English as a lingua franca in the international university: language experiences and perceptions among international students in multilingual Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

This paper presents findings of a qualitative inquiry into international students’ experiences and perceptions of their language use in an English-medium international university in multilingual Hong Kong, with particular attention to the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in relation to other languages. Based on data collected from in-depth interviews with a group of international students, the study found that the participants embraced a pluralistic conceptualisation of ELF. While they emphasised the importance of ELF for their academic and social integration in the university, the perceived resistance against the use of ELF by local students means that the language norms operating in the university cannot be pre-determined. It was also found that the participants expressed monolingual ideologies with respect to the use of ELF as a result of their concerns about social exclusion and linguistic disadvantage. Meanwhile, multilingual language practices and multilingual ideologies in relation to the use of ELF were also found in the participants’ accounts of language experiences and perceptions. The findings also point to the tensions arising from the language choice between ELF and the local language, as well as the co-existence of contradictory language ideologies concerning monolingualism/multilingualism in the international university context.

KEYWORDS:

• English as a lingua franca
• multilingualism
• international student
• Hong Kong
• international university

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 In 2015/2016, 16% of the Hong Kong’s university student population were from outside of Hong Kong, accounting for over 15,000 students (University Grants Committee, 2015).

2 The participants volunteered to participate in the present study by responding to an invitation letter (sent via email to all international students in the university).

3 Except for two participants who attended only the first interview (P23 and P24), twenty-two of the participants participated in all three rounds of interviews.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee [project number 23600416].