The identity of first-generation immigrant groups is a highly complex construct, evolving and changing in response to a host of social, psychological, and contextual factors. This paper explores how first-generation Chinese immigrants from mainland China position and negotiate themself in relation to the perceived sociocultural groups they…

This study investigated heritage language (HL) maintenance and ethnic identity among Korean heritage speakers in the Pacific region (Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii), an understudied population in the field. It focused on patterns of language use and factors (i.e. age at immigration (AI), self-rated language proficiency, and frequency of…

Aided by big-data technology and artificial intelligence, automated writing evaluation (AWE) systems aim to help students engage in self-regulated learning and improve their academic writing in the digital era. While much research on student engagement with AWE systems has been conducted in mainstream classrooms, little attention has been paid to…

Despite evidence of the acculturation benefits of social media engagement with mainstream culture, there is limited understanding of what motivates or demotivates ethnic minorities' social media engagement with mainstream culture. Adopting the theoretical construct of investment, this study interviewed 31 ethnic minority secondary school students…

This study examined proficiency levels and attitudes of main languages in use among ethnic minority students in Hong Kong. We surveyed 260 students from primary and secondary schools with English as the medium of instruction. They were multilingual speakers who were proficient in spoken English and Cantonese. Our results revealed asymmetric and…

This study sheds light on the socio-economic factors determining the (re)location of sociolinguistic prestige in postcolonial environments. It uses the case of Namibia, an ethnolinguistically diverse African country that replaced Afrikaans -- an established lingua franca -- with English as its official language to weaken the hold of the formerly…

This is a pilot study on the relationship between speaking Irish and belonging, with a focus on Irish-speakers of diverse ethnicities and/or nationalities in Ireland. The research includes twelve respondents with diverse backgrounds in terms of nationality and/or ethnicity. We examine whether the language gives them a sense of belonging to…

The current study longitudinally investigated the relationships between Korean tertiary-level students' English names adopted and used at their teacher's request, and native speakerism, identity, and emotions. Thirteen graduate students enrolled in an English-medium course and their Korean teacher participated in the study. The research…

In the British region of Cornwall, state intervention in long-standing practices of the translation of music lyrics for song competitions has created major shifts, including remarkable competitive successes. Proponents of the Kernewek (Cornish) Language have long used translated musical lyrics as a tool for language revival, especially in annual…

This paper explores the "multilingual lived experience" (MLE) of four Mongol-Chinese individuals. This lived experience is set in the multilingual context of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) of China. Compared to the ethnic majority Han people, who are Mandarin (Putonghua) speakers, and who study English as a L2, Inner…

Nuosu script, a unique character-based script with a long history, permeates the public spaces of Xichang, the capital of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China. Using interviews, photos, observations, and documents, this qualitative study discovers the uses and meanings of Nuosu script in the linguistic landscape (LL). The…

Contrary to earlier studies dealing with the cultural identity development of diasporic minorities, this paper assesses the impact of homogeneity on intra-group cohesion and ethnic orientation. To this end, Oromo-Americans, an ethnic group originally located within the national borders of Ethiopia, will be compared to Armenian-Americans,…

Despite growing attention paid to the language ideologies of teachers as actors in bilingualism or multilingualism studies, little research has examined whether and how power dynamics between majority and minority languages play a role in the promulgation of a majority language to ethnic minority learners of that majority language. This paper…

This article examines how Russian speakers in Ireland delimit and describe (their/the) Russian language in relation to representations of standard Russian. It is based on analysis of discussions conducted between speakers of Russian living in Ireland, facilitated by the Our Languages (2008-2011) research project, investigating multilingualism and…

This paper focuses on the linguistic evolution of the Tianjin speech community in Sabah, Malaysia. From the perspective of restructuring of speech community, the paper integrates both micro and macro levels of language change into the analysis. Several methods were adopted in this study. Interviews were conducted with community leaders and various…