Term
Summer 2021
Capstone
Capstone Project
Degree Name
MA-TESOL
Facilitator(s)
Julianne Scullen
Content Expert
Anne DeMuth
Abstract
Much can be learned about second language (L2) learner identities by understanding imagined communities which learners create to imagine participation in a target community. As L2 learners’ identities are varied, vast and imagined, it is important to line our pedagogical practices to help learners connect to and explore their various imagined communities and ideal L2 selves. Transformative pedagogy views language not simply as a set of governing rules, but more importantly from a social perspective, taking into account learner identities as they shift in accordance with the social world. The classroom is viewed as a place where learner investment in the language can be enhanced, and if it is not, gains in language learning are restricted. Additionally, teachers allow opportunities in not only the classroom, but the school and the community for learners to gain various identity positions in which they can participate (Norton, 2010). This capstone was influenced by the question, how can a classroom environment be created which allows Japanese EFL learners to identify their ideal L2 selves and imagined communities. The results of this capstone were used to create a website, which includes insights for transformative instructional practices and lesson materials influenced by imagined communities and the ideal L2 self as they pertain to language learning. A podcast was also created to help further the discussion of L2 learning as it relates to identity, engaging with learners of various languages around the world.
Project Type
Website Creation
Keywords
ESL/ ELLs, Second Language (L2) Identity, Imagined Communities, the ideal L2 self
Recommended Citation
Undem, Kyle, "Shifting Voices: Facilitating the Ideal L2 Self Through the Development of Imagined Communities in the Language Classroom" (2021). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects. 719.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_cp/719
dc_type
text
dc_publisher
DigitalCommons@Hamline
dc_format
application/pdf
dc_source
School of Education Student Capstone Projects