Navigating Cultural Duality: Strategies of Uzbek EFL Students at Fergana State University for Preserving Cultural Identity in English Language Learning
Munojat Umaralieva
Abstract. This research examines how second-year students of English as a foreign language at Fergana State University's Faculty of English Language and Literature perceive, negotiate, and balance traditional Uzbek cultural values against Western cultural influences encountered through English language learning.
This study, based on Byram's (1997) model of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC), Norton's (2000) theory of identity and investment, and Kramsch's (1993) concept of the "third place," employs a mixed-methods approach, utilizing a Likert-scale questionnaire (n = 116) and semi-structured interviews (n = 15) to explore students' cultural balancing strategies.
The findings indicate that students predominantly adopt a selective integration approach, embracing Western communicative norms while firmly upholding core Uzbek cultural values. Additionally, the emergence of a "third place" identity occurs organically through students' self-directed engagement with multimodal English-language resources, rather than as a result of deliberate pedagogical intervention. The research has profound implications for the development of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curricula and intercultural education in Central Asian universities.
Keywords: intercultural communicative competence, cultural identity, EFL, Uzbekistan, Fergana State University, third place, self-directed learning, cultural duality