Constructing identities through language: a cross-national study of Malaysia and Indonesia. Airil Haimi Mohd Adnan University of Auckland & Universiti Teknologi MARA airil@teechconsult.com Abstract (revised & updated) Based on an international collaboration, this paper explores the language and identity link for young professionals in South East Asia. In this paper, only data from two countries will be discussed – Indonesia and Malaysia. To study how English impacts the construction of identities of EFL/ESL users in these settings, young Indonesian and Malaysian professionals were selected as participants. They consist of a group of employees in the media and media related industries that are proficient in English, but are also non-native speakers. All of them use English as the main language in the workplace and they „own‟ English as part of their language repertoire. The choice of media and media related industry is also a conscious one, given that many such businesses in South East Asia use English as their medium of internal communication and to disseminate information to the public. Results from four research sites are presented based on recurring themes arising from the experiences of all the participants. Data indicates that the use of English by these young professionals has given them new avenues for self expression and widened their views of the world but at the same time, leading to a sense of being a stranger in their own backyard and having to mask their identities with family and friends. 1. Setting-the-scene Whilst it is hard to doubt both the position and roles that English increasingly play in South East Asia (SEA), other than Singapore that has embraced the use of this language fully, for the rest of SEA English continues to be debated in academic, industrial and social circles due to the fact that this international language is not the natural mother tongue of the peoples of SEA (Crystal, 2003). At the same time, the ongoing debate regarding the influence of this lingua franca does not detract from the usefulness of English as an asset, especially for many young adults who are joining the world of work after finishing their university courses. This sociolinguistic reality is observed, to name but a few, by David and Govindasamy (2007) and Tan (2005) in Malaysia and by Kirkpatrick (2007) and Mistar (2005) in Indonesia. It was based on these and other considerations that my colleagues from Indonesia and I decided to study how language use, English in particular, impacts the identities constructed by young professionals in our two nations. 2. Research literature Identity as it is used in this study is one that Block (2007) defines as not an ideal model, but a “multilayered phenomenon” (p. 187). Within applied linguistics, Block (2006) also suggests that the process of identity formation and change is problematic, as opposed to being natural and harmonious. Individuals are likely to have mixed feelings, as they shape their identities.