University of Roehampton DOCTORAL THESIS Voices from Palestine An Investigation of the Sociolinguistic Trajectories of Palestinian Postgraduate Students in English HE Elhour, Rawand Award date: 2022 Awarding institution: University of Roehampton General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. 2024 0 Voices from Palestine: An Investigation of the Sociolinguistic Trajectories of Palestinian Postgraduate Students in English HE By Rawand Elhour A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of Media, Culture and Language University of Roehampton 2022 i Ethics Approval The research for this project was submitted for ethics consideration under the reference MCL 18/ 043 in the Department of Media, Culture and Language and was approved under the procedures of the University of Roehampton’s Ethics Committee on 11th September 2018.
ii Disseminating the Project: Publications Arising from this Thesis Conference Participation: Refereed Publications Elhour, R. Language learning on the boundary: the difference between ‘knowing about’ English and actually ‘living in’ English.), Taking Risks in Applied Linguistics: Online Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, York St John University, 6-8 September 2018 (pp. Retrieved from BAAL2018 https://custom.com/01664CE00C344F7BA62E39C4CFE91FA8/files/86adbc6e0e884e9 fbf6d9e7d03ec8832. Globalised yet inexhaustive: the role of English language education in preparing Palestinian academics for sojourning in the UK [PowerPoint Presentation].
School of Education Doctoral Research Conference ‘Developing Doctoral Voice: disseminating your research within the Education Community’, 17 May, University of Roehampton. Going mobile yet holding still: Palestinian sojourners, turbulence, and stillness [PowerPoint Presentation]. 'Taking Inequality Seriously: Economy and Society in the Age of Inequalities' Workshop, 8 November, University of Sheffield. Giving voice to the unheard: an investigation of the sociolinguistic trajectories of Palestinian postgraduate students in UK Higher Education [PowerPoint Presentation].
Annual Research Student Conference 2018: Originality and Innovation in Research: Implications, Practice and Theory, 15 October, University of Roehampton. Language learning on the boundary: the difference between ‘knowing about’ English and actually ‘living in’ English [PowerPoint Presentation]. BAAL 2018 Conference: Taking Risks in Applied Linguistics, 6 September, York St. Voices from Palestine: the difference between 'Knowing' English and 'Living in' English [PowerPoint Presentation].
5th International Postgraduate Conference on Modern Foreign Languages, Linguistics & Literature 2018, 1 June, University of Central Lancashire. From immobility to mobility: the Sociolinguistic experiences of Gazan sojourners in the UK [PowerPoint Presentation]. Language, Translation, and Migration Conference 2018, 24 May, University of Warwick. iii Invited Talks Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) (14 June 2021) ‘Studying while under occupation, apartheid, and pandemic: lessons for the digital university’.
University of Roehampton, MCL Department, Language Issues in Multilingual Settings Undergraduate Module (21 November 2018) ‘Language and Politics: Languages issues in nations-without-states (insights from Palestine). List of Grants Awarded to Fund this PhD Project 2017-2020 HESPAL Studentship to fund my PhD in Educational Studies at the University of Roehampton, London. 2018- 2019 Santander and Ravenscroft £1250 research grant to fund my doctoral fieldwork. September 2020 Bseiso Foundation £1950 grant.
October 2020 Hoping foundation £1000 grant. November 2020 Palestine Britain Business Council emergency £780 grant. April 2021 British Council partial scholarship (£6000). iv Abstract Located at the intersection of the fields of study abroad (SA), sociolinguistics, EFL, and mobility, this doctoral project provides a sociolinguistic investigation of the mobility trajectories of study abroad among nine Palestinian postgraduate students in English HE.
The purpose of this research is to understand the consequences of mobility on sojourners’ perceptions of their Englishes, identity (trans)formation with specific reference to social class construction, and social practices and networks in the new context. This study springs from the need to qualitatively document the under-researched experiences of Palestinian sojourners in the UK and privilege their voices. Hence, this research adds more diversity to the SA literature which has been criticised for over-representing certain departure zones such as the USA and Europe. Moreover, the research addresses many calls for widening the scope of investigating sojourners’ lives abroad.
