Accent and identity: Exploring the perceptions among bilingual speakers of English as a lingua franca in Hong Kong

Accent and identity: Exploring the perceptions among bilingual speakers of English as a lingua franca in Hong Kong

• Sung, Matthew Chit Cheung Dept. of English, Lingnan University

International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 17(5), 544-557, 2014

Routledge

2014

• F Learning & Teaching
  • FE Medium of Instruction, Language of Teaching, Bi-& Multilingual Education, Problems of Bilingualism, Code-mixing & Code-switching

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

This paper reports on a study that investigated the perceptions of a group of bilingual speakers of English and Chinese in Hong Kong concerning issues surrounding accent, identity and English as a lingua franca (ELF). Data were primarily collected via in-depth interviews with 28 university students in Hong Kong who are also regular users of English in lingua franca contexts. The analysis shows that the participants' perceptions of their preferred identities as speakers of English in ELF settings in relation to accent were varied and complex. Among the participants who preferred to use a local accent of English, their preference was not necessarily motivated by the need for expressing their lingua-cultural identity, but primarily by pragmatic considerations. It was also found that some participants' desire to speak English with a native-like accent was associated with their wish to present a positive identity or self-image as bilingual speakers of English. The paper calls for the need to recognize the role of individual variations in accent preferences for identity construction in ELF.
[Copyright of International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2013.837861]

• English

Journal Articles

• 13670050

• 10.1080/13670050.2013.837861

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/52bcb952

2014-10-28