The metaphor of trajectory implies fluidity and movement of identity. Even though Wenger (1999) acknowledges that a trajectory is not a fixed course or a fixed destination, he does imply that it is unidirectional. Stories of migrants, however, show that the reality of identity formation is bi-directional or multidirectional (Maehara, 2010; Norton, 2000; Pio, 2005). For example, Maehara’s (2010) study of Japanese women migrants to Ireland describes their identity trajectories as constantly moving towards both Irish and Japanese even in a single CoP. Moreover, some trajectories may not be available for everyone. For example, a study of Korean adoptee-returnees (Higgins & Stoker, 2011) shows that the adoptee- returnees could not belong to the mainstream society due to the fact that they did not speak Korean like authentic Koreans. Their identity as Korean in Korea was not available to them.
Identity is a learning trajectory as negotiated experience is a learning process, according to Wenger (1999). He states that a trajectory provides a frame to decide what contributes to our identities and what does not. However, stories of becoming someone may not be as straightforward as Wenger presents. Fox and Allan (2014) observed a Ph.D. student’s identity trajectory and revealed that the trajectory involved an ongoing journey of unbecoming and becoming. A study of a rural Chinese migrant woman’s settlement in a city (Cho, 2009), on the other hand, indicates one enforced trajectory: Aunt Sun’s identity trajectory was constrained by context. She had moved to a city and lived there for many years, but that did not make her an urbanite. On the contrary, she perceived herself to be a peasant living in a city. She may not have had any other available options to construct new identities than to maintain her past identities which were as peasant and rural migrant to be controlled by the factory and the local government.
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Along with such structural environments as the local government above, the other critical aspect of learning to become may be a matter of agency, which Eraut addresses (2006):
While the concept of learning affordances addresses the extent to which people perceive the possibility of engaging in a particular piece of learning, the take up of such learning opportunities usually depends on their personal priorities and sense of agency. (p. 6)
One may decide not to learn to be someone. Katrina, a participant in Norton’s study (2000), dropped out of an English skills upgrading course despite the fact that she wanted to re-gain power and prestige in Canada by investing in learning English. Instead, she enrolled in a computer course which her ESL teacher considered to be too advanced for her. However, she successfully completed the course. The studies above (Cho, 2009; Norton, 2000) indicate how individuals form complicated and diverse identity trajectories in different contexts even in one CoP. For instance, Eva, a participant in Norton (2000) negotiated her identities as a language learner and a worker at a restaurant.
People negotiate their identities in various ways, as discussed above in Katrina’s story. She resisted the socially imposed language learner identity even though she viewed herself as a language learner. The classroom context, the interaction between the ESL teacher and Katrina, may have influenced her identity negotiation, from a language learner to a legitimate student who enrolled in a computer course. Contexts thus should be accounted for in examining identity trajectories in CoPs.
Amin and Roberts (2008) object to the widespread and almost indiscriminate use of CoPs and urge us to think carefully about the nature of situated learning. Doing this allows “the process of naming the many shapes and sizes of knowing in action to begin” (Amin & Roberts, 2008, p. 365). Eva in Norton’s (2000) study, for instance, hoped to improve her language skills even at work. She sought to learn the language outside of language classrooms. Eva’s experiences at work illustrate the fact that she was a language learner. Language learning continued at work, and
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the language learner identity influenced her identity trajectories as a restaurant worker. Hence, understanding the ways that individuals negotiate their experience may be studied in context (Gee, 2005; Nasir & Cooks, 2009). While the concept of CoPs is useful, I wish to acknowledge that the idea of identity is situated but not confined to discrete social contexts framed as neatly as Wenger’s notion of CoPs. Rather, it is a dynamic and multi-faceted concept of the individual as well which may include a concept of self.
2.1.3.1 Imagination and identity trajectories
Identity trajectories are related to hopes and dreams, which link daily activities with future identity. The work of imagination is often discussed in the literature on migrants (Chang, 2010; Dagenais, 2003; Giroir, 2014; Norton & Toohey, 2001). Kanno and Norton (2003) and Pavlenko and Norton (2007) note the importance of imagination for language learners, and their imagined communities are closely related to their identity trajectories. For migrants also, imagination often plays a critical role in their investment in language learning such as Alice in Kinginger’s (2003) study. Alice (Kinginger, 2003) learned French because she perceived and imagined that the language would be the key to enter a culturally refined life. For her, imagination was the driving and starting point of her identity trajectory.
Imagination may also mean an end point of an identity trajectory. Similar to Alice’s journey in Kinginger (2003) as described above, Giroir (2014) also discussed the view that imagination was a drive for the participants to learn English for their imagined future selves, in a study of three migrant women’s narratives. The participants engaged in “a contentious practice of belonging” (p. 311) within the host community, not only to be recognised as a legitimate member but also to renegotiate some limited narratives as a migrant, woman, and language learner. This indicates the importance of imagination in identity work.
The results of identity work are complex. Identity trajectories are not necessarily positive even though imagination implies a positive identity trajectory. Literature on migrants (Kawakami, 2009; Maydell, 2010) illustrates that positive/upward identities and negative/downward identities may be created. In a study of
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Japanese women who married Americans, Kawakami (2009) investigated the participants’ own perception, both before and after their migration to a western country. The findings showed that their identity changed from positive to negative, from a cosmopolitan or internationalist woman to “just another Asian immigrant” (Kawakami, 2009, p. 22). On the other hand, in the research on Russian-speaking immigrants in Aotearoa NZ, Maydell (2010) found that some of the participants strived for a new type of identity, a cosmopolitan identity after they felt a lack of belonging in Aotearoa NZ. The newly created identities did not result in or result from the work of aligning with other members of CoPs. Rather, they were hybrid