Strengthening language capability through internationalizing education: autobiographical study of identity-adjusting by a Chinese doctoral candidate

Australia attracts more and more international students for study in this country. This calls for investigating the role of social and intellectual interactions in the second language acquisition (SLA) among students studying in Western Universities. A review of the research literature shows ambivalence in the process of SLA in target country and the factors that contribute to SLA outcomes. This paper focuses on the author’s own narratives about her language use and learning, and the processes of adjusting her identities in new academic and work communities.1 This study draws on Amartya Sen’s capability approach to interpret the SLA processes to explore the author’s choices for identityadjusting. This paper analyses evidence to indicate how an advanced second language learner actively draws on different choices she makes in the process of adjusting her identities in new social communities. It is argued that the amount and quality of interactional communication with native speakers, along with the learner’s identity-adjusting strategy, play a significant role in the SLA in the study abroad context. Introduction to research context It is a widely accepted that higher education is internationalizing.2 For many countries, higher education is now an important export sector with university campuses attracting international students from around the world. ‘Driven by advances in information and communication technologies and the growing hegemony of English as the world’s common language’,3 international students regard learning in developed country as one of the best ways to acquire a second language and understand its culture.4 International students are offered different levels and types of language input, opportunities for interactions and exposure to the target culture. Much empirical research has investigated how internationalizing education affects learners’ SLA. The positive aspect of developing language proficiency has been supported by a large number of studies.5 For instance, Davidson6 Learning foreign languages