Translanguaging Identities and Ideologies: Creating Transnational Space Through Flexible Multilingual Practices Amongst Chinese University Students in the UK

TLDR: In this article, a group of Chinese university students who have chosen to create transnational and multilingual networks was analyzed through analysis of narrative data and ethnographic observations, exploring issues such as their socio-cultural identification processes, the interactions between their linguistic and political ideologies; their multilingual practices and what they have learned from being part of this new social space.

Abstract: There are thousands of ethnic Chinese students from very different backgrounds in British universities today, a fact that has not been fully appreciated or studied from an applied linguistics perspective. For example, there are third- or fourth-generation British-born Chinese; there are students from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore who have received whole or part of their primary and secondary education in Britain; and there are Chinese students who completed their schooling in their home countries. To add to the diversity of the Chinese student population, several distinctive varieties of Chinese are spoken as well as different varieties of English and other languages. In terms of their choice of language and social networks, the Chinese students have several options, including, for example, staying with their own language variety group (e.g. Cantonese, Mandarin); staying with their own region-of-origin group (e.g. British-born, Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong); and creating new transnational and multilingual groupings. This article focuses on a group of Chinese university students who have chosen to create transnational and multilingual networks. Through analysis of narrative data and ethnographic observations, we explore issues such as their socio-cultural identification processes, the interactions between their linguistic and political ideologies; their multilingual practices and what they have learned from being part of this new social space.

Full text

BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online
Li, Wei and Zhu, Hua (2013) Translanguaging identities: creating
transnational space through flexible multilingual practices amongst Chinese
university students in the UK. Applied Linguistics 34 (5), pp. 516-535. ISSN
0142-6001.
Downloaded from:
Usage Guidelines:
Please refer to usage guidelines at or alternatively
contact lib-eprints@bbk.ac.uk.

1
Citation information:
Li Wei and Zhu Hua (2013). Translanguaging identities: Creating transnational space through
flexible multilingual practices amongst Chinese university students in the UK. Applied Linguistics.
34 (5), 516-535.
Translanguaging identities and ideologies: Creating transnational space through flexible
multilingual practices amongst Chinese university students in the UK
Li Wei and Zhu Hua
Birkbeck College, University of London, 26 Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London, WC1B 5DQ,
UK
Email: Li Wei: li.wei@bbk.ac.uk and Zhu Hua: zhu.hua@bbk.ac.uk
Abstract:
There are thousands of ethnic Chinese students from very different backgrounds in
British universities today, a fact that has not been fully appreciated or studied from an applied
linguistics perspective. For example, there are third- or fourth-generation British-born Chinese;
there are students from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore who have received whole or
part of their primary and secondary education in Britain; and there are Chinese students who
completed their schooling in their home countries. To add to the diversity of the Chinese
student population, several distinctive varieties of Chinese are spoken as well as different
varieties of English and other languages. In terms of their choice of language and social networks,
the Chinese students have several options, including, for example, staying with their own
language variety group (e.g. Cantonese, Mandarin); staying with their own region-of-origin group
(e.g. British-born, Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong); and creating new transnational
and multilingual groupings. This article focuses on a group of Chinese university students who

2
have chosen to create transnational and multilingual networks. Through analysis of narrative data
and ethnographic observations, we explore issues such as their socio-cultural identification
processes, the interactions between their linguistic and political ideologies; their multilingual
practices and what they have learned from being part of this new social space.
Keywords: transnational, translanguaging, identity, multilingualism, Chinese, university
Introduction
There are thousands of ethnic Chinese students from very different backgrounds in
universities in the UK, a fact that has neither been fully appreciated nor systematically studied
from an applied linguistics perspective. Chinese students in UK universities are, to use a popular
term, a ‘superdiverse’ group. According to the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA),
67,325 students from China were registered on degree courses in UK universities in 2010-11.
These figures exclude Chinese students from other parts of the world, such as Taiwan and
Singapore, and the third- or fourth-generation British-born Chinese. Some of the Chinese
students have received whole or part of their primary and secondary education in the UK, while
others have completed their schooling in their home countries, or have studied in other countries
before they came to the UK for higher education. Hitherto little attention has been paid to how
their transnational experiences may impact on their everyday social interaction and identity
development.
For a significant number of university students in Britain, their everyday life is conducted
in languages other than English outside the classroom. Linguistically, several distinctive varieties
of Chinese are spoken amongst the Chinese students in UK universities, as well as different
varieties of English and other languages. For the Chinese students then, they have several
options, including, for example, staying with their own language variety group (e.g. Cantonese,

