In my opinion, there is great value in having students produce identity texts. First of all, it teaches students how to stop, reflect on themselves, and then communicate their findings through a means of their choice. Their expression of the final product could be spoken, written, or even performed. When done correctly, students take ownership of the text and become invested in it because it represents their own identity (Gaysek, J. 2012). Besides helping non native students challenge the devaluation of their identity, this approach could be specially helpful to students who might be facing identity issues. Moreover, research has highlighted several pedagogical benefits of the framework such as students being able to find and express their individual voices through multimodal identity text projects than traditional means (Mills, K. 2010). Furthermore, the use of identity texts has proven to be helpful in ELL classes. Teachers can promote Ell students' literacy when they connect with their students in ways beyond the usual constricted pedagogical frame.
Socially, identity texts tend to uncover much about students' identity, culture, and perspectives on relationships. This important because it gives the teacher an insight into the background of the student. Human interaction is at the heart of schooling and these interactions are often more central to student development than other methods for teaching literacy. Academically, educators can utilize these texts to create an interpersonal space where learning takes place and students' identities are recognized, affirmed, and explored. These texts help students affirm their identities in various forms such as dance, music, poetry, stories, bilingual texts, etc...
The main challenge that this approach faces is the rigidity of the one size fits all curricula and mandates enforced by some kind of punitive sanctions. During my school years in a French Jesuit school, I was never introduced to identity texts nor was I ever encouraged to express myself or my opinion. On the contrary, I was often told to keep to myself and stop complaining. Looking back on it, this might have been the reason behind poor relationships with teachers and many colleagues. Had the idea been introduced to me, I think I might have had a more enjoyable learning environment and experience.
Evidently, students native language is not totally irrelevant to making progress in learning English language. Literacy instruction cannot and should not substitute for literacy engagement. Such engagement could be promoted through enabling students to use their home language as a source for learning. Educators have a choice to go beyond the conventional academic expertise framework and its curricular guidelines and mandates. This could be done by acknowledging students' prior knowledge and attempting to utilize it to serve the acquisition of new knowledge (Zapata et al. 2020). References
Gaysek, J. (2012). Identity texts. Retrieved 30 December 2020, from https://www.slideshare.net/jsplendiferrous/identity-texts
Mills, K. (2010). What learners ‘know’through digital media production: Learning by Design.E-Learning and Digital Media,7(3), 223–236. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2304/elea.2010.7.3.223
Zapata, Gabriela & Ribota, Alessandra. (2020). The instructional benefits of identity texts and learning by design for learner motivation in required second language classes. Pedagogies. 10.1080/1554480X.2020.1738937.
