Abstract

This study explores the role of language in constructing identity and promoting belonging for seventeen Fijian college students at one U.S. based university in the Pacific Rim. Focus group interviews were analyzed for how students described the role that language played in constructing student identity and mediating connection. Analysis was grounded in post-structural perspectives of identity alongside vā – the Oceanic notion that encompasses identity and belonging. Students described themes of native language proficiency in reinforcing kinship relationships and in participating in cultural traditions and practices. They also expressed other ways of maintaining vā without proficiency in their native languages. Other students noted the affordances of speaking English to participating in global economies and global cultures, including schooling at the university. Implications highlight the need for educational policies, practices, and pedagogies that empower Fijian students to be successful in academic and public spaces, while helping them maintain connection to their ethnic communities and identities—to promote belonging, and to maintain their positions in the vā.

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Teacher Education

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/