We Are All Translanguaging People: Identity and Social Dynamics Among Chinese Transnational Doctoral Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Narrating Language Resistance and Agency

Abstract

This study explores how Chinese transnational doctoral students in the U.S. use translanguaging to navigate academic and social life and negotiate their identities. Based on semi-structured interviews with four PhD students, it reveals that translanguaging functions as a natural communicative mode, a resource for cultural belonging, a strategy for identity assertion, and an emotional anchor. However, its use is shaped by broader power dynamics and perceptions of linguistic capital, particularly regarding different views of English features. Addressing a gap in research that has largely focused on K–12 learners, this study centers graduate-level experiences and emphasizes the need to recognize translanguaging as a legitimate and empowering practice to better support cultural and linguistic diversity and the inclusion of transnational students.

Author

• Shuai Xu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign