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LANGUAGE AND ACADEMIC IDENTITY: A STUDY OF THE EXPERIENCES OF NONNATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

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This phenomenological study explores the experiences of non-native English-speaking international students regarding language, culture and identity in the context of their graduate studies. Interviews were conducted with each of the eight participants. Interpretive analysis was used within a constructivist frame. The findings of this study are organized into four themes of the participants’ experiences: Mastering the language: You know you sound wrong, The meaning of language proficiency: English is alive, Language and academic identity: I feel I’m in-between, and Joining a new community of practice: You have to start all over again. Implications of the study suggest that language and cultural identity are central to the academic experience of non-native speakers. Recommendations emphasize the importance of learner-centered instructional design in addressing these needs.
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International Education
Volume 38
Issue 2 Spring 2009
Language and Academic Identity: A Study of the
Experiences of Non-Native English Speaking
International Students
Olivia Halic
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, ietraceutk@gmail.com
Katherine Greenberg
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, ietraceutk@gmail.com
Trena Paulus
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, ietraceutk@gmail.com
Copyright © 2009 by the University of Tennessee. Reproduced with publisher's permission. Further
reproduction of this article in violation of the copyright is prohibited.
http://trace.tennessee.edu/internationaleducation/vol38/iss2/5
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in
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Recommended Citation
Halic, Olivia; Greenberg, Katherine; and Paulus, Trena (2009). Language and Academic Identity: A Study of the Experiences of Non-
Native English Speaking International Students. International Education, Vol. 38 Issue (2).
Retrieved from: http://trace.tennessee.edu/internationaleducation/vol38/iss2/5
 
LANGUAGE AND ACADEMIC IDENTITY:
A STUDY OF THE EXPERIENCES OF NON-
NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKING INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS
Olivia Halic, Katherine Greenberg, Trena Paulus
University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
ABSTRACT
This phenomenological study explores the experiences of
non-native English-speaking international students regarding lan-
guage, culture and identity in the context of their graduate stud-
ies. Interviews were conducted with each of the eight participants.
Interpretive analysis was used within a constructivist frame. The
findings of this study are organized into four themes of the par-
ticipants’ experiences: Mastering the language: You know you sound
wrong, The meaning of language proficiency: English is alive, Lan-
guage and academic identity: I feel I’m in-between, and Joining a new
community of practice: You have to start all over again. Implications
of the study suggest that language and cultural identity are central
to the academic experience of non-native speakers. Recommenda-
tions emphasize the importance of learner-centered instructional
design in addressing these needs.
For many decades, international students have been a grow-
ing presence within the student body in American universities. The
Institute of International Education has collected data on interna-
tional student enrollment in the United States since 1919 and in the
form of the Open Doors survey since 1954 (Open Doors, n.d.). The
2007-2008 report indicates a national ascending trend with 7% in-
crease from the previous year to a record number of 623,805 (In-
stitute of International Education, 2008). As American universities
continue to attract international students as well as expand into
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HALIC, GREENBERG, PAULUS
global markets, this growing community deserves attention as its
members are legitimate contributors to the academic communities
of practice in the U.S.
Research addressing questions about international graduate
students has largely focused on identifying the difficulties these
students faced and has centered on the so-called “problem frame-
work” and recommendations for improving the academic experi-
ence of international students (Perrucci & Hu, 1995; Ridley, 2004).
Researchers in the United States as well as the United Kingdom
and Australia identified problems including stress, alienation, and
difficulties in adjusting to the host culture (Cadman, 2000; Perrucci
& Hu, 1995; Ridley, 2004; Robertson, Line, Jones, & Thomas, 2000).
Lee and Rice (2007) identified greater problems for black interna-
tional students than for white international students. In four re-
viewed studies, the perceptions of international graduate students
were compared to expectations of their instructors/mentors/tutors
and findings revealed confusion and associated problems (Belcher,
1994; Cadman, 2000; Ridley, 2004; Robertson et al., 2000). Across
all studies reviewed, proficiency with the English language was
identified as a key factor in shaping international students’ experi-
ences. And yet this topic has not been fully explored. In fact, there
is a dearth of research in the higher education literature that looks
in-depth at how international students join the academic commu-
nity of practice and adjust to the host society through the lens of
language experience. How do international students make mean-
ing of their experiences with the English language? How do they
construct their identities in a new environment using English as a
new language? These are questions that require further attention
and can inform higher education policy.
