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This paper extends our understanding of agency in second language (L2) students' academic English socialization by reporting on an investigation into how two mainland Chinese doctoral students enacted their agency in feedback-seeking for improving academic English writing during their studies in an English-medium university in Hong Kong. The findings show that the ways in which they exercised their agency to seek language feedback from socializing agents varied between individuals and in different feedback-seeking contexts. In particular, their enactments of feedback-seeking agency are found to be differentially shaped not only by their academic writing goals, but also by the habitus derived from their past experiences and the forms of social and cultural capital they accumulated prior to and during their doctoral studies. The findings also reveal that their language ideologies regarding the role of native-speaker norms in academic English writing mediated their feedback-seeking agency by exerting influence on their academic writing goals and their perceptions of different socializing agents as affordances for their language socialization. Overall, this paper offers more nuanced understandings of agency in L2 students' academic English socialization and illustrates the complex and dynamic interplay between agency, goal, habitus, capital and language ideology in shaping their feedback-seeking behaviour.

This paper investigates the language ideologies held by a group of international students in an English medium instruction (EMI) university in multilingual Hong Kong. The findings indicate that the participants' beliefs about English extend beyond its role as an instructional medium and encompass its use as a lingua franca and as a means of social inclusion. It is also found that the participants hold complex yet sometimes contradictory ideologies about the kinds of English to be used and/or accepted and about the monolingual and multilingual uses of English in the EMI university context. Taken together, the study suggests that the participants' ideologies with respect to the roles of English and the norms of English use in the EMI university context are much more complex than what "language policy from above" suggests. The findings also reveal the ideological tensions over the norms of English use in the EMI university context and the closely intertwined relationship between the participants' language ideologies and the maintenance of their interests, especially in relation to access to learning opportunities in the classroom. The study calls for attention to broader issues pertaining to social inclusion/exclusion, linguistic advantage/disadvantage and educational equality/inequality in the multilingual EMI university context.

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study on a group of mainland Chinese students' multilingual experiences during their cross-border studies in a Hong Kong university from a language ideological perspective. Drawing on in-depth interviews as the primary dataset, the study investigated the language ideologies held by the participants about Cantonese, Putonghua and English. Findings indicated that while the participants espoused a distinct set of language ideologies about Cantonese, Putonghua and English underlying their multilingual experiences in the university, the ideology of language as identity and the ideology of language as commodity emerged as the two major language ideologies. It was also revealed that the ideological tensions arising from the co-existence of the multiple and competing language ideologies resulted in the participants' ambivalences in their use of, and/or investment in, particular languages. Findings also point to the role of the participants' language ideologies in maintaining the social hierarchy of languages within the local language ecology and reproducing the group boundaries between local and mainland Chinese students.

This paper presents a case study of a Hong Kong university student's experiences of learning English as a second language (L2) over a four-year period, with particular attention to the changes in her identities and beliefs across time and space. Drawing on a narrative inquiry approach, the study revealed that the student's L2 identities appeared to be shaped by specific contextual conditions and agentic choices made by the student in response to different contexts, including consultation sessions with native English-speaking tutors, study abroad in the U.S., interactions with non-native English-speaking peers, and classroom interactions. It was also found that her L2 identities and beliefs not only varied over time in a complex and dynamic manner, but also appeared to be closely interconnected and interacted with each other in a reciprocal and bi-directional manner. The case study points to the need to pay more attention to the complex and dynamic interrelationship between identity and belief in L2 learning trajectories.

This paper investigates mainland Chinese students' experiences of learning English as a second language (L2) in a multilingual university in Hong Kong, with particular attention to their negotiation of participation and identity. Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews with a group of mainland Chinese students, the study revealed that their participation in L2 practices appeared to be shaped by the contextual conditions in different communities within the university and mediated by their agentic responses to the contextual realities of these communities. While they gained fuller participation in L2-mediated activities in the local student community and the classroom community as a result of their appropriation of the associated language practices and their display of knowledge and competence in the related social practices, they struggled to gain access to L2 interactional opportunities in the community of exchange students, where their negotiation of positionalities was subject to the perceived unequal power relations between native and non-native speakers of the English. It is argued that their participation in L2-mediated activities in the university could be understood as a complex, dynamic, situated and co-constructed process of negotiating access, competence, membership, positionality, identities and discursive practices associated with different communities.

