Where Language, Identity, and Belonging Intersect
It’s no secret that language learners face numerous obstacles when learning a language beyond their mother tongue. Whether in formal or academic settings, informal and community spaces, or online via language apps, the acquisition of a second language invites learners to negotiate a multilingual identity through language, relationships, and pedagogy.
The impact of target language (TL) names for Second Language Learners (L2s)—defined here as students who learn a language beyond their mother tongue in a formal or academic setting—is widespread and often underestimated. In the language classroom, TL names serve as an internal bridge between language use and forming multilingual identity, allowing learners to experience a greater sense of community, belonging, and linguistic continuity in their language education.
Outside of the classroom, that bridge extends further. TL names shape how learners situate themselves in multilingual spaces, how they navigate social interactions, and how they interpret their own legitimacy as users of the language. In this sense, TL names are not simply instructional tools or classroom conventions. They are identity artifacts—small, intentional choices that carry social, emotional, and linguistic weight.
More Than a Name: Identity, Access, and Engagement
At The Multilingual Project, we advocate for a holistic approach to second language acquisition (SLA) and language pedagogy, the seamless connection between multilingual education and workforce systems, and equitable outcomes for multilingual learners in K–14 and higher education.
At the pedagogical level, holistic L2 development represents more than innovative approaches to classroom instruction. It also requires rethinking how language operates at social and emotional layers. For L2 learners, assuming a target language name is a deeply personal experience, one that often marks a critical milestone in their language acquisition and development. While performance indicators such as proficiency benchmarks and classroom assessments may offer a proxy for linguistic growth, TL names offer a form of connection to the target language that operates beyond measurable output.
What’s more, TL names allow learners to step into the language without the pressure of perfection or native-like pronunciation without the pressure of immediate cultural fluency. In doing so, TL names reduce barriers and create space for risk-taking, play, and sustained engagement—conditions that are foundational to long-term language development.
Anchors, Continuity, and Linguistic Growth
From a linguistic standpoint, TL names operate as identity anchors. They are often among the first lexical items learners associate with themselves in the target language, making them highly salient and emotionally charged. This salience can support memory, pronunciation practice, and pragmatic awareness, particularly in early stages of acquisition.
More broadly, TL names contribute to continuity. When learners are consistently addressed by a TL name in the classroom, they experience the language as something that belongs to them, not something they temporarily borrow for assignments or exams. This continuity reinforces the idea that language learning is not episodic, but cumulative and relational.
There is also a social dimension to this continuity. TL names can flatten hierarchies in the classroom by placing learners and instructors within the same linguistic frame. When everyone participates in the target language, even at varying levels of proficiency, the classroom shifts from a site of evaluation to a site of shared meaning-making. That shift has implications for participation, confidence, and long-term retention.
Our Part
At The Multilingual Project, we view practices like TL naming as part of a broader ecosystem of language access, equity, and continuity. When learners feel seen, respected, and empowered in their language education, they are more likely to persist, to transfer their skills beyond the classroom, and to envision multilingualism as an asset rather than a hurdle.
In the end, the question is not whether TL names work, but for whom, under what conditions, and to what end. When aligned with holistic pedagogy, TL names can play a meaningful role in shaping not only how languages are learned, but how learners come to see themselves within them.
The Multilingual Project is a nonpartisan, multimedia research, advocacy, and translation company on a mission to create a more robust and responsive multilingual education system.