Language, Power, and Identity in TESOL and beyond: Celebrating Ten Years of Darvin and Norton's (2015) Model of Investment

Abstract

This special issue features nine articles that mark a vibrant decade of theoretical expansion and empirical innovation inspired by the model of investment. The contributions span a wide spectrum of contexts and concerns, reflecting the dynamic ways in which identity, capital, and ideology continue to shape language learning and teaching in the third decade of the twenty-first century. Several articles explore how generative AI and digital technologies reshape teachers’ and learners’ professional practices, while others examine how social class, gender, and ideology intersect to influence learners’ right to speak and be heard as legitimate English speakers. The issue also foregrounds translanguaging and decolonial practices as powerful means of fostering agency and equity in multilingual classrooms, alongside studies that highlight professional development, informal digital learning, and researchers’ autoethnographical reflections within diverse TESOL communities. Together, these works attest to the enduring relevance of the model of investment while envisioning new possibilities for theorizing identity and power in an increasingly complex and ever-changing world.

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