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AWEJ Volume.5 Number.4, 2014 Pp. 99-110
Literacy and Second Language Studies
University of Cincinnati, Ohio
USA
A qualitative study conducted with three Saudi Arabian undergraduate students over the course of summer semester 2013, explored their perceptions of American academic discourse. The focus was on the spoken discourse. The study was informed by the theory of Second Language Acquisition and considered activity and interaction with American faculty and classroom as the space for socialization into the new academic discourse. Students reflected on various activities in and out of classrooms that enhanced their English language learning. Implications for faculty are drawn.
Rimma Maddox is a doctoral candidate in Literacy and Second Language Studies at the
University of Cincinnati (UC) in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Her research interests include Saudi
Arabian student experiences in the US colleges, mixed methods research and applied linguistics,
and second language socialization. She has taught ESL at the Center for ESL at UC and served
as an advisor for UC Saudi Arabian Student Association, which sparked her interest in working
with Saudi students to help them succeed in the US colleges.