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Intercultural Experience and Identity pp 187–207Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Growing and Becoming: The Expanded Self

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on the impact of studying abroad on participants’ self-identity. The discussion will highlight how the participants interpreted their intercultural experiences in the UK and which issues they identified as significant to their self-definition. Bourdieuian concepts of habitus, capital and field will complement Giddens’ reflexive project of the self in interpreting the findings. Students’ narratives illustrate the various ways in which they negotiate the new intercultural field and forge their life trajectories. Significantly, these narratives move us away from the focus on student adaption to an exploration of agency and identity. The analysis suggests that the participants have actively dealt with the challenges of study abroad, accumulated various forms of capital and achieved personal growth and development.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “foreigner” in this book means non-Chinese students or non-Chinese.

  2. 2.

    The term “bilingual” refers to speakers who use two languages in their daily lives … regardless of respective levels of proficiency in the two (Pavlenko 2006: 2).

  3. 3.

    According to Cook (2002), multi-competence means “the knowledge of more than one language in the same mind” (p. 10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Beijing, China

    Lily Lei Ye

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  1. Lily Lei Ye
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Correspondence to Lily Lei Ye .

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Ye, L.L. (2018). Growing and Becoming: The Expanded Self. In: Intercultural Experience and Identity. Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education in a Global Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91373-5_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91373-5_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91372-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91373-5

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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