Contortion, Loss and Moments for Joy: Insights into Writing Groups for International Doctoral Students

Bibliographic Details
Title: Contortion, Loss and Moments for Joy: Insights into Writing Groups for International Doctoral Students
Language: English
Authors: Haeri Mazanderani, Fawzia, Danvers, Emily (ORCID 0000-0002-0170-5331), Hinton-Smith, Tamsin, Webb, Rebecca
Source: Teaching in Higher Education. 2022 27(4):577-592.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 16
Publication Date: 2022
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Collaborative Writing, Foreign Students, Doctoral Students, Student Experience, Academic Language, Multilingualism, English (Second Language), Sense of Community
DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2022.2034146
ISSN: 1356-2517
1470-1294
Abstract: The idealised internationally mobile doctoral student is often presented as seamlessly transitioning across space -- translating and neutralising themselves within globalised higher education. However, for those positioned as 'international', writing can be experienced as disconnecting. This paper considers the tensions of writing, as experienced by international doctoral students. It draws on 19 semi-structured interviews and a focus group with international doctoral students to explore their experiences of research writing within a writing group. These data revealed accounts of the contortions involved in continuous acts of translation and its resulting sense of 'othering' and dislocation. Alongside these revelations emerged feelings of loss in terms of perceived 'mastery' over language and the experience of the writing group as a space for both joy and vulnerability. Consequently, we argue for the importance of doctoral writing groups that subvert and reinvent dominant narratives of writing, writers and the 'international'.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2022
Accession Number: EJ1346096
Database: ERIC
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More Details
ISSN:1356-2517
1470-1294
DOI:10.1080/13562517.2022.2034146
Published in:Teaching in Higher Education
Language:English