SECOND LANGUAGE IDENTITY FORMATION AS EXPERIENCED BY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN STUDY ABROAD COUNTRIES

Irvan Ruslan Bennu

doi:10.24235/eltecho.v6i1.7933

Abstract

Language and cultural identity are things that can summarized in terms of language identity. The construct of second language identity has strong relation with study abroad. Second language identity tend to appears in continuous classical conditioning through study abroad. However, no further investigation about this issue has been researched in Indonesian international student context. This study purposed to explore how is the second language identity constructed through the interactions during study abroad. Through narrative interviews, this study will explore more about how second language identity of two international students constructed in their study abroad countries. The result of this study is second language identity construction is more powerful based on self-desire of participants and who the interlocutors are. Further, by knowing how the second language identity is constructed when international students are in native and non-native English-speaking countries, this study will give an empirical contribution about how English language learning patterns depend on the environment. Thus, the English teacher or language expert later could adapt English learning patterns through the construction of other people's language identity.

Highlights

The current studies that investigate the construction of second language identity tend to be influenced by social contexts, such as cultural identity, group identity, and occupational identity. Sato (2014) highlighted that language identity is somehow constructed by continuous classical conditioning
When the participants were exposed to multiple language identities thoroughly, they would have self-perceived proficiency of English based on their communication experiences
Indonesia is a country of multilingualism; this was in order to make her exposed to Bahasa Indonesia and English at the same time

Summary

Introduction

The current studies that investigate the construction of second language identity tend to be influenced by social contexts, such as cultural identity, group identity, and occupational identity. Sato (2014) highlighted that language identity is somehow constructed by continuous classical conditioning. Sato (2014) highlighted that language identity is somehow constructed by continuous classical conditioning Through narrative inquiry, he found that participants can build their second language identity through social interactions in the place they are living. He found that participants can build their second language identity through social interactions in the place they are living These continuous interactions deliberately constructed the participants' self-enlightenment to become aware of linguistics and pragmatics at the same time. When the participants were exposed to multiple language identities thoroughly, they would have self-perceived proficiency of English based on their communication experiences. These experiences could happen to migrant workers, and to students (Block, 2009). Based on the studies above, it is concluded that the main social context that plays important roles in constructing second language identity are social interactions and multilingual interlocutors

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