Movement and loss: progression in tertiary education for migrant students

James Simpson, Melanie Cooke

Research output: Contribution to journalConference paper

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article is about progression in further and higher education for migrants to the United Kingdom who are users of non-standard varieties of English. The focus is on the struggles of Tobi, a first-generation migrant Nigerian student. Tobi's story describes the local barriers he must navigate in order to gain access to the courses he wishes to follow, both at the college where he is studying and at the local university to which he wishes to progress. These barriers include mastery of academic English and assessments of literacy. The contrast is drawn out between Tobi's aspirations to progress 'up' along an educational trajectory, and his actual experience of moving 'downwards'. Widening participation and the stratification of higher education are seen in relation to other processes and structures that impact on Tobi's experience: migration, social class and capital, language and language ideologies, and academic literacy. Tobi's trajectory also exemplifies the tension between his own language use and the variety of English he is expected to orient towards. We end the paper with a discussion of models of academic literacy, which may provide a starting point for addressing the pedagogic challenges faced by Tobi and his teachers.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)57 - 73
Number of pages17
JournalLanguage and Education
Volume24
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2010
EventInternational Conference on Language Issues in English-medium Universities - Hong Kong, PEOPLES R CHINA
Duration: 1 Jun 2009 → …

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