This phenomenological study explores the experiences of non-
native English speaking international students regarding language,
culture and identity in the context of their graduate studies at a
large research university in the Southeast. In this paper we first
explain our paradigmatic orientations regarding this research. We
describe the method, research site, participants and data collection
approach and then present our findings, highlighting four themes
of the participants’ experiences: Mastering the language: You know
you sound wrong, The meaning of language proficiency: English
is alive, Language and academic identity: I feel I’m in-between, and
Joining a new community of practice: You have to start all over again.
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Language and Academic Identity:A Study of the
Experiences of Non-Native English Speaking International Students
We conclude with a discussion of the findings, implications, and
recommendations for graduate instructors.
PARADIGMATIC ORIENTATION
We position ourselves within the constructivist paradigm.
Constructivism is defined by Lincoln (2005) as “an interpretive
stance which attends to the meaning-making activities of active
agents and cognizing human beings” (p. 60). Our constructivist
orientation towards the world enhances the phenomenological ap-
proach that we used in this study with the intention of understand-
ing how our participants make meaning of their experiences.
Clearly, our lived experiences shaped our understanding of the
phenomenon investigated. An important step in the phenomeno-
logical approach is bracketing, which is defined as the researcher’s
“attempt to suspend or put in abeyance [her] preconceptions and
presuppositions (i.e., one’s biases)” (Valle, King & Halling, 1989,
p. 10). Phenomenological researchers bracket their assumptions by
explicitly raising them to the level of reflective awareness (Valle,
King & Halling, 1989). However, this process is not a warrant of the
researcher’s objectivity, but an attempt to make the research trans-
parent.
The idea of this study is rooted in one of the researchers’ life
experience. Three years ago she left her home country, Romania, to
pursue graduate studies in the United States. She studied English
as a foreign language for approximately nine years as part of her
secondary schooling. In the year previous to her arrival in the U.S.,
she undertook intensive study of English in order to prepare for the
TOEFL and GRE tests. Hence, by the time of her admission to grad-
uate school she felt proficient in English. During her first semester
of graduate school she started to become aware of her perceptions
of using English as primary means of communication. One of her
first perceptions was that her voice seemed softer in English than
in Romanian. Another insight occurred when she and her husband
tried to use English in their private conversations. After a few “dry”
discussions they gave up, realizing that their English lacked affect/
emotions. On the other hand, communication in English did not
seem as artificial with people with whom she had never spoken a
language other than English.
After her first project presentation in one of her classes, when
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HALIC, GREENBERG, PAULUS
she felt like an actor badly performing a scripted role, she final-
ly realized what was happening; she noticed that she seemed to
switch between her Romanian identity, which came naturally, and
her English one, which continued to feel artificial. She became in-
terested in finding out more about the experiences of international
students using English, especially after noting that other interna-
tional students, with whom she discussed the topic, did not seem
to share her experiences.
The other two researchers also have experience living in
other countries, one for nine months in Israel as a Fulbright Re-
search Scholar and the other as a Peace Corps volunteer for 24
months in Lesotho, Southern Africa. While the Fulbright Scholar
did not formally study Hebrew and instead was viewed by col-
leagues as a person with whom they could practice their English,
she was continuously drawn to participants’ statements in this re-
search that resonated with her experiences on the other side, es-
pecially the fatigue of mismatched cultural identity. The returned
Peace Corps Volunteer attained advanced-high proficiency in the
Sesotho language while living in country, necessitated by being the
only non-Basotho living within a six hour bus ride. She taught Eng-
lish in the village secondary school and continually navigated the
intersections of language, culture and identity during her two years
of service.
METHODS
This study employed a phenomenological approach to ex-
plore international graduate student experiences using the English
language. Hermeneutic phenomenology, the methodological ap-
proach of this study, seeks to discover the essence of a phenom-
enon by examining its particular manifestations (Van Manen, 1990).
One of the philosophical assumptions underlying phenomenology
is that understanding of the constant structure of the phenomenon
is possible only after its repeated perceptions in various contexts
(Valle, King, and Halling, 1989).
The participants were eight international graduate students at
a large public research university, situated in a medium-size south-
eastern city, whose native language was other than English. We
used a “combination or mixed purposeful sample” to select the par-
ticipants (Hatch, 2002, p.98). Several criteria were used for the se-
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Language and Academic Identity:A Study of the
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lection of the participants: a) English was not their native language;
b) the participants did not use English as their primary means of
communication in the country of origin nor had they lived before
in a country where English was the spoken language; and c) their
experience of the phenomenon was recent (1-3 years). In addition,
we tried to ensure the “maximum variation” of the sample (Hatch,
2002, p.50) by selecting participants who might have different per-
spectives on the phenomenon as they are from different countries.