This paper investigates the experiences of two international students with different linguistic backgrounds in a university in Hong Kong, with particular attention to the role of language in their identity negotiation during their transnational studies. Based on their contrasting narratives, the study revealed that the two students' identity negotiation experiences appeared to be shaped by their different language competences, which were valued differently in the academic and social contexts within the university. It was found that the degree of (in)compatibility between their language competences and the norms and expectations associated with the academic and social contexts within the university context impacted on their negotiation of fuller forms of participation and their construction of desirable identities. Furthermore, the two students' different language ideologies and their different abilities to exercise agency in mobilising their linguistic capital in exchange for other forms of capital were found to mediate their identity negotiation and transformation.

This paper presents findings of a qualitative inquiry into international students' experiences and perceptions of their language use in an English-medium international university in multilingual Hong Kong, with particular attention to the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in relation to other languages. Based on data collected from in-depth interviews with a group of international students, the study found that the participants embraced a pluralistic conceptualisation of ELF. While they emphasised the importance of ELF for their academic and social integration in the university, the perceived resistance against the use of ELF by local students means that the language norms operating in the university cannot be pre-determined. It was also found that the participants expressed monolingual ideologies with respect to the use of ELF as a result of their concerns about social exclusion and linguistic disadvantage. Meanwhile, multilingual language practices and multilingual ideologies in relation to the use of ELF were also found in the participants' accounts of language experiences and perceptions. The findings also point to the tensions arising from the language choice between ELF and the local language, as well as the co-existence of contradictory language ideologies concerning monolingualism/multilingualism in the international university context.

This article reports on a case study of a Hong Kong undergraduate student's lived experiences of second language (L2) investments and identities across different contexts, including inside and outside the classroom on the university campus, in the professional workplace, and during study abroad. Findings indicate that the student's differential L2 investments across contexts appear to be closely intertwined with the different identities constructed in specific circumstances and mediated by the perceived likelihood of yielding a good return on the investments. His selective L2 investments were also found to be driven by a desire for membership in an imagined international community and an imagined identity associated with a cosmopolitan lifestyle in the projected future. The article argues for the importance of a holistic understanding of individuals' L2 learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom in order to appreciate the complexities of their variable L2 investments and identities across contexts.

This article reports on the implementation of an out-of-class communication component of a university ELT course in Hong Kong to raise students' awareness of the pluralistic nature of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Drawing on students' written reflections as part of the coursework, the study investigated how out-of-class ELF communication activities impacted on students' understanding of English in a global context. Findings suggest that students developed an increased awareness of ELF as a result of the communication activities. In particular, they appreciated the diversity of English in the world, questioned the relevance of native-speaker norms, and emphasized the importance of communicative strategies in ELF communication. In addition, they reported practical and personal benefits derived from the out-of-class communication activities. The study points to the importance of first-hand, out-of-class communication experiences in raising students' awareness of ELF and the role of reflection in developing students' critical consciousness of the global role of English.

This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study which investigated a group of English as a second language (ESL) university students' perceptions of their global identities in intercultural English as a lingua franca (ELF) communication at an international university in Hong Kong. Drawing on data collected via in-depth interviews and elicited journals, the paper found that these students shared a number of similarities in how they perceived and characterized their global identities in ELF contexts on campus. The analysis revealed that the expression of their global identities involved not only identification with the wider global community, but also acceptance of linguistic variation in the global use of English, display of communicative competence to ensure mutual understanding in lingua franca communication, and positive orientations toward hybrid linguistic practices in ELF settings. The findings reported in this paper will contribute to our understanding of the linguistic and cultural dimensions in the expression of global identities among ESL university students in ELF communication.

This paper reports on an exploratory inquiry into the perceptions of a group of second language (L2) learners of English with regard to their identities in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) communication contexts. Drawing upon data gathered from two rounds of in-depth interviews with nine participants from a Hong Kong university, the study found that these L2 learners displayed different degrees of affiliations with their local and global identities in ELF communication. While some participants expressed their preference to foreground either their local or global identities, some other participants reconciled their local and global identities and embraced their hybrid, glocal identities in ELF communication. The analysis suggests that ELF communication could offer a myriad of identity options for L2 learners and give rise to hybrid linguistic practices in their L2. Finally, the paper points to the need to acknowledge the role of individuality in identity construction in ELF settings.

As the English language has become a global lingua franca today, it is not surprising that changes in attitudes and perceptions towards learning English in the international context have taken place at the same time. In this paper, I critically examine the notion of "integrative motivation" in the literature of second language (L2) learning with respect to the changing role of the English language in the global context. In particular, this paper attempts to re-conceptualise the notion of integrative motivation by considering the results of recent empirical research on L2 motivation. It is argued that the predominant motivation of learning English among most L2 learners is no longer concerned with "integration" in the target native English-speaking culture, but with the construction of a "bi-cultural" or "world citizen" identity, as well as identification with the international community. The paper ends by suggesting new ways of understanding the concept of motivation in L2 learning in today's global context.

