that students and learners construct their own and new identities and the English language makes an important contribution.

 

Over the past 15 years, several concerns have existed in language learning and identity, which is now characterized in most books and dictionaries of language teaching and learning (Morgan & Clarke, 2011; Norton, 2010). The consideration of identity obtained a leading momentum. For example, there are studies on pragmatics and identity sociolinguistics and identity and discourse and identity (Young, 2009). Identity deals with both analogy and contrast. The identity theory is based on the Latin root of the term identitas with the same meaning. (Zainol Abidin et al., 2012).  In Norton's (2013) words, there is a connection between identity and language learning. He reported that language trainees are involved constantly in the identity construc­tion process whenever they are talking. Language speakers can also indicate their identity within an L2 through their L1. For example, Modirkhamene and Tamimi Sa’d (2015) noted that language learners protect their L1 norms, such as their L1-based speech to mark their identity, not as a mark of the negative pragmatic transfer. When learners with English as the second tongue face English learning as an additional language firstly, it is labored for them to avoid the issue of identity. This is because they must take part in a community that is different from what they are used to.

The teacher’s identity involves how others consider the teachers as ESL teachers and as such affects decisions made by the instructors themselves in the L2 classroom. The current report indicates a current review (Norton, 2013). In literature reviews, numerous scholars cited Norton’s work as the key action in resolving challenges on identity (De Costa, 2010; Morgan & Clarke, 2011; Ricento, 2005) and within these works (Zuengler & Miller, 2006), the identity was remarked as an investigation area on its behalf. Furthermore, Block (2007) noted that a poststructuralist method for identity is the method of option within people seeking to explore relations between L2 learning and identity. Therefore, the emphasis was on poststructuralist theories of language learning and identity in creating this literature review.

Leibowitz et al. (2005) set out a study on the relationship between identity and language learning at a higher education institution in the Western Cape. It showed how identity, both as proficiency in the dominant medium of communication and as discourse, is a key component in language learning in a higher education institution. The official status of the English language throughout the world has been regarded by some writers like that of the primary foreign language (Al-Seghayer, 2014).

 

2. Literature Review

In the ground of language pedagogy, the identity that is mostly related to the learner's identity as a foreign or second language trainee, and L2 self is interchangeable. Evidence indicates that the first one denotes the social appraisal of the person in language learning settings, whereas the second one may be described as the sequenced dynamic rule that includes all the confidence, perception, sentiment, processes, and motives relevant to and viewing oneself as L2 learner (Mercer, 2014). Dörnyei (2009) concludes that the identity of the learner as a language learner can be considered as the social depiction of their linguistic that is also mediated or by symbolic symbols and signs, moreover, it is reflexive since permits to recognize such self and linguistic self practically. Rezaei and Bahrami (2019) studied the level of Iranian English language teachers' cultural identity through hypothesizing a cultural identity model. The outcomes of Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed that the model was fit and included the parts below: religion, beliefs, history, customs, manners and behaviors, language learning, literature and art, parents’ influence, and family relations. Amirian and Bazrafshan (2016) made an attempt to measure the influence of cultural identity and attitudes on pronunciation learning of Iranian EFL learners. The research instruments were Language Learning Attitude Questionnaire and the Cultural Identity Questionnaire to measure the participants' attitudes and cultural identity towards pronunciation learning. The results showed that the participants hold a positive attitude towards pronunciation learning. As Meihami, Rashidi, Sahragard, and  Razmjoo (2019) argue, identity helps educators find up-to-date and conducive approaches to develop teacher identity in different contexts. Teachers’ identity is at the center of investigations in recent years because of the potentiality it has to show teachers’ professional development (Tao & Gao, 2018).

        Identity is an unclear and complicated construct with a conception contingent upon the theoretical base of the investigator. A learner's identity in L2/FL learning was recognized generally as "the subject positions and various subjectivities they live or have attributed to them within particular historical, cultural, and social perspectives" (Block, 2013). More specifically, it contains the mode where the learner understands their relationships to the target language, the contents of the relationship over time and space; and their recognition of the potentialities for the future (Norton, 2010b, 2013, 2014). This indicates the nature of this construct as "a diverse, often contradictory, changeable, multiple rather than unitary concept" (García-Pastor, 2017; p. 39), which the trainer mutually negotiates, makes, strives or denies for in and through their communications with other social agents in inequitable social settings (Block, 2010, 2013). This depiction of identity is based on a poststructuralist perspective on second language learning and social reality contrasting with essentialist positions where identity is delimited, coherent, fixed, and is estimated to be similar among people (Baxter, 2016). This viewpoint matches the default method in studying identity in language education (Baxter, 2016; García-Pastor, 2017, 2018; Norton & Toohey, 2011).

