TRANSNATIONAL AFFINITY AND THE DECISION TO STUDY ABROAD OF VIETNAMESE STUDENTS: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY

Abstract: Transnationality usually refers to the ties and interactions that connect people and institutions across national borders and has often been studied in the context of migration. However, globalization and the movement of people and ideas, media and goods have allowed transnational ties to be formed, maintained, and developed even before people leave their own country. This qualitative study explores transnational affinity between students and their potential destinations for studying abroad. Through narrative inquiry, the study tells the stories of four young Vietnamese people who developed connections with a foreign country and interrogates the role this emotional bond plays in their choice of destination for overseas education. Analysis reveals the complex and multi-faceted way in which transnational affinity emerges and functions. Foreign language education, media exposure, and personal recommendations help shape emotional connections to a foreign country. Joy acts as both an entry point and a reinforcing mechanism in this process. In addition, transnational affinity entails identity work: the growing ability to visualize oneself in the foreign country as images of the place becomes intertwined with the vision of one’s possible self.