ABSTRACT
Th e term “identity” has been developed and used in diff erent disciplines with diff erent meanings and senses. As a theoretical term originally emerging from the diff erent, though related, disciplines of philosophy, psychology, sociology, and cultural studies, it has acquired a diverse range of usages. As a theoretical term that has spilled over into everyday language and become a common term used in people’s everyday lives, it has acquired yet another set of ordinary usages overlapping with only some of its original theoretical meanings. In recent years, the term, “identity,” has further acquired rising currency and capital in the research literature and discourses among communities of applied linguists, educators, and researchers. However, it also seems to have become one of the most commonly used, but under-theorized and oft en only partially understood terms, especially in the fi eld of language education, where most scholar-researchers have not had the time and resources to delve into the diverse research fi elds from which the term has acquired its diverse meanings and theoretical import, some of which might be of relevance and signifi cance to the work of the language educator-researcher.
