Investment in Learning English: A Case Study of Chinese LOTE Learners

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Introduction
The policy of B & R (China"s Belt and Road Initiative) and "going out" have accelerated LOTE into a revitalization since 2013. By March 23th, this year, statistics from Liu (2022) show that China had cooperated with over 149 countries on B & R. In order to fulfill the mission of China"s policy, B & R, there is a great need for LOTE personnel. Thus, education of LOTE catches the attention of the mass and scholars both in domestic and overseas. However, existing research on LOTE tend to focus on macro aspects like language planing and policy of LOTE, training mode of LOTE or micro aspects like LOTE learners" language motivation and choice. These existing research are mainly about LOTE, paying attention to LOTE language learning. However, research ignore one important aspect, LOTE learners" English proficiency. In the context of globalization and English imperialism (Zhang & Song, 2022), English still cannot be replaced. English has a great impact on educational policies as a hyper-center language (Nunan, 2003). Piller (2003) said that the mindset that English has become a global language is adopted by non-English speaking world, which reflects a social stereotype (Zhang & Song, 2022) . In China, LOTE learners are required to have English class in their first year and second year in University. So, the curriculum of LOTE also includes English courses. Students who majoring in LOTE can not get rid of "English learning" in the context of globalization propelling English as lingua franca. Thus, this study draw on Norton"s Investment theory to analyze how LOTE learners in Chinese border university value and investment in English. By using semi-structured interviews method, this study pay attention to LOTE students" experiences of learning English at border university. The present study can provide some implications for English curriculum of LOTE.

Research on LOTE in China
With the implementation of B & R, language other than English play important role in linking China and other country. Increasing studies on LOTE have emerged in recent decades. Most of research on LOTE highlight motivation by using cognitive approach and also pay attention to cultivation mode of LOTE. Lu & Shen issues an article about LOTE students" perceptions and choice of two different languages, English and non-English from the view of linguistic market (Lu & Shen, 2021). They emphasizes that LOTE learners regard English as a requisite, and a default choice, while LOTE are perceived as a plus, an extra choice (Xue, Pang, Zhang, & Yang, 2022). Zheng and Liu explores multilingual motivation of Chinese students and linguistic variations, emphasizing that the greatest motivation for Chinese students to choose a LOTE is learning experience, followed by cultural interest and hope for self-distinction (Zheng & Liu, 2021). In accordance with the requirements of the implementation of B & R, focus on non-English talent training gradually towards internationalization. How to understand the current situation of talent training and reasonable planning of talent reserve and training mode under the background of current small language talent education become the top priority (He, Shan & Huang, 2020). Zhang analyses the challenges confronting in LOTE education, like a lack of planning for language opening, insufficient establishment of national shortage languages, blind construction of some languages, and insufficiency of "top talent" in 2017 (Xue, Pang, Zhang, & Yang, 2017), then he put up with solutions for cultivation mode of LOTE.
Most of these studies have enriched our knowledge about LOTE education in east of China and offered insights into the LOTE learners" motivation and cultivation mode of LOTE. However, few of these studies shed light on aspect of LOTE learners in China"s frontier. Li (2020) explores peripheral language learners and the romance of Thai with two examples of mediated language learning in China"s frontier. Lin (2019) focus on students" experiences in language learning in China" frontier, however, few study pay attention to English learning experience of LOTE students in China"s frontier.

