Open AccessNon-native English Students’ Linguistic and Cultural Challenges in Australia
Author(s) -
Noparat Tananuraksakul
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of international students
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.47
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 2166-3750
pISSN - 2162-3104
DOI - 10.32674/jis.v2i1.540
Subject(s) - dignity , psychology , identity (music) , native american , social psychology , convergence (economics) , cultural diversity , linguistics , sociology , political science , anthropology , philosophy , physics , acoustics , law , economics , economic growth
This paper looks into the effect of use of international English on non-native students’ dignity in Australian academic and social contexts. The study was undertaken through in-depth interviews with 28 participants from 13 countries. The results partly revealed that there was neither speech convergence nor culture convergence between non-native and native speakers. When native speakers linguistically converged towards non-native speakers, it appeared to backfire as mocking behavior. There was an expectation that host tutors, lecturers and classmates would adjust their speech to a level accommodating non-native speakers, but they did not. Failure to effectively converge linguistically and culturally led to failure in intergroup communication. The failure concomitantly affected participants’ self-worth, motivation and identity in a way that diminished their dignity and motivation, impinging on their identity.