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A Seminar: "Identity in Second Language Learning Research: Where We Have Been and Where We Are at Present"

Sponsored by:
TUJ Graduate College of Education, JALT Tokyo and West Tokyo Chapters

TUJ Graduate College of Education, JALT Tokyo and West Tokyo Chapters are pleased to announce the following seminar which will be conducted by Dr. David Block.

Abstract:

In recent years identity has become a key concept in the social sciences, 'today's talk of the town and the most commonly played game in town', according to Zygmunt Bauman (2001: 16). Judging by the number of articles, chapters and books published recently on the topic, I think it is safe to say that Bauman's words are relevant when applied to Applied Linguistics in general and Second Language Learning (SLL) research in particular. Indeed for many SLL researchers today, it is considered axiomatic that identity and language are inextricably linked. This paper is a reflection on where we have been and where we are at present as regards identity in SLL research.

Speaker (biodata):

David Block works in the School of Culture, Language and Communication at the Institute of Education, University of London. He has published articles and chapters in a range of applied linguistics and educational journals and books. He is co-editor (with Deborah Cameron) of Globalization and Language Teaching (Routledge, 2002) and author of The Social Turn in Second Language Acquisition (Edinburgh University Press, 2003), Multilingual Identities in a Global City: London Stories (Palgrave, 2006) and Second Language Identities (Continuum, 2007). His main interests are the impact of globalization on language practices of all kinds, migration and the interface between identity and language learning.