In her article, Peirce argues that second language acquisition theorists have not adequately researched on the relationship between language learner and the social world. The author explains that power relation is involved in the relationship between language learners and target language speakers. In Peirce’s view, motivation differs from investment since the former is a fixed personality trait while the latter captures the language learner’s relationship to the fluid social world. She claims that sometimes learners may sometimes be motivated, extroverted and at other times be unmotivated and introverted. However, learners negotiate their self-identity through language. She opined that SLA researchers are yet to investigate this shift in language learning asking why a learner might sometimes speak and other times remain silent in the target language community.
Peirce points out that her research “drew a substantial amount of data from detailed questionnaires,” personal and group interviews and home visits (p.14). Furthermore, the author places her research on the gap in SLA, the problematic relationship between the language learner and the social world. She studied five immigrant women and collected data for twelve months, from January to December 1991. I see these women as language learners struggling to become part of Canadian society, seeking to belong to the English-speaking community. The author’s claims of the learners’ uneasiness while speaker with a native speaker, stupidity and inferiority for their low English fluency seem to reveal the strangeness experienced by these immigrants as they struggle with the English language. I would suggest that there appears to be no relationship between the language learner and the social world since it is characterized by humiliation and the feelings of Otherness.
This article is a good resource for researchers exploring the controversy surrounding social identity, investment, and Otherness in Second Language Acquisition. Nevertheless, she suggests that second language teachers should encourage language learners to develop the confidence of speaking outside the classroom. The author’s suggestion is helpful and would drive the learner’s interest in becoming part of the target language community.