Learner identity in EFL - An analysis of digital texts of identity in higher education

Oct 15, 2026

This study explores learner identity (LI) within digital texts of identity (DTI) produced by college learners in English as a foreign language (EFL). It examines how learners connect learning experiences across time and settings and how these connections shape the learner identities that constitute their LI. The analysis scrutinizes 51 DTI using established identity research and critical/poststructural discourse approaches, including image analysis. Findings highlight intercultural identification, authority claims, and more equitable learning spaces.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Identity and learning in education and language education

ICTs and digital communication as identity-shaping resources

Technology-mediated communication and new learning conceptualizations

Learner identity in EFL: An analysis of digital texts of identity in higher education María Dolores García-Pastor [maria.d.garcia@uv.es](maria.d.garcia@uv.es) Faculty of Education-Universitat de València (GIEL) Abstract This study explores learner identity (LI) in digital texts of identity ( DTI) produced by college learners in English as a foreign language ( EFL) . In so doing, it aims to shed light on learners’ connections of their learning experiences across time and settings, and their impact on the various learner identities that form their LI. It also intends to elucidate how learners construct powerful learner identities in and through their digital discourses . To this end, 51 DTI were collected and scrutinized, following studies on LI, critical and poststructuralist discourse analysis, “thematic” and “dialogic/performative” analysis within narrative research, and Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) framework for the analysis of images . Learners established connections between their family and daily life spaces, school, and the foreign language community that account for, and shape their construction of their identities as learners in general, and language learners in particular . Students also empowered themselves by identifying with an intercultural speaker, using authority claims, and, in general, enhancing their authoritativeness in and through their texts . These findings underscore the potential of DTI to reinforce learners’ identities, and create more equitable learning spaces . Keywords EFL learning and teaching ; digital communication; identity ; learner identity M. D. García-Pastor Digital Education Review-Number 33, June 2018-[http://greav.ub.edu/der/](http://greav.ub.edu/der/ 55)[ 55](http://greav.ub.edu/der/ 55) I. Introduction Identity and its relation to learning has been of central concern to scholars in educational psychology and other disciplines (Coll & Falsafi, 2010; Esteban-Guitart & Saubix, 2013; EstebanGuitart & Moll, 2014 ; Wortham, 2006) . In language education, researchers’ attention to the relationship between identity and language learning traces back to Bonny Norton’s 1995 seminal paper . However, there has been “an explosion of interest” in such relationship more recently (Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 413) and research on identity has exponentially grown with this construct featuring prominently in articles, monographs and edited collections in this field and related others like applied linguistics (cf., e.g., Mackey, 2015 ; Norton, 2013 ; Preece, 2016) . This is unsurprising, if we consider the current view of education “as a process of “person shaping”designed to extend and perhaps in some ways modify learners’ identity”(Little & Erickson, 2015, p. 121) and the idea that language is a vehicle for learners' identity construction (Norton, 2013) . Additionally, learner identity is a key concept to understand other identities students build, since learning is the means by which we come to participate in different communities of practice and construct diverse identities as community members (Wenger, 1998) . Yet, in spite of its relevance, learner identity is still under-researched and "the process of becoming and changing as a learner is either neglected or not ascribed much significance" (Coll & Falsafi, 2010, p. 218) . On the other hand, the spread and use of Information and communication technologies (ICTs) has contributed to shape and transform language, identity, learning and their relationship. Digital communication provides learners with multiple semiotic resources for meaning making, which accounts for the emergence of new genres and modes of social interaction (Jones & Hafner, 2012), e.g., the digital story telling genre in educational contexts (Gregori-Signes & Pennock-Speck, 2012) . In that sense, it also offers students opportunities for genuine learning experiences, since, inter alia, it provides them with new contexts for using and developing literacy differen

FAQs

What does the study investigate about EFL learners' identities?

It investigates learner identity (LI) in digital texts of identity (DTI) produced by college learners in EFL, focusing on how they connect learning experiences across time and settings and how this shapes their learner identities.

How many digital texts of identity were collected and analyzed?

Fifty-one DTI were collected and scrutinized for the study.

What strategies help learners build powerful learner identities in their digital discourses?

Learners build stronger identities by identifying with an intercultural speaker, using authority claims, and enhancing their authoritativeness through their texts.

Oct 15, 2026

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