Constructing Identity with L2: Pronunciation and Attitudes among Norwegian Learners of English

There is at present no official pronunciation model in the English school subject. There appear to be very diverse practices among teachers of English regarding demands to second language (L2) pronunciation. Pupils seem to have the impression that British English is the prevailing school norm and that their pronunciation in the classroom affects the teachers' evaluation of them. However, they have substantial exposure every day to American media. With the British variety established as model of pronunciat ion in school, and the American variety presented through popular youth culture, Norwegian teenagers become caught between L2 norms. The overall aim of my research project is to investigate the relationship between the English language choices of Norwegi an secondary school pupils and their language attitudes and desired social identity or image. My assumption is that pupils' choice of English pronunciation is partly determined by how they wish to present themselves to others; they use L2 pronunciation as a resource in their construction of identity. If the pupils in fact think consciously about their second language pronunciation and make language choices based on second language attitudes and identity construction, this knowledge will be of importance to teachers of English and teacher educators in a field where there is little discussion and no official norms concerning pronunciation. A possible research challenge for this project is that very little research has so far been conducted on L2 identity. A possible developmental challenge is the attempt to "didacticize" such a linguistic phenomenon. The overall aim is reflected in the following three research questions: 1. How do Norwegian learners of English use L2 in their construction of identity? 2. What implications does the identity construction with L2 have for the learning of English? 3. What implications does learners' identity construction with L2 have for teaching and teacher education?