Dr Tinghe Jin tinghe.jin@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor
“I Told Them I Want to Speak Chinese!” The Struggle of UK Students to Negotiate Language Identities While Studying Chinese in China
Jin, Tinghe; O’Regan, John P.
Authors
John P. O’Regan
Abstract
This article leverages interview data from students of Chinese who enrolled at a UK university but pursued a period of study abroad in China, aiming to delve into their negotiation of language identities during their overseas experience. By employing Block’s structural model in our discourse analysis, this research reveals the dynamic interplay between agency and structure, shedding light on the intricate process of language learning and identity formation. The findings underscore that structural contexts are integral to shaping students’ agency, highlighting specific structural spheres that pose challenges to their development of Chinese language and multilingual identities. These spheres encompass the linguistic and cultural dominance of English as well as Chinese hospitality practices. Rooted in their habitus, participants’ preconceived notions of the Chinese language and cultural aspects influence their journey, yielding either positive or negative impacts. Furthermore, participants’ backgrounds and prior language learning experiences significantly contribute to their identity development. In advocating for a comprehensive approach, this study emphasises the integration of both agency and structural contexts as necessary to fully comprehend the intricate process of identity development.
Citation
Jin, T., & O’Regan, J. P. (2024). “I Told Them I Want to Speak Chinese!” The Struggle of UK Students to Negotiate Language Identities While Studying Chinese in China. British Journal of Educational Studies, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2024.2309608
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jan 29, 2024 |
Online Publication Date | Feb 29, 2024 |
Publication Date | Feb 29, 2024 |
Deposit Date | May 29, 2024 |
Publicly Available Date | May 29, 2024 |
Journal | British Journal of Educational Studies |
Print ISSN | 0007-1005 |
Electronic ISSN | 1467-8527 |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis Group |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Pages | 1-28 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2024.2309608 |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2467007 |
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Copyright Statement
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
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