        A comprehensive overview was provided by Block (2013) for empirical research connecting second language identity and learning. The publication of Block et al. (2013) highlighted the initiating an increment interest in social theory within SLA investigators. Here, they state that the individual has the likelihood of assuming identities within the cultural supermarket. His second method highlights the significance of social structures in locating limitations on personal agency. The third emphasis is on the relationship between social structures and social interaction indicating that identity is both "constituted and constitutive of by the social environment". Ultimately, he describes how these enhancements have culminated in the emergence of terms such as identification, which covers the nature of identity; subjectivities explained as the unconscious and conscious ideas and senses of the persons, her sense of herself, and her ways of recognizing her relationship worldwide; and positioning, which is a discursive way wherein individuals are placed in conversations. The supporters of Positioning Theory (PT) refuse to treat identity as a non-dynamic entity and state that the people may discuss, resist, refuse or change positions.

This study was set out with the aim of investigating a literature review on the notion and the role of identity in English language learning. The following questions were addressed to fulfill the aim of the study.

1. How did the notion of identity play a role in English language learning?
2. How does student identity act in or affect the SLA process and English language learning?
3. How can the discussions related to identity be applied and used in ESL education?

 

2.1. Teachers' Identity and Role

TESOL teachers can have a leadership role in identifying and supporting the transformation of identity of the L2 learners and it may encourage their involvement in classroom contribution. An area of identity assessment is to obtain the importance of language teacher and language trainer pedagogy (Cheung et al., 2015). Sayer (2012) explains the significance of such a positioned recognition of identity and discovers the tensions and vagueness faced by three Mexican EFL instructors while locating themselves as responsible English speakers and language trainers. Likewise, Kumaravadivelu (2012) has denoted reforming the teacher identities within the globalized world. Especially, he has invoked the requirement for an epistemic break in the dependence on ‘Western’ knowledge of products and techniques prevalent in the Anglophone world. These challenges are being taken up by the present scholars like Sanches Silva (2013) and Andema (2014) from Uganda exploring the methods where globalization affects the language teacher identity within tertiary language education programs. The debate on this regard will be broadened by two forthcoming journal special issues on teacher identity, in the Modern Language Journal (Norton and De Costa) and the TESOL Quarterly  by Varghese, Trent, Park, and Reeves (2016).

 

2.2. Future of Learners' Globalization and Identity

According to a new study on identity, it is required in facing globalization and the hybridizing linguistic practices and people’s intersecting movements (Shin, 2012). Such procedures have resulted in developing multilingualism in society and educational settings and the creation of what Higgins (2015) called millennium identities, to index the mechanisms creating cultural and linguistic hybridity in the current era of novel millennium globalization. Simultaneously, the neoliberalism forces (Block et al., 2012) entailing the heightened individualism, deregulated markets, and the marketization of institutions and activities resulted in concomitant impacts on the identities of teachers and language learners. Foucault (2008) noted Homo economics for people who are needed for navigating market-driven spaces, as ‘an entrepreneur of one’s self.

A different issue of the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development contended by Norton (2014) with the techniques where teachers and language learners in African communities direct multifaceted identities in altering the times. In an attempt made by Lemphane (2014), Norton and Early (2014) revealed that Uganda and South Africa are two principally active sites for research, in which the researchers undertake exciting studies from the perspective of the home and school. By such research, agency and professionalism are restored in periphery communities (Bamgbose, 2014) and local vernacular modes of teaching and learning are recognized.