This paper reports on my first-hand experiences of being a "purist" in Hong Kong, during which time I was not allowed to use mixed code, a common discursive practice among Hongkongers in Hong Kong. I shall discuss the difficulties in using "pure" English and "pure" Chinese in my daily life, as well as exploring the problems I encountered when I used "pure" English in teaching English to a small group of ESL students at a primary school in Hong Kong. I argue that mixed code is very much characteristic of everyday language use by most Hongkongers and represents an important marker of their ethno-linguistic identity. In relation to language teaching, I suggest that mixed code may be usefully adopted in teaching English in Hong Kong, rather than being shunned at all costs.

This paper explores the relationship between gender and second language (L2) learning through a narrative case study. Drawing on the construct of investment in understanding language learning, the present study investigates the role of gender ideologies and gendered identities in a female L2 learner's English learning experiences in an English-medium university in Hong Kong. Findings reveal that multiple gender ideologies mediated the learner's access to L2 use opportunities and her participation in in-class and out-of-class contexts in complex yet contradictory ways. In particular, gendered expectations influenced the learner's agency in investing in L2 practices in specific contexts and accumulating particular forms of (gendered) capital. Her L2 investments were also shaped by her negotiation of gendered identities and her pursuit of imagined identities related to her professional aspirations. Based on the findings, a gendered model of L2 investment is proposed. It illustrates the complex interplay between gendered capital, gender ideologies and gendered identities in shaping L2 investments and foregrounds the role of gendered agency in mediating the impact of gender ideologies and gendered identities on L2 investments. The study also suggests the need for contextualized and personalized approaches in understanding the gendered nature of L2 learning in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a narrative inquiry of a Hong Kong female undergraduate student's second language (L2) learning experiences in an English-medium university in Hong Kong, with a focus on her participation in classroom oral activities and identity negotiation. Using ideas from situated learning theory and Norton's (2000) notions of identity and investment, the paper analyzes how the student negotiated her classroom participation and identities over the course of her studies in the university. Findings suggest that the student's classroom participation in the English-medium university appeared to be a complex and dynamic process which involved ongoing negotiations of identities, competence and membership in the classroom in response to the challenges she faced. It was found that the student's participation and identity (re)construction in the classroom were mediated by the contextual complexities in specific classroom communities and were contingent upon the agentive choices made by the student in investing in different classroom activities. Findings also indicate that the student's participation evolved over time alongside a changing sense of competence and showed signs of gradual yet non-linear progression from peripheral to full participation in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances our conceptualization of second language (L2) learning as gendered practices through a narrative inquiry into two Chinese female students' experiences of learning English as an L2 at an English-medium university in Hong Kong. The findings of the study reveal that the two students' divergent patterns of investments in L2 learning practices inside and outside the classroom appear to be shaped differentially by their varying responses to traditional gender ideologies, their differing evaluations of their gender capital, and the different ways in which they negotiate their desired gender identities. Importantly, the findings suggest that gender as a social construct appears to be implicated in the two students' L2 learning practices in complex and multifaceted ways and that the ways in which gender plays out in their L2 learning experiences can be highly individualized. Overall, the study elucidates the interconnectedness of gender ideologies, gender identities and gender capital in co-shaping individuals' L2 learning practices in situated contexts. It also calls for attention to the complex interactions between the social and the individual in order to account for the varied and differentiated ways in which gender mediates situated L2 learning practices across individuals and across contexts for a given individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Second language investments for academic and social purposes vary considerably. • Language investments are shaped by agency to invest in particular identities. • Multiple ideologies play a role in second language investments. This paper reports findings of a qualitative study on a group of cross-border mainland Chinese students' English learning experiences in an English medium instruction (EMI) university in Hong Kong. It focuses on their investments in English-mediated practices in the university context, with particular attention to the mediating role of identity, capital and ideology in their second language (L2) investments. Findings indicate that the participants were invested in L2 practices for academic purposes by leveraging their cultural capital to speak and practise their L2 in the classroom, which enabled them to construct desirable academic identities as competent university students. However, their L2 investments for social purposes were somewhat constrained by their lack of necessary cultural capital to secure access to L2 interactional opportunities outside the classroom. Findings also suggest that their differential levels of investments in different L2 practices during their cross-border studies appeared to be shaped by their exercise of agency to invest or otherwise in particular identities and forms of capital and mediated by multiple ideologies with respect to the role of English as the world language, native-speakerism, and cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]