In response to the call for integrating a praxis orientation to understand processes of language development through active engagement with teachers and learners, this article introduces techno-reflective narrative interview (TRNI) as a tool to understand how learners invest in their English as a second language (ESL) language and literacy practices as social practices in English medium instruction (EMI) courses. It is timely in integrating both technical and critical guidance for methodological innovations in the field of applied linguistics. To illustrate how this aim is achieved, this article first justifies the significance and theoretical basis of TRNI by elaborating on the definitions of and underpinning rationale for it, followed by the relationship among second language (L2) learners, investment, and TRNI. It then discusses the methods adopted by the 69 most cited empirical studies from Google Scholar that used the model of L2 investment as the theoretical model and compares these methods with TRNI. Finally, it discusses how TRNI was developed and adopted in two action research projects conducted by the author and two lecturers among local undergraduate students in the Hong Kong context. Through these steps, I demonstrate how TRNIs can be adopted or adapted to provide an interactive space for ESL learners to reconstruct and perform their English speaker and learner identities, share their learning experiences with the agency to introduce their positions, voices, and stories, and therefore, claim legitimacy as English users in EMI courses. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

When multilingual learners traverse across cross-border and study-abroad contexts, they enter different sociocultural spaces, negotiate conflicting identities, and may or may not invest in these identities. Addressing the lacuna, this longitudinal case study draws upon the model of investment to conduct a long-term, systematic investigation of the identities and investment of Miranda, a multilingual learner, and a pre-service teacher—as she studied, over seven years, as a university student (B.A.) in mainland China, a taught postgraduate student (M.Ed.) in Hong Kong, and a research student (M.Phil. and Ph.D.) in New Zealand. Findings reveal how Miranda negotiated, constructed, and performed multiple identities in shifting contexts and how the way her capital was valued shaped the way she positioned herself and was positioned by others. Attending to the fluidity and complexity of identities, this study provides educational authorities and teachers with implications for helping to chart the path for empowering students across contexts. Copyright © 2024 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

A techno-reflective narrative interview (TRNI) aims to elicit learners' investment in the language practices in a course — their stories, participation, and ways of participation (Zhang, 2023). This presentation elaborates on the notion of TRNI and how it can be adopted to investigate EFL and ESL learners' L2 investment in a given course. Drawing from Darvin and Norton's (2015) investment model, two examples are provided as two cases: 1) how a Mainland Chinese EFL learner invested in her EFL learner, gender, and role identities (Zhang, forthcoming), and 2) how a Hong Kong undergraduate ESL student invested in her Hong Kong English, multilingual, and Hongkonger identities (Zhang & Gonzales, forthcoming).The study highlights how TRNI helps to provide a reflective account of L2 learners' investing trajectories and empowers them by amplifying their own voices and self-positioning. Overall, the findings reveal the 1) concomitant effects of participants' English learning experiences and life histories on their investing patterns; 2) the interconnectedness of identities, capital, and ideologies; and 3) their combined effects in shaping Chinese English learners' investment in two courses. It provides specific guidelines for lecturers to adapt TRNI in their own courses and pedagogical implications for L2 practitioners and universities. Copyright © 2023 HAAL.