Informed by Bourdieu's conceptualisation of habitus and its relation with social class, this study explores the construction and negotiation of middle-class identity among a group of urban overseas returnees in China. Using ethnographic interviews and online observational data, the study found that participants built a compliant identity…

With the awareness of globalization, multilingual abilities have been encouraged, and parents seek bilingual education to provide their children with social prestige and economic advancement. However, in Korea, bilingual education reproduces and reinforces privileges of social status, prestige, and power. This research explores the ideologies of…

This qualitative study explores how migrant mothers strategised to construct new class identities and mobilise between different classed communities, and how the children aligned their linguistic practices with language policy, both at home and at the societal level. Drawing on the individual interviews and focus group, this study finds that,…

Language ideologies shape ways in which different learners' linguistic repertoires are positioned as resources or problems, with significant implications for educational access and equity. In Tanzania, tensions between the national language of Kiswahili and high-status English have given rise to two parallel schooling systems, while 130+ local…

On the island of Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands, the Engdewu language is facing imminent language shift because of the increasing use of the lingua franca Solomon Islands Pijin in the community. In this article, I argue that this language shift is occurring because of changes to the social structure in Baemawz, one of the villages where Engdewu…

Access to private tutoring, or shadow education, significantly contributes to the increasing disparities in the attainment of language learners from different family backgrounds worldwide. In ESL/EFL contexts, many students subscribe to English private tutoring (EPT) in hopes of getting good English results in high-stakes examinations to secure a…

This study explored South Korean university students' perceptions of different English varieties and their speakers, student attitudes towards the learning of English and its varieties, and the role of these attitudinal variables in the learning of English as a foreign language. One-hundred-one students who were enrolled in four sections of a…

China's diversity of minority groups, marked by many languages and cultures, has led to much push and pull experience between homogenising forces and indigenous cultures. This is apparent in its bilingual education programme for ethnic minorities, among which Korean diaspora communities are to be counted. Korean-Chinese people in China have been…

Learning outcomes are always the product of the interaction between individual learner agency and social structures. Recently concern has been expressed about unequal access to English, recognised as an important resource for social advancement, for rural populations in developing countries. This paper explores this issue by focusing on one…

This paper reports on a research study conducted in Mauritius between June and July 2009. The aim of this research was to investigate the use of Indian ancestral languages in the domestic domain by the younger generations. The data were collected in the field by means of a questionnaire and interviews from a quota sample of secondary school…

This study explores the language choice among Iranians in Sweden, both inside and outside the home domain. The data are collected from 188 participants through structured interviews and questionnaires. The results show that Persian is the main instrument of communication in the home domain between parents and children. However, some Swedish is…

In this paper, I propose that we need to develop an appropriate set of conceptual tools for examining motivational issues pertaining to linguistic diversity, mobility and social integration in a rapidly changing and expanding Europe. I begin by drawing on research that has begun to reframe the concept of integrative motivation in the context of…

Discusses the maintenance initiatives taken up by the Karelians, an indigenous Finno-Ugrian minority in Russia. Suggests that Karelian, despite its Russian influence, has preserved its basic structure and feasibility, and that future maintenance depends on active use. (Author/VWL)