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Multilingual identity is an area ripe for further exploration within the existing extensive body of identity research. In this paper we make a case for a conceptual framework that defines multilingual identity formation in terms of learners' active involvement, and proposes the classroom as the hitherto underused site for participative identity (re)negotiation. After reviewing three key theoretical perspectives on identity (the psychosocial, sociocultural and poststructural) for points of intersection and difference, we propose a new framework for a multi-theoretical approach to the conceptualisation and investigation of multilingual identity. This places it at the nexus of (a) individual psychological development, (b), the relational and social, and (c) the historical and contextual. Arguing that a participative perspective can take the field forward, we present a theorised model for classroom practice that provides a structure within which individual learners of a foreign language might explore, with reference to a range of sociolinguistic knowledge, the extent of their current linguistic repertoire. In addition, they are asked to explicitly consider their identity and identifications and offered the agency to (re)negotiate these in terms of multilingual identity, the development of which may be important for investment in language learning.

This study examines the values and practice in relation to assessment of a sample of 220 trainee teachers studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, an initial teacher training and education (ITET) course, at the University of Cambridge, UK. The survey instrument was drawn from James and Pedder (2006), and was composed of questionnaire items that sought to elicit how trainees valued different classroom assessment practices, and the extent to which their own teaching complied with such values. The study draws additionally on the findings of James and Pedder (2006) to compare and contrast results with those for qualified teachers. Item and factor analyses revealed three dimensions that underpin trainees' classroom practice and values (promoting learning autonomy, performance orientation, making learning explicit). Values‐practice gaps were greatest on promoting learning autonomy and performance orientation. Trainees valued practices associated with the former more than they implemented them in their teaching, while they implemented practices associated with the latter more than predicted by their values. Values‐practice gaps suggested that trainees were constrained from implementing their values to a greater extent than qualified teachers, particularly with respect to these two factors.

This article explores the use of blogs for pre-service language teacher education in two national settings, the UK (University of Cambridge) and the US (University of South Florida). Taking two approaches to blogging and to learning through blogging (one based on self-reflection and a constructivist approach and one based on social and collaborative learning and a sociocultural approach), the research examines how pre-service language teachers both use and understand the affordances of blogs for their professional development. Data were collected from the participants' blog entries during their eight/nine month courses and from individual interviews conducted and analysed inductively. Some distinct themes emerged from the two settings. In the UK setting, there was deep analytical reflection on professional development, on professional identity and on change, with the participants perceiving the benefits of the blog to be the distance it provides from events and the cathartic effects of writing. In the US setting, findings suggest that the blog was used as a space for joint sharing of resources and ideas, and for co-constructive learning. Participants noted the affordances to be sharing information, developing professionalism and collaborative learning. While the approach to blogging was different in the two settings, the engagement in both was dialogic; the blogs functioned as a 'thinking device' that enhanced professional development. Their use may transfer from pre-service teachers' learning to their teaching.

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