| East Asian international students often face challenges identifying and participating as active and equal members in western academic communities (Morita, 2004). Even though international students often depend on the internet during this critical time (Yang, et al., 2004), how their internet uses impact their identity is largely unknown. Using semi-structured interviews, this phenomenological study explores the experiences of seven South Korean graduate students in Canada, their internet uses, and how these uses influence their identity construction. Findings reveal that these students often experience identity challenges and report that using the internet for socializing, entertainment and information alleviates these issues. Depending on the degree of awareness and purposes of their online practices, these students' internet uses both enable and constrain their identities. Understanding these processes is useful for university student services and students themselves in considering ways the internet can be used to facilitate overcoming challenges international students face during educational sojourn. |
