Negotiating Englishes and English-speaking Identities

Rezensionen / Stimmen

'Aiello makes a strong case for incorporating Italian English language learners into discussions on World Englishes. Using innovative theoretical approaches and a critical, reflexive researcher lens, Aiello lays out the paradoxes often inherent in English language learning. She challenges researchers and teacher educators to critically consider learner identities, learner goals, and the sociohistorical challenges presented by learning environments when developing curriculum and policy.' - Michele Back, Assistant Professor of World Languages Education, University of Connecticut

'This book reminds us of the complex and fluid relationships learners of English have with the language. It places our attention on the learner as subject, as one that responds to and negotiates with the global presence of English, rather than assuming global English to be a monolithic and imperialistic force against which one cannot respond. It provides valuable insight into the identities of English language learning youth that can inform pedagogy and practice in the classroom.' - Wendy Bokhorst-Heng, co-author of "International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts: Towards a Socially Sensitive EIL Pedagogy"; Associate Professor, Crandall University, Canada

'This book offers an in-depth and nuanced exploration of English learning among Italian youth as a microcosm of the issues and effects of the global spread of English with a particular focus on language attitudes, motivation, proficiency, and identity construction. Drawing on poststructuralist understandings of identity as multiple and sites of struggle, Aiello offers an incisive account of the complex identities and language practices of youth in Italy as they negotiate the affordances and constraints of English learning in that context. With methodological rigor and critical analysis, Aiello illuminates the paradoxes around English in a global context, and deftly unpacks how learners grapple with ownership of the language and the symbolic capital accrued to speakers of different English varieties. This book takes us a quantum leap forward by problematizing key constructs in applied linguistics such as motivation and proficiency; reconceptualizing research approaches; and offering concrete recommendations for research and practice in English language teaching more attuned to the 21st century global context.' - Dr Shondel Nero, Associate Professor of Teaching and Learning, Director of the Program in Multilingual Multicultural Studies, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University