 

2.3. Social Categories and Theories of Identity

Regarding globalization, the social aspects of race, ethnicity, class, and gender, Whiting and Feinhauer (2012) understood the implications of community exercises for the Latino learners’ ethnic identity, and it was revealed that teaching English is still a contested territory, based on the race. She found that White Australian teachers in Japanese language schools began discussing a negotiation on mainly complex contact zone possibly restricting their educational and professional aspirations. Regarding ethnicity in the US, Anya (2011) comprehended that African-American college learners wishing to learn a second language were drawn towards linking with and learn more regarding Afro-descendant speakers of their target languages. In Turuševa and Trofimovich's (2015) words, future studies on ethnicity and its intersection with other associated classes will be also required to state the non-native speaker distinction and long-standing native as resilient in mainstream second language identity studies.

The special issues on the social class are the welcome additions for this debate, which were edited by Vandrick and Kanno (2014), in the Journal of Language, Education, and Identity. By the contributions in this volume, a lens is provided through which scholars can assess the extent for producing or disrupting social and economic inequities through language learning and teaching. Although traditional notions of working-class and middle-class defunct (Savage et al. 2013) may be rendered by recognizing the arrival of the neoliberal post-industrial work order, Norton and Darvin (2014) argue that class differences affect migrants within invisible and visible ways.

Working with weak migrants within educational perspectives and other settings will continuously a considerable area of studies in the utilized linguistics, it was anticipated that more studies will be performed on upper and middle-class transnational learners, or what Vandrick (2011) has named as the novel global elite. In some Bodies of research like De Costa (2012) have been conducted thus far on the learners’ engagement in identity negotiation as they traverse physical and cultural borders. Post-structuralism still affects future research on identity, learning, and language. For example, the widely edited volume Multiple perspectives on the self in SLA (Mercer, 2014) contains neuro-philosophical perspectives (Northoff, 2014), developmental perspectives (Ushioda, 2014), and complexity perspectives (Mercer, 2014). The 2015 special topic issues on identity in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Mackey 2015) are interdisciplinary equally. Griffiths and Cohen (2015) assert that by combining identity with associated constructs, an interdisciplinary research agenda can also be developed by promoting a greater comprehension of the relation between identity and inextricably, for instance, with stance, ideology, and strategy. Future identity work inflected by the effect will go beyond assessing the inner worlds of L2 learners from a psychoanalytic viewpoint to encircle an anthropological comprehension of effect (De Costa, 2015).

        Such divergent locations are philosophically originated from postmodernism while sharing a comprehension of language through meaning-making and placing the identities to construct and perform (Baxter, 2016). Sometimes the learner cannot participate in social life as a result of societal and linguistic constraints. Therefore, such limitations reflect the distribution of power across informal and formal language learning perspectives and its effects on the learners' identity construction and associations with target language speakers. The claims made by language learning and identity researchers are summarized in the following points and are further provided in consequent sections with descriptive reference to Martina’s vignette:

(a) By contemporary identity theories, the ways are provided to consider the specific language learner positioned within a bigger society. Although some former SLA research explained learners in dual words, these affective explanations are considered within identity theorists as fabricated in frequently inequitable social perspectives, variable over space and time, and occasionally co-existing in contradictory methods into a single person.

(b) The diverse positions are highlighted by the identity theorists from which language learners can contribute to social life, and establish the learners' abilities and inabilities, proper and desired identities based on the target language community.

(c) Research requirements and language learning theory were extensively acknowledged as central to the SLA process to address the effects of power in the society on the learners’ access to the target language community, thus, opportunities are provided to practice reading, listening, writing, and speaking.

(d) Identity, resources, and practices are linked inextricably and constituted jointly. The variable resources and practices of particular settings and the access of a person are powerfully related to the methods where the individuals’ identities are made.

(e) L2 learning is not determined entirely by social perspectives and structural circumstances, partially because such perspectives and conditions are in states of production themselves.

(f) The sociological investment construct makes the psychological motivation construct in SLA. Norton as a first representative of this construct (Norton, 2009) stated concerns regarding most psychological theories of language learning motivation with no justice to the complicated identities of language learners, and the regular unbalanced association of power conveyed by them in various sites.

