Reconstruction of Self and Other in EFL Learners

What does a language learner do? Does s/he merely learns a linguistic system or s/he goes beyond learning the linguistic system and finds him/herself involved in an extensive- on going negotiation between self and the target language sociocultural practices? And more importantly is the identity of a language learner now, being presented by a new and diverse perspective of target language social and cultural discourses, the same as before entering the process of language learning. To investigate the socio--cultural causes behind learning a new language -- in our case English as a foreign language, the present study, via a survey study, made an attempt to examine why English students have a strong desire to learn English what really English learning means to them. Is it just to learn English as a means for international communication (lingua franca) or the learner, being filled with deep admiration for English-speaking communities, wishes to develop a new identity of his/her own and by getting closer to English-speaking people overcome the sense of inferiority against modern/ developed world.