Living with a Foreign Tongue: An autobiographical narrative inquiry into identity in a foreign language

Authors

  • Wei Liu University of Alberta International

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v60i2.55803

Keywords:

Identity, foreign language, split, Narrative Inquiry, Mots clés, identité, langue étrangère, fragmentation, enquête narrative

Abstract

Learning a second language involves the development of an identity in the target language. This study is an autobiographical narrative inquiry into the issue of identity in a foreign language. Autobiographical accounts of my relationship with, and my feelings about, English at different stages in my learning journey are developed to show how my identity with English has formed, shifted, and reconstructed. A critical perspective on identity formation is used to shed light on the identities I have lived with at different stages of my learning journey. The high status of English in China turned into my inner motive to acquire an identity as someone who speaks English well. However, at a more advanced competency level, I experienced a crisis of identity split between my English identity and my native Chinese identity, especially after becoming aware of an unequivocal postcolonial linguistic discourse that positions the two languages differently.

L’apprentissage d’une langue seconde implique le développement d’une identité dans la langue cible. Cette étude est une enquête narrative autobiographique portant sur la question de l’identité dans une langue étrangère. Je développe des récits autobiographiques sur mon rapport avec la langue anglaise, et mes sentiments au sujet de celle-ci, à différentes étapes de mon parcours d’apprentissage de sorte à démontrer la formation et l’évolution de mon identité linguistique en anglais. Une perspective critique de la formation de l’identité vient éclairer les identités que j’ai développées à différentes étapes de mon parcours d’apprentissage. Le statut élevé de l’anglais en Chine est devenu ma motivation interne d’acquérir une identité comme quelqu’un qui parlait bien l’anglais. Par contre, arrivée à un niveau de compétence plus élevé, j’ai traversé une crise de fragmentation de mon identité où j’étais déchirée entre mon identité en anglais et ma propre identité chinoise, notamment après m’être rendu compte du discours linguistique postcolonial explicite qui accorde des places différentes aux deux langues.

Author Biography

Wei Liu, University of Alberta International

Wei Liu works at the University of Alberta International, managing the Global Academic Leadership Development (GALD) program, a professional development program for university administrators from other countries. He has a PhD in Foreign Language Education and Teacher Education from Beijing Normal University, and he was the 2011-2012 Horowitz Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development, University of Alberta.

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Published

2015-04-07

How to Cite

Liu, W. (2015). Living with a Foreign Tongue: An autobiographical narrative inquiry into identity in a foreign language. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 60(2), 264–278. https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v60i2.55803

Issue

Vol. 60 No. 2 (2014): Summer

Section

ARTICLES

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