Narrative and Identity in Contemporary Language Learning Policy

The chapter looks at the construction and negotiation of identity in contemporary education policy, with regard to language learning in the European Union and in the United States. It uses Labov’s (1975) structural categories of narratives and Carbaugh’s (2007) six basic principles in the communication of social identities to examine the relationship between narrative and social identity in some key texts presenting recent language learning policies. The European texts are linked to the appointment, for the first time, of a European Commissioner for Multilingualism. The United States ones relate to President George W. Bush’s National Security Language Initiative. Although the two policies follow very different political agendas, the analysis reveals much about how identity is constructed, negotiated and narrated in the two different settings.