Capital is accumulated and profitable force that transforms for reproduction and enables individuals to obtain social energy (Bourdieu 1986). Thus, patterns of capital
5 G ABRIELLA 對=
‘Right.’
6 CHERYL =很羨慕
‘I am very envious of those English users.’
When inquired how they evaluated English users, Gabriella, Nicole and Cheryl together expressed their appreciation to English users. Yet, when they were interrogated whether they felt the need to pursue further study, all the three informants offered a negative answer. In fact, except for Helen in (9) and a very few of interviewees, the majority of non-English users did not have the incentive to acquire English even though they all claimed that English has exchange values. It can be inferred that non-English users are aware of both the importance and the necessity of English acquisition. Yet they did not burden themselves with the responsibility for learning the language. Nearly all the non-English speaking informants denied the need for further study due to the lack of communication demands of English in daily life.
As far as Shane is concerned, his age and occupation reduce the demands of English, as already presented in (2). For Helen, other commitments and the lack of motivations distracted her from continuing with her further studies. Gabriella, Nicole, and Cheryl
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quickly ruled out the need of learning English because they were quite satisfied with the current situations they were in.
These cases show that there exists a discrepancy between knowing instrumental values of English and feeling the need to acquire it. Studies have pointed out that English is instrumental (e.g. Tsai 2010) and that instrumental motivations are strong incentives in English learning (Chen 2006). English is also found to be conceptualized as instrumental in the study, and yet instrumental values and English acquisition may not be in a linear cause-effect relation. The relation requires further explorations but will be put aside for now. English users’ inclination to neutralize the values of English as a medium may be one of the accounts for English users’ unwillingness to connect globalization to English. They were denying the more privileged social status that English can position themselves at.
No matter how instrumental English is conceptualized, a better grasp of English is undoubtedly valued. As a corollary, those with higher fluency tend to receive a great amount of positive attention, or even exaggerated flattering sometimes. For these English users, how they react to the flattering and compliments reveals both how they position themselves in relation to non-English users in contexts and how English is conceptualized. Owing to the fact that apparent and well-recognized positive images of English can be easily turned into arrogance, English users are particularly careful responding to the attention. As frequently as English users receive admiration, they either intentionally downplay their competence or neutralize the roles English plays as a tool.
Excerpt (11) below is Gill’s reflection on how her roommates reacted to her competence in English. While talking about the advantages brought by English, Gill described an awkward experience of her roommates being owed by her competence in English.
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‘All my roommates were not language majors.’
5 然後我就只是打開了我的 PPT 在
‘Once I clicked open my powerpoint file.’
6 就之前不是要報告腦神經什麼的嗎
‘Weren’t we supposed to present neurolinguistic journals?’
7 MANDY 嗯
‘Hmm.’
8 GILL 然後因為 (.) 很焦慮的在準備
‘And I was really anxious working on the presentation.’
9 你知道他們在旁邊都會說
‘You know that they were exclaiming right next to me.’
10 哇
‘They said, “Gill’s slides are in English”’
14 然後我想說 (.) 我心裡想說 (.) 廢話 ((laughs))
‘And I was thinking, “Yeah, what’s the problem with it?”’
15 不然怎麼辦呢
‘Or what else could I do?’
16 然後他們就是會 (.) 然後還全部聚集過來看
‘They even flocked together at my desk just to see the English slides.’
17 然後我就 (.) 喔
‘And then I, oh,’
18 他們說 (.) 那你們 (.) 那個 (.) 報告也是英文嗎 (.) 什麼
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的
‘They asked if I also presented (the journal) in English.’
19 我說 (.) 喔 (.) 對啊 (.) 可是又不能講的很 (.)
‘I said yeah. Hmm. But you can’t say it in a way that is…’
20 MANDY 對對對
‘Exactly!’
→ 21 GILL 因為我怕他們會覺得 (.) [你很]厲害
‘Because I was afraid that they would think I am very good.’
22 MANDY [驕傲]
‘Proud.’
