The Quadripolar Model of Identity in Foreign Language Learning

Abstract

This article sites Taylor’s (2010) quadripolar model of identity under the banner of foreign language learning. It delineates its major contributions to the field amid the prevalence of leading frameworks of identity in the body of research (e.g., Dornyei, 2005; Norton, 1995). Taylor’s model departs from the premise that the dynamics resulting in strategic identity display in the classroom are barely researched in foreign language learning contexts (Taylor, 2010), arguing that studies (e.g., Juvonen & Murdock, 1993; Juvonen, 1996) which show that strategic self-presentation is widespread in classroom settings have not had much echo in foreign language learning literature. It is for this reason that the quadripolar model of identity, as Taylor (2010) puts it, represents a comprehensive framework for understanding the synchronic and diachronic dynamics of identity. The model recognizes the paradoxical situations which students experience in a foreign language learning classroom, illustrating that different relational contexts trigger displays of different public selves which do not necessarily reflect learners’ perceptions about themselves as language learners. Furthermore, Taylor’s model addresses the link between perceptions and foreign language achievement, proclaiming that learners who are capable of displaying harmonious and submissive self-systems obtain higher grades in English. Drawing on the analysis of 1,045 self-reported structured questionnaires and 32 semi-structured interviews with teenage English learners in five Romanian schools, the model shows that the movement from possible to actual selves ultimately influences language learning, and that knowing what motivates a learner requires a deep understanding of who that learner is.