 

2.4. Role of Technology

Technology-based spaces become relevant sites as a result of the transformational power and significance of ICTs (Information and communication technologies) in learning the language. ICTs facilitate exposure and access to authentic and updated cultural and linguistic materials (Zhao, 2003), that are necessary for L2/FL learning along with clear input. Moreover, Heift and Chapelle (2009), hold that they are more likely to attend to diverse differences and learning styles of the learners compared to the non-digitally-based instruction partly as a result of their multimodal nature. Furthermore, it can promote their motivation, since they are more open to creative expression and risk-taking while utilizing semiotic means and language for meaning (González et al., 2014).

ICTs present valuable opportunities for involvement in authentic communication within the target language that is essential for encouraging meaningful learning and successful language learning. The ICTs’ capacity to present individualized and instant feedback is also unquestionable by developing automatic speech recognition technology (Zhao, 2003) and the arrival of progressively spell checkers and sophisticated grammar, applications, and computer programs tracking, analyzing, and correcting students' errors in speech or writing. In general, there is a close association between literacy and the construct of identity, and learner identity in particular, since first, in performing any form of literacy, the person instantiates a specific social membership and identity in a particular social group (Lam, 2000) and the engagement of a learner in oral, written, or multimodal textual practices in L2/FL both for production and comprehension is also an achievement in identity acts (Norton, 2010a, 2010b).

Chen (2013) studied the literacy actions of two multilingual authors on a social networking site for illustrating how they discovered and adopted symbolic resources met by this perspective since they associated themselves with specific personal and collective identities. Black and Thorne (2011) found that Internet-mediated spaces provide catalysts for performing and evoking functional identities in L2 English, French, and Spanish learners. Fong et al. (2016) within these lines demonstrated how ESOL learners located themselves as good competent English learners and students in an online chat. Therefore, these studies confirm the role of digital-mediated literacy practices in the linguistic development of the learner and their identity construction as competent subjects, who are not afraid of failure, loss, or embarrassment in using the L2/FL (Darvin, 2016).

 

3. Method

3.1. Design and Context of Study

As noted earlier, to deal with the identity scale, we utilized a descriptive approach as an appropriate method for developing qualitative instruments. To run the study, subjective measurements reviewing literature views not using computational techniques were employed. The independent variable was identity and the dependent variable was English language learning. It sought to obtain the data through foregoing related studies. Identity and foreign language learning were the independent and dependent variables of the study respectively. Expressly, every student comes to the classroom with a set of characteristics and behaviors that make him or her unique and that will affect his or her academic success in the future. This report intended to describe a valuable association between cultural identity and English language learning. This investigation was a deductive, descriptive, and exploratory approach.

 

3.2. Instruments

The theoretical and related literature in this study was related to the identity notion associated with the English language learning process in language education programs. The data were elicited by the basic tools of the current report that were the immense body of theoretical and experimental reviewed literature studies focusing on the identity factors and aspects influencing language learning positively (here English). The previously conducted studies on the relationship between identity and English language learning were the main present study tools.

 

3.3. Data Collection Procedure

         It was sought to search for papers with regards to identity to meet the required data. Since the aim of the study was to investigate the cultural identity relationship with English language learners, the researchers selected a span of conducted studies toward the main construct under study (i.e., the role of cultural identity for EFL learners). Various studies related to the study subject and the importance of cultural awareness in English language teaching programs were selected. Points regarding the positive association between identity and language learning were analyzed and picked up. Based on the obtained items, some and elicitation were made and drawn.

 

4. Results

The available research on learning at schools and identity reinforces a positive correlation between the two as it draws on approaches that utilize learners’ social and cultural experiences. Teachers should be attentive to the cultural identities of the students, which designate their learning characteristics and motivation enhancing their learning achievement. Cultural backgrounds of learners are significant because ethnic, racial, linguistic, social, religious, and economic differences can cause cultural disconnection leading to a decrease in motivation to learning. Researchers like Eleuterio (1997) and Hoelscher (1999) observed that classrooms filled with teachers and students who share their cultural identities build trust and foster stronger relationships. Education inevitably brings shifts, however, learners’ cultural identity plays a significant role in the transmission of such values.

