Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This entry discusses the significance of identity and investment as key constructs in critical applied linguistics that highlight how power operates in contexts of language learning and teaching. It frames identity as multiple, dynamic, and discursively constructed and recognizes how the notions of positioning, indexicality, and intersectionality help dissect the way identities are performed. As a means to understand the extent to which one is able to participate agentively in diverse learning contexts, investment signals the socially and historically constructed relationship of learners to a target language. By desiring to be part of different imagined communities, they invest in learning while negotiating identity, capital, and ideology. When the histories, lived experiences, and resources of learners are valued by others, they are able to assert their legitimate place in contexts of learning and claim the right to speak.</jats:p>