Previous Studies on Language Investment in Foreign Language Learning
Most of study on language investment are mainly about English language learners" investment in English in the era of English as Lingual Franca. For example, Soltanian and Ghapanchi (2021) uses the construct of investment to to explore the factors affect Iranian English language learners" investment in English. Teng conducted a study on Chinese college English major students and explored the way three Chinese college English major students negotiated and navigated identity in the process of English learning (Teng, 2019). Lu & Shen (2021) argues that LOTE students" values and choice towards LOTE and English from the view of linguistic market. They also emphasizes that LOTE learners values and choice towards two different language. This actually illustrates English imperialism in LOTE education (Xue, Pang, Zhang, & Yang, 2022).
In addition, studies on language investment are mainly about immigrants" investment in English language learning. Lee (2017) studied the language investments of Korean immigrant in the U.S. and their multiple dynamic identities in the process of learning English (Lee, 2017). Zhang Fan (2021) has investigated the language fluency problems of skilled immigrants from mainland China to Canada conducted by Bourdieu's (1984) theory. The study reports the informants' difficulty in integrating into their workplaces and their unwillingness to make considerable investments in learning English (Zhang, 2021).
Previous studies on Language investment tend to focus on EFL learners" investment in English language learning and and also pay attention to immigrants" language investment in English in the context of English imperialism. However, how LOTE learners learn English in the era of globalization and English as lingua franca is rarely investigated. LOTE language personnel not only need to proficiency in language skill in LOTE but also have to study English in the era of globalization. Thus, the present study aims at exploring undergraduates" investment in English learning in border area. The research questions are as follow: 1) How do LOTE students perceive the values of English at China"s frontier ?
2) How do Chinese LOTE students transfer their capitals in the process of learning English ?

Language Investment as Theoretical Framework
In this study, we draw on Bonny Norton"s investment theory as theoretical framework, paying attention to LOTE learners" investments in English at a border university. Conception of Language investment was first posed by Bonny Norton in her article Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning (Norton, 1995). Norton investigated immigrant language learners for a long time and collect data of immigrants" language use. She found the theorists of SLA difficult to conceptualize the world language learners and the relationship between ass.ccsenet.org Asian Social Science Vol. 18, No. 9 2022 the social, because they have not developed an integrated social identity theory in the integration of language learners" language learning environment (Norton, 1995). Then she came up with the conception of "investment". From Norton"s interpretation, investment can connect language learner with social identity in the shifting time and space (Norton, 1995). Since conception of investment was posed by Norton, Norton has continued to the investment theory in the context of globalization. Darvin and Norton (2015) continued to update the investment theory and highlight the importance of sociopolitical and socioeconomic discourses from macro perspective.
Then they constructed the model of investment (figure 1). Darvin and Norton (2015) mentioned that learners invest in language because they can acquire more cultural capital and social power they desire through symbolic capital and material they have posses. This model can explain how identity, investment, and language learning interact (Darvin & Norton, 2015). Therefore, the present study draw on language investment theory to examine relationship between LOTE learners" identities and language learning at Chinese border university. This study aim to investigate English language learning experience of LOTE learners at Chinese frontier in the context of English as global language. In order to examine frontier"s LOTE students" investments in English, we chose a border university as research site, which is located in Yunnan province (Figure 2)

Participants
The 7 participants are second-year and third-year undergraduate students from different LOTE departments in the same border university, including Vietnamese, Thai, Myanmar and Hindi. These three South and Southeast Asian language departments in this border university were chosen because they are renowned for long-standing education in China" frontier. So, These departments are representative and suitable for our research. All participants have studied their target language for at least two years, at the same time, they have finished all required English course in their university life. Therefore, their target language and English learning experience may shape their identity in the learning process. It also suitable for our research that how LOTE learners learn English in a English under-resourced context in the era of English as global language. These participants have different information. They are multilingual in Chinese, target language (LOTE) and English. The information is shown at the following Table. it"s worth noting that Participant D has transferred his major from English major to Thai major.

Figure 3. English textbook used by participants from Tao Bao
The author spent three weeks to have English lesson with participants after receiving permission from their English teachers and becoming familiar to the students during 2021-2022 academic year by using methods of semi-structured interviews and interaction online. After having English lesson with students, the author gets some information about the students" English learning situation. There are at least three semester English courses in their programme design, three courses per week and students can choose English teacher in course selection system at the beginning of every semester. The English textbook for these LOTE participants are New Horizon (see figure 3), including reading and writing, viewing, listening and speaking. The author has face to face interview with the participants every month at least half an hour. After collecting data, the author categorizes the data into different parts according to the themes: values towards English, difficulties and ways to overcome difficulties. Then the author focus on interconnections of these different parts. Following are interviewing questions: 1) What do you think of English?
2) Do you think it is necessary to learn English as a student majoring in LOTE?
3) What challenges are you confronting in learning English? 4) How do you overcome difficulties of English learning? 5) How many hours per week you have spent in learning English?