Since globalization is one of the most important topics on the agenda, teachers, educators and researchers should draw their attention to this issue and search for valuable solutions. This can be very vital in education institutions. The results and overview studies indicate that there is a clear relationship between identity formation, positive attitudes towards communication, communication strategies, openness to diverse communication styles, and perceived English language learning. The study of culture during foreign language classes might enhance and improve the learners' motivation and attitudes towards language learning. Language learners must gain knowledge about their own culture and also learn about different cultures around the world. By training language learners in comparing and contrasting different elements of cultural identity, we can help them develop cultural awareness and reflect upon the values, expectations, and traditions of others.

Identity is one of the features of a personal and social aspect of the people, which is defined by everything from ethnicity, occupation, role, culture, ability, interest, religion, cuisine, social habits, music or arts, appearance, character, and homeland or languages. It finds its place in language, which is defined as verbal, physical, biologically innate, and a basic form of communication. Language is a means of expression of our feelings, emotions, thoughts, needs, desires, etc. Therefore, learning a new language without familiarity with its culture remains incomplete. An important question arises here, about the vital identity role in acquiring English as a foreign or second language.  Language refers to the means of expression that people use for communication. People may use language to portray their differences or similarities. Therefore, language like English asserts the identity of an individual. Based on Sačić (2018), the uniqueness of an individual’s identity is obtained through the incorporation of our social identities which usually dramatically affect our way of thinking, living and coexisting. Hence, social influence on our identity remains inevitable. Based on all the above-discussed and mentioned subjects, one can clearly understand that the concept of identity (despite being not very old), is a high-value and important notion through the EFL/ESL procedure. The strong inclination of the participants to recognize and, thus, to combine with the English culture can be made when considering English as an instrument for marking their identity. Here, it can be concluded that almost all the interviewees reported that they initiated learning English in childhood.

The personal identity of the learners is essential more required and that is what educational activists should precisely teach. Teachers’ attitude is better to be oriented toward the contents of the selected textbooks (by consideration of identity), developments of social identity, and its role within second language acquisition processes. Altogether, it can be concluded that that language (English) and identity are inextricably intertwined, both affect one another and each produces a response from the other and the results indicate that there is indeed a clear relationship between identity formation and English language learning. The results manifested that there is a clear relationship between identity formation, positive attitudes towards communication, communication strategies, openness to diverse communication styles, and perceived language proficiency. The findings of the study also revealed that subjects with higher levels of perceived proficiency were also more likely to view the target language positively, have a heightened awareness of linguistic and cultural differences and use various strategies to accommodate and manage differences in communication styles. All in all, the following results were found:

First, language is intrinsic to the expression of culture. Language is a fundamental aspect of cultural identity. It is how we convey our innermost self from generation to generation. It is through language that we transmit and express our culture and its values. The results indicate that there is indeed a clear relationship between identity formation and English language learning. Then the identity that is associated with the subject or discipline of study affects students’ views about themselves and others' ideas regarding them. Identity influences learning experience too. Subsequently, we all have a certain image of ourselves - beliefs about the kind of person we are. Having a strong sense of identity seems to be desirable, something that brings comfort and security Identity also helps us to make decisions and to know how to behave. We're constantly faced with complex decisions and circumstances. It leads to student engagement, higher motivation, and excitement about learning together. Finally, the identity can be considered as the potential ability and it is the social context that provides the language learner with opportunities to ameliorate this potentiality. There is a mutual and dynamic relationship between the identity language learners assume and their success in language learning even in a foreign language learning context.

 

5. Discussion

Drawing on the relevant literature, this qualitative study utilized a background review in order to provide a detailed characterization of the independent variable, that is, identity. When learning a foreign language, the learner must characterize the culture of that language, too. This is where the issues of culture and identity impact teaching and learning foreign languages. By and large, learners are representatives of the identity and culture of their first language and where they come from. For trainees to grasp the foreign language s/he must feel that he can put into words himself freely. At any rate, the students are likely to become dumbfounded when they confront with the new culture of the foreign language and this can often give rise to uncertainty. It can result in the student feeling unsure as to where they belong in the community. Trainees need to be attentive to this concern and should include it in the method of teaching and resources used. Today, the identity of learners influences their motivation, as it is a way of change to understand the social world. Learners have been under disparate conditions, which influenced their motivation to learn. The researcher has experienced different attitudes of learners, who seem to have different identity backgrounds like one learner tried to marginalize while the other highly valued learning and have been interested in finding out if there is a link between their motivation of learning and their cultural identity.

