Shifting Language Investment in Transnational Educational Migration: A Case Study of Multiple Border‐Crossing Experiences

ABSTRACT Although an extensive body of work has examined the experiences of early study‐abroad (ESA) students who participate in short‐term migration, much less research has examined the experiences and lives of an increasing number of transnational students who engage in multiple border crossings. Drawing on interviews with three transnational educational migrant students who have engaged in multiple ESA and return trajectories, this study explores their experiences and lives at home and abroad. Using Darvin and Norton's … tripartite model of investment as a theoretical framework, this study focuses on students’ shifting perceptions of and investment in their language learning over the course of their multiple ESA border crossing practices. Findings show that ESA students’ investment in language learning constantly changes and evolves over time and space. They also demonstrate that ESA students' investment in language learning is highly strategic but simultaneously governed by surrounding ideologies and social forces that determine what can be socially recognized as valuable linguistic capital.