Examining space, silence, and agency in language socialization of an international student in the EAP and mainstream courses

Abstract

This article draws on the concept of the Production of Space (Lefebvre, 1991) to interpret the silence of one female international student from Japan in two semesters of study in a New Zealand Tertiary institution. Data from an English for Academic Purposes course and mainstream courses, and from various sources including video/audio recordings of classroom interactions, interviews, diaries, field notes, institutional documents are presented. The findings show that silence is produced by the academic social space in three aspects of perceived, conceived, and lived. The new perceived space of learning positioned the focal student as unfamiliar in her new habitat. The conceived space also silenced the focal student because the conceived space exerted socio-academic norms in which the individual was not invested. Finally, the lived space produced a silent individual in the sense that she appeared as less powerful in her interactions with other peers because her sociocultural and linguistic capabilities were not on a par with those of other peers. The study concludes that space is an active, dynamic, and social being that regulates the individual's interactions and that silence should be understood in relation to one's positioning by the social space, and the appropriation of space by the individual in social space. Notably, despite being positioned as a silent individual by the academic social space, the international student exercised agency both

International students' employability: a language socialization perspective

“…The findings showed that international students’ employability is a complex process that depends upon multifarious factors (Tomlinson and Holmes, 2017). Through pedagogical practices and familiarity with the norms of their relevant disciplines, students exercised their agency (Soltani and Tran, 2023), while being socialized, inducted and acculturated into learning practices and processes that impacted their perceived employability.…”

“…Hence, employability refers to a socialization process through which individuals in their academic and workplace spaces participate in the practices of their multiple CofPs and not only express knowledgeability of the complex and varying regimes of competence in their study and work communities but also demonstrate a capable identity as a trustworthy practitioner in familiar and unfamiliar contexts across the study and work LofP. Students are not neutral beings, but rather they use their agency to appropriate their social space (Soltani, 2016(Soltani, , 2018Soltani and Tran, 2023). In so doing, they enhance their resources and imagine employable selves for themselves so that they add to their emerging trajectories (Tomlinson, 2023), which could shape their future employment.…”

“…This study locates graduate employability within a language socialization construct (Soltani and Zhang, 2023; 2024; Soltani and Tran, 2023). Language socialization refers to the lifelong process that “takes into account individuals’ and groups’ movement into new educational, vocational, professional, and other settings, and into the cultures, language and literacy practices, identities, and stances instilled there” (Duff, 2017, p. 257).…”

A landscape of practice approach to enhance employability: insights from domestic and international postgraduates

“…International students are vital to the sustainability of higher education institutions because they pay the actual cost of the degree course, unlike domestic students (Rogers, 2023;Soltani and Tran, 2023). These students also significantly benefit the economy of the country where they study.…”