Experiences like these reminded me of an international student I rarely encountered in one of my former collegiate organizations. As a resident Filipino student for twenty-two years, I formulated a misinformed stereotype that she was supposed to have American slang whenever she spoke Tagalog. Surprisingly, I stood corrected upon knowing she has adapted the Filipino accent in speaking Tagalog after years of exposure in the institution and the Filipino culture. Personally, her bilingual (or multilingual) knowledge is an asset and a testament to the existing multicultural diversity within the University of Santo Tomas. It recently surprised and amazed me, and it has reminded me of missed opportunities, knowing that I could have communicated with and befriended them. I always wished the Thomasian community recognizes and accepts the existence of a multicultural norm in the institution.

Several studies and blogposts triggered my curiosity in discovering how international students survived and thrived in intercultural education settings, considering the linguistic and cultural barriers they encountered throughout their journey. This leads me to the question: “How will we motivate immigrant or international students to stay rooted in their local identities despite studying in a foreign country?”

Many thanks for sharing your experiences with us, Rhonda. Your observation is quite similar to Dr Wang Yining’s study with Chinese immigrants’ heritage language maintenance in Australia. Both of you stress the importance of access to Chinese language learning resources either at home or at community or through other formal and informal channels. I like the way you highlight your transnational identity as 1.5 generation of ethnic Chinese living in Australia where you find yourself comfortable hanging out with people of diverse groups and speaking English rather than Chinese for wider communication. Probably you could tell us more about the diversity among 1.5 ethnic Chinese youth living in Australia. I’ll look forward to your study!

Many thanks for sharing with us the linguistic differences between Inner Mongolians and Mongolians. Very interesting! I’ve also observed many identity conflicts between ethnic Chinese and Chinese students receiving education at the same school and between cross-border minority groups living in the China-and-Myanmar borderland. It would be interesting to explore the role of state in shaping their identity conflicts despite their shared language and kinship.

Thanks for your comment, tviq. You are right, international students may experience many linguistic and cultural differences between what they used to know about the host country before migration and what they find out after migration. My study with Burmese students also demonstrates the similar cultural shock in that international students feel surprised that many Chinese people in China do not speak standard Putonghua for daily communication, and do not play martial arts, do paper cutting or know much about Confucius. When migrating to China, international students often find themselves navigating between these differences. Perhaps, you could think about exploring a similar topic on how English/receiving higher education in Australia is ideologically constructed in China and how their previous perception impacts the way they integrate into the local society.I’ll look forward to your future study!

Thank you very much for sharing with us your learning experiences in Australia. It’s interesting to see Chinese international students’ choice of speaking Putonghua or dialect for establishing social networks and friendship in Australia. My participants of ethnic Chinese backgrounds also reported a similar preference in speaking Burmese language over Chinese language for socialization in public while receiving higher education in China. In Myanmar, however, ethnic Chinese of Yunnan origin rarely speak Burmese language at home or for daily communication. As argued in my study, their changed language habitus is mainly regulated by linguistic nationalism, that is, “you are from Myanmar, you should speak Burmese language” and subsequently reinforced by the economic opportunity for China’s expanding market in Myanmar.
Surely, language learners may also become complicit in reproducing the dominant language ideologies and the linguistic hierarchy among themselves. My PhD thesis in Chapter 7 has describe the internal differentiation among Burmese students of diverse background. https://languageonthemove.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/LI_Jia_Social_reproduction_and_migrant_education.pdf

Thanks Yidan Liu for sharing with us your observation on the norms of being good English speakers in China and in Australia. Perhaps you could investigate what are the linguistic and cultural challenges confronting international students (Chinese students in particular) at study and to what extent they can mobilize what resources to enhance their academic performance.

Many thanks for your sharing your experiences with us, Roxie. Your story has revealed some affective dimensions of English learning in Anglophone countries, which is often overlooked in capitalism-driven literature. It would be really interesting to explore how your improvement of English proficiency makes you feel guilty of your Chinese identity because of your Chinese language attrition and how you navigate between these two languages in Australia.

