Multilingual Identity Development in Language Education

Multilingual identity development refers to the evolving sense of self that emerges as learners acquire and use multiple languages across varied social and educational contexts. This process is shaped by emotional responses, experiential encounters and evaluative judgements related to each language, revealing the complex interplay between individual agency and sociocultural forces. Theoretical frameworks draw on psychosocial, sociocultural and post-structural perspectives, treating identity as both dynamic and situated. In language classrooms, learners negotiate their position within and beyond national and linguistic boundaries, constructing personal narratives that interweave home, community and global voices. Pedagogical approaches that foreground reflexivity and recognise linguistic repertoires beyond the target language have been shown to enhance learners’ investment, motivation and sense of belonging. Study-abroad contexts and digital practices further extend identity development, enabling learners to engage with English as a lingua franca and to visualise their language resources in innovative ways. Across settings, research underlines the importance of identity-centred interventions that foster critical awareness of power relations, cultural diversity and multilingual competence.

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Multilingual Identity Development in Language Education publication trend

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Technical terms

Multilingual identity: The evolving self-concept that emerges as individuals learn, use and negotiate multiple languages within social and educational contexts.

Lingua franca: A language used for communication between speakers of different native languages, often serving as a neutral medium in international or intercultural exchanges.

Identity-based pedagogy: An instructional approach that explicitly integrates exploration of learners’ linguistic and cultural identities into curriculum design and classroom practice.

Linguistic repertoire: The full range of language varieties, registers and semiotic resources that a learner draws upon to communicate and construct meaning.

References

1. Participative multilingual identity construction in the languages classroom: a multi-theoretical conceptualisation. International Journal of Multilingualism (2018).
2. Chinese students' multilingual identity constructions after studying abroad: A multi-theoretical perspective. System (2023).
3. ‘I feel like I have a superpower’: a qualitative study of adolescents’ experiences of multilingual identity development during an identity-based pedagogical intervention. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (2024).
4. Linguistic Repertoires Embodied and Digitalized: A Computer-Vision-Aided Analysis of the Language Portraits by Multilingual Youth. Sustainability (2023).
5. Language experiences, evaluations and emotions (3Es): analysis of structural models of multilingual identity for language learners in schools in England. International Journal of Multilingualism (2022).