Volume 06 - Issue 1

Article Identity, possible selves, and imagined communities in Spanish language classroom tasks

Authors
Urzúa, Alfredo; Velarde, Gisselle; Woodard, Claudia
Volume
Volume 06 - Issue 1
Date Issued
2026-04-01
Keywords
Learner Identity; Future Selves; Spanish Instructional Tasks
Publisher
University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center; (co-sponsored by American Association of University of Supervisors and Coordinators; Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition; Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language, and Literacy; Second Language Teaching and Resource Center)
URI/DOI
/10125/69904
PDF
Citation
Urzúa, A., Velarde, G., & Woodard, C. (2026). Identity, possible selves, and imagined communities in Spanish language classroom tasks. Second Language Research & Practice, 6(1), 138–154. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/69904
Record Details
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Abstract
This study reports on the use of classroom tasks that rely on the notions of ‘possible selves’ (Markus & Nurius, 1986) and ‘imagined communities’ (Anderson, 1991) in both Spanish-as-a-foreign-language and Spanish-as-a-heritage-language classrooms. The tasks provided opportunities for students in these classrooms to share stories, real and imagined, focusing on topics such as family, education, and professional goals in order to connect past and present experiences with future aspirations. In addition, the tasks encouraged students to place themselves in imagined communities in which they interpreted and broadened their sense of identity. Results from each task are analyzed and discussed, with a focus on examining and comparing how foreign language and heritage language students reflect on their past and current identities and envision possible selves.