“It’s All About Give and Take,” Or Is It?

Abstract

In this article the author draws on a larger project related to university internationalisation as represented by student voices to explore the part native and non-native speaker uses of English, as a marker of identity and legitimacy, play inside and outside formal curriculum delivery. Through the analysis of student voice constructions of difference, ambiguity is identified in response to non-native speakers of English. When discussing assessed and informal group tasks, non-native speakers’ communicative English and identities are generally represented as an obstacle to learning and task achievement. Yet removed from such tasks, respect for non-native speakers of English underpinned by empathy for the difficulties they face and admiration for their sociolinguistic prowess come to the fore. Through the reading of student voice data inconsistencies are also identified in university practice, which should be addressed if principles of social justice are to be upheld.