Language, Identity, and Investment in the Twenty-first Century

Abstract

The construct of investment, developed by Norton in the mid-1990s, represents the historically and socially constructed commitment of learners to language learning. Now considered a significant explanatory construct in language education research (Cummins 2006; Douglas Fir Group 2016; Kramsch 2013), this construct serves as a sociological complement to the psychological construct of motivation and is an index of identity and power. Of central interest is the question, ``What is the learner's investment in the language and literacy practices of classrooms and communities?'' Because identities are multiple and sites of struggle, the investment of learners is always a dynamic negotiation of learning in specific contexts. This chapter traces how investment has been taken up in language education research internationally, including journal special issues in Asia and Europe. The chapter addresses both the origins of the construct as well as the recent development of a comprehensive model that locates investment at the intersection of identity, capital, and ideology (Darvin and Norton 2015). Responding to the changing social and digital landscape, the model recognizes the capacity of both learners and teachers to move fluidly across both time and space in an increasingly digital world. The chapter concludes with a discussion of investment research directions for the future, given evolving conceptions of identity, capital, and ideology, and how such research can impact language education policy.