Korean Elementary School Students’ Identity Construction in Their New Communities of Practice

The present study investigates how two Korean elementary school students construct their multiple identities in their new communities of practice while they learn English as an additional language in the United States. Then, it examines which factors affect their identity construction processes during their participation in each community of practice. For these purposes, grounded in a broader conception of sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978, 1981; Wertsch, 1985) and the notion of communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), a qualitative case study was conducted in a northeastern city of the United States. To secure triangulation, the present study collected the data from multiple sources: classroom observations; interviews with participants, their parents and their ESL class teachers; and the researcher’s field notes. Then, the collected data were analyzed through grounded theory. The present study reveals the following: the participants’ various struggles to be legitimate members in their communities of practice; their identity construction through numerous interactions and negotiations; and factors related to the construction of their multiple identities. Implications related to second language teaching practices and future research are also discussed.