Table 1. Description of participants
Participant’s
pseudonym
Country
of origin
College Degree
Pursued
Duration
of gradu-
ate study
Josh Brazil Education Ph.D. 1.5 years
Tanya China Education Ph.D. 1 year
Ben China Engineering Ph.D. 1 year
Justin South
Korea
Arts and Sci-
ences Master’s 1 year
Michael Russia Engineering Ph.D. 1 year
Noemi Thailand Nursing Ph.D. 1 year
Eliza Turkey Business Ad-
ministration Ph.D. 2 years
Ricardo Venezuela Arts and Sci-
ences Ph.D. 3 years
Participants from seven countries (Brazil, China, Korea, Rus-
sia, Turkey, Thailand, and Venezuela) were interviewed (see Table
1). The participants’ age ranged from 24 to 38 years. Three of the
participants were female students and five were male students. All
but one of the participants were pursuing a Ph.D. degree at the time
of the interview.
Access to participants was facilitated by the first researcher
who was member of the international student community at the
research site. The students were contacted through email or phone
and asked to participate in a one-time interview. Based on initial
agreement, interviews were held at a mutually convenient time and
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place. The duration of the interviews ranged from 29 minutes to 66
minutes. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed
by the first researcher. Data collection occurred between May, 2008
and September, 2008.
One-on-one in-depth interviews, as described by Moustakas
(1994), were conducted. Each interview started with one open-end-
ed question: “What was your experience like communicating and
studying in English as a language that is not your native one?” The
participants were asked to focus on their experience and then de-
scribe it fully for the interviewer. Subsequent questions, not speci-
fied in advance, followed with the intention to clarify, validate and
summarize the participants’ words. In this way, the interviewer
engaged the interviewee in sharing salient experiences related to
the research question in an attempt to understand the participant’s
perspective.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data were analyzed using an interpretive approach (Hatch,
2002). Interpretive analysis is well suited to making sense of rich
data obtained through less structured interviews and observations.
Hatch suggests that research, such as hermeneutic phenomenology,
done within a constructivist paradigm naturally fits in with inter-
pretive analysis.
The steps of interpretive analysis proposed by Hatch (2002)
were followed closely. Thus, all interviews were first read with the
intention of gaining a sense of the whole. A subsequent reading of
each interview aimed at recording impressions. The purpose of this
stage of analysis was to explore the data in search of answers to the
following questions, formulated based on an initial reading of the
transcripts:
What was going on for the international students in this
academic setting?
What did using the English language mean to them?
How did they position themselves in the American soci-
ety? How did they position themselves in relation to stu-
dents from their country of origin and other international
students?
How did they construct their identity in this environment?
After impressions were recorded for the full set of interviews,
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we formulated the interpretations as possible explanations of the
interactions observed in the data. The next phase consisted of read-
ing the interpretations and selecting the salient ones. Those consid-
ered relevant and informative based on the research questions were
selected and further organized and reduced. Drafting a summary
of the interpretations followed. Based on this draft, we identified
excerpts from the transcripts that supported these initial interpre-
tations. Then we compiled a rich description structured as four
themes.
Several validation strategies were used (Creswell, 2007). From
the beginning of the study we acknowledged our biases and articu-
lated reflexivity statements. We presented some of our analysis of
the data to members of a departmental research team to challenge
our interpretation of the participants’ meaning. We also provided
thick descriptions of the participants, site, and data collection and
analysis methods in order to make our research transparent and
increase transferability of findings across settings.
FINDINGS
The findings provide a rich description of the experiences of
non-native English speaking international students regarding lan-
guage, culture and identity. They are organized into four themes:
Mastering the language: You know you sound wrong, The meaning
of language proficiency: English is alive, Language and academic
identity: I feel I’m in-between, and Joining a new community of prac-
tice: You have to start all over again. Supporting excerpts from the
interview transcripts are provided for each theme. These quotes are
referenced by participants’ pseudonyms and line numbers in the
original transcripts.
Theme 1 - Mastering the language: You know you sound wrong
The participants spoke extensively about how they experi-
enced the mechanics of communicating in English. They described
having initial difficulties in understanding spoken American Eng-
lish in general and the Southern accent specifically. The participants
were challenged by the diversity of accents even within the univer-
sity setting, accounted for by the diverse national and international
student and faculty population. The linguistic diversity was unex-
pected for some of them as English training in their home countries
emphasized written skills over speaking ability. In addition, their
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exposure to native spoken English was limited in their countries of
origin. However, some of the participants did not lack exposure but
still found it difficult to understand previously unheard accents.
Several participants spoke explicitly about the difficulty of making
sense of different accents:
… it was hard, when I first time came to New York City [port
of entrance in the country] and I started to see that people actu-
ally cannot speak Russian, I finally realized that “OK, now I’m
going to be in trouble” and that was really hard time for me.