Depending on the findings, it is clear that identity is a weighty effect on learning and should be taken into consideration while teaching and learning. Any human society, regardless of its size or population, tries to conform to certain sets of cultural values and norms. This culture somehow determines how we see the world around us, directs our attention to whatever is considered important in the world we inhabit, and shapes our values and identities. As Ellis (2003) argues, the utilization of authentic materials is rewarding and stimulating for both learners and teachers and should be put into service as far as possible. It is commonly used with ranking students but can be equally used with lower levels too. Concerning identity; songs, rhymes, riddles, and other children’s lore are ideal for younger children. Authentic materials not only involve newspapers and literature but also materials such as web pages, TV broadcasts, films, leaflets, posters, basically anything is written in the target language and used unedited in the classroom. The same material can be put to use in classes of various levels given that the task is grading learner’s abilities and interests (Newby, 2000). Using authentic materials is an unchallenging and convenient way of upgrading learner’s general skills as well as faith in oneself in real situations.

 

6. Conclusion

It’s a fact that identity and language are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the other. If any one of them is separated the other remains incomplete. In EFL or ESL settings, learners should be taught English with the identity associated with it so that they can acquire the target language with cultural background and correspond in real-life situations. It is observed that many EFL learners, who have excellent academic performance in English subject, sometimes, find it very difficult to correspond with native speakers or in real-life situations. This might be the result of learning English without proper awareness of its identity. Accordingly, the role of identity plays in teaching and learning English as a foreign/second language cannot be avoided while planning courses for them and in the provided situations. The instructors should keep in mind the significance of cultural identity and must have prior knowledge of the cultural knowledge of the lesson and material she/he is going to teach the learners. The overall trend which emerges, suggests that identity is indeed a significant factor in language learning and tends to have a positive impact as learners feel they are better able to communicate. Several studies exist in various global settings investigating how specific pedagogical practices can either enable or constrain the identity positions to range for language learners within classroom settings. In an investigation conducted by Lee (2008) in a Canadian post-secondary English institution, the complexities included in enhancing the range of identities for the students.

Lee’s (208) results are consistent with the results of Ramanathan (2005) indicating that the language instructional practices of teachers in secondary schools in India strengthened and promoted present inequities within English learners in two various schools. Perhaps not remarkably, she indicated that students receiving English-medium instruction within the high school were more prosperous in English-medium colleges compared to the students schooled in the vernacular. She further demonstrated that students must engage in high-level and creative analysis of English literature in the English-medium secondary schools, in translation and grammar exercises.

L´opez (2009) asserts that this alienating identity is originated from contracted opinions of literacy precluding recognition of several multimodal literacies of native individuals. He further claimed that creating the multi-literacies brought by native children to Mexican schools would increase the schooling problems of many such. Based on Lee (2008), from various educational perspectives, explained transformations in South African schools where local forms of representation were devalued and marginalized by the apartheid system. Such under-resourced township schools are altered by teachers through re-appropriating and RE-SOURCING local textual, linguistic, and cultural types. Opportunities were provided by teachers for English language learners and their students for using multimodal resources such as linguistic, sensory, and bodily modes to involve in representative meaning. And the learners were enthusiastic contributors in producing multimodal counter-texts.

More than often, the identity and culture of the first language are quite different from the culture of the second language. This may lead to the students' identity altering or leaving them feeling alienated. Some teachers are not aware of this influence and thus add to the problem. To answer the research questions of the current study, a qualitative design research methodology was followed.

Lee (2008) explained her work with adult language learners where she provided various popular texts such as magazine articles, advertisements, and newspapers. By her work with students in analytically analyzing these texts, it made clear that how students empower meaning structure texts, and how their involvement in critical reading could assist them to ask and reshape the dominant discourse. The teachers explained in the above projects considered language mainly as a static linguistic system and a social practice where identities are negotiated and experiences are organized. These teachers greatly take care to present multiple identity positions for learners for engaging in the language practices of the school, classroom, thus the community. In various parts of the world, pioneering language teachers seek to offer various opportunities for the learners to take ownership over making meaning, as well as to re-imagine and expand the range of future identities.

 

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