To better understand how and why students make choices about using first language or English within an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) context, a phenomenological approach was used in the present study to explore participants’ understandings of classroom language choice in an international student bridging program at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada. This exploratory study found that participants’ beliefs surrounding language choice were related to their understandings of the purposes and best methods of learning English. Linguistic composition of the class, teacher behaviour and school/classroom policies were also important to the participants’ determination of how much and when to use English. In addition, themes of social, cultural and linguistic affiliation were explored in relation to language choice, identity and language ideology.
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