ERIC Number: EJ1033823
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1470-8477
EISSN: N/A
Faithful Imitator, Legitimate Speaker, Playful Creator and Dialogical Communicator: Shift in English Learners' Identity Prototypes
Gao, Yihong
Language and Intercultural Communication, v14 n1 p59-75 2014
This paper attempts to conceptualize identity prototypes regarding model L2 learners/users of English over the past 50 years, as embedded in research discourses. For a long time, the ideal learner was a "faithful imitator" whose L2 use and cultural conduct were strictly modeled on the native speaker (NS). With postcolonial changes around the world, a "legitimate speaker" was born, claiming equal language standards and rights with NSs. Growing under the increased influence of globalization and postmodernism is a "playful creator", who constructs unconventional hybrid language use for distinct self-expression. A Bakhtinian "dialogical communicator" is also emerging, who converses on the basis of respect and reflection. These prototypes are discussed with their respective characteristics, L2 research discourse, contexts, and constraints.
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Self Concept, Language Usage, Postmodernism, Standard Spoken Usage, Native Speakers, Language Research, Language Variation, Language Attitudes, Educational History
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A