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Abstract

Relatively little is known about the long-term academic literacy development of refugee-background students, particularly at the postsecondary level. The purpose of this study was to understand how refugee students leveraged their cultural and linguistic resources to navigate a competency-based online college program. Using a multiple case study, this research examined the literacy practices of two focal students from Iraq. This article discusses two main themes: becoming students and acquiring academic Discourses. Both participants were actively renegotiating their identities as students, writers, and readers within a new linguistic and academic context. Findings suggest that mushfake Discourse might be a valuable perspective in helping refugee-background students by positioning them with greater agency in their literacy practices as they intuit, question, and manipulate norms to reach their academic goals.

Keywords

refugees college mushfake Discourse academic literacies identities

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Mushfaking It: Postsecondary Academic Literacy Practices of Students From Refugee Backgrounds

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