An Exploratory Investigation of Asian Students Sense of Dignity in a Non-native English Language Learning Context: A Case Study

This paper explores how learning English affects Asian students sense of dignity in an Australian social environment, and how they deal with negative encounters at school, at work and at public places. The research methodology used was in-depth interviews with seven postgraduate international students from six different countries in Asia and a convenient snowball sampling. Regardless of the non-native students English proficiency test results, they all encountered language and cultural obstacles during their transition to the Australian social environment. Their prior motivation and attitudes vis-a-vis English language learning in their homeland positively impacted on their responses to those obstacles. Such obstacles affected their well-being and sense of dignity negatively because mastering English is seen as an accomplishment.