Based on participant observation in a California English as a Second Language family literacy program, this ethnographic study examines how the complexly gendered life histories of immigrant adults shaped their participation in both the English language classroom and the education of their children, within the contemporary sociohistorical context of increasing Latin American immigration to the United States. Through outlining the connections between (gendered) identity work and language learning, this study builds theoretical and empirical justification for teachers to negotiate classroom practice with each community of learners, responding to students’ individual goals, histories, and lives outside the classroom.

This ethnographic study of a California English as a Second Language program explores how the gendered life experiences of immigrant adults shape their participation in both the English language classroom and the education of their children, within the contemporary sociohistorical context of Latin American immigration to the United States.

Identity and Language Learning draws on a longitudinal case study of immigrant women in Canada to develop new ideas about identity, investment, and imagined communities in the field of language learning and teaching. Bonny Norton demonstrates that a poststructuralist conception of identity as multiple, a site of struggle, and subject to change across time and place is highly productive for understanding language learning. Her sociological construct of investment is an important complement to psychological theories of motivation. The implications for language teaching and teacher education are profound. Now including a new, comprehensive Introduction as well as an Afterword by Claire Kramsch, this second edition addresses the following central questions: - Under what conditions do language learners speak, listen, read and write? - How are relations of power implicated in the negotiation of identity? - How can teachers address the investments and imagined identities of learners? The book integrates research, theory, and classroom practice, and is essential reading for students, teachers and researchers in the fields of language learning and teaching, TESOL, applied linguistics and literacy.

This book examines the intersectionality of gendered, religious identity among Muslim women in Catalonia, and illustrates how this identity is brokered through language use in a multilingual and diasporic context. Drawing on a mixed methods study of 1st and 2nd generation immigrant women, this book also examines how acculturation is a transgenerational process reflected in linguistic behavior. Through the use of questionnaire and interview data, the author constructs a story about informants’ experiences navigating life vis-à-vis language use; specifically through the use of Spanish, Catalan and native/heritage languages. This book offers a unique lens through which we can further our understanding of the role of language in the acculturation process in Catalonia. It adds to the ongoing discussion about language and migration in Catalonia and provides a valuable contribution to debates about immigrant women’s language learning and use.

This study looks at the process of learning a second language and in particular how changing identities of the learner effect this process. The text considers how language teachers can address the complex histories of language learners by integrating research, theory and classroom practice.

Identity and Language Learning draws on a longitudinal case study of immigrant women in Canada to develop new ideas about identity, investment, and imagined communities in the field of language learning and teaching. Bonny Norton demonstrates that a poststructuralist conception of identity as multiple, a site of struggle, and subject to change across time and place is highly productive for understanding language learning. Her sociological construct of investment is an important complement to psychological theories of motivation. The implications for teaching and teacher education are profound. Now including a new, comprehensive Introduction as well as an Afterword by Claire Kramsch, this second edition addresses the following central questions: Under what conditions do language learners speak, listen, read and write? How are relations of power implicated in the negotiation of identity? How can teachers address the investments and imagined identities of learners? The book integrates research, theory, and classroom practice, and is essential reading for students, teachers and researchers in the fields of language learning and teaching, TESOL, applied linguistics and literacy.

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Intercultural Communication provides a comprehensive historical survey of language and intercultural communication studies with a critical assessment of past and present theory, research, and practice, as well as an insight into future directions. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars from different parts of the world, this second edition offers updated chapters by returning authors and many new contributions on a broad range of topics, including reflexivity and criticality, translanguaging, and social justice in relation to intercultural communication.With an emphasis on contemporary, critical perspectives, this handbook showcases the varied range of issues, perspectives, and approaches that characterise this increasingly important field in today’s globalised world. Offering 34 chapters with examples from a variety of languages and international settings, this handbook is an indispensable resource for students and scholars working in the fields of intercultural communication, applied linguistics, TESOL/ TEFL, and communication studies.