Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4360-0087

Date of Award

Summer 8-15-2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Linguistics, Applied

First Advisor

Panayota Gounari

Second Advisor

Corinne Etienne

Third Advisor

Hadi Banat

Abstract

This research focused on exploring the racial literacies of first-year international East Asian (EA) students, specifically examining their perceptions of and experiences with race, racism, and racialized groups in various social and educational contexts in both their home countries and the United States. The study used critical ethnography to examine the perspectives of EA international students and composition faculty. It involved multiple semi-structured interviews, journal entries, racial literacy autobiographies, site document analysis, and class observations to understand how students perceived exposure to race, racism, and racialized groups and how faculty viewed the importance of racial education for international students in their methodology and pedagogy within an anti-racist health-promoting public institution. The study drew on Combined Racial Literacies (Guinier, 2004; Twine, 2004; Sealey-Ruiz, 2021; Chavez-Moreno, 2022) and Asian Critical Race theory (Museus & Iftikar, 2018) conceptual frameworks. The findings revealed that international students from East Asian countries used different proxies to define race and had an intersectional perspective on race. Despite experiencing racist incidents, they were in denial of racism while maintaining anti-Black sentiments. The study also highlighted the delicate interplay of socio-economic class, adoption of English names, and subscription to Whiteness ideas of racial domination and integration. Recommendations for programmatic practices included internationalization efforts at the program level, aligning with the institution's anti-racist health-promoting mission and vision, as well as investment in developing the racial literacies of international students. The pedagogical implications of the study included integrating critical language awareness and culturally relevant racial literacy approaches that align with internationalization efforts focusing on the development of racial literacies among international students.

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