Sarah Mercer and Marion Williams, 
Multiple Perspectives on the Self in the SLA.

Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 2014,
ISBN 978-1-78309-134-8, 188 pages

The book edited by Sarah Mercer and Marion Williams entitled Multiple 
Perspectives on the Self in SLA provides an ample and inclusive image of the 
‘self’ in Second Language Acquisition. The authors assume that such an image 
can be effectively created by investigating and combining insights from diverse 
perspectives. This manuscript successfully provides the readers with a meticu-
lous overview of ways in which the self can be conceptualized in diverse SLA 
frameworks. In the introduction to their book Williams and Mercer (p. 1) write 
that “In the recent years, the key role of the self in second language acquisi-
tion (SLA) has increasingly been gaining recognition from SLA writers, and 
there has been a dramatic increase of research on this topic.” A similar opinion 
has been presented by Jane Arnold, who, in her recommendation of the book, 
wrote: “The self has become an increasingly important focus for many areas; 
it is being highlighted in psychology, philosophy, neurobiology and very promi-
nently, in research on language acquisition.” However, this increasing popularity 
of the concept of self has brought some confusion resulting from the variety 
of existing definitions and overlapping terms. In view of that, the authors of 
Multiple Perspectives on the Self in SLA decided to assemble a collection of 
perspectives and to blend them into a significant amalgamate of concepts and 
viewpoints on the self.

Almost two hundred pages of this volume encompass twelve well written, 
separate chapters, each of which authored by a distinguished scholar. In the 
first chapter, Sarah Mercer and Marion Williams succinctly present their rea-
sons for compiling the book as well as write about the potential readers and 
the book organization. According to the authors, ten chapters focus on differ-

Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition 
vol. 6 (1), 2020, pp. 185–188

https://doi.org/10.31261/TAPSLA.8083

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en


Marek Derenowski186

ent perspectives of the self whereas the intention of the introductory chapter 
is to set the scene for further discussion and the concluding chapter aims at 
putting all those perspectives together and creating a blueprint for future re-
search. The significance of this volume is even greater due to the fact that the 
editors allowed the contributors to approach the concept of the self from any 
theoretical or empirical angle they wanted to. This diversity results in a unique 
compilation of more precisely defined constructs and more holistic approaches 
to the topic. 

The book continues with Chapter Two Self-Efficacy in Second Language 
Acquisition, written by Nicole Mills, who focuses on Bandura’s social cogni-
tive theory, which implies that every person is a proactive, self-reflective, and 
self-regulating individual. In her work, the author successfully describes the 
process of self-efficacy formation by investigating a series of selected stud-
ies which clearly indicate that in order to acquire a foreign language learners 
need to feel competent and capable. Furthermore, she states that self-efficacy 
beliefs of foreign language learners may be fostered through appropriate in-
structional choices, proper curriculum design, strategy and attribution training, 
as well as, instructors effectively developing students’ self-efficacy beliefs. 
Chapter Three—The Dynamics of Second Language Confidence: Contact and 
Interaction, written by Canadian authors Sampasivam and Clement, focuses 
specifically on the concept of second language confidence (L2C) and how it 
is influenced by different types of contexts and situations. The authors provide 
a review of the history of development of the second language confidence and 
ways in which L2C can facilitate language acquisition, L2 communication, 
and adaptation process. A particular emphasis has been put on the role of 
contact with native and non-native speakers, which, according to the authors, 
is constantly connected with L2C. In Chapter Four, titled Self-Esteem and 
Self-Concept in Foreign Language Learning, Fernando Rubio, with the use 
of neurogenerative model, shows how two constructs —self-concept and self-
esteem—may be interrelated. The author not only provides a valuable insights 
into these two concepts but also introduces a new neurogenerative view of 
the processes of self-concept and self-esteem formation in which “individuals 
constantly generate new impressions of the self” (Rubio, p. 41). Additional 
significance of Rubio’s work comes from the fact that it includes potential 
implications for traditional foreign language learning classroom practice. 

