Of Becoming "Racialized Elites": A Critical (Auto)Ethnography on Korean Graduate Students' Translingual Academic Practices

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Race, Language, and Justice Across Pedagogical Contexts (Table 15)

Abstract

This study aims to rethink the prevailing perceptions of international graduate students, often seen as either temporary sojourners with limited language skills in a host country or privileged elites reproducing educational inequality in local settings. Focusing on Korean graduate students studying in the U.S., I present alternative narratives by examining how these students actively navigate their transnational academic environments. Building on translingualism, this critical (auto)ethnographic study revealed that students perform translingual practices by strategically and creatively utilizing various meaning-making resources and constructing unique spatial repertories. Importantly, their translingual practices demonstrate how the students respond to “racialized” capitals, such as Standard Academic English, embedded in a transnational academic setting.

Author

• Suok Kwon, Indiana University