Gill was describing that her roommates’ overreaction to her English slides was awkward. Gill’s roommates found her English slides and presentations fascinating (lines 13). In responding to her roommates’ exaggerated reaction, Gill consciously downplayed the positive attention in lines 14 and 15 by describing English presentations as something she had no choice but to accept; otherwise buran zenme
ban ne ‘what else could I do?’ By stating so, Gill positioned herself as a passive
English user. That is, she only used English when she was asked to. The positioning lessens the positive attention by her roommates and avoids possible scenarios in which she ended up seeming to consciously show off her competence. Gill recalled that she was particularly cautious when replying to her roommates in fear of sounding arrogant (line 19). In fact, she did not specify in line 19 that what types of manners she was avoiding. But the unsaid message was successfully completed when Mandy caught the inferencing and agreed with Gill’s concern. Mandy later attempted completed the message for Gill by interrupting her turn in line 22. Remarkably, Gill’s longer pause at the end of line 19, Mandy’s immediate triple affirmation duiduidui‘right’ in line 20 and the overlapping jiao ao ‘proud’ substantiate that such scenarios in which an English user is complimented and yet pressured not to stand out like a sore thumb is mutually shared. The exchanges between Gill and her roommates
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indicate that English is socially significant and that individuals are precisely aware of it.
Through Excerpt (11), it shows that English is bestowed indexical values which map competence in English onto social differentiations. That is the reason why English users feel the need to downplay their competence in English. It also shows that competence in English does not refer to merely the ability of using the language.
Rather, competence in English is capable of connoting social values and norms which may not be directly related to linguistic skills. English in Expanding Circle countries is usually thought to guarantee social and economic advancements. The advancements in turn reinforce the already heated English trend. Blommaert et al. (2005) have argued that competence is situation-specific and not objectively measurable.
Furthermore, both Grin (2001) and Park (2011) point out that such correlations require further exploration for their validity.
A good command of English is thought to implicate great education and outstanding academic performance. These constitute social expectations which regulate how English users should behave and speak. However, the implications not only presuppose English users outward behaviors, but also set standards on their self-regulations, such as morality. In other words, English users in Taiwanese society are usually expected to display certain features, like well-educatedness, high morality, and self discipline. Nonetheless, it needs to be emphasized that the conceptualizations of English found in the study may not correspond to the sociolinguistic profile of English as these rationalizations which help individuals make sense the connections between linguistic and social practice can contradict the truths (Cameron 2003).
Consequently, it requires further studies to investigate if these conceptualizations represent the roles that English indeed plays in the society. As these are not the focuses of the study, the study centers on how English is rationalized and only
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addresses the issue briefly.
The assumptions of how English users behave and act can be discussed by individuals’ surprise when they find English users do not behave in the way they are expected to. Excerpt (12) below is Shane’s narration regarding how surprised he was to find out that a celebrity with a series of scandals spoke native-like English.
(12)
1 SHANE 就是名人講的英文 (.) 我都覺得不道地
‘I don’t think English spoken by celebrities sounds authentic.’
2 ANN 喔 (.) 嗯嗯
‘Hmm’
((omitted))
3 SHANE 只是說 (.) 那個(name) (.) 他講 (.) 他 (.) 他講的英文聽起 來就 (.) 嗯
‘It is just that English by (name) sounds…hmm…’
4 ANN 洋腔洋調嗎
‘Right. But compared with his arrogant and cynical image’
10 ANN [跟他的]形象
‘Compared with his image.’
11 SHANE 我還是一樣
‘I still dislike him,’
12 所以我一直強調我還是討厭他
‘so I keep emphasizing that I despise him.’
13 就英文而言的話
‘When it comes to English,’
14 他講的是不錯
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‘he does speak it well.’
15 可是我不會因為他講 (.) 會講英文
‘But even though he speaks English,’
16 我對他那種 (.) 那個事件 (.) 然後就 (.) 就 (.) 有加分什麼
‘I won’t start to like him all of a sudden after the scandals.’
17 沒有
‘Nope!’
18 還是很 (.) 反而更 (.) 更減分
‘On the contrary, it makes me disdain him even more.’
19 這種人然後還做這件事
‘He speaks perfect English and gets involved with scandals.’
20 高學歷份子還這樣
‘How could a well-educated person behave in such a foul way?’
21 嗯 (.) 所以那個是分開的
‘Hmm. So they are completely two different things.’
22 ANN 嗯
‘Hmm.’
23 SHANE 那 (.) 我是真的很討厭他
‘I wholeheartedly loathe him and things he did.’