Second Language Identity

Increasing globalization presents both challenges and opportunities to the higher education sector. This pioneering book shows how interaction between the two fields of foreign language pedagogy and second language acquisition (SLA) can facilitate more effective language development at an advanced level. Establishing a new research agenda to describe, assess, and study high-level language use, it uses mixed-methods analyses within a sociocognitive framework to explore constructs such as second language (L2) identity and critical language awareness as essential components of multilingualism and global citizenship. It approaches L2 advancedness from multiple perspectives, examining the L2 learner and their understanding of advanced language use, highlighting individual differences among foreign-language professionals regarding high-level language use, positing the need for unified departmental missions, and analysing alternative constructs to assess L2 advancedness. Throughout, analyses of quantitative and qualitative data are used to demonstrate the multiple dimensions of advanced second language use in higher education.