Mushfaking It: Postsecondary Academic Literacy Practices of Students From Refugee Backgrounds

Abstract

Relatively little is known about the long-term academic literacy development of refugee-background students, particularly at the postsecondary level. The purpose of this study was to understand how refugee students leveraged their cultural and linguistic resources to navigate a competency-based online college program. Using a multiple case study, this research examined the literacy practices of two focal students from Iraq. This article discusses two main themes: becoming students and acquiring academic Discourses. Both participants were actively renegotiating their identities as students, writers, and readers within a new linguistic and academic context. Findings suggest that mushfake Discourse might be a valuable perspective in helping refugee-background students by positioning them with greater agency in their literacy practices as they intuit, question, and manipulate norms to reach their academic goals.