Relocalising academic literacy

Diversity, writing and collective learning in an international Master’s programme

in Learning and Teaching
Author: Nana Clemensen 1 and Lars Holm 2
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  • 1 Aarhus University nacl@edu.au.dk
  • 2 Aarhus University larsh@edu.au.dk
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/latiss.2018.100304
Keywords:
academic literacies; global student perspectives; international study programmes; relocalisation; translanguaging; writer identity
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Abstract

This article contributes to the continuing discussion about academic literacy in international higher education. Approaching international study programmes as temporary educational contact zones, marked by a broad diversity in students’ educational and discursive experiences, we examine the negotiation and relocalisation of academic literacy among students of the international master’s programme, Anthropology of Education and Globalisation (AEG), University of Aarhus, Denmark. The article draws on an understanding of academic literacy as a local practice situated in the social and institutional contexts in which it appears. Based on qualitative interviews with eleven AEG-students, we analyse students’ individual experiences of, and perspectives on, the academic literacy practices of this study programme. Our findings reveal contradictory understandings of internationalism and indicate a learning potential for students in allowing a more linguistically and discursively diverse dialogue on knowledge production in academia.

Contributor Notes

Nana Clemensen is an assistant professor and holds a PhD in language socialisation among children in Southern Zambia. Her general research interests are language and literacy socialisation and linguistic agency among children across different spatial and institutional settings. She is currently studying 6 to 10-year-old children’s negotiation of social and linguistic practices among families living in a large apartment complex in Western Copenhagen. E-mail: nacl@edu.au.dk

Lars Holm is an associate professor and holds a PhD in literacy and globalisation. His general research interests are language and literacy in multilingual and postcolonial educational settings. He has recently carried out research in language testing concepts and practices in educational contexts, and he is currently external researcher in the research project Sign of Language (2008–2018) examining the literacy testing practices in multilingual classrooms. Since 2016 he has been affiliated to CeDif (Center for Research in Day Care Centers) examining discourses around child language and language practices in Danish day care centres. E-mail: larsh@edu.au.dk

Learning and Teaching

The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences

Cover Learning and Teaching
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
34–55
Keywords:
academic literacies; global student perspectives; international study programmes; relocalisation; translanguaging; writer identity
Print Publication Date:
01 Dec 2017
Online Publication Date:
01 Dec 2017
Copyright:
© Berghahn Books 2017

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