The 3rd Malaysia International Conference on Academic Strategies in English Language Teaching: Maximising ELT Potential for Diversity and Intelligibility.
December 15th to December 16th, The Saujana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Abstract for parallel paper presentation
This paper is based on an international effort that employed several research instruments to explore the language and identity link for young professionals in non-native English language settings in South East Asia. Nevertheless, in this paper, only data from two countries will be compared and contrasted namely Indonesia and Malaysia. To study how English impacts upon the construction of personal and professional identities of EFL and ESL speakers in these settings, a group of Indonesian and Malaysian young professionals were selected as participants. They comprise a select group of employees who are currently working in the media and media related industries who are proficient in the English language but who are also non-native speakers. All of the participants use English as the primary language in the workplace and they ‘own’ English as one of the languages in their repertoire of languages. The choice of media and media related industry is also a conscious one, given the fact that many media companies in South East Asian nations use English as their medium of internal communication. Results are presented in this empirical paper based on recurring themes and comments from the participants. Data indicates that the use of English by these young urban professionals have given them new opportunities for self expression and widened their views of the world around them but at the same time leading to a sense of being a stranger in their own backyards and having to mask their own identities with their family members and close friends.
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