Style, identity and English language literacy

Abstract

This paper investigates English language literacy practices among teenagers, focusing initially on three young Singaporean students who are struggling to do well in English. By employing a conceptual framework that builds on a recent treatment of style as identity construction and drawing on interview data that recount the students' practices of English literacy, we show how adolescent literacy seen as style is deeply influenced by, among other factors, the anticipated reactions of peers, and how these practices impact on language education. The latter part of our paper compares the experiences of our three students with those of a fourth, one who is much more confident and comfortable with his level of English language proficiency (adolescents, identity, language education, literacy, style, teenagers). © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.