Yu-jung Chang | National Tsing Hua University (original) (raw)

Papers by Yu-jung Chang

English Teaching & Learning, 2024

This paper explores how Taiwan’s recent Bilingual 2030 policy—an initiative that endeavors to boo... more This paper explores how Taiwan’s recent Bilingual 2030 policy—an initiative that endeavors to boost Taiwanese citizens’ global competitiveness by strengthening their English proficiency—has been perceived and received by its intended subjects. Through the lens of Stance Theory (Du Bois, 2007), the paper analyzes position papers written by a group of Taiwanese university students on the bilingual policy to understand their evaluations of the policy, their self-positioning vis-à-vis their evaluations, and the possible language and social discourses shaping their (dis) alignment with the policy. This survey of students’ evaluations unveils the multiple positionings that the student-authors took when evaluating the policy, the diverse social and language discourses shaping their evaluations, and the dialogic nature of their stancetaking acts. Meanwhile, this opportunity to understand and evaluate the bilingual policy has allowed the students to critically reflect on the nuts and bolts of it and assess their stakes beyond the popular “English opens doors” refrain. Compared to the policymakers’ top-down imagination of the nation and its people, their responses to the policy articulate the multiplicity embodied in Taiwanese people’s linguistic and social realities and showcase a more complicated outlook for the nation in the globalizing world.

Language and Intercultural Communication, 2018

Taiwan Journal of TESOL, 2022

This paper examines the discursive construction of Taiwan's envisioned identity as a Mandarin-Eng... more This paper examines the discursive construction of Taiwan's envisioned identity as a Mandarin-English bilingual nation, encapsulated in its recent "2030 Bilingual Nation" policy. Through the lens of imagined community, this paper analyzes the blueprint for the policy to parse out the kinds of (international) ties the Taiwanese government is trying to forge for the nation and the role English plays in this top-down imagination. The findings highlight the dominance of English in the policy and show how these imagined national identities and bilingual strategies are constructed largely in relation to English as the language of the global economy. The analysis further identifies three prevalent discourses that help frame this top-down imagination, particularly the urgency for Taiwan to be English-proficient. Based on the findings, the paper warns against taking the value of English for granted, urges policy makers to take a critical and practical stance on the promotion of English, and provides implications for future research.

Applied Linguistics, 2010

Since the mid-20th century, graduate schools in the USA have witnessed a growing participation of... more Since the mid-20th century, graduate schools in the USA have witnessed a growing participation of international students, many of whom do not speak English as their first language. Previous research has often portrayed non-native-English-speaking (NNES) students in US doctoral programs as disadvantaged because of the presumed primacy of English in their academic pursuits. This study examines NNES doctoral students’ participation in US academia, and in doing so, challenges this assumption. Drawing on the concepts of communities of practice (Lave and Wenger 1991; Lave 1996; Wenger 1998) and capital (Bourdieu 1977, 1991), the study analyzes how linguistic competence plays out in NNES students’ participation in three different disciplines. We argue that language competence as cultural capital does not have the same value across different disciplines and may not always be critical to NNES students’academic success. Furthermore, despite their keen awareness of their differences from their native-speaking counterparts, the NNES doctoral students in this study had other forms of cultural capital with which they claimed legitimacy and recognition in their disciplinary communities.

Language and intercultural communication , 2019

International Journal of Computer Assisted Language Learning and Teaching

Language Learning & Technology, 2012

Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2011

The growing participation of nonnative English-speaking (NNES) international students in English-... more The growing participation of nonnative English-speaking (NNES) international students in English-speaking graduate schools has prompted scholars to explore the different challenges (i.e., linguistic, social, and financial) that complicate these students' academic pursuits. The analyses offered by previous studies have often focused on students' present academic participation without taking their personal histories and aspirations into consideration. Through the lens of investment, which highlights learner agency and imagined communities (Kanno & Norton, 2003; Norton, 2000; Norton Peirce, 1995), this study examines how the academic/professional backgrounds and aspirations of two NNES doctoral students have affected their selections in learning investment in the present academic community. The findings demonstrate that their academic paths are individualized by their trajectories before, during, and after their doctoral studies. Moreover, rather than trying to avoid or overcome all possible barriers brought along by being NNES and international, the students are able to exert their own agency to selectively invest in areas that would most likely increase their market value in their current and envisioned future communities.

