本研究為質性敘事探究，探討英語對於年輕且受過高等教育的馬來西亞女性身份的影響。研究置於馬來西亞後殖民與多元文化的背景之中，聚焦於三位剛畢業的年輕女性，分別來自馬來、華人與印度三大族群，以此探討對全球語言能力的追求如何影響當地的文化和語言身份。本研究以諾頓 (Norton, 1995, 2000, 2013) 的身份理論 (Identity Theory) 和想像的共同體 (Imagined Communities) 為框架，並結合達文與諾頓 (Darvin and Norton, 2015) 的身份與投資模型，並採用福布斯等人 (Forbes et al., 2021) 的 3Es 模型，分析參與者如何敘述其經驗 (Experience)、評價 (Evaluation) 和情感 (Emotion) 三個面向，深入探討英語對於她們身分協商 (Identity Negotiation) 與語言投資 (Language Investment) 的影響。透過深度訪談，研究結果顯示英語在所有三個族裔群體中普遍被視為不可或缺的資本象徵，是取得全球發展優勢與職涯發展的關鍵。然而，這些敘事揭示了一種語言多元主義的策略性協商。她們不僅持續投入英語以確保全球競爭力，同時也積極維繫各自的傳統語言，以維護族群地位和文化根源。研究進一步發現這種雙軌投資伴隨情緒成本，特別是當第一語言能力退步時所引發的愧疚感，其強弱深受家庭語言意識形態與第一語言在社會政治結構中的地位所形塑。正因如此，受訪者更積極將情緒轉化為行動，透過強化英語能力，同時更有意識地維繫與提升第一語言的使用，在家庭、宗教與社群場合中建立明確的語言使用規則與練習機制。本研究總結，當代馬來西亞的多語身分並非一個固定的狀態，而是一個動態的過程。英語作為全球流動的關鍵資源，與傳統語言所承載的文化認同相互並存，形塑出一種在全球競爭與在地歸屬之間持續協商的平衡。

This qualitative narrative inquiry investigates the complex relationship between English and identity among young, highly educated, multilingual Malaysian women. Situated within Malaysia’s postcolonial and multicultural landscape, this study focuses on the lived experiences and narratives of three recently graduated professionals from the Malay, Chinese, and Indian communities to explore how the pursuit of global language proficiency reshapes local cultural and linguistic identities. The research is framed by Norton’s (1995, 2000, 2013) identity theory and the concept of imagined communities, alongside Darvin and Norton’s (2015) model of identity and investment, and employs Forbes et al.’s (2021) 3Es model of multilingual identity, which analyzes the dimensions of Experience, Evaluation, and Emotion, to examine identity negotiation and investment. Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews, data were collected and analyzed thematically, establishing that English is universally perceived across all three ethnic groups as indispensable symbolic capital required for global agency and professional advancement. However, these narratives reveal a strategic negotiation of linguistic pluralism, in which participants make sustained investments in both English and their respective heritage first languages (L1), namely Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil, to secure global competitiveness while preserving ethnic legitimacy. The study further demonstrates that the emotional cost associated with this strategy, specifically linguistic guilt over L1 regression, is critically influenced by familial language ideology and the political status of the participants’ L1, actively shaping participants’ language decisions. Rather than remaining at the level of feeling, this guilt redirects investment, leading participants to increase the use of their L1 in family, religious, and community domains. The research concludes that multilingual identity in contemporary Malaysia is not a fixed state but a dynamic process of strategic integration, where English as a resource for global mobility coexists with heritage languages as foundations of cultural identity, resulting in a continuously negotiated balance between global agency and local belonging.

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