Speaker
Description
This study adopts a Cultural Linguistics framework to explore how Vietnamese non-English major university students use translanguaging (Vietnamese and English) on social media (Facebook, TikTok) as a resource for identity construction. While current ESL policies in Vietnam emphasize real-life English use, little attention has been paid to learners’ cultural conceptualisations, including the cultural schemas, categories, and metaphors that underpin their out-of-school language practices. Drawing on data from self-reported social media posts and stimulated recall interviews with 10 non-English major students at Foreign Trade University – Ho Chi Minh City Campus, the study reveals three key findings: (1) students creatively blend English and Vietnamese to perform a hybrid cultural identity (e.g., switching to English when enacting “global” or “trendy” personas, switching to Vietnamese for “local” solidarity and sincerity); (2) translanguaging is governed by culturally specific schemas of appropriateness (e.g., using English for humorous boasting or emotional distance, but Vietnamese for empathy and genuine connection); and (3) these practices often challenge formal ESL classroom norms, suggesting a misalignment between curriculum ideologies and students’ cultural realities. The study argues for a culturally responsive ESL pedagogy that recognizes translanguaging not as deficit but as evidence of learners’ agentive cultural cognition. Implications for equity and inclusion are discussed, particularly for non-English major students whose digital translanguaging practices are often invisible in traditional assessment.
Keywords: cultural linguistics, translanguaging, Vietnamese non-English major students, identity, cultural conceptualisations, social media
