Date of Award
1-1-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Second Language Studies
First Advisor
Tamara J. Warhol
Second Advisor
Michael C. Raines
Third Advisor
Robyn Wright
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
Interacting with peers effectively and leading discussions collaboratively have become crucial components of a graduate student's professional development. Students become effective leaders and co-workers through multiple activities, including meaningful conversations and interactions with peers (Dugan & Komives, 2010; Kodama & Dugan, 2013) and participating in student organizations (Garcia et al., 2017; Kodama & Dugan, 2013). This three-article dissertation has continued that focus by exploring how multilingual graduate students negotiate leadership and power relationships in online collaborative talks. While previous studies examine the difference in power relations in the interaction between native and non-native speakers, particularly established in a formal, classroom setting (e.g., Bloome et al., 2005; Morita, 2004; Seloni, 2012; Zhao, 2015), this research investigates how multilingual student leaders negotiate leadership in a student-led professional organization communicating online. Using critical discourse analysis informed by an ethnographically informed discourse analysis and conversation analysis approach, I collected the data through video-recorded observations, shared written texts, interviews, and observation notes. The participants are seven (two male and five female, including me) international graduate students, mostly doctoral, at the department of modern languages at a flagship southeastern U.S. university, who are also members of a departmental student-run professional organization. None of the participants is a native English speaker. In this study, I first analyzed the moves that student leaders employ when negotiating leadership. At a micro level, I examined the discourse processes they use to exercise their agency. Additionally, drawing on participants' interview responses, I explored their beliefs about socialization into online professional discourse. The study seeks to enhance our understanding of students’ leadership and cross-cultural communication skills and promote cultural diversity and inclusion.
Recommended Citation
Rychkova, Iuliia, "Negotiation of Leadership in Online Collaborations Among Multilingual Graduate Students" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3374.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/3374