Identity and investment are critical concepts in understanding student motivation and engagement in language learning. The notion of identity refers to how a student views themselves in relation to the target language – their sense of who they want to become as a speaker of that language. Investment captures the idea that learners invest in a language not just to acquire linguistic competence, but to acquire symbolic resources that will empower them to take on desired identities.
An effective language learning environment should aim to understand each student’s identity and facilitate their investment in the target language. Educators can achieve this through creating lessons that connect to students’ lived experiences, providing opportunities for identity exploration and expression, and designing assessments that value diverse learner identities and investments. Centering identity and investment aligns language instruction with student goals and enhances motivation.
Identity Shapes Language Learning
A student’s identity, or their sense of self, directly impacts how they approach language learning. Their beliefs about the target language community, perceptions of competence, and vision of themselves as future speakers all filter their learning experience. Students may feel disconnected from a language if they cannot envision an identity within that linguistic community. Alternatively, visions of desired identities can powerfully drive language investment and achievement. Effective language instruction recognizes the diversity of learner identities and leverages identity as a motivating force.
Investment Drives Engagement
The concept of investment conceives of language learners as people with complex identities and multiple desires. Learners invest in language not only to increase communicative competence, but to acquire symbolic capital that empowers identity formation and social positioning. A student may invest in English to gain access to academic opportunities, while another student invests in Spanish to connect with their cultural heritage. When instruction aligns with student investment, it taps into personal aspirations and enhances motivation. Educators should understand what learners hope to gain through language acquisition and design learning experiences that facilitate those investments.
Implications for Teaching
Centering identity and investment has important implications for language teaching practices. Lessons should connect to students’ lived realities and backgrounds, allowing space for identity exploration and expression. Assessments should value diverse identities and capture a broad range of competencies, not just linguistic accuracy. Academically-oriented approaches that value a singular ‘target culture’ often alienate students from diverse identities and investments. Instruction should aim to legitimize the plurality of identities and investments present in the classroom. By designing learning around identity and investment, educators can boost student engagement and create an inclusive language learning environment.
Identity and investment are key to understanding student motivation and engagement in language learning. Effective instruction recognizes the diversity of learner identities, leverages identity to drive investment, and creates learning experiences that empower students’ visions of themselves as target language users. Centering identity and investment enhances relevance, inclusion, and motivation in the language classroom.