(Michael, 13-15)
They’re children, so they don’t speak as clearly as adults and
Southern accent mixed with the African-American accent – I
was completely lost – the kids would talk to me, I wouldn’t
understand a single word. It was terrible! (Josh, 176-181)
The experience of the first few months also included mutu-
al interference of the two linguistic systems: native language and
English. The participants reported constructing sentences in Eng-
lish using the grammatical structure of their native language and
vice versa. For example, one of the participants described:
I’m talking with my family over the phone in Portuguese and
I’ve been speaking English all the time and then you go talk to
them and you know you sound wrong. It’s something wrong
with your grammar structure ‘cause you use the English gram-
mar structure to Portuguese and that’s sounds wrong too. And
the opposite is also true: when I spoke Portuguese for a long
time and then I have to speak English again there is a weird
period. (Josh, 151-155)
These “contaminated” linguistic constructions were seen in
the larger context of language switching which was perceived by
the participants as more common at the beginning of their time in
the United States. The language switch was experienced by these
participants as a type of bridging process between the areas of
their brains that they perceived in charge of each linguistic system.
Participants used expressions such as “my brain was just Turkish,
communicating Turkish with me” (Eliza, 18-19) or “it’s hard to get
your brain to work in Portuguese again” (Josh, 147), perhaps as
metaphors reflecting the difficulty of the process.
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Language and Academic Identity:A Study of the
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The international students were hindered from expressing
their feelings in English. Although proficient in English, they per-
ceived their vocabulary as limited when having to communicate
the whole palette of human emotions and feelings:
I don’t know; it’s quite difficult when you’re trying to express
your feelings or your thoughts in another language. It’s al-
ways difficult … I think the problem is, since we are not native
speakers, we don’t know which word is describing best what
we think. We are choosing some words but we don’t know
which one is the perfect thing for us … (Eliza, 62-66)
Moreover, a similar phenomenon was experienced at times in
the process of communicating ideas and knowledge. They felt re-
strained by their English ability to identify the words and expres-
sions that would best convey the meaning they intended to trans-
mit. They described the impediment of selecting appropriate words
as resulting in “over-explanations” which they defined as using
more words than necessary to make their point. One participant
shared:
I get frustrated when I’m talking to my advisor and my pro-
fessors about research and I can’t get a point across. It’s very
frustrating ‘cause you know what’re talking about and it’s a
very interesting idea but I have to go around … I feel that I’m
using way more words than I should be and try to explain …
and then you over-explain it … (Josh, 84-87)
In combination with feeling hindered in expressing thoughts
in English, one of the participants emphasized the complete free-
dom of expression in his native language:
I’m always making mistakes [in English], grammar mistakes
and pronunciation mistakes. And when I catch those mistakes
I sort of try to go back and say the word again or something
like that, but I don’t need to do that in Spanish, of course. So,
that feels really good. That’s the feeling of freedom. (Ricardo,
205-207)
Although they reported communicating with fellow compa-
triots almost exclusively in their native language, the participants
acknowledged that using their native language did not help them
further develop their English vocabulary. Moreover, they talked
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about suppressing communication in their native language and
contact with their home country as a strategy to improve English
speaking proficiency. Ben shared:
… we use Chinese. This is a bad thing and also a good thing.
When we use Chinese it makes us, you know, not feel strangers
in this country. But it makes us to take longer time to learn this
language. (Ben, 16-19)
In summary, these participants’ language experiences includ-
ed the challenge of understanding diverse English accents, switch-
ing between two languages to make meaning, and the reduced abil-
ity to express feelings and thoughts in English.
Theme 2 - The meaning of language pro ciency: English is alive
Findings in this theme were organized into two sub-themes:
Barrier and channel of access, and Game and reality to reflect the par-
ticipants’ perception of the meaning of language proficiency.
Sub-theme 1: Barrier and channel of access
The participants perceived English as both a barrier and a
channel of access to academic success. As a barrier, English hin-
dered their expression and threatened their self-esteem. Some of
the participants had difficulties expressing their feelings, ideas and
knowledge due to limited English vocabulary. Michael’s metaphor
speaks of the deep impact of his perceived linguistic limitations:
It’s bad because when you have such a feeling – that you’re a
stupid person – it just incredibly reduces your angle and you
really feel like a small person, like a mouse in the church …
Well, that’s really embarrassing … (Michael, 124-126)
Josh shared a similar experience:
… after a while it’s frustrating … when you try to communicate
in terms of academics … and people think you don’t know the
topic just because you don’t know the words. (Josh, 214-215)
In the academic setting they felt that they were not able to fully
participate in class discussions, finding it difficult to select appro-
priate words in order to address questions. As a consequence they
were initially perceived by instructors and peers as unknowledge-
able and non-legitimate contributors to the learning community.
