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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1160

Part of Session 169: Sociolinguistic perspectives on the internationalization of HE (Other abstracts in this session)

(Re)defining transnational student mobility: the discursive dynamics of European identity construction

Authors: Ivanus, Dumitru Daniel
Submitted by: Ivanus, Dumitru Daniel (University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom)

Since 1971 the European Union (EU) has shown an increasing interest in the field of higher education, especially in the areas of policy and mobility. Within the EU’s policy on education, The European Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS) has taken a forefront position, as it is claimed to boost the European project and strengthen the European identity through European cooperation, development and exchange.

Despite the anxiety to enhance the democratic credentials and legitimacy of the EU, the pivotal position of the European youth, and the continuous funding and growth of Erasmus over the past twenty years, little attention has been paid to the discursive processes of identity construction within the Erasmus community; also, very little is known about how Erasmus students explore their networks or whether the social networks created have an effect on the students’ feeling of belonging to Europe. In other words, our knowledge about the promotion and impact throughout the years of the largest student exchange programme in Europe remains extremely limited. It is precisely this longstanding gap I intend to cover with my presentation, in an attempt to offer an overview on how students, if at all, define themselves as Europeans and how they negotiate their identities within the context of increased transnational mobility.

Using survey and interview data from a cohort of Erasmus students between 2010-2011, this presentation intends to investigate the overall rhetorical structure and discourse strategies which are being used in the negotiation of social spaces and how Erasmus students position themselves within academic and social communities. An analysis of the data is used to establish the impact of cultural and linguistic flows on student identity negotiations within the transnational social networks.