Mantero, Miguel. (Ed.) (2007). Identity and Second Language Learning: Culture, Inquiry, and Dialogic Activity in Educational Contexts. Reviewed by Holly Hansen-Thomas, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Mantero, Miguel. (Ed.) (2007). Identity and Second Language Learning: Culture, Inquiry, and Dialogic Activity in Educational Contexts. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Pp. v+387     $73.95 (Hard cover)     ISBN 978-59311-540-1 Reviewed by Holly Hansen-Thomas Binghamton University State University of New York January 11, 2008 This wide collection of essays addresses identity and second language learning in a broad sense. Composed of eighteen chapters, this volume explores topics ranging from the teaching identity of international T.A. s in the southeastern U.S., to English language teaching advertisements in Japan and Korea, to education and language rights in Mayan communities in Mexico, to identity portrayed by South Korean television entertainers, to a conceptualization of Québéquicitéas defined by the Quebec Hip Hop community. It is a highly diverse and divergent compilation of topics, methods, perspectives, that loosely maintains the common thread of identity and language learning throughout the eighteen separate chapters. Originally conceptualized out of ideas presented at the 2004 International Society for Language Studies in Montreal, Canada, this edited volume represents an international perspective. The introductory chapter by the volume’s editor, Miguel Mantero, introduces the contributions that follow with a discussion of identity, ecological pedagogy, and language education within a post-structuralist framework. Mantero provides a review of the literature on identity and links identity development of language learners to the approaches used to teach the target language. In this way, the author situates identity squarely within a pedagogical setting. In a brief chapter on the pragmatics of discourse, Said Shiyab defines pragmatics and reviews Grice’s well-known maxims-- otherwise known as the ‘cooperative principle’ (1975). Shiyab then draws a link between language interpreters and Grice’s maxims, citing the need for interpreters to be trained in the pragmatics of discourse. While Grice’s maxims are useful for understanding how pragmatics can be used, Shiyab’s argument is not as convincing as is needs to be. This could be due to the fact that the essay resembles a conference talk much more than a book chapter. And while this essay is in itself interesting, it does not seem to fit in with the broader purposes of the edited volume. Entitled “Identity Puzzles: Am I a course instructor or a non-native speaker”, chapter three is a cogent and insightful perspective on language and identity from the perspective of an online Chinese tutor of English. Xuemei Li attempts to answer the question she poses in the title of her piece as she “construct(s) or reconstruct(s)” (p. 40) her identity as a non-native teacher of English. Chapter four examines racial membership with a specific focus on Whiteness and ESOL teacher identity. Informed by feminist and antiracist literature, Tonda Liggett illustrates ways in which White ESOL teachers minimize race in the classroom. Consequently, Liggett calls for “an approach for better understandings of race” (p. 60) that includes an awareness of race and White privilege and its relationship to ESOL students; knowledge about race in school and institutions and an analysis of social stratification; and an understanding of the pervasive “ideology of consensus” that allows issues of race to go unnoticed in the U.S. today. Karen Ogulnik’s well-written and informative chapter on popular education and language rights in Mayan communities describes the educational options for Mayan children of Chiapas. She provides historical background and describes how the Mexican government, as well as specifically Mayan organizations, have worked to promote the survival of Mayan language and culture. In chapter six, Julie Byrd Clark draws on Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic domination (1991) as well as research on language ideology and multilingual citizenship to understand the role of language and identity by Italian Canadians in a French-speaking community. She illustrates how Italianità identity is negotiated with La Francité through interviews with Giorgio, an Italian Canadian attending a francophone school. While the semi-structured interviews provide rich data for this study, it is hard to comprehend how interviews conducted over only two weeks can provide a thorough picture of Giorgio’s identity development. Elizabeth Miller’s chapter seeks to understand how adult immigrant learners of English position for power in the ESL classroom. In particular, Miller uses rich classroom language data to show how Laotian and Chinese students are positioned—through language-- as good or poor language learners. She concludes chapter seven with a call to teachers and researchers to be aware of issues of power and positioning in the classroom. Chapter eight reads like a descriptive history. It describes the Concordia Language Villages (CLV), where language learning participants become members of “language specific communities where things are done in culture specific ways” (p. 147). Tove Dahl, Donna Clementi, Garett Heysel, and Allison Spenader trace the history of the CLV, and detail the principles, standards, and instructional framework that grounds the language learning environment that forms the CLV at Concordia University in Minnesota. Nelson and Malinowski’s chapter on “Hegemony, identity, and authorship in multimodal discourse” draws on Barthes’ (1972) concept of mythology to analyze multimodal communication. An innovative examination of Japanese and Korean advertisements that depict images of idealized native speakers of English, along with data from a digital storytelling, illustrate how damaging stereotypes and hegemonic ideals can be perpetuated and replicated. In chapter 10, Heather Allen, Veronica Dristas, and Nicole Mills examine cultural learning outcomes as a result of short-term summer study abroad programs. This quantitative study reflects careful research design. Using instruments including the Linguistic Self Assessment Profile, the Sociocultural Adaption Scale and the Acculturation Scale, the authors report a significant change in study abroad participants’ self assessment of their linguistic ability and anticipated degree of cultural difference before and after the experience. Authors thus found that the experience helped participants “move toward a more hybrid understanding of identity” (p. 209). Peter De Costa’s essay describes the conflict that students from Singapore experience when writing in first person in English. Citing