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Rich Points In Between Cultures, Languages, And Pedagogies: Experiences And Perspectives Of International Teaching Assistants In The Usa, Natalia V. Rud

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

ABSTRACT

This study presents a qualitative, multiple case, instrumental case study which explores experiences and positionality of International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) in the US academia. Drawing from, first, the earlier research which focuses on ITAs’ language, culture, and pedagogy with, mostly, a “deficit” perspective and, second, from recent publications which concentrate on exploring ITAs’ identities and perceptions, this study investigates how ITAs approach differences and similarities (rich points) during everyday discourses in their various communities of practice. The conceptual framework is represented by Agar’s (1996, 2006) vision on rich points (differences and similarities); Lave and Wenger’s (1991) concept of community …