Peirce’s (1995) (later identified as Norton) and Norton’s (2000) work on the construct of investment has gained its influence and popularity in recent years (Kramsch, 2013). It has also been widely utilized as an explanatory tool in language learning and identity research field. In a recent article, Darvin and Norton (2015) clarified and expanded the construct of investment, placing it at the intersection of identity, capital and ideology. From this perspective, the investment of a language learner rests on the three aforementioned elements. Although I see great strengths in the existing model, I believe that it could be more fully developed to include the notion of practice. To present my case I draw on details from Norton’s (2000) own case studies and my reading of Bourdieu’s (1977, 1990) work on the theory of practice to present an argument for the role of practice in investment and how the notion of practice can contribute to the theoretical development of the construct of investment. I illustrate the role of practice through the case study of one Vietnamese student who is struggling to claim spaces in conversations with native speakers of English in Australia and sees herself as not invested in speaking, and detail how the additional notion of practice has influenced her investment in her own language learning. The presentation would be of interest to researchers engaging with the construct of investment and those who are working on language and identity.
Key words: investment, model of investment, practice, language learning, identity
References:
Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2015). Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 36-56. doi:10.1017/S0267190514000191
Kramsch, C. J. (2013). Afterword. In B. Norton, Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation (2nd ed., pp. 192–201). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: gender, ethnicity and educational change. Essex: Pearson.
Pierce, B. N. (1995). Social identity, investment and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9-31. doi:10.2307/3587803
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. UK: Polity Press.
