Presenter by Bal Sharma, Emilija Jovanovska and Mikayla Sievers GSSP Lecture Series Spring 2019 University of Idaho

1. Navigating the academic culture in the U.S. by
international students
Bal Sharma
Emilija Jovanovska
Mikayla Sievers
GSSP Lecture Series Spring 2019
University of Idaho

2. Goal and agenda
● Theoretical framing: second language and discourse
socialization
● Empirical findings: case study of international students

3. Popular culture in the mainstream
high school classroom
● The Simpsons
● America's Most Wanted
● Guinness Book of World
Records
● Teen Magazine
Duff, P. (2002). Pop culture and ESL students: Intertextuality, identity, and participation in classroom discussions. Journal of Adolescent and Adult
Literacy, 45, 482-487.

4. Language proficiency is just one
factor, and perhaps not a major one
There can be deeper philosophical and cultural
differences in terms of:
• Learning and teaching
• Creation and ownership of knowledge
• Teacher-student relationships
• “Good student” characteristics
• Assignments, homework, tests…

6. Word Context
Context
Words
words context
Words
Context

8. Second language and academic discourse socialization
● First language and first culture socialization (Ochs and Shieffelin, 1984)
● Novices and newcomers develop the social, cultural, and communicative
competencies needed in the second language context
● A processes of apprenticeship into additional languages and cultures by
experts or peers

9. Socialization: two directions
1) socialized into community norms and expectations
Does this always happen?
2) changing community norms through agency
To what extent does this happen?

10. Socialization: Academic concepts
● Faculty (member)– as opposed to an academic unit, e.g.
Department
● School (vs. university)
● Advisor… -- What is this? Is it a counseling class?
● Office hours– Why should I go to my professor‘s office? What are
these office hours for?
● What are the differences between homework, assignment, project,
test....?
● What the heck is this BBLearn, due date, and online submission?
● Conference: I have a conference with my students.
● Journal: Keep a two-page journal for each lesson.

11. Chinese doctoral student in the US
Anderson, T. (2017). The doctoral gaze: Foreign PhD students’ internal and external academic discourse
socialization. Linguistics and Education, 37, 1-10.

12. Englishes and communicative genres
● It’s not that they don’t know English; they may just have a
different set of English repertoires; some genres of
communication may be new to them

13. Indian graduate student in the UK
Sah, P. K. (2019). Academic Discourse Socialization, Scaler Politics of English, and Racialization in Study Abroad: A Critical
Autoethnography. The Qualitative Report, 24(1), 174-192. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol24/iss1/14

14. Chinese doctoral student in the US
Anderson, T. (2017). The doctoral gaze: Foreign PhD students’ internal and external academic discourse
socialization. Linguistics and Education, 37, 1-10.

15. Student participation?
● Evidence of learning and engagement
● Grade

16. Indian graduate student in the UK
Sah, P. K. (2019). Academic Discourse Socialization, Scaler Politics of English, and Racialization in Study Abroad: A Critical
Autoethnography.The Qualitative Report, 24(1), 174-192. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol24/iss1/14

17. Japanese graduate student in Canada
Morita, N. (2004). Negotiating participation and identity in second language academic
communities. TESOL Quarterly, 38, 573-603.

18. Japanese graduate student in Canada
Morita, N. (2004). Negotiating participation and identity in second language
academic communities. TESOL Quarterly, 38, 573-603.

19. Critical thinking?
● Facts vs. opinions
● Critiquing and responding

20. EXPLAIN WHY
International students may find it harder to understand the educational
objective or long-term value of assignments and activities
● Why am I finding faults in the reading? (critical reading)
● Why am I guessing the meaning of words or texts? (Inferencing)
● Why am I supposed to respond to a TED video? (listening and evaluating information)

21. OPINIONS
● Why does my opinion matter in class discussions? Why don’t we focus on
what IS there in the book?
● Does my opinion matter against what the scientist has written in this article?
● Can I disagree with the author?
● Training students on ‘what’ and ‘how-to’ aspects of expressing opinions.

22. Generalization and Stereotypes
● Warn against generalization
New students tend to over-generalize everything
What do ‘Americans’...?
How do professors...?
● Don’t generalize ESL students as homogeneous
There is a danger of stereotypically overgeneralizing international students
Asian students tend to ….
Students from the middle east tend to…
Every student is an individual

23. Language proficiency is just one factor
There can be deeper philosophical and cultural differences

24. Case study: graduate students from a Balkan country

25. Literature Review
*

26. Methodology
● Participants - graduate students from a Balkan country (five in total)
● Information gathered via interviews
● Telling stories - responses took shape of autobiographical narratives
● Research Questions:
1. How do the participants describe their first interactions with their professors, advisors, peers, or other
personnel in the US university settings?
2. What were the challenges they faced, and what kind of strategies did they employ to overcome and
solve those situations?
3. What major events contributed to their socialization in the academic settings?
4. What was the crucial support that they got which was most helpful in their process of accommodation
to the educational practices in the academic settings?

