Slow but Sure: Ownership of English among Asian International Undergraduate Students in a Multilingual Context

doi:10.65961/AJELT-2020-1-002

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Asian Journal of English Language Teaching ›› 2020, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (1) : 27-50. DOI: 10.65961/AJELT-2020-1-002

Slow but Sure: Ownership of English among Asian International Undergraduate Students in a Multilingual Context

Sumi KIM

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Abstract

The present study examines Asian international students’ attitudes and practices that blur the normative binaries between native and non-native speakers of English. Focusing on four case studies of Asian undergraduate students studying in a US university, the study shows that their ownership of English is not limited to the existing language ideologies that confine them to being non-native speakers of English. It reveals that each individual student’s first language (L1) and culture as well as second language (L2) learner identities simultaneously underpin her/his own perception of English. The cases of female students under- score their distinctive investment in English and provide important insights into English language education in Asian English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts, which urgently needs to focus more on diversity and equality in supporting English language learners.

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Sumi KIM. (2020). Slow but Sure: Ownership of English among Asian International Undergraduate Students in a Multilingual Context.Asian Journal of English Language Teaching , 29(1): 27-50. https://doi.org/10.65961/AJELT-2020-1-002

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