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In this paper, we explore the intersection of practice, identity, resources and literacy central to the New Literacy Studies and recent second language research informed by sociocultural theories of learning and language. Drawing on the construct figured worlds of literacy that describe how representations of literacy practices invoked in relation to certain people frame their social position and the construction of their identities, we discuss literacy practices and teacher discourse documented in our classroom research. We present data excerpts that illustrate how a multilingual child is variously constructed as ‘literate child’ in the figured worlds of elementary school French Immersion classrooms. In particular, we consider how her literacy practices are shaped and her identities mediated in different ways socially, materially and linguistically. We argue that the mediation of her identities in classroom literacy activities is tied to teacher expectations of her future educational progress. Finally, we suggest that partnerships between researchers, educational practitioners and policy makers aimed at documenting classroom literacy practices may highlight how interpretations of multilingual children's identities can serve to fix or change their social relations and educational paths.
