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Article published In:
Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 46:1 (2023) ► pp.54–75

Understanding the translingual practices among international students in multilingual cities

ORCID logo | Macquarie University
ORCID logo | Macquarie University
ORCID logo | Macquarie University

The impact of global mobility and technology innovations on urban linguistic diversity poses a key challenge to understand how and to what extent international students are immersed in the target language. Such diversity of languages and modes of communication has pointed to a fundamental transformation in the way that international students interact with both online and offline resources. The translingual practices of Chinese international students presented in this study suggest that, instead of being a language learner in an English-dominant country, these students make use of but go beyond their full repertoires to conduct various online and offline activities when living in a translanguaging space. An evaluation of both online and offline practices demonstrates how their online translingual practices were merged into offline contexts, to create opportunities for learning and social engagement. Understanding international students’ experience with both online and offline resources provides useful insights into the translingual practices and processes adopted by them when living and studying in a multilingual city.

Keywords: international students, translingual practice, Australia, New Zealand, technology, multilingualism, higher education
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Translingual practices
  • 3.Translingual practices with technology
  • 4.Sydney and Auckland: From multilingual to translingual cities
  • 5.International students in Australia and New Zealand cities
  • 6.The study
  • 7.Participant summary
  • 8.Data collection and analysis
  • 9.Results
    • 9.1Frequencies of first language (L1) and second language (L2) uses online
    • 9.2Translingual practices for learning and using English
    • 9.3Highly fluid and variable linguistic practices in online and offline spaces
  • 10.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 16 July 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.20070.yin
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