Call me Fei

Chinese-speaking students’ decision whether or not to use English names in classroom interaction

Bibliographic Data

ID12112486
AuthorsSimon Cotterill (0000-0001-5136-390X, Birmingham City University, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume33
Issue3
Pages228-241
Publication date2019-05-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage Culture and Curriculum (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0790-8318 • E-ISSN: 1747-7573
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07908318.2019.1614598
OpenAlexW2944651193
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited17

Unlike other groups of international students, Chinese speakers’ use of English names while studying in English is an established norm. Relatively little discussion of the practice has taken place within recent literature, and less attention still has been paid to the minority of Chinese-speaking students who do not adopt English names. The choice of name used during classroom interaction is, though, both significant and meaningful, symbolising the social and cultural membership a person would like to evoke and impacting on student-teacher relationships. This article reports on a survey into the use of English names by Chinese speakers, which was completed by 330 Chinese-speaking students at UK universities – 255 of whom had adopted English names, 75 of whom had not. Survey responses reveal why and how decisions to/not to adopt English names are made. Interview data is then presented from discussions with eight Chinese-speaking students based in the UK who do not use English names. They explain why and describe their experiences of being a minority among Chinese-speakers studying in English

Linguistics · Mathematics education · Norm (philosophy · Political science · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Multilingual Education and Policy · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub