Constructing identities in a linguistically diverse learning context

This article explores the relationship between language, hegemony and identity in a desegregated school in suburban Johannesburg, South Africa. Drawing on post-structuralist theories of language learning and identity that evaluate cultural models of literacy, ideologies and institutional discourses, this article examines how multilingual learners’ identities are discursively constructed during specific classroom activities. I take the perspective that identity construction is inextricably interwoven with ideology. Disavowal of identities that are deemed institutionally less desirable and affirmation of valued identities are thus a function of hegemony and language policies, inasmuch as they are a marker of institutional boundaries and contextual applications of multilingualism. Furthermore, this article is concerned with how access to institutionally valued linguistic resources shapes learners’ identities and reifies practices beyond the learning context. Drawing on data collected using a qualitative ethnographic approach, I will argue that identities are continually negotiated and constantly being shifted moment by moment, depending on social and learning imperatives prioritised in a multilingual context. My analysis suggests that subject positions are influenced by how language/literacy resources are situated, thus regulating access to certain resources such as English proficiency. All told, contextual subject positions delimit the scope of nomination in relation to types of identity positions learners could claim.