Investment Theory
Investment Theory, introduced by Bonny Norton (then Norton Peirce) in her 1995 TESOL Quarterly article "Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning," reframes the concept of motivation in SLA through a sociological lens. Norton argued that the psychological construct of motivation — as developed by Gardner and Lambert — could not account for the complex, shifting, and often contradictory relationship that learners have with the target language. She proposed investment as an alternative: learners invest in a second language not because of a stable personality trait (motivation) but because they understand that the language will increase their access to material and symbolic resources.
Investment vs. Motivation
| Dimension | Motivation (Gardner & Lambert) | Investment (Norton) |
|---|---|---|
| View of learner | Unitary, stable identity with fixed traits | Complex, multiple, shifting identity |
| Driving force | Attitudes toward L2 community (integrative) or practical goals (instrumental) | Desire for social, economic, and symbolic capital |
| Explanatory scope | Why some learners are more motivated than others | Why a "motivated" learner may resist participation in some contexts but not others |
| Theoretical roots | Social psychology (Gardner, 1985) | Poststructuralism, Bourdieu's sociology |
| Treatment of identity | Fixed — learner is either motivated or not | Fluid — identity is negotiated in every interaction |
Key Concepts
Capital
Norton drew on Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of capital:
- Economic capital — material resources, income, employment opportunities
- Cultural capital — knowledge, education, credentials
- Social capital — networks, relationships, community membership
- Symbolic capital — prestige, recognition, legitimacy
Learners invest in L2 because they understand (often implicitly) that L2 proficiency will increase their capital. A Vietnamese teacher learning English invests in the language because it provides access to academic resources (cultural capital), professional opportunities (economic capital), and international networks (social capital).
Identity and Power
Investment theory foregrounds power relations in language learning. A learner may be highly invested in English yet withdraw from classroom participation because the learning environment positions them as deficient. Norton's research with immigrant women in Canada showed that learners who were confident and articulate in their L1 became silent in L2 contexts where their identities were devalued.
The concept of imagined communities (Norton, 2001, drawing on Anderson, 1991) extended the theory: learners invest in L2 partly because of the communities they imagine themselves belonging to in the future, not just the communities they currently interact with.
Research Evidence
Norton's (1995, 2000) longitudinal study of five immigrant women in Canada remains the foundational empirical work. Key findings:
- Martina, a Czech immigrant, invested heavily in English to secure her family's economic future, despite having no integrative desire to identify with Canadian culture
- Eva, a Polish immigrant, resisted participation in her workplace because colleagues positioned her as incompetent, despite her strong investment in English
- These cases demonstrate that investment is not a stable trait but is negotiated in social contexts where power is unequally distributed
Significance for SLA
Investment theory has had profound influence on critical applied linguistics and identity research in SLA:
- It legitimised sociological and poststructural approaches in a field dominated by cognitive and psycholinguistic models
- It problematised the assumption that a "good language learner" is simply a motivated one — learner agency is constrained by social structures
- It shifted attention from the learner's internal states to the social conditions of learning
- It provides a framework for understanding why learners in the same classroom, with similar "motivation levels," may have very different outcomes
Teaching Implications
- Teachers should consider the social identities and power relations at play in the classroom, not just learners' motivation
- Creating an environment where learners' identities are valued — rather than devalued — is a precondition for investment
- Learners' resistance to participation may reflect not lack of motivation but a rational response to identity threat
- Understanding learners' imagined communities can help teachers connect L2 learning to learners' long-term identity projects