Academic literacy socialization of first year doctoral students in US: A micro-ethnographic perspective

This study reports findings from a micro-ethnographic analysis of the academic literacy socialization of six multilingual students in the field of education as they progressed through their first-year of doctoral education. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the academic socialization processes that these multilingual students underwent while building academic knowledge and social relationships, and to gain an understanding of disciplinary knowledge in a second language. Data came from videotaped outside class discussions and student interviews over 1 year. This study’s results suggest that socializing into the practices of academic discourse is a complex and multilayered process in which students collaboratively construct meaning and engage in interactive dialogs outside of their classrooms in order to learn how to become legitimate participants in their academic disciplines. The findings suggest that academic socialization in the first-year of a doctoral degree occurs in multiple spaces: in initial contact frames and institutional academic spaces, and within an academic culture of collaboration. These socialization spaces, in this study, provided students a ‘safe house’ in which they were empowered to challenge the academic practices they encountered in their first year and attempted to become reflective participants of the doctoral communities of their disciplines.

► The study’s results suggest that academic socialization is a complex and multilayered process.
► Academic socialization of multilingual doctoral students occurs in multiple spaces.
► Out-of-class interactions are key spaces for academic socialization.