Identity Texts and Academic Achievement: Connecting the Dots in Multilingual School Contexts

Abstract

The construct of identity text conjoins notions of identity affirmation and literacy engagement as equally relevant to addressing causes of underachievement among low socioeconomic status, multilingual, and marginalized group students. Despite extensive empirical evidence supporting the impact on academic achievement of both identity affirmation and literacy engagement, these variables have been largely ignored in educational policies and instructional practices. The authors propose a framework for identifying major causes of underachievement among these three overlapping groups and for implementing evidence-based instructional responses. The framework argues that schools can respond to the devaluation of identity experienced by many students and communities by exploring instructional policies and strategies that enable students to use their emerging academic language and multilingual repertoires for powerful identityaffirming purposes. Drawing on projects involving First Nations and immigrant-background multilingual students, the authors document the profound transformations in academic, intellectual, and personal identity that multimodal identity text work is capable of engendering.

Learners’ identifies at stake: Digital identity texts in the ELF classroom

“…More specifically, identity texts are embedded within a theoretical perspective that views societal power relations in educational structures and interactions as unequal, and one of the main sources of underachievement among ELL. In this way, identity texts emerged as part of a large project conducted in schools within the Greater Toronto Area to support the development of literacy in ELL and students from marginalised social groups both in English and in their L1 (Cummins 2006, Cummins et al 2005a, Cummins et al 2015.…”

“…However, like other identity texts, they are the product of learners' creative work in the context of the classroom. In sum, identity texts help learners consolidate their identities and enhance their language learning (Bernhard et al 2006, Cummins 2006, Cummins et al 2005a, 2005b, Cummins & Early 2011, Cummins et al 2015, Giampapa 2010.…”

“…Thus, DITs help learners reject self-and other-related stereotypes, whilst promoting a positive perception of L2 writing as a familiar, pleasant and creative process, away from the traditional conception of school literacy (Darvin & Carlton, 2014), which may be alienating for some ELL (Cummins 2006, Lam 2000, Yi 2007. In 41 sum, DITs help learners link the different subject positions they identify with to real or imagined identities of competence they desire, and hence progress in their academic language development (Bernhard et al 2006, Cummins 2006, Cummins et al 2005b, Cummins et al 2015, Darvin & Norton 2014, Giampapa 2010, Gregori-Signes & Pennock-Speck 2012, Oskoz & Elola 2016, Reyes-Torres et al 2012.…”

“Es waren die Stengel urr aufgewachsen.” Language/s in Education – Going Back and Moving Forward

“…It suggests that meaning making is encouraged when learners are in a position of power and when their learner identities remain connected to their lifeworld . Plurality as key to participation at school is also stressed by Cummins et al (2015): In their investigation into the subjects of literature and art, Cummins, Hu, Markus, and Montero (2015) impressively demonstrate the extent to which pupils benefit from using their multilingual and/or multimodal skills as cognitive tools in various domains. As a final example, Vetter (2018) indicates individual resistance to monolingual institutional norms: Looking to future possibilities and interactions, pupils adopt creative strategies in order to further develop those features of their multilingual repertoire that are not part of the institution's monolingual mindset .…”

Textos de Identidad Multimodales en el Aula de Inglés como Lengua Extranjera: Una Herramienta para Desarrollo de Habilidades Cognitivas y Académicas de Competencia Lingüística

“…La investigación ha probado que ambos aspectos son igualmente importantes para el éxito académico de los estudiantes. Se añade a ello, el hecho de que los trabajos de identidad multimodal han demostrado ser altamente eficaces para el desarrollo de las habilidades académicas multimodales y multilingües de los alumnos (Cummins et al, 2015). Por tanto, los textos de identidad constituyen una herramienta útil para el desarrollo de las llamadas habilidades cognitivas y de dominio del lenguaje académico en los alumnos.…”