LOTE Learners' Benefits About Learning English
Since China joined in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and held the 2008 Olympic Games successfully, China began to encourage English as the medium of instruction in education. According to Ingrid Pillar (2016), she draws on global-language system pyramid (see Figure 4) to show that there exists linguistic hierarchy of world languages. Ij this language pyramid, it can be seen that English is in the the peak of the pyramid, as "hyper-central language" (Pillar, 2016). From this global-language system pyramid, it can be seen that LOTE like Myanmar, Thai, Vietnamese, Hindi are peripheral languages. English as global language has great impact on education policies and practice (Nunan, 2003), linguistics imperialism became a structure force urging people to learn English. Based on the context of English as hyper-central language, Students majoring in LOTE lean English can acquire benefits for their future life. First, they can meet the requirement of English proficiency in market. LOTE students are confronting the challenge that most of jobs have required CET-4 or CET-6 though they are students of LOTE majors(see Figure  5). Students who have reached the level of CET-4, CET-6 or other certificates can proof their English proficiency can get more opportunity to get the satisfying job. Second, learning English have opportunity to study abroad. Participant E who majoring in Hindi has got a chance to study abroad. She told the author that according to CSC (China Scholarship Council), one of the requirements to study abroad is English proficiency. So her investment in English language learning gave her a "good return". From these two aspects, it can be found that LOTE students can acquire benefits from English learning.  In Norton"s (2013) work, identity is multiple and struggle, and changing (David & Norton, 2015). Students learning English projecting multiple identities across time and space. For example, students can make friends online with people all over the world by English text-massage, and using English in their work, such as bilingual (LOTE and English) interpreter.what"s more, students can acquire academic excellence by English can be a pioneer in LOTE fields. These multiple identities are crossing time and space, and determined by high expectation of LOTE.

Capitals in the Process of Learning English
From the benefits mentioned above and participants" interviews, it is obvious that students majoring in LOTE value English because of benefits they could gain. These benefits actually are "capitals", one of the elements shaping the model of investment. For Bourdieu (1986), capitals have many forms: economic, cultural, symbolic, and social capital. More specifically, students value English as an economic capital, because it can bring them opportunities of good jobs and financial resources. Besides, learning English is valued as a cultural capitals.They regard the English language as a key, an effective way to open the gate of study abroad, which is an cultural capitals. If they are proficiency in English, they can make friends and accumulate social capital. Thus, students" investments in English are shaped by different forms of capitals. However, they can also gain capitals in the process of learning English. For example, they can acquire addictive multilingual ability. From the data, it can be found that learning English is not an act of consumption, but an act of gaining addictive multilingual ability though English and LOTE are quite different, which quite differ from traditional views that English and LOTE are conflicting. Participant B shares the same strategies in learning Vietnamese and English. She even said "learning English can help me learn Vietnamese, because English grammar is very clear, which can help me understand the meanings of Vietnamese sentence." Participant D also make friends with Vietnamese, they often learn English together. From these perspective, capitals play important role in process of LOTE students" English learning.

Discussion
The paper has studied LOTE learners" investments in English at a Chinese border university by using Norton"s language investment theory. The present study reveals how students learn English in a English under-resourced context and demonstrate that students" investments in English because of capitals of economic, cultural and social. Students can also acquire capitals, addictive multilingual ability and multiple identities in the process of learning English. However, students majoring in LOTE learn English because they have high expectations towards LOTE, which determined by the rising comprehensive national strength of China. Thus, the study demonstrate students are empowered by LOTE in their process of learning English, which is a breakthrough of linguistic imperialism.

Conclusion
This present study focus on LOTE students" investments in English at China"s frontier. In the era of English as lingual franca, students who majoring in LOTE are required to learn English at least three semester in this border university. So, it is necessary to investigate students" investments in English in China" s frontier. Drawing on Norton"s investment theory, the study reveals that students lean English because of capitals and language ideology, and they can project multiple identities in the process of learning English. Capitals, ideology and identities shape students" investment in English. What the most important point is that students are empowered by LOTE in their process of learning English, which is a breakthrough of linguistic imperialism. This study also provide pedagogical implications for English curriculum of LOTE.