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This paper explores the construction of identity in an academic learning environment in Central Mexico, and shows how identity may be linked to non-language factors such as emotions or family. These issues are associated with elements of hybrid identity. To analyze this we draw on language choice as a tool used for the construction of identity and for showcasing and defending identity through exploratory interviews with the bilingual students and teachers. The results draw our attention towards the role of non-linguistic variables and their relationship to emotional and contextual issues that influence how academic writing occurs within the school confines, where hybrid identities may be constructed for academic purposes.

This paper reports an action research project which examined the foreign language reading comprehension of public school eighth graders who experienced a directed reading-thinking approach with strategies for comprehension and application. The strategies used were prediction, prior knowledge, graphic organizers, and questions. Data analyzed included participants' perceptions of the usefulness of the strategies and students' work on the graphic organizers and reading worksheets. Findings showed that participants thought that the strategies and an interactive reading task improved reading comprehension. The majority of students used English to answer knowledge, comprehension and a good number of application questions. The answers to the application questions provided by the less proficient students were, despite their use of Spanish, unclear.