THE “ALIEN” LANGUAGE

Interest, Identity and the “Ideal Self” Through English the “Alien” language

Interest, Identity and the “Ideal Self” Through English the “Alien” language

Introduction

English can be seen as the language of power, a language that endows its users with opportunities for educational and social advancements. And thus, it should come as no surprise that many are flocking to English language institutes whether they are learning it as a second or foreign language. One must remember, however, that “all languages carry within them a particular worldview and a particular culture” (Su Kim, 2003, p.156). This indicates that a language and its culture cannot be separated, and when teaching a foreign or second language one must remember that it involves more than the mere knowledge of “teaching approaches and pedagogy.

The English language has such great power and high statues in almost all the world, and there can be no denying of that fact. In fact, it is an official language in 52 countries and is used by the majority of countries as the language of diplomacy, business and technology. “English is now more commonly spoken as a second, rather than first, language by bilinguals and is used more frequently for intercultural communication between non-native speakers (NNS) than between native speakers (NS)”. In her study on English and its effects on a foreign language (FL) environment, Su- Kim (2003) states that “more people who speak English as a FL than the combined total of those who speak it as a 1st or 2nd language”.

Discussion

There have been a number of studies that try to shed light on what it is like to live in a hybrid world, where the target and native language meet and at some times collide in their differences (Xing Lu, 2001; Abu-Ali and Reisen, 1999); however, few have attempted to study the case of language and its role on identity development in EFL settings.

It is widely acknowledged that motivation plays a pivotal role in academic learning in general, and it is particularly true of the “sustained process of mastering an L2”. The relationships between language learning motivation and language proficiency have long attracted researchers' attention. Motivation determines how and why people learn and how they perform. Most students study English in order to pass the joint examination to enter into senior high or university. Such examination-oriented teaching and learning modes confine intrinsic motivation development and cultural immersion in the target language for the L2 learners. Although it is clear that EFL learners with full competence in two languages and cultures benefit from bilingualism, it is still not at all certain that how such social, lingual and cultural contexts could best help EFL learners develop a balanced-bilingual self-identity.

Many have shown the impact of language on identity, “identity constructs and is constructed by language” (Norton, 1997, p. 419), “identity is constituted through and by language” (Ricento, 2005, p. 895), “The language we acquire determines the way we construct our vision of the world” (Su Kim, 2003, ...