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Translation and Foreign Language Learning

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ArticleEditor’s Choice http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2025.09.025

Negotiating Emotions and Selfhood through Code-switching: A Narrative Study of Chinese International Students in the UK

Qiren Wang

Institute of Education, University College London, London, WC1H 0AL, UK.

*Corresponding author: Qiren Wang

Published: September 30,2025

Abstract

This narrative study explores how Chinese international students in the UK negotiate emotions and selfhood through code-switching between Chinese and English. Drawing on Busch’s (2017) concept of Spracherleben (lived experience of language), the research employs in-depth interviews with three participants to examine the interplay between language choice, emotional expression, and identity construction. Findings reveal that expressing emotions in English often leads to emotional alienation and a sense of inauthenticity, triggering identity instability. Participants developed strategic verbal and nonverbal adaptations to convey genuine feelings, resulting in a functional differentiation between L1 (emotional, intimate) and L2 (rational, detached). The study concludes that code-switching is not merely linguistic but deeply embedded in emotional memory, cultural frameworks, and ongoing identity negotiation, highlighting language as social practice rather than a neutral tool.

Keywords

Code-switching; Emotional expression; Identity negotiation; Chinese international students; Spracherleben

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How to cite this paper

Negotiating Emotions and Selfhood through Code-switching: A Narrative Study of Chinese International Students in the UK

How to cite this paper: Qiren Wang. (2025). Negotiating Emotions and Selfhood through Code-switching: A Narrative Study of Chinese International Students in the UK. Translation and Foreign Language Learning1(2), 204-209.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2025.09.025