Exploring International Student Academic Discourse Socialization in Canadian Universities through a Deleuzian Lens

As Canadian universities set their sights on increasing their international student populations, a critical re-examination of research approaches to international student language and adjustment to Western higher education is imperative. This paper draws on Deleuzian ontology of difference to better understand the complex and rapidly changing milieu of higher education. More specifically, it critically re-examines the application of the well-established academic discourse socialization framework in view of a changing academic community. It challenges the notion of a uniform, linear process of socialization based on essentialized identities of novice / expert. By introducing Deleuzian concepts of “becoming,” “assemblage,” and “language,” prevailing constructs of identity, academic community, and academic discourse are transformed into interconnected ever-changing entities, working together in potentially unpredictable ways

A Critical Review of International Students’ Adjustment Research from a Deleuzian Perspective

The author in this paper critically reviews recent literature on international student language and adjustment to Western Anglophone universities. Two streams of research are discussed: the problem-solving approach guided largely by positivist epistemologies and quantitative methodologies contrasted to the post-structuralist language and identity framework employing qualitative methods. Limitations to both perspectives include the reliance on fixed constructs of language and adjustment, the isolation of interrelated variables, the attempt to establish linear correlational/causative relationships, the essentialization of identity, and the inability to explain change and variance. Deleuzian ontology of ‘becoming’ and assemblage is put forward as a framework to better understand the complexity, unpredictability, and ever-changing process that international students face when co-adapting to the their new academic community

The multiple roles and functions of English in South Korea

In the field of language and identity, the subcategory of gender has been an area of growing interest (Pavlenko, 2001; Norton & Pavlenko, 2004; Menard-Warwick, 2008; and Higgins, 2010). Adopting the view of gender as “a system of social relationships and discursive practices” (Norton & Pavlenko, 2004, p. 504), social context is fundamental in understanding how gender relates to foreign language learning. This qualitative study focused on the extent to which gender impacts English language learning and English language use in the context of teaching English as a foreign language in South Korea. More specifically, it investigates how gender shapes self and social identity, and how these identities relate to English language learning and English language use, at present and/or in the future, in both real and/or imagined communities. Four male and four female participants were selected using purposive homogenous sampling techniques based on the criteria of having lived abroad in an English speaking community for over 5 years—a criterion which assumes the formation of self and social identity in addition to their native Korean L1. Data was collected through multiple methods including open-ended questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. Interview and questionnaire data reveals gender differences in the symbolic meaning of English language, the relevance of English in self and social positioning, and the role of English in shaping future professional trajectories with males situating themselves in international contexts and females in the local

The Intersections of Student Engagement and Academic Integrity in the Emergency Remote ‘English for Academic Purposes’ Assemblage

This paper explores the disruption of space, place, and material conditions brought on by the migration of traditional on-site language teaching to emergency remote teaching (ERT) in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program designed to bridge international students into higher education. We focus on two aspects of language teaching considered essential to academic success: student engagement and academic integrity. Through the Deleuzian concept of assemblage and post-qualitative inquiry, data vignettes from interviews with 12 teacher participants are presented to examine the contingency and relationality between the affordances of technological tools and the absence of embodied connection brought on by the move to ERT. Data vignettes are linked to map how instructors’ perceptions of student engagement mediated through space, place, and materials, inadvertently shape/are shaped by perceptions of academic dishonesty