Questioning identity: The case of one second-language learner

With the goal of illuminating how identity and cognition are in tension in classroom activity, we examine how one second-language learner answers questions in a mainstream second-grade classroom. To understand this learner's participation, we analyze two conflicting "language games." We find the second-language learner often is adept at "passing" as knowing, but that he achieves this identity-preserving expertise at the expense of an understanding of classroom lessons.