The Applied Linguistic Individual - Sociocultural Approaches to Identity, Agency and Autonomy - Phil Benson
13 The Applied Linguistic individual: gaining perspective
The Applied Linguistic Individual - Sociocultural Approaches to Identity, Agency and Autonomy - Phil Benson
Phil Benson [+]
Hong Kong Institute of Education
Lucy Cooker [+]
University of Nottingham
Description
Although Applied Linguistics research now emphasizes the social over the individual, qualitative research approaches often foreground the individual. Identity, agency and autonomy have also emerged as important, but contested, constructs in sociocultural approaches to research This book addresses the current status of the ‘Applied Linguistic individual’ through contributions, from Asia, Australasia, Europe, and North and South America, that discuss the role of the individual in research from perspectives including Sociocultural Theory, Situated Learning, Imagined Communities, Complexity Theory, and Autonomy Theory. The first part of the book examines theoretical tensions between the social and the individual in their approaches, while the second part explores how they are resolved in data-based research. In this chapter the editors of this volume recap the topics explored and conclude the reflection established.