Investigating The Social Practices and The Use of Language in a Multilingual and Multiethnic Context – A Case Study of Some International Undergraduate Students.

This study aims to contribute to current research on language socialization especially in multilingual settings. This study was carried out in an engineering and technological university in Malaysia. The majority of students in this university are Malaysians who represent a multilingual and multiethnic society. However, being an international private university in Malaysia, about 10% of the student population in this university comprise of international students from various countries such as Myanmar, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, South Africa, Egypt, Sudan and many others. The medium of instruction in this university is English and thus, it is expected that the lingua franca among the university students will be English. However, English is only a second or foreign language for both the international and Malaysian students. Thus, this study sets forth to investigate as to what extent the international students’ social practices in this university are supported by the different languages used within the university community. The data for this study was obtained through in-depth interviews. The researchers also employed a case study approach where the experiences of a small number of international students studying in this university were examined. By drawing on the experiences and social practices of these international students, the researchers explored not only the students’ social practices in relation to their use of languages, but also how the students’ attitudes and identities towards the various languages are constructed.