One of the participants talked about this experience:
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Language and Academic Identity:A Study of the
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…you start to ask a question and you can hardly finish it be-
cause you feel that pressure of other guys who look at you and
the professor himself does not understand your accent. (Mi-
chael, 210-212)
Michael placed a stronger emphasis on the hindering effect of
using English by using the word “handicapped” to point out the
potential this barrier had to endanger his academic success.
I don’t wanna feel that bad feeling of being some kind of handi-
capped [person]. (Michael, 213)
At the same time, Michael revealed a proactive attitude in
talking about English as a barrier. He spoke about fighting his fears
to make his voice heard in class. He did engage the instructors in
dialogue by asking questions.
English was also seen as a channel of access to other cultures,
American and those of other international students. Accessing
other cultures by speaking English was seen as a source of learn-
ing and self-development. English gave them access not only to the
American culture but to cultures represented by other international
students with whom they engaged in conversations. Apparently,
perceiving English as access to learning was a subsequent phase to
perceiving English as barrier in the international students’ experi-
ence. English as a channel of access is illustrated by the following
excerpt:
So, when I came here … I saw the campus, I saw the people
… who are actually interested in your experiences being a citi-
zen of another country. They were really interested in general
conversation and they would ask you some things; you would
share and you’d actually like to talk about … (Michael, 156-159)
Thus, the participants perceived speaking English as a barrier
when they did not have the vocabulary and proficiency to express
their feelings, thoughts and knowledge. At the same time, English
facilitated their access to learning and self-development. The next
sub-theme highlights the experience of learning English as foreign
language.
Sub-theme 2: Game and reality
English spoken in the United States revealed itself to the inter-
national students as “real” and “alive”. This contrasted with their
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HALIC, GREENBERG, PAULUS
perception of English as a foreign, un-real or even “game-like” lan-
guage when spoken in their home countries. This perception seems
to be connected with the idea that their native language acted as a
safety net upon which the students could rely when “something
went wrong” with English. Michael described the experience of
English as a game:
… when you learn [English] in other countries you think that
it’s just some kind of game, not real. And you come here and
people don’t sometimes follow the grammar … their informal
language would confuse you ‘cause you don’t know what
they’re talking about. (Michael, 72-76)
Ben shared his perception of English as being “real” in the U.S.:
English is alive … you are using it in normal life. Every experi-
ence is a new experience and maybe if you review this experi-
ence you are familiar with it when you meet it next time. (Ben,
126-128)
Justin, the participant from South Korea, shared a similar ex-
perience of English becoming meaningful only when spoken in an
English speaking country. Moreover when examined against the
background of “real” English, defined as English spoken by native
speakers, his own linguistic production in English felt non-authen-
tic.
My own English expression is not American English, right? I
can make my own sentence in English but it’s not like real Eng-
lish expression. (Justin, 24-25)
The transition from “game-like” English to “real” English
happened concomitantly with recognizing that their position in
the new setting had changed. They could not afford any longer to
“play” with English as a foreign language; they realized that it had
become part of their new identity.
Theme 3 - Language and academic identity: I feel I’m in-between
Spontaneous comparisons with the “home” culture, which
came up frequently during the interviews, revealed that interna-
tional students made meaning of their experience in the American
university by referring to their familiar educational system. The
characteristics of the American educational system stood out for
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Language and Academic Identity:A Study of the
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them as they tried to negotiate the meaning of their new identity.
As they navigated the intricacies of the new reality, “back home”
became a frame of reference that seemed to provide a state of bal-
ance.
What stood out for them in this comparison were the discrep-
ancies between the two cultures. Some of the participants talked
about their new status quo as a “between the worlds” experience
(Eliza), in which they appropriated only parts of the American cul-
ture rather than being fully engaged. At the same time, they criti-
cally evaluated their home culture and progressively renounced be-
liefs that they no longer valued. Eliza described the feeling of being
caught between the two cultures:
I think I miss everything about my country. But sometimes
when I go back I feel like I’m in between, I don’t know. There
are things that I prefer here, there are things that I prefer there…
but emotionally I feel closer to where I was born. (Eliza, 108-
110)
The participants constructed their new identities by position-
ing themselves within the American culture. Some of them posi-
tioned themselves as international students while others as foreign-
er or strangers. Ben, a Chinese student, spoke of himself and other
international students as foreigners:
Maybe sometimes asking people feels difficult and they won’t
like to speak to a foreign student. If you talk to American stu-
dents or foreign students it feels very easy to do this. (Ben, 163-
165)
Ricardo, a student from Venezuela, also identified himself as
a foreigner:
When I go to the university they usually know that I am for-
eigner and they try to speak slow (Ricardo, 48-49)
In this context, for some of the participants building relation-
ships with Americans was more difficult than connecting with their
compatriots or other international students. Eliza shared her per-
ceptions of this process:
But here [in the U.S.] people … have this personal space.
