supporting researcher creativity in multilingual doctoral research practice mariam attia (the...
TRANSCRIPT
Supporting Researcher Creativity in Multilingual Doctoral Research
Practice
Mariam Attia (The University of Manchester) Prue Holmes (Durham University)Richard Fay (The University of Manchester)Jane Andrews (University of the West of England)
12 September 2013 The European Conference on Educational Research
Outline
Part I: Insights from the literature
Part II: Insights from the Researching Multilingually project
Part III: Insights from your experiences
Part I
Insights from the literature
Insights from the literature
Researcher mobility especially in relation to internationalization of higher education (Rizvi, 2011)
Advances in ICT -> an unprecedented progress in transnational onsite and online learning (Gu & Schweisfurth, 2011; Rizvi, 2011)
As globalization continues to connect diverse cultural and linguistic communities -> deeper understanding of the processes of cross-language research (Halai, 2007)
Insights from the literature
Reading and writing across languages can pose challenges to doctoral researchers -> disempowerment by established practices for ‘academic writing’ within predominantly mono-lingual academic contexts (Magyar and Robinson-Pant, 2011)
Supervisors may discard unfamiliar writing (Robinson-Pant, 2009) -> Advise against consulting literature in languages other than English
Insights from the literature
Shapes researcher conception of what constitutes ‘good’ literature (Magyar & Robinson-Pant, 2011) -> informs future decisions as to language choice for research dissemination
The geopolitics of academic writing and publishing (Canagarajah, 2002)
Conflict as to whether to write for an international audience or for one’s local community (Duszak & Lewkowicz, 2008)
Insights from the literature
Shklarov (2007) -> Multilingual researchers are able to mediate between different linguistic systems, point out areas of methodological complexity, and develop higher levels of ethical sensitivity
-> situated ethical understandings may not conform to established institutional practices
Insights from the literature
Magyar & Robinson-Pant (2011): “surprisingly little attention was paid to the effects of imposing ‘standard’ ethics procedures and academic writing conventions on research that is to be conducted and read in a different cultural context” (p. 674)
Cross-language research and the importance of reflexivity (e.g., Magyar & Robinson-Pant, 2011; Temple & Edwards, 2002)
Part II:
Insights from the Researching Multilingually project
Project Background
Much doctoral research invites the use of more than one language
Opportunities and complexities are not widely discussed in the research methods literature or research training courses
Finding a focus
Durham Exploratory Seminar (July 2010)
Many (often missed) opportunities for researching multilingually
Complexities -> from initial thinking to dissemination Researchers (and their supervisors, examiners, publishers,
etc) typically had limited or no supportive materials Researching multilingually vs. researching multilingualism Relationships with translation studies and linguistic
ethnography
Insights further developed
Two Colloquia given at the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL, 2011, and 2012)
The AHRC ‘Researching Multilingually’ project (December 2011- November 2012)
Launching the Project
Objectives:
Explore the possibilities for and complexities of researching multilingually (within predominantly English language contexts)
Examine researcher reflections on, and developing awareness of, processes of researching multilingually
Identify from their insights, methods and techniques that effectively manage multilingual processes
Research Questions
RQ.1: How is researcher awareness developed vis-à-vis the processes of researching multilingually?
RQ.2: What possibilities and complexities are researchers aware of in relation to their multilingual research practice?
RQ.3: How can doctoral researchers be supported to become more intentional, creative, and resourceful in their multilingual research practice?
Data Analysis
Thematic analysis of 25 online profiles and 35 presentations, with emphasis on 11 PhD researchers.
Identifying particularities and commonalities
Developing Awareness
RQ.1: How is researcher awareness developed vis-à-vis the processes of researching multilingually?
