Defining "native speaker' in multilingual settings: English as a native language in Asia

The current study examines how and why speakers of English from multilingual contexts in Asia are identifying as native speakers of English. Eighteen participants from different contexts in Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, and The Philippines, who self-identified as native speakers of English participated in hour-long interviews probing language backgrounds, language use and constructions of native speaker identities of both English and other native languages. The study employed Leung, Harris and Rampton's [1997. The Idealised Native Speaker, Reified Ethnicities, and Classroom Realities.' TESOL Quarterly 31 (3): 543-560] constructs of affiliation, inheritance, and expertise to analyse how the participants defined native speaker in multilingual contexts. Findings indicate that speakers of English in Asia do not identify themselves as native speakers in comparison with or contrast to inner circle speakers of English but rather view themselves as native speakers in their own right. As such, defining native speaker in multilingual contexts appears to be a localised, self-reflexive practice.