The practice of Chinese students being given English names in the English language classroom has been recognised as a form of translingual discrimination and a microaggression (Dovchin, 2022).  Several studies have indicated the reasons why students accept the ‘need’ to have an English name, which predominantly revolve around accommodating non-Chinese teachers.  argue it is a small expectation for teachers to call students by the birth name, and not to do so also undermines western institutions’ promotion of social justice, diversity and inclusion (Lahiri-Roy et al., 2021).  Moreover, teachers might be dissatisfied with Chinese students’ English name choice if it does not match their expectations and may resort to microaggressions.    

This paper reports on instances of translingual discrimination by teachers towards Chinese students about their English names, using data gathered from 51 group interviews, an online questionnaire and nine follow up interviews which explored issues of identity, agency and investment in English names.  The data revealed various instances of translinguistic discrimination from teachers in their interactions with students about their English names.  This included mocking students’ English names, indicating the inappropriacy of the name, making students choose a different name, and using numbering to distinguish students with the same name.  It is argued that these microaggressions are embedded within a colonial mindset, with teachers perception of Chinese students’ adoption of an English name as evidence of weak identity formation, and consequently discriminatory practices are deemed acceptable.  It is further argued that encouraging teachers to use students ‘real’ names would contribute to decolonialization in ELT. 

Dovchin, S. (2022). Translingual Discrimination. Elements in Intercultural Communication.

Lahiri-Roy, R., Belford, N., & Sum, N. (2021). Transnational women academics of colour enacting ‘pedagogy of discomfort’: positionality against a ‘pedagogy of rupture’. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2021.1900345