Interrelationship between linguistic identity, perception, psychological wellbeing and context

Abstract

The present era of globalization has witnessed the influence of use of global English between non-native and native speakers giving rise to a variety of accented speech. In this paper, it is argued that when these two groups interact through the medium of English, there is a sense of power attached to non-native interlocutors’ ability to communicate with culturally different others. Their sense of power appears to be influenced by their intrapersonal and interpersonal perceptions of the ability to speak English like a native, which mirrors how they want to present their face or identity when they socially and academically interact with culturally different others. Their intrapersonal and interpersonal perceptions of failure to communicate in English will in turn affect their psychological wellbeing. The argument is based on an empirical study, which was undertaken in an Australian context. Fifteen international postgraduate students from non-native English and culturally diverse backgrounds voluntarily participated in this study