literature that claims many Chinese write with the perspective of a collective identity, De Costa find that the Singapore Chinese in his study also faced difficulty with using personal writing. “The Chasm Widens” concludes with implications for teaching English writing that include explicitly teaching identity, engaging with students in dialogue about potential cultural differences in writing, and finally, working to develop critical awareness by students when writing (and learning) in a second language. In chapter 12, Amy Beth Rell and Jason Rothman explore the structure and discourse use of Spanglish. In line with that which is generally accepted in the literature, Rell and Rothman report that use of Spanglish is a choice for language users, rather than as a result of a linguistic deficit. Data revealed that second generation Mexican-Americans hold positive attitudes towards Spanglish “as a functional and culturally revelant language” (p. 249). Not surprisingly, Mexican nationals living in the U.S. reported holding negative attitudes toward Spanglish. The essay concludes with a discussion of the disparate opinions on the use of Spanglish by Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Although the authors touch on the fact that variants exist within Spanglish, what is lacking from this paper is clarification on how Spanglish may differ from other nonstandard variants of the integration of English and Spanish used by Mexican-Americans, such as Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex or Pocho. Since the notion of Spanglish is itself problematized, a more in depth fleshing out, and problematizing of the term Spanglish would be useful in this chapter. Chapter 13 focuses on perspectives of heritage language speakers of Japanese who return to their ancestral homeland of Okinawa by way of kenpi(heritage) scholarships. This essay provides a concise history of the Okinawan diaspora as well as the kenpi scholarship program. Reviewing research on study abroad participants, authors Katsuyuki Miyahira and Peter Petrucci highlight the fact that women and minorities face particular challenges when studying abroad. Tracing seven students’ journey to the ancestral homeland, Miyahira and Petrucci provide rich qualitative data that tells a compelling story of how identity is constructed. An innovative contribution to the discussion of identity and second language learning, Jamie Shinhee Lee explores ways in which South Korean entertainers construct identity as pop culture icons and as English as a foreign language speakers. An analysis of scripted discourse collected from television programs reflects the ways in which South Korean actors are “crossing” (using Rampton’s (1995) terminology) into the world of English. Chapter 15 investigates the influence on the teaching identity of international teaching assistants (ITAs). Gwendolyn Williams used narrative analysis to analyze interviews she conducted with 20 ITAs. One notion she explored in her study was personal identity versus teacher identity. One very interesting finding that Williams reports is that some ITAs expressed surprise that there could be a difference between both personal and teaching identity. A rushed discussion and conclusion, unfortunately, leaves the reader somewhat disappointed and wondering how the pieces of this study fit together. Élisabeth Le examines identity through foreign policy editorials in two important daily newspapers. A critical textual analysis of Le Monde and the New York Times reveal interesting insights on media discourse. A notable finding of the study is that France and the U.S. hold similar attitudes towards Russia. Although this chapter reveals new and important insights regarding national identity and foreign policy, it is not overtly clear why this piece is included in a text which examines identity in second language learning and educational contexts. The final chapter by Mela Sarkar, Bronwen Low, and Lisa Winer is titled “Pour connecter avec le peeps: Québéquicitéand the Quebec Hip-Hop community.” Through interviews and an analysis of Hip-Hop music lyrics by Quebecois rappers, this work reveals how young people are “forging a set of hybrid identities that contrast with the historically established notions of identity in Francophone Quebec” (p. 352). This innovative and groundbreaking study effectively characterizes the challenge of identity negotiation by multilingual and multicultural youth. Chapter 18, “Future perspectives and research on identity in educational contexts” by editor Miguel Mantero serves to recap the varied insights provided in the previous 17 chapters. Overall, while the integrity of the collection is loosely maintained throughout the 18 chapters, there are some chapters that diverge significantly from the volume’s overarching theme of identity and second language learning. Organizing the contributions in topics would likely have helped to provide the structure that this volume lacks. Alternatively, more selectivity in accepting chapters for this volume would have resulted in a cleaner, and more productive edited book. There is a lack of consistency in terms of quality of writing and research design throughout the chapters. Some chapters are innovative, tight, and groundbreaking, while others are disorganized, and even a bit sloppy. Further, some of the chapters appear to not have been revised from their original manifestation as a conference talk. On a minor, but highly important note, there are a considerable number of editing and mechanical writing flaws that distracted from the authors’ messages. A more polished final product would better reflect the importance of this volume’s topic. That said, there are some useful and extremely interesting cases presented in this text. The unusual topics addressed in the book contribute to the literature on language learning and identity. If used as a reference book, this volume will serve a useful purpose. Researchers and educators looking for a specific, up to date article regarding language learning and identity can use this book selectively to fill that need. References Barthes, R. (1972). Mythologies. New York: Hill and Wang. Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. MA: Polity Press. Grice, H. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole and J. Morgan (Eds.). Syntax and semantics, Vol. 3: Speech acts. (Pp. 41-58). New York: Academic Press. Rampton, B. (1995). Crossing: Language and ethnicity among adolescents. London: Longman. About the Reviewer Holly Hansen-Thomas Assistant Professor TESOL and Literacy Education, School of Education Binghamton University, School of Education State University of New York Holly Hansen-Thomas holds a PhD in Culture, Literacy, and Language from the University of Texas at San Antonio.