With the goal of illuminating how identity and cognition are in tension in classroom activity, we examine how one second‐language learner answers questions in a mainstream second‐grade classroom. To understand this learner's participation, we analyze two conflicting “language games.” We find the second‐language learner often is adept at “passing” as knowing, but that he achieves this identity‐preserving expertise at the expense of an understanding of classroom lessons.

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