ISANA

Ly Thi Tran

Abstract: The case study reported in this paper has examined the of adaptation of international postgraduate students from China and Vietnam in two disciplines, Education and Economics, at an Australian university. It focuses on how individual students mediated their disciplinary writing practices and their personal values. Based on the discussion of the students’ experiences, it will be argued that the accommodating process they go through seems complex and multifaceted. The study highlights the different forms of adaptation the students made in order to gain access to their disciplinary communities of practices. It indicates the need to unpack the ‘hidden aspects’ underpinning the commonly-presumed notion of adaptation of international students. The paper concludes with some implications for the university communities to help empower international students in their participation in academic discourses and make the curriculum more accessible to the increasing number of international students.

Key words: adaptation, discourse practices, cultural stereotypes, accommodating diversity

Download article