“Power of the Word”: A Critical Discourse Analysis of International Student Offices in the US, UK and Canada

• In Event: Focusing on practice and leadership in university offices and initiatives (I)

Proposal

As the number of international students (IS) pursuing higher education in the Global North continues to rise, deconstructing the ways in which institutions have ensured ISs successful academic and social integration is an important and underexplored area of research in the international higher education field. This paper utilizes a comparative document analysis approach to examine the support systems provided to IS in universities in three countries: United States (US), Canada , and United Kingdom (UK). Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and a decolonial lens is used to interrogate the language in documents produced by higher education institutions that are publicly available. Focusing on our interest in decolonizing global universities, this research aims to reveal the hidden ideologies, assumptions, and biases embedded in texts, discourse, and social practices that have reproduced unequal student access to knowledge and employment. In so doing, this study hopes to answer the following question:
How does power manifest through institutional discourses available in the IS office webpages?
Framework
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of language and communication that focuses on analyzing the relationships between language, power, and social inequality (Rogers et al, 2005; Wodak & Meyer, 2001). By reviewing documents and texts produced by higher education institutions in the US, the UK and Canada, we aim to extract valuable insights from various textual sources, including university policies, program documents, support service guidelines, and student handbooks. We draw on CDA and attempt to begin with a crucial aspect of decoloniality, which is an analysis of how language can be used as a cultural tool that mediates “the relationships of power and privilege in social interactions, institutions, and bodies of knowledge” (Rogers et al., 2005, p. 366). To do this, we will follow Fairclough’s 3 Dimensional Paradigm (Wodak & Meyer, 2001), where we will first analyze descriptions from texts, seek to understand its relations to discourse practice, and aim to provide a social analysis through an explanation of how language and power interplay in the IS services office (ISSO).
Methods
Critical discourse analysis was conducted across the websites of nine university ISSOs in the UK, US, and Canada. We selected non-profit, degree granting universities that resembled each other across the three countries. Our codebook was informed by critical, decolonial literature and our positionality. From there, we inductively coded the discourse from the nine institutions, discussing and agreeing to add new codes to the existing code book as a form of intercoder reliability. Themes were drawn from the coding process.
Findings
By applying a decolonial lens we identified the following three overarching themes:
Hierarchical Domination
We found issues of hierarchy and domination being upheld within ISSOs. We define hierarchy as privileging one group over the other, with privilege being the freedom to move, act, and continuously search for opportunities. ISSOs have the power to organize and perpetuate these hierarchies by limiting ISs ability to move and act freely. This hierarchy ultimately lends to domination. Domination is the way in which language is used to oppress certain groups from movement and freedom of thought, action, and behavior (de Sousa Santos, 2018). Hierarchical domination can be seen in statements toward ISs such as “once you have made your applications, you cannot travel overseas until you have been notified of the decisions.” Such statements prevent students from acting, which generates an unintended consequence of fear and avoidance to act because of their positions.
Power Dynamics
The second theme discusses the way power dynamics were made visible through our analysis. In line with our framework, power dynamics present a certain form of relationship where one group gains more benefits over the other (Mignolo and Walsh, 2018). Our interrogation showed that ISSOs use language to establish a relationship wherein the office could easily benefit from the wealth of knowledge ISs hold but limit ISs ability to equally benefit from ISSOs. This can be seen in one excerpt where an office claimed they “can only provide information and advise on current policy; it is not possible to speculate on future immigration changes or developments in relation to post-study visa options.” In this example, the office used language that discloses institutional limitations, which can be restricting in cases where students need them to make decisions. While having and disclosing limitations can be inevitable, ISSOs can mitigate the perpetuation of unjust power dynamics by providing resources to further information that empower IS movement.
Unquestioned Assumptions
Throughout our analysis, we found instances where ISSOs displayed information or sources with little to no explanation on the significance or reason why that piece of information was being displayed. Without providing this context, the ISSO inappropriately assumes the IS has pre-existing knowledge of said context. Although ISs bring a wealth of transferable knowledge and skills, their own context might not have provided them the same necessary pre-existing context. For example, we found a case where an ISSO in Canada featured a land acknowledgement. However, they did not provide necessary background that would explain its significance and allow ISs to meaningfully engage with its importance. ISSOs that fail to challenge unquestioned assumptions, perpetuate a colonial narrative by the erasure of non-dominant knowledge.
Significance
One of the first touch points international students have with an institution is with international student services. In light of these offices’ critical role, the purpose of this study is to expose and deconstruct the hidden colonial matrices of ISSOs. Our findings demonstrate that power manifests through hierarchies of dominance, inequitable power dynamics, and unquestioned assumptions of ISSOs’ unexamined practices, documents, and policies. In order for “another world” to be truly possible, ISSOs must critically interrogate and decolonize their own operations, documents, and practices. ISSOs should no longer operate under the false assumption of neutrality but instead be the means for ISs to move, express, and be valued for their own thought, action, and behavior. This study's findings contribute to decolonial research by contesting the unintentional colonial practices within ISSOs.

Authors

• Amanda Corso, George Mason University

• Rizqarossaa Darni, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

• Alison DCruz, OISE - University of Toronto