Applied Linguistics, 2010

English Teaching & Learning, 2024

This paper explores how Taiwan’s recent Bilingual 2030 policy—an initiative that endeavors to boo... more This paper explores how Taiwan’s recent Bilingual 2030 policy—an initiative that endeavors to boost Taiwanese citizens’ global competitiveness by strengthening their English proficiency—has been perceived and received by its intended subjects. Through the lens of Stance Theory (Du Bois, 2007), the paper analyzes position papers written by a group of Taiwanese university students on the bilingual policy to understand their evaluations of the policy, their self-positioning vis-à-vis their evaluations, and the possible language and social discourses shaping their (dis) alignment with the policy. This survey of students’ evaluations unveils the multiple positionings that the student-authors took when evaluating the policy, the diverse social and language discourses shaping their evaluations, and the dialogic nature of their stancetaking acts. Meanwhile, this opportunity to understand and evaluate the bilingual policy has allowed the students to critically reflect on the nuts and bolts of it and assess their stakes beyond the popular “English opens doors” refrain. Compared to the policymakers’ top-down imagination of the nation and its people, their responses to the policy articulate the multiplicity embodied in Taiwanese people’s linguistic and social realities and showcase a more complicated outlook for the nation in the globalizing world.

Language and Intercultural Communication, 2018

Taiwan Journal of TESOL, 2022

This paper examines the discursive construction of Taiwan's envisioned identity as a Mandarin-Eng... more This paper examines the discursive construction of Taiwan's envisioned identity as a Mandarin-English bilingual nation, encapsulated in its recent "2030 Bilingual Nation" policy. Through the lens of imagined community, this paper analyzes the blueprint for the policy to parse out the kinds of (international) ties the Taiwanese government is trying to forge for the nation and the role English plays in this top-down imagination. The findings highlight the dominance of English in the policy and show how these imagined national identities and bilingual strategies are constructed largely in relation to English as the language of the global economy. The analysis further identifies three prevalent discourses that help frame this top-down imagination, particularly the urgency for Taiwan to be English-proficient. Based on the findings, the paper warns against taking the value of English for granted, urges policy makers to take a critical and practical stance on the promotion of English, and provides implications for future research.

Applied Linguistics, 2010

Since the mid-20th century, graduate schools in the USA have witnessed a growing participation of... more Since the mid-20th century, graduate schools in the USA have witnessed a growing participation of international students, many of whom do not speak English as their first language. Previous research has often portrayed non-native-English-speaking (NNES) students in US doctoral programs as disadvantaged because of the presumed primacy of English in their academic pursuits. This study examines NNES doctoral students’ participation in US academia, and in doing so, challenges this assumption. Drawing on the concepts of communities of practice (Lave and Wenger 1991; Lave 1996; Wenger 1998) and capital (Bourdieu 1977, 1991), the study analyzes how linguistic competence plays out in NNES students’ participation in three different disciplines. We argue that language competence as cultural capital does not have the same value across different disciplines and may not always be critical to NNES students’academic success. Furthermore, despite their keen awareness of their differences from their native-speaking counterparts, the NNES doctoral students in this study had other forms of cultural capital with which they claimed legitimacy and recognition in their disciplinary communities.

Language and intercultural communication , 2019

International Journal of Computer Assisted Language Learning and Teaching

Language Learning & Technology, 2012

Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2011

The growing participation of nonnative English-speaking (NNES) international students in English-... more The growing participation of nonnative English-speaking (NNES) international students in English-speaking graduate schools has prompted scholars to explore the different challenges (i.e., linguistic, social, and financial) that complicate these students' academic pursuits. The analyses offered by previous studies have often focused on students' present academic participation without taking their personal histories and aspirations into consideration. Through the lens of investment, which highlights learner agency and imagined communities (Kanno & Norton, 2003; Norton, 2000; Norton Peirce, 1995), this study examines how the academic/professional backgrounds and aspirations of two NNES doctoral students have affected their selections in learning investment in the present academic community. The findings demonstrate that their academic paths are individualized by their trajectories before, during, and after their doctoral studies. Moreover, rather than trying to avoid or overcome all possible barriers brought along by being NNES and international, the students are able to exert their own agency to selectively invest in areas that would most likely increase their market value in their current and envisioned future communities.

Applied Linguistics, 2010