Negotiating Language Contact and Identity Change in Developing Tibetan-English Bilingualism

Abstract

This article explores the identity struggles of a community of Tibetan refugee women in the Indian Himalayas whose educational program combines a traditional Buddhist philosophical curriculum in Tibetan alongside a modern, secular bilingual curriculum in English-Tibetan. Ethnographic and action research data illustrate how negotiations of meanings in multicultural, multilingual EFL/EIL contexts go well beyond mere linguistic features to include cultural and gender identity struggles. Five students serve as case studies to consider five alternative patterns of identity and language negotiations: rejection, assimilation, marginality, bicultural accommodation, and intercultural creativity. The author relates these cross-cultural identity negotiations to various gender identity stances. She concludes by recommending a program of inter-cultural language teaching to address the increasingly global context of English language teaching and learning.