Many thanks for sharing with us your thoughts, Ian P. I agree that it’s far from sufficient to be a legitimate citizen by speaking the national language of ancestral homeland. Many other social and political conditions may hinder our equal access of social participation. However, we still need to be aware of the dominant power imposed by the standard language ideologies that categorize certain group as legitimate others as deficient. In my study, my participants claimed their legitimacy as ethnic Chinese in Myanmar by speaking Chinese and performing Chinese culture, but their legitimacy was questioned because of their “non-standard” Chinese pronunciation and orthography. In fact, the standard language ideologies also make any Chinese people deficient speakers given the diverse demographic structure in China. You may refer to one of my blogs. https://languageonthemove.com/coronavirus-meets-linguistic-diversity/

Thanks for your comment Suyeon. In my blog, I only focus on how linguistic nationalism and cultural essentialism constitute two types of ideological forces shaping their sense of belonging and orientation towards their identification with both China and Myanmar. Different from what you observe in South Korea, it is not English but Myanmar proficiency that facilitates my participants’ access to academic and social networks in China. You might find it useful to conduct your study by referring to this article https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14790718.2021.1976785?src=

Thanks for your Korean learning experience with us, Adam Camoron-Taylor.
I’ll look forward to reading your study!

Thanks Og for sharing with us your observation on Chinese students receiving English-mediated higher education in Australia. Language (English) is indeed a very important social actor for international students’ successful integration into the local society. Other social factors like race, gender, social class, and nationality may also intersect with language, and consequently categorize certain group of international students as asset and others as problem. Perhaps you could look at how different Chinese students conform to, negotiate with or resist against the social stereotypes. I’ll look forward to reading your study in future.

Many thanks for sharing with us your personal experience, Hee Won Song. Both your story and my participants’ experiences have challenged the traditional concept of nation-based internationalization. In spite of the inclusive discourse circulated in either English or Chinese mediated internationalization, we could question to what extent can the market-driven internationalization enhance our understanding of diversity and cultivate the future talents of intercultural brokers.

Thanks Jeff for sharing with us the emerging multilingual profile in Japan. It’s important to reveal that fact that English-oriented language program is no longer sufficient to help foreign students/workers fulfill their dream in Japan. It is definitely necessary to address the linguistic needs of the changed demography of foreigners by offering appropriate language programs and facilitating their access to their educational and employment resources.

I appreciate your great thought, Anaid. In my study, the nation-based categorization of language and culture appears to be so pervasive and powerful that many of my participants are geared to accept such categorization and oriented to see Myanmar as their homeland and land of future. Your comment reminds me of the affective dimension of confusion and uncertainty enacted by the linguistic nationalism. Hopefully this would turn out to be my next piece:-)

Thanks for your comment, Tu Nguyen. I’ll look forward to reading your study on EMI in your local context. You might find these references useful:
Bhattacharya, U. (2013). Mediating inequalities: Exploring English-medium instruction in a
suburban Indian village school. Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 164-184.
Hamid, M. O., Jahan, I. & Monjurul Islam, M. (2013) Medium of instruction policies and language practices, ideologies and institutional divides: voices of teachers and students in a private university in Bangladesh, Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 144-163.
Hu, G. (2009). The craze for English-medium education in China: Driving forces and
looming consequences. English Today, 25:4, pp 47-54.
Hu, G., Li, L., & Lei, J. (2014). English-medium instruction at a Chinese University:
Rhetoric and reality. Language Policy, 13(1), 21-40.
Hu, G., & Lei, J. (2014). English-medium instruction in Chinese higher education: A
case study. Higher Education, 67(5), 551-567.
Phyak, P. (2013) Language ideologies and local languages as the medium-of-instruction policy: a critical ethnography of a multilingual school in Nepal, Current Issues in Language Planning, 14:1, 127-143,
Song, Y. (2019). ‘Uneven consequences’ of international English-medium-instruction
programmes in China: a critical epistemological perspective. Journal of Multilingual and
Multicultural Development, 1-15.

Many thanks for sharing your observation with us, Frances Tran. It would be useful to relate the local practices to the wider social and political discourses for a better understanding of how we behave and who we want to become. In a monolingual society, any deviant in language and cultural practices will be likely interrogated and excluded, if not erased. Language learners are often forced to integrate themselves into the mainstream society by acting/speaking like “the local” at the sacrifice of hiding their language and culture.