(Re)conceptualising Time and Space in Multilingual Identity Research: A Comparative Study of Public and International High School LOTE Learners in China
type: CreativeWork
description: Prompted by the recent expansion of school-based language-other-than-English (LOTE) programmes in China, this study gives a holistic and multileveled account of the opportunities and challenges faced by Chinese high school LOTE learners in different school contexts through investigating the dynamic construction of their multilingual identity (MI) over one academic year. In this study, MI refers to one’s self-perception as a multilingual and awareness of one’s multilingual repertoire, reflecting an affinity to being or becoming multilingual. MI consists of three sub-components: Experience, Evaluation and Emotion (the 3 Es), and is in constant interaction with the Environment. Developing a greater understanding of how learners negotiate their identities through time and space is crucial for empowering foreign language learning. By examining the non-linearity of MI development, this study therefore aims to address this need by answering the following research questions: 1. How do LOTE-learning students’ multilingual identity evolve during one academic year in the international and public high schools in China? 2.What factors influence their multilingual identity development? Framed by complex dynamic systems theory, the research consisted of a longitudinal study with qualitative orientation. Data were collected in parallel fashion in an international school (n=35) and a public school (n=24) over the course of one academic year. Participants (L1 Chinese, L2 English, L3 Japanese) were high school students (15-17 yrs) who were in their first year of Japanese learning. Multiple methods were adopted to reveal the patterns of their MI development at differing levels of granularity: the students’ mono/multilingual self-ratings and three rounds of Q sorting activities demonstrated group-level patterns while the interviews (six rounds) and study logs (20 entries per student) from the focus cases (International school n=9; public school n=7) revealed the idiosyncrasies in learne…
abstract: Prompted by the recent expansion of school-based language-other-than-English (LOTE) programmes in China, this study gives a holistic and multileveled account of the opportunities and challenges faced by Chinese high school LOTE learners in different school contexts through investigating the dynamic construction of their multilingual identity (MI) over one academic year. In this study, MI refers to one’s self-perception as a multilingual and awareness of one’s multilingual repertoire, reflecting an affinity to being or becoming multilingual. MI consists of three sub-components: Experience, Evaluation and Emotion (the 3 Es), and is in constant interaction with the Environment. Developing a greater understanding of how learners negotiate their identities through time and space is crucial for empowering foreign language learning. By examining the non-linearity of MI development, this study therefore aims to address this need by answering the following research questions: 1. How do LOTE-learning students’ multilingual identity evolve during one academic year in the international and public high schools in China? 2.What factors influence their multilingual identity development? Framed by complex dynamic systems theory, the research consisted of a longitudinal study with qualitative orientation. Data were collected in parallel fashion in an international school (n=35) and a public school (n=24) over the course of one academic year. Participants (L1 Chinese, L2 English, L3 Japanese) were high school students (15-17 yrs) who were in their first year of Japanese learning. Multiple methods were adopted to reveal the patterns of their MI development at differing levels of granularity: the students’ mono/multilingual self-ratings and three rounds of Q sorting activities demonstrated group-level patterns while the interviews (six rounds) and study logs (20 entries per student) from the focus cases (International school n=9; public school n=7) revealed the idiosyncrasies in learne…
author: Wu, Xinran
language: eng
keywords: language education, language learner identity, LOTE learning, multilingual identity, Q methodology
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/30394630-7e9d-4e97-9ec1-2558298f6477/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2023-10-16
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:27Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.107182