They’re nice and they’re polite, but they have this personal
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HALIC, GREENBERG, PAULUS
space so you cannot approach them, you cannot build a foun-
dation of a relationship very easily… But in my country with
our people it’s so easy. (Eliza, 99-102)
Ricardo shared a similar perspective:
I just knew this Colombian guy and two days after that I was
making jokes; it was like I knew him for ten years or some-
thing like that. And I didn’t find one single American guy with
whom I feel that way. (Ricardo, 238-240)
In building rapport with Americans several participants ex-
perienced anxiety when talking to native English speakers. This
experience seems to be connected to their self-confidence in using
English and their own perceptions of personal language proficien-
cy. Eliza talked about feeling under the spotlight when speaking to
native English speakers:
If I talk to a foreigner I feel much more confident with my lan-
guage because even if it’s wrong that person will understand
me… But when I’m talking to an American I feel like I’m saying
wrong things and they’re going to judge me … (Eliza, 214-216)
Moreover, some of the participants expressed an ambivalent
attitude towards their own language skills. They experienced posi-
tive feelings when they had clear ideas to share and a good under-
standing of the topic. In turn, they had negative feelings when they
lacked the vocabulary to share their ideas or when they did not
have a clear opinion to express.
The identities of the participants were shaped by the new roles
they had to perform. For some of the participants, teaching respon-
sibilities required them to position themselves differently as teach-
ers. This formal role created anxiety about their speaking abilities
in the beginning and interfered with their self-concept. One of the
participants talked about her teaching experience:
… if I don’t feel confident and if students are laughing and
make you feel bad about yourself … maybe they’re not laugh-
ing at you but you always have those insecurities about your
language because of your pronunciation… (Eliza, 201-204)
Thus, teaching as public speaking exposed their insecurity
with spoken English. Depending upon its perceived success or fail-
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Language and Academic Identity:A Study of the
Experiences of Non-Native English Speaking International Students
ure, teaching either boosted or decreased their self-confidence as re-
lated to their speaking abilities. On the other hand, they perceived
their English as more proficient when they were confident about it.
Theme 4 - Joining a new community of practice: You have to start
all over again
An important part of the effort that these international stu-
dents invested into their new academic programs was “rebuilding
their reputation” and regaining expertise. One of the participants
shared:
So there is this feeling that you have to start all over again and
build your reputation all over again (Josh, 30-31).
Another participant spoke about the urge to prove herself and
demonstrate her competence in the new graduate program: “Some-
times I still feel, when I face my advisor, I still feel a little afraid
of, ‘cause I try to be better” (Tanya, 20-21). However this became
a challenging process for the international students whose efforts
were neutralized by their struggle with oral and written expression
in English.
The perceived need of international students to prove them-
selves was doubled by a perceived loss of the academic expertise
that they had acquired in their country of origin. Josh talked about
being a very knowledgeable student in his home country and feel-
ing reduced to a novice level in his new academic program:
Back in Brazil I’m really good at writing; I write really fast. But
I was working on this exam, and the exam was not difficult; but
getting the words organized in a different language, in a topic
that’s new - it took me forever to finish the exam. Usually I was
the first to leave the classroom when I was working on an exam
or anything like that, just write it down and turn it in, but here
[American university] I was the last one to leave. (Josh, 50-54).
The participants revealed that difficulties in oral expression
demoted them from an expert position in their home country to a
novice position in the United States, which caused them deep frus-
tration as voiced by the following participants:
… talking to people you want to show that you’re not that stu-
pid - it’s just language. And that’s why every time you cannot
do something that you should, you feel that they will not be-
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HALIC, GREENBERG, PAULUS
lieve that I’m smart. (Michael, 139-142)
I had the impression that the people were kinda looking down
on me saying “This guy is not as smart as he looked in his ap-
plication.” On my application I was really good. I had several
articles published, book chapters … So I guess my professors
… expected this genius guy … and they didn’t see it ‘cause I
didn’t have the words to show them. So it’s kind of frustrating
… (Josh, 265-270)
In addition, the participants felt initially restrained from fully
accessing the academic community. They were perceived by in-
structors and peers as unknowledgeable and non-legitimate con-
tributors of the learning community. English language proficiency
and differences in home academic culture were pointed out to be
responsible for such. Combined with a feeling of “not living up to
their own expectations”, this translated into deeper frustrations.
DISCUSSION
By employing phenomenological interviews, this study pro-
vided insights into the perceptions of international graduate stu-
dents regarding their identity as a non-native speaker in an Ameri-
can graduate program. The participants acknowledged the essential
role language proficiency played in their academic identity. As they
moved between the two linguistic systems – that of their native lan-
guage and that of English - their identities were reshaped. Specifi-
cally, two constructs related to identity were affected: self-esteem
and confidence. In this process they seem to experience a loss of
personal coherence through feelings of ambivalence towards their
English proficiency, anxiety in speaking to native English speakers,
and even doubting their cognitive/ intellectual abilities and value
as a person.
Michael’s statement was especially powerful in expressing
the extent to which his identity was affected at the deepest levels.
He talked about feeling limited by his English vocabulary to ex-
press even simple thoughts, which he described as having a nega-
tive effect on his self-esteem. He simultaneously felt restricted
and keenly aware that others might perceive him as an “unintel-
ligent” person due to limited English proficiency. In a study of the
non-native English speaking students’ experiences in group work
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Language and Academic Identity:A Study of the
Experiences of Non-Native English Speaking International Students
across the curriculum Leki (2001) found that American students
associated limited English proficiency with intellectual incapacity,
consciously or not positioning international/bilingual students as
less capable. The international students in this current research felt
undermined in their self-esteem due to linguistic limitations. How-
ever, they did not explicitly talk about feeling positioned by the
American students as less valuable or less capable contributors of
the learning community. There was self-awareness of linguistic lim-
itations but not necessarily determined by the negative projections
of the American classmates. Some of the findings in this research
resonate with the participants’ experiences in Heinz’s (2001) study.
Bilingual/ multilingual participants in this study compared their
experience of being limited when using English with walking on a
“narrow path” (p.95). However, although Heinz’s participants did
share a feeling of insecurity when using the second language, they
did not talk about such dramatic effects on their self-esteem as the
participants in this study did. This difference might be explained
by the fresher experience with English of these participants as com-
pared to those in Heinz’s study, who had used English for three to
26 years. The participants in this study, in contrast, had been using
English for no more than three years.
As these students assumed a variety of roles in the context of
their graduate studies (i.e., student, researcher, graduate teaching
assistant), each required them to engage in new and different com-
munities of practice. In these roles their confidence in using English
was challenged. Teaching responsibilities involving a form of pub-
lic speaking in front of a student audience had a double impact on
the participants’ self-confidence. Their self-confidence with English
decreased when they perceived a negative response from the audi-
ence, while a perceived positive attitude boosted their self-confi-
dence. Similar aspects of the experiences of international students
were discussed by Perrucci and Hu (1995). They acknowledged the
pressure on international students who taught and were expected
to demonstrate high English proficiency from the beginning of their
studies. These authors proposed that universities support the ad-
vancement of their international students’ language skills through
programs specifically designed for them.
Lave and Wenger’s (1991) concept of legitimate peripheral
participation is useful for framing the international students’ expe-
riences within the academic community. Lave and Wenger defined
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HALIC, GREENBERG, PAULUS
learning as participation in a community of practice. The newcom-
ers (novices) engaged in a process of change by interacting with
old-timers (experts) within the community of practice. Upon their
entrance in the community, the newcomers were not full partici-
pants. In order to reach full participation, the newcomers had to
move from the periphery of the community towards its center. The
findings of this study showed that the international students tra-
versed the circular motion described by Lave and Wenger (1991) as
they became members of the new academic community of practice.
The process they faced was complex due to the regressive move-
ment they experienced by leaving a community of practice in their
country of origin, in which they had been full participants.
The legitimate peripheral participation framework can be
used to explain the participants’ experience with academics as well
as with language. The English speaking world in which the inter-
national students lived and studied can be viewed as a community
of practice in terms of language. As newcomers, they engaged in
this community with native English speakers who could be consid-
ered old-timers. Progressively they moved towards full participa-
tion which was reached at the point they developed a native-like
English proficiency.
