PRAGMATIC IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION AMONG PAKISTANI FEMALE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN CHINA

Abstract

This study examines how Pakistani female international students in China construct, negotiate, and reposition pragmatic identities. Drawing on Chen Xinren's pragmatic identity theory, it treats identity as a contextual and discursively constructed communicative resource used to respond to social expectations, communicative demands, and intercultural encounters. The study draws on semi-structured interviews with eight Pakistani female students enrolled in Chinese higher education institutions. The interviews address arrival experiences, language barriers, public visibility, food and religious practices, family trust, academic adaptation, gendered mobility, cultural explanation, and personal growth. The analysis identifies several overlapping pragmatic identities: foreigner/international student, adjusting learner, Pakistani Muslim woman, responsible daughter, cultural mediator, multilingual speaker, independent woman, and future professional. These identities are not fixed; participants select and adjust them according to audience, topic, and communicative purpose. They construct identity by comparing Pakistan and China, referring to family expectations, discussing safety and independence, describing Chinese-language learning, and challenging stereotypes about Pakistan and Pakistani women. The findings show that these students do more than adapt to a new environment: they actively construct flexible identities that preserve cultural continuity while supporting participation in Chinese academic and social life