「海外留學」一方面在高等教育的體制中被認定提升一學術環境國際化程度
的方式；另一方面則被認為可提升學生學術素養、語言能力、跨文化知識及國際
觀，並強化學生競爭力之活動。以往，留學的目標國通常為歐美語系國家，然而，
在全球化及中文學習熱潮的雙重因素之下，到華語國家留學的學子日益漸增。面
對此情形，台灣為了強化其國際化程度，亦制定了吸引外國人到台灣留學的政策
與補助機制，造成大量的海外留學生到台灣留學。現今，有許多居台外國人利用
YouTube 作為社群媒介，分享自己的跨國、跨文化經歷及語言學習過程，並透過
網路上的分享與訂閱達到高人氣。這些藉經營YouTube 成名的居台外國人和許
多文獻中發現第二語言學習者在第二語言國家中居於弱勢的情況大相逕庭。本篇
研究針對一位居台留學生，同時也是一名中文學習者的Avalon Earhart 在YouTube頻道Insect Island 上的自製影片分享及與觀眾互動過程探討YouTube 對於留學生或是第二語言學習者如何透過YouTube 上的活動形塑及建構自我認同。
本研究擷取10 部點擊率最高的影片及這10 部影片底下觀眾的留言串，以定位理論(positioning theory) 進行質性分析，目的是為了透過影片中該名中文學習者之自我定位以及與觀眾的互動中之彼此定位，瞭解她是如何形塑及與觀眾共同
建構她的正向自我認同。此研究發現，在YouTube 平台上，她並不受限於台灣
社會所賦予居台外國人的刻板印象；反之，從強調與申明她不認同對社會給予她
的定位（例如：英文老師、語言交換夥伴等）並藉著教育觀眾、分享學術專業和
中文能力展現這些行為嶄露她的自我定位，進而讓觀眾得以重新定位她，並由正
面之留言增強她的自我定位成效。如此一來，這些來來回回的過程形塑了她為一
熟悉中美兩國語言及文化、具專業學術背景之網路名人。研究發現也用以討論
YouTube 平台之支應性。除了使用者可在其上使用跨語際語言作為交流媒介，除
了言談本身，使用者亦可在影片錄製與分享中使用各式象徵及符號來強化所要表
示的意涵。再者，影片中的留言串帶來許多語言社會化及文化習得之機會。
最後，透過台人預設Avalon Earhart 的社會定位，發現台人對於外國人，特別是
英語母語者存有定見，部分源於台人對於英文的追求，而部分則源於刻板印象。
這些居台外國人容易被概化，個人主體性因而被埋沒。這裡也顯示，某群體對於
另一群體的集體社會定位可能過渡到該群體對另一群體中之個體的社會定位。定
位理論常被用於特定場域的特定情境內中，分析對話者的相對關係和與定位相關
的權利義務；然而，外部社會因素的影響例亦有一併討論之必要。若能在使用此
架構之外先認知一個群體的社會定位如何影響個人的社會定位，便可從微觀角度
敘述個人定位之外，得以解釋該定位中的邏輯和脈絡。

Study Abroad programs, on the one hand, have been seen as a method to increase the internationalization and academic excellence of the higher education system of a country; on the other hand, is believed to pave the way for students in gaining not only academic training, but also diverse linguistic and intercultural knowledge, which
in turn equip students with a global perspective to enhance their competitiveness. In the past, the destinations of Study Abroad are Euro-English language countries; however,
under the trend of globalization and Chinese learning, more and more students would choose to study abroad in Chinese-speaking countries. Accordingly, to evaluate the level of internationalization of Taiwan, Taiwanese educational department set policies
and establish scholarships to attract foreigners to study in Taiwan. To date, there have been many foreign sojourners in Taiwan sharing their cross-country, transnational as well as language learning experiences through YouTube channel hosting. Their videos are frequently shared and their channels are subscribed by many online users, and in turn accumulated them high popularity. It seems that the socialization experiences of sojourning abroad in Taiwan are very different from that of the L2 learners in the host countries from past research. This study focuses on investigating the affordances, resources and opportunities that YouTube, a video sharing cyber space, provides L2 learners with to present who they are and to negotiate desired, hybrid and empowered identities through examining the practices of video hosting of Avalon Earhart, a white American sojourner, and online textual interactions between
she and her audience. Ten most popular videos on Earhart’s YouTube channel, Insect Island, were chosen based on the amount of viewer hits. Also, the researcher compiled the textual
interactions in the commenting area beneath the ten selected YouTube videos. Positioning theory was applied in the study as a theoretical framework to help analyze the discourse data and textual interactions in order to understand how Earhart locates herself and her audiences and how she was located in the discursive interactions, which shaped her positive, empowered identities.
