Presented by Emilija Jovanovska and Mikayla Sievers

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. Case study: graduate students from a Balkan country

3. Literature Review
*

4. 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?

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.”

9. 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

11. Changes in beliefs

12. 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

15. 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.”

16. 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

17. 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…”

18. 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”

19. 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…”

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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