Language Ideologies and Identities in Academic Writing Socialization: EAL International Doctoral Students in Hong Kong

Existing research has presented conflicting findings on how English as an additional language (EAL) doctoral students perceive the value of native English for academic writing. This paper contributes to the debate by exploring one particular group of students' perspectives: EAL international doctoral students from non-Anglophone countries learning to write for academic purposes at a Hong Kong English-medium-instruction (EMI) university. With a focus on their language ideologies and identities associated with their academic writing practices and socialization, the present study draws on data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with a group of doctoral students who came from 19 different countries and who pursued their PhD degrees in diverse academic disciplines. Findings revealed that although most students agreed that native English was helpful for grammatical correctness, they stressed that the most important feature of academic English at doctoral level was communicating research findings effectively. They also held the belief that successful academic writing in English could be achieved regardless of one's first language. Some went so far as to suggest that native English speakers might be too indirect in their writing style, questioning the relevance of the native speaker model for their own academic writing practices. Findings also revealed a range of beliefs and identities arising from doctoral students' efforts in improving their academic writing. The findings indicated that most students' aspirations as an academic writer were related to their desire to reach a standard at which they could write freely and impact a wide audience, rather than a wish to write like a native English speaker. By illustrating the perspectives of EAL international doctoral students in Hong Kong on academic writing socialization, this study calls for the need to refocus priorities in academic writing instruction at doctoral level.