The findings show that she was able to reject the imposed positions that are frequently imposed on foreign sojourners in Taiwan. On the contrary, she drew on her profession, knowledge and Mandarin competence that reveal her reflexive positions to
make the Taiwanese audiences reposition her. The positive comments then in turn empowered her reflexive positions. Consequently, the discursive practices of positioning helped constructed her knowledgeable and authorial identities as a cultural broker, a popular online celebrity, a young researcher and a competent Mandarin speaker. The research also investigated the affordances on YouTube. Aside from the translanguaging practices of the users to communicate with one another, users are able to incorporate semiotic resources to strengthen the meanings that they hope to express.
Besides, the commenting practices have the potentials to generate expansive language socialization and cultural learning opportunities. Lastly, the findings show that Taiwanese people might have presumptions to English speaking foreigners. It can be attributed to either the fondness for English or the stereotypical impressions to foreign sojourners. The foreign sojourners can be
overgeneralized and lumped into a homogenized group of “English speaking people.” Their individuality can be deemphasized. Hence, it is suggested that the collective positionings imposed on a social community by another social community can predetermine how an individual of the latter can be positioned. Positioning theory has
frequently been used to analyze the relationships among the interlocutors of a particular conversation in a particular context. However, there’s a need to take the sociopolitical factors into considerations. If we can understand how collective positionings of a community influence the positionings of an individual member from a macro-level aspect, we can better understand and even explain the trajectory of each positioning from a micro-level aspect.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………1
1.1 Background of the Study………………………………………1
1.2 This Study…………………………………………………………………………5
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………7
2.1 American Students Studying Abroad……………7
2.1.1 Static Evidence of Increase in American Students Studying Abroad……...7
2.1.2 American International Students’ L2 Socialization in Studying Abroad…..9
2.2 L2 Socialization and Identity Formation in L2 Contexts through Technology….11
2.2.1 Challenges for L2 Learners in L2 Communities………………………….11
2.2.2 Negotiating L2 identities through technology…………………………….13
2.3 YouTube, a Place Where People Broadcast Their Lives…………………...…….16
2.4 Positioning Theory..…….………………………………………………...…...…20
2.5 This Study………………………………………………………………………...24
CHAPTER 3 METHODS…………………………….…………………….………25
3.1 Avalon Earhart’s YouTube Channel: Insect Island……………………………….25
3.2 Data Collection…………………………………………………………………...27
3.3 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………..29
CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS…………………………………………………………...33
4.1 Struggling with Foreigner Identities……………………………………………..33
4.2 Ownership of Mandarin………………………………………………………….38
4.3 Negotiating Professional Identities through Knowledge Display………………..42
4.4 Celebritization……………………………………………………………………48
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION………………………………58
5.1 Negotiating and Navigating among Multiple Identities………………………….58
5.1.1 Forced Positions of L1……………………………………………………58
5.1.2 Aligning with and Differentiating from Typical Foreigners………………62
5.2 Affordances on YouTube…………………………………………………………64
5.3 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..67
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………...70
APPENDIX A Transcript of video “種族歧視” (Racist)………………………….82
APPENDIX B Transcript and Selected Comments of video “發音問題”
(Pronunciation Issues)………………………………………………………………85
APPENDIX C Transcript and Selected Comments of video “快問快答” (Lighting Rounds)……………………………………………………………………….........94
APPENDIX D Transcript and Selected Comments of video “圖案不符” (The
Misuse of Emoticons).……………………………………………………………..106
APPENDIX E Transcript and Selected Comments of video “英文教學” (English
Instruction)……………………………………………………………………..….118
APPENDIX F Transcript and Comments of video “恐怖美食” (Horrible
Cuisines)……………………………………………………………………………122
APPENDIX G Transcript and Comments of video “美夢城真” (Dream Came
True)………………………………………………………………………………..126
APPENDIX H Transcript and Selected Comments of video “重雄輕雌” (Males
are Preferred to Females)…………………………………………………………136
APPENDIX I Transcript and Selected Comments of video “文化差異” (Cultural
Differences)………………………………………………………………………..140
APPENDIX J Transcript and Selected Comments of video “哈佛八卦” (Gossips
of Harvard)………………………………………………………………………...144
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Avalon Earhart’s ten most popular YouTube videos………………………149

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