Enhancing Investment to Imagined Identity as Fluent English Speakers in an Online Community of Practice

• In Event: 54.077 - Educating Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Learners: New Approaches to Achieving Educational Justice

Abstract

This ethnographic study examines an online English study group consisting of Korean bilingual speakers with varying degrees of English proficiency. As a participant observer, I examined postings in an online study group space, audio-recorded virtual study group sessions, and interviews that I conducted with participants. The findings reveal that the online encounters allowed the members access to concrete examples of imagined identity (Norton, 2000, 2001) of fluent bilingual English speakers, which may not be readily available in their local life. I argue that this access has facilitated their investment in the imagined community of bilingual speakers. This study extends the conversation on identity and investment, and the opportunities that online space can offer in second language learning.

Author

• Rayoung Song, University of Massachusetts - Amherst