It attends to Coleman’s (2013) call for embracing a holistic perspective towards sojourners’ experiences, viewing them as ‘whole people with whole lives’. Also, the study responds to calls which stress the importance of sojourners’ histories and contextual antecedents (Surtees, 2016) by touching on participants’ language history, motivations, statuses, and im/mobilities back home to provide a thorough understanding of their journeys to and in the UK. To this end, data were longitudinally collected over a period of nine months through two initial focus groups and three waves of individual interviews, resulting in a total of 27 interviews. Thematic Analysis (TA) was devised to interpret the nine cases under study.
TA generated commonalities as well as singularities/differences in the sample. Findings revealed that participants’ perceptions of their Englishes were affected by crossing borders and changing contexts. While sojourners perceived their linguistic repertoires as competent by virtue of their successful language histories back home, their views on their Englishes were subject to v ongoing negotiation and reconceptualisation upon mobility. Participants started to view their Englishes as ‘less distinguished’ and ‘not enough’ in the UK.
Sojourners’ perceived linguistic limitation (relatively) disturbed their perceptions of themselves as EFL/ESL speakers, thus leading to forming new reflexive linguistic identities. Other reflexive identities, such as ‘foreigner identity’ were triggered as a result of participants’ mobility and its encounters. Class-mediated constructions were complex and fluctuating, but they generally featured more moments of moving down (i., declassing) than elevating up. Participants’ socialisation practises centred around their co-national circles which provided the necessary support, security, and familiarity, although other outer social spheres were mentioned by some participants towards the middle of the sojourn.
Sojourners’ accounts also featured supportive and obstructive factors underpinning their decisions to establish social connections, such as sharing cultural habits and intense academic work, respectively. Both sets of factors contributed to a sort of ‘ghettoisation’ which was perceived in this study as a necessary strategy for coping and handling complexity, strangeness, and difference in the UK. vi Table of Contents Ethics Approval. i Disseminating the Project: Publications Arising from this Thesis.
ii Conference Participation: Refereed Publications. ii Invited Talks. iii List of Grants Awarded to Fund this PhD Project. iv Table of Contents.
vi List of Tables. x List of Figures. xi Chapter One. 1 Setting the Stage: Background and Rationale of the Study .1 My Sociolinguistic and Mobility Trajectory: A Bio-note on My Language and Travel History .2 Situating the Research in its Academic Background: Identifying Gaps, Problems, and Needs in SA? .3 Research Aim and Objectives .4 Introducing the Research Questions .5 Outline of the Study.
16 The Study Contexts: Palestine and the UK .1 The Palestinian Contexts .1 Geography, History, and Political Conditions.2 Sociolinguistic Depictions from the Palestinian Contexts .3 Trends in Palestinian Students’ Academic Sojourning .2 International Students in UK HE and Immigration Policies .1 English Language in an Era of Globalisation .1 English Language as a (Post)Colonial Legacy: A Historical Glimpse .2 English Language Learning and Discourses in an Era of Globalisation.2 Sociolinguistics of (Im)Mobility .1 Divided We Move: Mobility as a Marker of Stratification .2 Language in Motion: What Happens When Individuals and their Resources Go Mobile, Cross Borders, and Relocate?. 58 Structure and Agency in Mobility Contexts .3 Experiences of Study Abroad: Motives, Intercultural Encounters, and Identity Work .1 Motives for Crossing Borders and Studying Abroad .2 Cross-cultural Interaction and Social Circles in Study Abroad Settings .3 Identity Performance in Study Abroad Contexts .4 Conclusion and Summary .1 Worldviews and Philosophical Assumptions .2 Mobility: Mobilising Research? .1 Qualitative Approach: Rationale and Challenges .1 A Note on the Trustworthiness and Credibility of this Study .2 Situating the Study in a Research Paradigm .1 Why a ‘Case Study’?. 100 Merits of Case Study .3 The Longitudinal Dimension .4 ‘Have been there’, ‘have done that’, ‘that happened to me’: Notes on Researching from Inside .1 Researcher-Participant Relationship Highlighted .1 Preparing the Ground: Participant Recruitment .1 Introducing Research Participants.2 Data Generation Methods.1 Focus Groups to ‘Start the Ball Rolling’ and ‘Round-Up’ .2 Individual Interviews for More ‘Personal’ Data.3 Representation: Notes on the (Multi)Language(s) and Voice(s) of Interviews .3 Thematic Data Analysis. 131 English Language ‘on the Move’: Expectations and Encounters .1 Language History: Pre-departure Trajectories .1 Compulsory English Learning .2 Private Investment in English .3 From Investment to Opportunities: What English Had to Offer .2 Why the UK? .1 UK HE System as an Incentive to Study Abroad .1 The Tourist Student: Leisure and Consumption .2 Crossing Borders as Interim Release.3 Moving Across Geopolitical Borders: From ‘Knowing’ English to ‘Living in’ English .1 (Re)conceptualising English Language on the Move: A Panoramic View .2 Relocating: ‘My English is Not Enough Here’ .3 English ‘(Un)moored’: ‘The Diversity is Crazy!’ .4 Un-imagining ‘Imagined Communities’: Meeting Different Members .5 Sociolinguistics of Palestinian Students’ Mobility Trajectories: Towards a More Context-sensitive Approach.
