Discourses, Identities and Investment in Foreign Language Learning

Jennifer Martyn is Assistant Professor at Dublin City University, Ireland. Her research interests include the sociolinguistics of language learning, language learning discourses, and gender and language learning.

• AcknowledgementsTranscription ConventionsIntroductionChapter 1: Language Education in Ireland: Sociolinguistic and Scholarly ContextsChapter 2: Language Learning and Identity, Ideology and Elite MultilingualismChapter 3: Gender and Language Education: Theoretical Approaches and Current TrendsChapter 4: Fieldwork in SMSS: Community, Space and IdentityChapter 5: Language Choice, Discourse and InvestmentChapter 6: Addressing the Issues and Moving ForwardReferencesIndex

Jennifer Martyn’s book offers a valuable insight into the reality of bi- and multilingualism in a predominantly anglophone country. The Irish experience is deftly extrapolated and used as a starting point for an in-depth reflection on discourses around investment in foreign language learning. Indeed, the author’s discussion of identities, power relations, and commodification of language and education is relevant to anyone involved in promoting and supporting multi- and plurilingualism.