Whatever the reason might be for English as an additional language (EAL) speakers to study in New Zealand; a chance of attaining citizenship, furthering own economic position, career enhancement, or just an urge of being different, they are all more or less faced with inevitable individual changes, as a result of the immersion into a relatively unknown language sphere as well as new social and academic cultures.
The pertinent questions with regards to second language identity (SLI) and change covered in this paper are: How do language identities change in the transformation process? and What roles do students play in the formation of new identities? Within the broader context of EAL students’ studying abroad at Higher Educational institutions, this presentation concentrates on SLI as it is described in student narratives. The three theoretical frameworks utilised to explore differences and similarities between the students, as well as development of SLI over time are: the definition of SLI as any aspect of (1) who we are, (2) how we represent ourselves, (3) how others see us, related to the knowledge and use of a second language, by Benson, et.al. (2013); student development of multiple identities, each depending on each of the languages, by Athanasopoulos, et.al. (2015), who propose that certain skills and features of one language are dominant in specific situations; and, lastly, the idea of constant reconstruction of one identity, as suggested by Marginson (2014). In his view, EAL students are seen as active and conscious agents of the changing process and being in transition towards a self-formed hybrid identity through processes of adopting new cultural behaviours, learning a new language, and new life skills in a new environment.
Athanasopoulos, P., Bylund, E., Montero-Melis, G., Damjanovic, L., Schartner, A., Kibbe, A., & Thierry, G., (2015). Two languages, two minds: Flexible cognitive processing driven by language of operation. Psychological Science, 26, 518-526.
Benson, P., Barkhuizen, G., Bodycott, P., & Brown, J. (2013). Second language identity in narratives of study abroad. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Marginson, S. (2014). Student self-formation in international education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(1), 6-22.
