Contribution to the role of gendered identities in the dynamic of L2 possible selves

Abstract

L2 vision is understood as language learners' vision of themselves in the future, called L2 possible selves (Dörnyei, 2014). Considering the gap in the literature concerning gender and L2 vision in terms of the conflicting findings among female language learners worldwide, this thesis investigates the impact of gender on L2 vision among Saudi female English learners, focusing specifically on the role of their gendered identities in their future L2 possible selves.
Because of the complexity of the L2 possible selves (Henry, 2015; Mercer, 2016), the study adopts a set of complex dynamic theories combining psychological and sociological perspectives as a theoretical framework in order to understand the complex interplay between gender and future possible selves. Methodologically, and due to the limitations of existing quantitative applications in revealing a comprehensive explanation of the role of gender within the L2 vision domain, the study employs a qualitative strategy using the narrative inquiry approach. It involves six Saudi female English learners, both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Using life history and semi-structured interviews as the research methods, the thematic analysis reveals that the larger gender discourse in their social environment mediated the Saudi female English learners' experiences of English learning, significantly impacting their visualisations of themselves as future English users. The participants created their L2 possible selves through their gendered identities shaped by the gender discourse, in which their current gendered identities cause gendering of their L2 possible selves through their self-concept. Their L2 possible selves were developed by adopting existing gender perceptions, leading the participants to only envision themselves within their identification of themselves as female English learners in their local context.
Significantly, because of the change in gender discourse over time, the participants' gendered identities changed accordingly, creating new gender perceptions within their self-concept. Consequently, their L2 possible selves changed, adjusting to the new gender ideologies. This fluidity of gender caused a multitude of L2 possible selves over time. However, the analysis also reveals that the process occurred intentionally through the participants' agency. Every time the participants shaped a future L2 self, they used their knowledge to evaluate the surrounding gender discourse in order to ensure the suitability of their L2 future identity with the current social conditions and norms.
The study significantly adds to the literature by providing new theoretical insights related to gender and L2 vision at both the social and cognitive levels—as external and internal entities, reconceptualising the L2 vision theory. It also offers a possible explanation of the existing contradictions among quantitative studies based on the analysis of this study. Significantly, the study also offers methodological insights, adding to the existing applications of possible practical ways of obtaining a nuanced understanding of the much more complex relationship between gender and L2 possible selves.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Aude Campmas: orcid.org/0000-0001-6662-2476

ORCID for Michael Kranert: orcid.org/0000-0002-0270-7136

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