3
Mandarin); staying with their own region-of-origin group (e.g. British-born, Mainland Chinese,
Taiwanese, Hong Kong); and creating new transnational and multilingual groupings.
This article focuses on a group of Chinese university students in London who have
chosen to create transnational and multilingual networks with members of different personal
histories and prior experiences. Through analysis of narrative data and ethnographic
observations, we explore issues such as the students’ socio-cultural identification processes, the
interactions between their linguistic and political ideologies; their multilingual practices and what
they have learned from being part of this new social network. Theoretical and methodological
implications for the study of language contact, language ideology and language socialization will
be explored.
Transnationalism and transnational identities
Global-scale transnational migration which became a significant feature of the 20
th
century is continuing well into the new millennium. More and more people live their lives in
more than one place, often beyond national borders. And they are exposed to and following
diverse national and cultural traditions. Whilst the concept of transnationalism arose from the
field of political economics, looking in particular at the global reorganization of the production
process such as multinational corporations, it has also come to refer to increased global
transportation and telecommunication technologies, money and information flow, and scientific
cooperation, as well as population movement between two or more social spaces or locations.
The individuals involved in the process, or the transnationals, often develop meaningful ties to
more than one home country, blurring the congruence of social space and geographical space.
They challenge many long-held assumptions about membership, development, and equity (Levitt,
and Glick Schiller 2004; Smith 1998). To understand the lives of the transnationals requires an
analytic shift that entails letting go of methodological nationalism or the expectation that social
life logically and automatically takes place within the nation-state framework, and instead,

4
locating transnationals within the transnational social fields in which they may or may not be
embedded. Levitt (2001a, 2001b) argues that the transnational experience should be
conceptualised as taking place within social fields which contain institutions, organizations, and
experiences that generate categories of identity that are ascribed to or chosen by individuals or
groups. Individuals can be embedded in a social field but not identify with any label or cultural
politics associated with that field. Because they live within a social field, they have the potential
to act or identify with it at any particular time, though not all choose to do so. Different
ideologies and frames of reference therefore interact with each other.
The social field perspective on transnationalism as proposed by Levitt reveals the
difference between ways of being and ways of belonging. Glick Schiller (2004, 2010) defines ways of
being as the actual social relations and practices that individuals engage in rather than the
identities associated with their actions. In contrast, ways of belonging refers to practices that
signal or enact identities which demonstrate a conscious connection to a particular group.
Individuals who engage in transnational ways of being and ways of belonging take part in
transnational practices, but also actively identify with groups that span space. Ways of belonging
combine action and an awareness of the kind of identity that action signifies (see also Levitt and
Glick Schiller 2004). Transnational identity does not entail a loss or cutting-off of contact with
the individual’s country or culture of origin; far from it, as Green and Power (2005) argue, it is
enhanced by maintaining contacts with one’s roots. Conversely, one’s awareness of one’s cultural
heritage can be enhanced by the transnational experiences and interactions (see also van der Veer
1995; Shames 1997; Ong 1999; Ray 2003; Song 2003).
In this article, the term ‘transnational’ is used to refer to individuals whose life has been
materially affected by global and transnational processes. These include students who are from
China and other Chinese-speaking regions who are studying in the UK as well as those first- or
second-generation British-born Chinese. The latter group, together with first-generation

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions in this paper?

There are thousands of ethnic Chinese students from very different backgrounds in British universities today, a fact that has not been fully appreciated or studied from an applied linguistics perspective. This article focuses on a group of Chinese university students who 

Q2. What are the future works in this paper?

Their acts of translanguaging emphasize the fluidity and dynamics of their identities, which simultaneously evoke the past and point to the future. Future studies can look into the longer term effects of translanguaging on the language ideologies and general social attitudes of the young people. As argued elsewhere ( Li Wei 1998, 2005 ), they are not simply ‘ ‘ brought along ’ ’ by the participants of social interactions, but can be ‘ ‘ brought about ’ ’ through specific social practices including multilingual practices. But the most important transformation may be in the language ideologies of the young people. 

Q3. What is the purpose of the present study?

The present study emphasizes the capacity of language socialization in creating new social spaces and constructing transnational identities. 

Q4. What is the use of characters in the Hong Kong popular press?

The Hong Kong popular press uses a combination of traditional standard characters, specially invented characters, and alphabetic spelling to represent dialogues and colloquial expressions. 

Q5. How many Chinese students were registered on degree courses in the UK in 2010-11?

According to the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), 67,325 students from China were registered on degree courses in UK universities in 2010-11. 

Q6. What is the purpose of Moment Analysis?

Moment Analysis was proposed in the context of studying multilingual creativity in everyday social interaction, with an aim to redirect the focus of analytic attention for the search of frequent and regular patterns in linguistic behaviour to spur-of-the-moment creative actions that have both immediate and longterm consequences. 

Q7. What is the role of multilingualism in the exchanges between individuals of different origins?

Multilingualism plays an essential role in the interchanges between individuals of different origins and makes it possible for people who may not share cultural assumptions or values to (re)negotiate their relations and identities. 

Q8. What is the main task of the analysis?

From the analyst’s point of view, the principal task is focus on the way people articulate and position themselves in their metalanguaging, to detect any changes in the course of their self-reflection, themes and links that emerge from the narratives. 

Q9. What is the purpose of the analysis?

The analysis follows the framework of Moment Analysis (Li Wei 2011a), which focuses onthe creative actions of multilingual language users in social interaction. 

Q10. What is the definition of transnational experience?

Levitt (2001a, 2001b) argues that the transnational experience should be conceptualised as taking place within social fields which contain institutions, organizations, and experiences that generate categories of identity that are ascribed to or chosen by individuals or groups. 

Q11. What are the main groups of transnational students?

These include students who are from China and other Chinese-speaking regions who are studying in the UK as well as those first- or second-generation British-born Chinese.