Investment, imagined communities and imagined identities of Malay learners of english on facebook

Facebook provides a rich language learning environment for Malay learners with poor English language learning environment. This study employs identity approach to second language acquisition to study self-initiated informal English language learning on Facebook by investigating investment, imagined communities and imagined identities of eight university students in Malaysia. Three research questions framed the study: (i) How does investment influence informal L2 learning of Malay learners on Facebook? (ii) What are the roles and functions of imagined communities of Malay learners of English on Facebook?, and (iii) How do Malay learners of English construct their imagined identities on Facebook? This study employed qualitative multiple case study. The duration of the data collection was six months. The data were collected from a secret Facebook group discussion, three semistructured interviews, online observation of their Facebook activities and the document analysis of the informants’ Facebook accounts. Thematic analysis of the
data revealed that the informants invested in the English language to gain cultural, social, economic and symbolic capital that were influenced by the position of the language, interests, relationships, employability and economic plans and personal achievements. It was found that the informants constructed their collective and
personal imagined communities with global attributes without compromising their cultural and religious identity. The informants also chose the roles and functions of their imagined communities to assist them in mastering the English language by communicating with their Facebook friends. The informants also constructed
collective and personal Malay Learners’ imagined identities and Facebook identities with global and individual attributes. The informants were influenced by the globalisation as they portrayed global identities without compromising their ethnicity, religion and nationality. Facebook acted as a platform for the informants to perform multiple imagined identities for various audiences with converging contexts. This study suggests that investment, imagined communities and imagined identities influenced the English language acquisition of Malay learners of English on Facebook.