In the fifth chapter, Identity and Poststructuralist Theory in SLA, Bonny 
Norton takes a closer look at the poststructuralist theory and examines its 
helpfulness in classroom related decision making process which is supposed 
to support learners in discovery of their identities while using a language. The 
author supports her statement concerning poststructuralist theory and identity 
in a foreign language practice with the use of three, selected accounts from al-
ready published research. The construct of identity is also discussed in Chapter 



Sarah Mercer and Marion Williams, Multiple Perspectives on the Self… 187

Six––Dual Identities Perceived by Bilinguals by Chantal Hemmi, who looks at 
what identity is and examines it from a number of diverse perspectives which 
are analyzed in relation to their significance in understanding the identities of 
bilinguals. The author also reports on a small-scale study on six case-studies 
of bilingual Japanese women where she examined how these women perceived 
their identities and their sense of belonging in Japanese society. In Chapter 
Seven—Relational Views on the Self in SLA, Florentina Taylor, an American 
researcher, investigates three main relational approaches to the study of the 
self that have been partially adopted in SLA research. More specifically, she 
provides the readers with selected examples of most significant approaches to 
exploring the relational aspects of the self “through social interaction within 
and across different relational contexts in which the individual functions” 
(Taylor, p. 92). According to the author, learners need to feel accepted for what 
they believe in and who they are. They also need to become more autonomous, 
free to self-express, and free from negative judgment. 

In the subsequent Chapter Eight—Imagined and Possible Selves: Stories 
We Tell Ourselves About Ourselves—Stephen Ryan and Kay Irie explore the 
role of imagination in the process of becoming who we are and who we would 
like to be. They focus on self-image creation and projection beyond one’s 
actual experience and environment. According to Ryan and Irie, imagination 
is an essential and integral part of a foreign language learning process, since 
foreign language learners frequently express the aspiration to expand their as-
sortment of identities (Pavlenko & Norton, 2007). A similar theme has been 
presented in Chapter Nine —Motivational Perspectives on the Self in SLA: 
A Developmental View by Ema Ushioda, who explores developmental aspects 
of how motivation becomes or does not become integrated with the self as 
well as how the processes of integration and internalization are related to the 
developmental “angle in mind” (Ushioda, p. 128). In Chapter Ten—Brain and 
Self: A Neurophilosophical Account—Georg Northoff brings a rather unfa-
miliar approach as he ventures into philosophical and neuroscientific contexts 
in order to explain the existence of the self and the role of consciousness 
in the process of the self creation. Later, he introduces four different types 
of the self, the mental self, the empirical self, the phenomenal self, and the 
minimal self. 

Finally, in Chapter Eleven—The Self from Complexity Perspective—Sarah 
Mercer provides a more holistic perspective on the self and explains how 
complexity perspectives can facilitate our understanding of the self. As Mercer 
explains, a learner’s sense of the self in relation to language learning should 
be viewed as highly complex and personal. Therefore, its development may 
be difficult to predict “given the dynamic interaction of multiple internal and 
external processes across time and space” (Mercer, p. 174). In the closing 
chapter, the authors take a closer look at the most important perspectives of 



Marek Derenowski188

the self presented in the preceding chapters and provide a succinct overview 
of definitions, research on the self, and an assortment of essential pedagogical 
implications for those educators who wish to become more self-reflective and 
self-sensitive in their everyday teaching. 

Mercer and Williams hope that this volume “has contributed another piece 
to the puzzle of the self in SLA” (p. 184). However, the diversity of presented 
opinions and the difficulty of making far-reaching comparisons across different 
fields of study may result not in contributing another piece of the puzzle but 
another puzzle altogether. Although the authors in the final chapter explicitly 
state that it was not their intention to provide clear-cut answers, a potential 
reader may find it slightly confusing to follow the successive chapters included 
in the book. 

All things considered, I strongly recommend reading Multiple Perspectives 
in the Self in SLA as it enables readers to obtain a broad, multifaceted perspec-
tive on the educational psychology and the concept of the self from renowned 
scholars and researchers, including Richard Clement, Sarah Mercer, Stephen 
Ryan, or Ema Ushioda. The book is essentially addressed to anyone with in-
quisitive mind, anyone who enjoys obtaining an extended view on a particular 
topic. Furthermore, the content of the book is highly recommended for par-
ticipants of postgraduate programmes, teacher trainees, teaching instructors, 
as well as foreign language teachers who want to develop their self-awareness.

Marek Derenowski
State University of Applied Sciences in Konin, 
Poland

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9615-5845