Negotiating identities, language ideologies, and language practices: Two transnational students’ narratives of multilingual experiences in a Hong Kong university

Following the global trend of internationalization in higher education, the last decade has witnessed increased global student mobility. In particular, the number of transnational university students is on the rise. This paper reports on a narrative study of two transnational students’ multilingual experiences in a multilingual Hong Kong university, with particular attention to their identity construction. By drawing upon narrative data collected from in-depth interviews with the two students and by using the method of narrative analysis, the study investigates how the two transnational students, one of Chinese descent and the other of mixed Filipino-Pakistani ethnicity, construct and negotiate their identities in relation to their ethnic backgrounds, language ideologies and multilingual practices in a multilingual university setting. Findings show that both students faced challenges in negotiating desirable ethnic identities in the university, but their challenges appear to be different because of their different ethnic backgrounds. In particular, as a result of the ideological link between language and ethnic identity prevalent in wider society, others’ assumptions about their proficiencies in different languages appear to impact on their self-positioning and others’ attempts to position them. Moreover, the analysis revealed that the different language ideologies they held about multilingualism also impact on their language practices, especially their willingness to speak the local language. Taken together, the analysis shows that transnational students’ negotiation of identities could be intertwined with their language ideologies. It also shows the usefulness of analyzing narratives in understanding transnational students’ experiences and identities.