27. Demographics of Participants
Name Country of Origin Age Program Degree Pursued in the
US
Highest degree achieved
in the country of origin
Stoyan Serbia 31 Mechanical
Engineering
Ph.D. Master’s
Danica Bulgaria 40 English – Rhetoric and
Composition
Ph.D. Master’s
Pop Yugoslavia (born in
present-day Serbia)
39 Forestry, Rangeland,
and Fire Science
Master’s Bachelor’s
Zorica Serbia 31 Civil Engineering Ph.D. Master’s
Maya Bosnia and
Herzegovina
23 Plant Pathology Master’s High School

28. Data Analysis
1. Collected Data transcribed and coded by each researcher individually
2. Coding results compared - inter-coder reliability
3. Drawing out salient, recurring, vivid and overlapping themes addressing the
participants’ personal experiences
4. Themes selected
a. Language proficiency
b. Changes in the participants’ beliefs before and after coming in the US
c. Language Socialization and relationship-building strategies

29. Results
1. Language Proficiency
a. English included as a foreign language since elementary and high-school curricula
b. All of the participants passed TOEFL successfully
c. Miscommunication is inevitable
Stoyan: “In my field, most of the professors I had are international, so they know that I have some
problems with English[…]they also are in the same situation and are familiar with that[…]in my department,
all my peers are international.”
Maya: “My English was pretty good when I got here, so I didn’t have a lot of trouble when I got here.”

31. Changes in beliefs – US in general
1. Beliefs about life in the US
a) “Fuzzy” image created according to Hollywood movies
b) “...sex, drugs, and Rock’n’ Roll…”
c) Living the American dream

33. Changes in beliefs

34. Changes in beliefs – US Educational System
Regarding the US Educational system
a) They also believed it is the best one in the world
b) The best universities are situated in the US
c) Harvard, Yale, Princeton universities

37. Changes in beliefs – Success Achieved
Beliefs about the educational system in the US
Maya: ”... we are taught how to look at other authors’ research with a
critical eye and to think critically about the study and to learn how to
interpret scientific terms and concepts successfully…”.
Danica: “I plan on publishing a paper with my mentor.”

38. Language Socialization Strategies & Professor Relationships
● Not many opportunities to build relationships with professors in home
countries
● Developed relationships with professors in the United States - easier time
● Socialization strategies:
○ Attending campus events
○ Talking in the open work space
○ Sports team
○ Developing relationships with other international students
○ Understanding communication of the US

39. Socialization Strategies
“It’s much easier to develop a relationship with a professor… during consults with a
professor, that professor becomes more familiar with the projects you do and he
provides you with guidelines and becomes more involved and later you finish the
project collaboratively with your professor as a paper or project for a
conference…and something like that…and then the professor will ask you to meet, to
go out and he will ask you to discuss more[…] it’s not anymore just for class but you
start working with your professor for something different than a class work … even
when the class is over you still working with your professor … and that’s how you
know that you have a good relationship with that professor…”

40. Socialization Strategies
“My major professor…there’s a lot of internationals in my lab…she invites us over
for Christmas or Thanksgiving…we have like a lab Christmas party”

41. Socialization Strategies
“… I attended all parties and events, where they invited me and I was tracking all
the emails from the University, so you can see that there is… ohh this talk about
this and this talk about this and I was attending all things that I was interested
in…ehhh…lectures, mainly, about some environmental issues and Native
American issues because I am interested in that part… and all of those dinners
and lunches that the university organized as well as concerts and other public
events like rodeos... every event basically…”

42. Importance of GSSP
● Expand learning opportunities for international students and attract more
international students on campuses like at UI
● Students will feel more comfortable in a more inclusive environment
● Inform students about different events on campus; contributes to academic
socialization and campus life
● Courses like intercultural communication or academic communication for
graduate students contribute to academic socialization

43. Pedagogical Implications
● Different communication styles
● Explaining rules directly and explicitly
● Appreciate professor’s willingness to help
● Invest in building student-teacher relationships
● Don’t ask students about negative events or conflict in their respective
countries

44. Conclusions
The participants demonstrated adequate level of language proficiency
Television - two-way stereotyping between the Americans and the Balkans
Changes in beliefs are context-dependent
Students expressed emphatic appreciation for the respect professors expressed
toward them and their work

45. References
Duff, P.A. (2010). Language Socialization into Academic Discourse Communities. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics
(2010), 30, 169-192 Retrieved from doi:10.1017/S0267190510000048
Friedman, D. A. (2010). Becoming National: Classroom Language Socialization and Political Identities in the Age of
Globalization. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (2010), 30, 193-210 Retrieved from doi:10.1017/S0267190510000061
Morita, N. (2000). Discourse Socialization through Oral Classroom Activities in a TESL Graduate Program. TESOL
Quarterly, 34(2), 279-310. doi:10.2307/3587953
Okuda, T., & Anderson, T. (2018). Second Language Graduate Students’ Experiences at the Writing Center: A Language
Socialization Perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 52(2),391-413.
Yim, Yoon-Kyung Kecia. (2010). Second Language Students' Discourse Socialization in Academic Online Communities.
Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue Canadienne Des Langues Vivantes, 67(1), 1-27.
Zappa-Holman, S., Duff, P.A. (2015). Academic English Socialization Through Individual Networks of Practice. TESOL
Quarterly (2015), 49,2, 333-368 Retrieved from doi:10.1002/tesq.188