Abstract:
This research explored how three newly arrived Chinese ELI students interacted with multiple modes and tools to (re)construct multiple identities. It also examined to what extent multimodality influenced these three ELI students’ identity negotiation. Having conducted interviews, observed class interactions, and collected documents, such as WeChat discussion exchanges, this research found that these three ELI students experienced embarrassment in different contexts and had difficulty to claim their identities due to limited English proficiency. However, the use of multiple modes and tools helped them gain access to communities of L2 literacies practices, in which they (re)constructed viable and ideal identities as culture brokers, deep and creative thinkers, information providers, and competent L2 learners and users. This research also suggests that Chinese students’ Chinese names and keepsake improved their agency, which empowered them to employ multimodality to participate in different communities of practices to develop identities.