184 Identity Work in a Study Abroad Context .1 Identity Performance in a Context of Mobility: Setting the Stage .2 L2-mediated Identity: Linguistic Dimensions.1 Changing Relationships and Perceptions: New Linguistic Identities. 187 Contextual Layer: Different Interactants. 188 Intersectional Layers to Linguistic Identity Work. 200 Mobility as a Trigger of ‘Foreignness’.
201 Non-nativeness as a Facet of Foreignness: Linguistic Perceptions as Triggers of a Non-native Identity. 203 English-mediated Interactions as Triggers of Foreignness .3 Personal Growth: More Self-awareness and Different World Views .1 Pre-sojourn Subjective Class Positionings of Participants. 219 ‘Scholar for a Year, Chevener for Life’: Notes on Constructing Class Through the Scholarship/ Sojourn .2 ‘Déclassement’, ‘Reclassement’: Class Construction in a Study Abroad Context. 223 Aspiring ‘Up’ But Moving ‘Down’: Trajectories of Declassing in UK HE.
224 ‘Classement’ Through Consumption. 231 Sojourners’ Social Practices and Networks in the UK .1 ‘Whole People with Whole Lives’: Aspects of Sojourners’ Social Life in the UK .2 Factors Underpinning Sojourners’ Socialisation Practices .1 Sharing Cultural Backgrounds and Habits .2 Micro-geographies and Mobilities of Sojourners’ Social Encounters .3 Sojourners’ Personal Goals, Interests, and Criteria .4 The Study and the Scholarship .3 Barriers to Social Interaction: Brought Along or Brought About? .1 Academic Barriers: Sojourners’ Perceptions of their Studies and Campus Dynamics .2 Participants’ Stereotyping of the British Society .4 Temporality of the Sojourn .4 Is it Necessary for 'Birds of a Feather' to 'Flock Together'? Remarks on ‘Student Ghettoisation’ .1 Introduction: Thesis Summary .2 Research Questions Revisited: Key Findings.1 Moving Beyond the RQs: Sociolinguistics of Study Abroad Mobility .2 Going Mobile Yet Holding Still: What Does it Mean to Be a Palestinian Crossing Borders for Sojourning?.3 Contributions of the Study .6 Potential Avenues for Future Research. 309 First Round of Individual Interviews. 309 Second Round of Individual Interview Questions.
311 Third Round of Individual Interview Questions. Participant Information Sheet. 321 x List of Tables Table 4.1 Research participants’ background data Table 5.1 Snapshots of participants’ changing perceptions of their English throughout their sojourn Table 6.1 Differences in how both gender groups perceive themselves linguistically List of Figures Figure 2.1 Map of the besieged Gaza Strip and its crossings Figure 2.2 Map of the West Bank and the Israeli checkpoints Figure 2.3 Israeli multi-tiered hierarchy of Palestinians Figure 7.1 Participants’ patterns of socialisation xi Acknowledgments Through this space, I extend my thanks to all those who accompanied me through this journey.