English as a lingua franca and global identities : perspectives from four second language learners of English in Hong Kong

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Linguistics and Education

Publication Date

6-1-2014

Volume

26

First Page

31

Last Page

39

Keywords

English as a lingua franca; Identity; Accent; Global identity; Second language

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that explored the perceptions of a group of advanced second language (L2) learners of English with respect to their desired identities as global citizens and their accent preferences in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) communication. Data were drawn from in-depth interviews with four case study participants from a Hong Kong university who explicitly expressed their desire to enact a ‘global’ identity in ELF contexts. The analysis shows that despite their identification with the global community, these L2 learners held rather different views about what they meant by their own global identities in ELF communication. It was also found that their accent preferences varied considerably among the participants. The findings of the study suggest that the expression of a global identity in ELF contexts is not necessarily perceived to be associated with any particular accents of English.

DOI

10.1016/j.linged.2014.01.010

Print ISSN

08985898

E-ISSN

18731864

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Sung, C. C. M. (2014). English as a lingua franca and global identities: Perspectives from four second language learners of English in Hong Kong. Linguistics and Education, 26, 31-39. doi: 10.1016/j.linged.2014.01.010

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