AbstractThis preliminary study seeks to examine the role of agency and bilinguals’ identity negotiated in the processes of acculturation as key factors in attaining a very high or near-native L2 proficiency. Since these aspects appear to have been underestimated in research on L2 ultimate attainment, interviews were carried out with eight L2 speakers of Polish (four near-native and four highly advanced bilinguals) in order to obtain qualitative data on participants’ self-identity and acculturation. The results show that the near-native subjects identified themselves very strongly with the receiving society, whereas highly proficient L2 speakers retained a much stronger sense of L1-related identity. It is hypothesized that bilinguals’ acculturation strategies and intercultural dialogic competencies may be decisive factors in determining L2 near-nativeness.