<![CDATA[The rapid expansion of global, English-mediated online spaces such as GitHub and Discord has created new arenas in which young people from non-native English-speaking backgrounds construct and negotiate their identities. This study explores how five Indonesian undergraduate Information Technology (IT) students experience and make sense of their participation in these communities, and how that participation shapes their sense of digital identity. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five participants who actively use GitHub and/or Discord for academic, professional, and recreational purposes. Data were analyzed following Smith et al (2021) iterative procedure of case-by-case immersion, initial noting, and the development of superordinate themes across cases. Four interrelated themes emerged: (1) entry pathways shaped by curiosity, academic necessity, and serendipity; (2) a bifurcated linguistic self-oscillating between a formal, English-mediated professional persona and a casual, locally-inflected persona; (3) an emotional rhythm of self-doubt and pride tied to moments of technical and communicative success or failure; and (4) the community itself as a scaffold that buffers linguistic anxiety through peer tolerance and translation tools. These findings are discussed in relation to Norton's (2013) constructs of investment and imagined communities and Darvin & Norton (2015)identity–capital–ideology model. The study argues that participation in global English-speaking digital communities’ functions as an informal, high-stakes site of language learning and identity investment that complements formal English instruction, and offers pedagogical implications for English Language Teaching (ELT) in technology-oriented higher education programs.]]>
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