At a relational level, the participants contrasted their ability
to build relationships with Americans on one hand, and compatri-
ots or other international students on the other hand. Building rap-
port with U.S. nationals was considered by some of the participants
more difficult as they perceived a certain distance being maintained
by the U.S. nationals. Although not shared by all the participants,
this perception corroborates Lee and Rice’s (2007) findings which
indicated that some of the international students in their study per-
ceived an individualist attitude and lack of interest for classroom
interaction on behalf of their American classmates. However, cul-
tural differences between the American culture and the national one
may account for such perceptions. International students coming
from a culture which values closer and tighter relationships with
other individuals might perceive the members of another culture
who do not share the same values as distant and needing privacy
in their lives. Independent of the explanation, those students who
experienced difficulties in establishing friendships with Americans
also talked about grouping together with compatriots or other in-
ternational students. This is again consistent with Lee and Rice’s
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Language and Academic Identity:A Study of the
Experiences of Non-Native English Speaking International Students
(2007) findings.
Moreover, Ricardo, a student from Venezuela talked about
international students forming a subculture as they preferred get-
ting together with other international students. This finding is also
similar to the Paulus, Bichelmeyer, Malopinsky, Pereira and Ras-
togi’s (2005) case study of group dynamics and power distance in
teams comprised of graduate students from different countries.
The team of international graduate students “created what it called
an American culture for international students where everyone’s
voice could be heard” (p. 53). The international students felt greater
cohesion working with other international students and less cohe-
sion working with American students. Participants in that study re-
ported that Americans “were not patient enough to listen to [their]
contribution”, “go through materials very quickly, making it diffi-
cult to keep up” and “assume leadership and hold decision-making
power by default of being American” (p. 52).
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
The purpose of this study was to explore in-depth the ex-
periences of non-native English speaking international graduate
students regarding language, culture and academic identity as they
joined an academic community and adjusted to the host society.
Our participants, regardless of country of origin and native lan-
guage, shared more similar perceptions than differences regarding
language, American culture, and academic identity.
Findings revealed that the participants perceived English
as both a barrier and a channel of access. All the participants de-
scribed their difficulties in expressing feelings, ideas and knowl-
edge; they also described their negative attitudes and challenges to
self-esteem, which they related to their foreign language difficul-
ties. The participants acknowledged that it was difficult at the be-
ginning to fully participate in class discussions due to their reduced
ability to verbalize thoughts and express pre-existent knowledge in
English. Moreover, they were concerned that peers and instructors
might perceive them as lacking the knowledge and cognitive abili-
ties to be legitimate contributors in the learning environment and
wished there was some way to safely find out the perceptions of
native speaking students and instructors.
These findings point to the need for educators who work
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HALIC, GREENBERG, PAULUS
with non-native English speaking international students to ad-
dress not just the academic but also relational and affective issues
of these students. This can best be accomplished through use of
learner-centered instructional design through which international
students can participate in learning communities that provide a
safe environment for practicing English, the structure needed to
encourage the building of relationships, and where self-assessment
is incorporated into coursework and also enhances the instructors’
understanding of these students’ needs (Blumberg, 2009). In addi-
tion, international students’ participation in research and graduate
teaching assistantships can be enhanced when supervisors create
a learning community where relationships are valued and the en-
vironment centers on learning for all involved. Instructors and su-
pervisors need to become aware of the challenges that international
students may face, and create a class culture that fosters freedom
of expression, trust and mutual support. A climate that favors col-
laboration over competition and respects diversity is more likely
to help international students to adjust and contribute to their new
academic community. Regarded as a channel of access, the English
spoken by international students facilitates a diverse, multi-cultur-
al environment in which all students can benefit. Instructors should
capitalize on the international perspective of these students by en-
couraging the sharing of diverse cultural experiences. Shedding
light on how international students make meaning of their experi-
ence in the new academic program, this study can inform faculty
and campus administrators and can help improve their work with
the growing number of international students.
Further research, both qualitative and quantitative, should
explore the perceptions of instructors and peers regarding interna-
tional students’ contributions to the learning community. It would
also be helpful to examine the instructors’ perception of interna-
tional student participation, challenge and progress in terms of
using English for academic purposes. Observations of the role of
international students within formal and informal educational set-
tings, especially the resulting group dynamics would provide in-
sight necessary to enhance learning experiences for all participants
in settings that include non-native speaking international graduate
students.
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 
Language and Academic Identity:A Study of the
Experiences of Non-Native English Speaking International Students
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journal.indd 93journal.indd 93 7/27/2009 10:27:06 PM7/27/2009 10:27:06 PM
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... One particular challenge consists of students' doubting whether their non-western references or theorists could support their understanding of a specific subject. In other cases, non-native speakers feel othered, even in cases of language fluency (Halic, Greenberg and Paulus, 2009). These challenges are based on the dominant presence, often unconscious, of the canonical theories and theoreticians to which we are habituated as knowledge creation keepers. ...
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