Discussions with their supervisors
“Under […]’s supervision, I gradually noticed so many things to which I had
been blind, such as relevant literature written in Mandarin, similar research
studies undertaken in Mandarin with unique methodological insights and
the potential of richer interpretations of the data when drawing on different
linguistic resources” (Zhou)
Developing Awareness
Researchers who grew up in multilingual contexts
not aware of the multilingual nature of their work until they
embarked on large-scale research especially a PhD
My involvement with researching multilingually came about because of my
personal background of conducting research in France as an Indian
doctoral student… Multilingualism was very natural for me. It was very
difficult for me to understand the concept of monolingualism when I arrived
in France. It was equally difficult for others to understand that I couldn’t pin
one language as my first language. (Rajwede)
Developing Awareness
Engaging with the Researching Multilingually project itself
“The series of seminars on “Researching Multilingually” work as a guide to
me for presenting multilingual data in my dissertation write up” (Naz)
Developing Awareness
RQ.2: What possibilities and complexities are researchers aware of in relation to their multilingual research practice?
Awareness of possibilities and complexities related to:
literature, fieldwork, data generation, richer sources of data,
analysis and representation, translation, ethical issues, trust,
flexibility, lack of understanding on the part of the supervisor,
extra workload, a need for methodological guidelines, a need
for a researching multilingually community
Possibilities and Complexities
RQ.2: What possibilities and complexities are researchers aware of in relation to their multilingual research practice?
Some possibilities:
1)Growing up in multilingual environments multilingual affordances
1)Gaining rich insights
1)Neutralising power imbalances
Possibilities and Complexities
Some complexities:
Issues specific to research practice (from the genesis of a research idea to dissemination)
Interpretation and translation
Institutional policies and practices (incl. working with supervisors)
The geopolitics of language use
The importance of reflexivity
Intentional, Creative, and Resourceful
RQ.3: How can researchers be supported to become more intentional, creative, and resourceful?
The overarching construct for thinking about the possibilities for and complexities of researching multilingually
-> developing researcher awareness The life-long process of becoming more confident when
making research(er) decisions as appropriate for particular studies and contexts -> increasingly purposeful as researchers (rather than simply following fashion or convention)
Intentional, Creative, and Resourceful
Four steps in the process of developing researcher competence / intentionality vis-à-vis the possibilities, and complexities associated with researching multilingually:
1) Realising that multilingual research practice is indeed possible and permissible
2) Exploring the multilingual possibilities3) Making informed choices 4) Developing collective researching multilingually
awareness
For more details..
Holmes, P., Fay, R., Andrews, J., Attia, M. (2013, forthcoming). Researching multilingually: New theoretical and methodological directions. International Journal of Applied Linguistics.
Part III
Insights from your own experiences
.. So, over to you!
References
Canagarajah, A. S. (2002). A geopolitics of academic writing. Pittsburgh,
PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.Duszak, A., & Lewkowicz, J. (2008). Publishing academic texts in
english: A polish perspective. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7(2), 108-120.
Gu, Q., & Schweisfurth, M. (2011). Rethinking university internationalisation: Towards transformative change. Teachers and Teaching, 17(6), 611-617.
Halai, N. (2007). Making use of bilingual interview data: Some experiences from the field. The Qualitative Report, 12, 344-355.
Magyar, A., & Robinson-Pant, A. (2011). Special issue on university internationalisation – towards transformative change in higher education. Internationalising doctoral research: Developing theoretical perspectives on practice. Teachers and Teaching, 17, 663-676.
References
Pavlenko, A. (2005). Emotions and multilingualism. Cambridge, New
York: Cambridge University Press.Rizvi, F. (2011). Theorizing student mobility in an era of globalization.
Teachers and Teaching, 17, 693-701.Robinson-Pant, A. (2009). Changing academies: Exploring
international phd students' perspectives on “host” and “home” universities. Higher Education Research & Development, 28, 417-429.
Shklarov, S. (2007). Double vision uncertainty: The bilingual researcher and the ethics of cross-language research. Qualitative Health Research, 17, 529-538.
Temple, B., & Edwards, R. (2002). Interpreters/translators and cross-language research: Reflexivity and border crossings. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1(2), 1-12.