IDENTITY and TESOL
American University
June 13-15, 2014
Bonny Norton, University of British Columbia
Christina Higgins, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The purpose of the course is to explore current debates in the field of TESOL that address language
as a social practice. Students will investigate the way language constructs and is constructed by a
wide variety of social relationships, including those between writer and reader, teacher and student,
classroom and community, test maker and test taker, researcher and researched. Students will
consider how gendered/raced/classed identities are negotiated within such social relationships. They
will also explore how social relations of power can both constrain and enable the range of
educational possibilities available to both learners and teachers.
RECOMMENDED COURSE TEXT:
Norton, B. (2000/2013). Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation. Bristol,
UK: Multilingual Matters (available as e-book)
COURSE OUTLINE
Friday, June 13
Morning session: Bonny Norton and Christina Higgins
Topic: Identity, investment, and imagined communities
Key reading:
Norton Peirce, B. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly,
29(1), 9-31.
Illustrative studies:
Kanno, Y. (2003). Imagined communities, school visions, and the education of bilingual students
in Japan. In Y. Kanno & B. Norton (Eds.), Imagined communities and educational possibilities
[Special issue]. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2(4), 285-300.
Pavlenko, A. (2003). “I never knew I was a bilingual”: Reimagining teacher identities in TESOL.
In Y. Kanno & B. Norton (Eds.), Imagined communities and educational possibilities [Special
issue]. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2(4), 251-268.
Handouts/class exercise: Good language learner data
Afternoon session: Christina Higgins and Bonny Norton
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Topic: Linguistic identities and English as an international language
Key reading:
Alsagoff, L. 2012. Identity and the EIL learner. In L. Alsagoff, S. McKay, G. Hu, W. Renandya
(eds.) Principles and practices for teaching English as an international language (pp. 104-122).
Hoboken, NJ: Taylor & Francis.
Illustrative studies:
Jenkins, J. 2005. Implementing an international approach to English pronunciation: The role of
teacher attitudes and identity TESOL Quarterly 39, 535-543.
Park, G. 2012. “I am never afraid of being recognized as an NNES”: One teacher’s journey in
claiming and embracing Her nonnative-speaker identity. TESOL Quarterly 46, 127-151.
Handouts/class exercise: Linguistic identities Handouts 1-4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Saturday, June 14
Morning session: Christina Higgins and Bonny Norton
Topic: Narrative approaches in TESOL
Key reading:
Higgins, C. & P. Sandhu (2014). Researching identity through narrative approaches. In M.
Bigelow & J. Ennser-Kananen (eds.) Handbook of Educational Linguistics (pp. 102-116). New
York: Routledge.
Illustrative studies:
De Fina, A. & King, K. 2011. Language problem or language conflict? Narratives of immigrant
women's experiences in the US. Discourse Studies 13, 163-188.
Giroir, S. 2014. Narratives of participation, identity, and positionality: Two cases of Saudi
Learners of English in the United States. TESOL Quarterly 48, 34-56.
Handouts/class exercise: Narrative Handouts 1-3
Afternoon session: Bonny Norton and Christina Higgins
Topic: Identity, literacy, and the multilingual classroom
Key reading:
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Norton, B (2014). Identity, literacy and the multilingual classroom. In S. May (Ed.) The
Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and Bilingual Education (pp. 103-122). New
York: Routledge.
Illustrative studies:
Lam, W. S. E. (2000). L2 literacy and the design of the self: A case study of a teenager writing
on the internet. TESOL Quarterly, 34(3), 457-482.
Warriner, D.S. (Ed.). (2007). Transnational literacies: Immigration, language learning, and
identity. Linguistics and Education, 18 (3-4), 201-214.
Handouts/class exercise: Writing assessment: TOEFL and more
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sunday, June 15
Morning session: Bonny Norton and Christina Higgins
Topic: TESOL and International Development
Key reading:
Norton, B. & Williams, C.J. (2012). Digital identities, student investments, and eGranary as a
placed resource. Language and Education, 26, 4, 315-329.
Illustrative studies:
Lemphane , P. & Prinsloo, M. (in press). Children’s digital literacy practices in unequal South
African settings. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
Ramanathan, V. (2006). The vernacularization of English: Crossing global currents to re-dress
West-based TESOL. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 3(2/3), 131-146.
Handouts/class exercise: The African Storybook Project
Afternoon session: Christina Higgins and Bonny Norton
Topic: New Millennium Identities
Key reading:
Higgins, C. (2014). Intersecting scapes and new millennium identities in language
learning Language Teaching. FirstView Article (April 2014) 1 – 17.
Illustrative studies:
Lin, A. & Man, E. 2011. Doing-hip-hop in the transformation of youth identities: Social class,
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habitus, and cultural capital. In C. Higgins (ed.) Identity formation in globalizing contexts:
Language learning in the new millennium (pp. 201-219). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Song, J. 2012. Globalization, children’s study abroad, and transnationalism as an emerging
context for language learning: A new task for language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 45,
749-758.
Handouts/class exercise: New Millennium Handouts 1-3
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