Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The use of more than one language by individuals, families, communities, and societies, commonly referred to as multilingualism, is a pervasive global phenomenon that has existed in many forms for millennia. Increasingly, interdisciplinary perspectives on multilingualism focus on the relationship between multilingualism and identity on different scales: at transnational, translocal, national, regional, community, school, family, classroom, and individual levels. In this entry, I discuss key themes and contexts central to current scholarly approaches to multilingualism and identity, considering both educational and noneducational settings. Multilingualism and identity are conceptualized as fluid, dynamic, constructed, adapted, and performed in social settings, and thus not fixed, essentialized attributes of groups, individuals, or geographical regions. The role of agency and power in mediating multilingualism and identity, together with the positioning of speakers in ways that either elevate their multilingualism or deem it problematic, naturally impact engagement with multilingual practices and identities as well. The studies cited in this entry illustrate these principles by drawing on research situated in physical and online spaces in a variety of global contexts.</jats:p>