ABSTRACT

Unlike other groups of international students, Chinese speakers’ use of English names while studying in English is an established norm. Relatively little discussion of the practice has taken place within recent literature, and less attention still has been paid to the minority of Chinese-speaking students who do not adopt English names. The choice of name used during classroom interaction is, though, both significant and meaningful, symbolising the social and cultural membership a person would like to evoke and impacting on student-teacher relationships. This article reports on a survey into the use of English names by Chinese speakers, which was completed by 330 Chinese-speaking students at UK universities – 255 of whom had adopted English names, 75 of whom had not. Survey responses reveal why and how decisions to/not to adopt English names are made. Interview data is then presented from discussions with eight Chinese-speaking students based in the UK who do not use English names. They explain why and describe their experiences of being a minority among Chinese-speakers studying in English.

摘要

与其他国际学生群体不同，讲中文的人在用英语学习时使用英文名称是一种既定的规范。在最近的文献中，关于这种做法的讨论相对较少，并且对少数不采用英文姓名的华语学生的关注也较少。但是，在课堂互动中使用的名字选择既有意义又有意义，象征着一个人想唤起的社会和文化成员身份，并影响着师生关系。本文报告了一项关于汉语使用者使用英语姓名的调查，该调查由英国大学的330名说中文的学生完成，其中有255名学生采用了英语名称，其中75名没有采用英语。调查反馈揭示了为什么以及如何决定是否采用英文名称。然后，通过与八名不使用英文姓名的英国华语学生的讨论，得出访谈数据。他们解释了原因并描述了自己在以英语学习的华语人士中成为少数群体的经历。