Jianwei Xu

Brussels is an officially French-Dutch bilingual city, yet in reality, it is profoundly and incre... more Brussels is an officially French-Dutch bilingual city, yet in reality, it is profoundly and increasingly multilingual. Earlier research on the linguistic situation in Brussels has predominantly focused on the competing dominant languages, resulting in very limited scholarly attention to smaller language communities. This paper addresses this blind spot by exploring the language repertoires, proficiencies and practices of members of the Chinese communities. Linking insights from language ecology to the study of language maintenance and shift, and informed by the questionnaire data, we discuss how the changing sociodemographic backgrounds of the participants affect the language maintenance and shift of the whole Chinese communities. Our results do not reveal a traditional pattern of shift toward the dominant majority languages, but rather hint at a community-level shift toward more complex multilingual repertoires with an increased role for English and Mandarin, in tune with Brussels’...

downloadDownload free PDF

Constructing interculturality through intercultural dialogues and autoethnography: building relations, nurturing preparedness and rejecting boundaries

Language and Intercultural Communication

This paper explores the role of a series of intercultural dialogues deployed as an intercultural ... more This paper explores the role of a series of intercultural dialogues deployed as an intercultural intervention in scaffolding the development of interculturality of Chinese international students and Belgian undergraduates. The data highlight the fundamentally dynamic dialogic nature and process of intercultural engagement whereby the individuals actively seek to relate and construct meanings collaboratively. Drawing on a constructivist approach to interculturality and employing ethnographic methods, we contend that the efforts to connect play a pivotal role in mediating the process of developing the knowledge of cultural practices and that of becoming willing and prepared to challenge the self and familiar tropes.

Constructing interculturality through intercultural dialogues and autoethnography: building relations, nurturing preparedness and rejecting boundaries

by Jianwei Xu and Maarten Gernay

Language and Intercultural Communication, 2022

Learner contribution to English language learning: Chinese research students' agency in transitional experiences in Australia

Higher Education Research and Development, 2012

This article examines the role of agency for the English language development of three Chinese re... more This article examines the role of agency for the English language development of three Chinese research students with high English proficiency sojourning in Australia. The focus is on the various approaches the learners employed to strengthen their sense of confidence in their language use in Australia. The data were obtained through in-depth interviews and organized into case-study reports. The findings demonstrate that in transitioning into the Australian linguistic and cultural community, all the learners actively sought different English-mediated activities and experiences in order to build the confidence necessary for a successful transition. The differences in their choices of activities were intimately linked with what they historically saw and established as significant achievement goals in and through English. In maintaining that the students' agency was an extension of their fundamental desires and goals for learning, this article provides insights into how second-language (L2) learners gain participation in the target community and the salience of their historical learning goals for L2 use and overall L2 development.

format_quoteVariation in learners' agency affected their professional advancement and cultural enrichment while using English in Australia.format_quote

downloadDownload free PDF

English as a Lingua Franca in Flanders A study of university students' attitudes

English Text Construction, 2011

This article reports on a study that examines the attitudes of 69 Flemish university students tow... more This article reports on a study that examines the attitudes of 69 Flemish university students towards the emerging conceptualization of English as a lingua franca (ELF) on the basis of a questionnaire survey. Built on the notion of ELF as a functional term theorized on sociolinguistic grounds, this study seeks to understand the relation between ELF as a theoretical construct and ELF as a reality in the life of these language students through their experiences of engagement with English, both within and outside the academic community. The results show that the students have embraced some ideas of the ELF phenomenon on a macro level, but retain a strong belief in the native standard norm on a micro level.

downloadDownload free PDF

'Thousands in gold in a family count far less than a skill one possesses': Socializing cultural competence in Chinese heritage language learning

Multicultural Education Review, 2019

This paper examines the ways in which authentic conversation provides a sociocultural resource fo... more This paper examines the ways in which authentic conversation provides a sociocultural resource for developing the cultural competence of learners of Chinese as a heritage language in Australia. It draws upon language socialization as a theoretical framework to study the interconnected processes of linguistic and cultural learning in interactional discourse practices through an intergenerational, intercultural interaction model. In this model, local community resources were effectively utilized when older speakers of Chinese as their first language and English Chinese heritage learners were paired and conducted naturalistic conversations on school premises over a period between one or two years. Building on discourse analysis of the linguistic exchange between three pairs of interactants, we illustrate how the older speakers, that is, expert users, socialize the novice learners of Chinese into acquiring Chinese cultural knowledge through the related lexical items. Our analysis shows that this interaction model offers a promising route for heritage language education and proves particularly beneficial for developing socially and culturally competent members within minority communities.

format_quoteChinese has become Australia's largest community language, with over 40% more speakers than in 2011, according to the 2016 census.format_quote

downloadDownload free PDF

Language Maintenance and Shift in Highly Multilingual Ecologies

Journal of Chinese Overseas, 2022

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

downloadDownload free PDF

Second Language Learners and Their Self-confidence in Using English: A Social Constructive Perspective

The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 2011

Bio data Dr. Jianwei Xu holds a PhD in English language education from La Trobe University in Aus... more Bio data Dr. Jianwei Xu holds a PhD in English language education from La Trobe University in Australia and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Her major research interests are identity issues in learning English as a second/foreign language and intercultural communication.

format_quoteExternal and internal factors significantly influence learner self-confidence, highlighting power relations and established L2 identities.format_quote

downloadDownload free PDF

Before you go

Make your research this easy to find.

Create your free profile

Jianwei Xu

Uploads

Papers by Jianwei Xu

Log In