BALEAP 2023 conference

Doctoral studies are an important part of a student’s academic journey towards becoming a novice scholar. During doctoral studies, a student (in theory) should become academically literate in the conventions of the discourse community which they will join on successful defence of a written thesis. The academic literacies of doctoral students are shaped in various ways that come about because of the practicalities of being a student within an institution. For example, this is through the interpersonal relationships that unfold with supervisors. It is through the guidance received on how a research project should be designed and executed. It is through the feedback and critique of academic writing presented throughout the process, during which, the student is attempting the monumental task of producing a written thesis that represents a unique contribution to knowledge.

Hidden within these practicalities, however, are a series of complexities that involve multi-layered experiences and power relationships. Indeed, the journey to becoming academically literate is one in which, as Wingate (2015) might describe, a series of complex literacy events that must be navigated. Indeed, current Academic Literacies and Critical EAP literature identifies many of these issues, offering a view of the terrain for students, supervisors, and in-sessional EAP practitioners about how best to navigate the doctoral journey. However, this literature has not been written with LGBTQ students in mind. In general, the literature casts little light on how LGBTQ students experience the complexities of their studies, meaning they go unrecorded. Furthermore, how Academic Literacies and Critical EAP theory should be applied to LGBTQ academic and learning contexts is unexplored, leading to a dearth in knowledge about how to effectively guide and prepare LGBTQ students for literacy events.

In this paper, I present the outcomes from a reflective self-analysis which deconstructed my experiences of becoming academically literate as an LGBTQ student. I conducted this analysis to better understand these experiences and document them so that they could benefit others who follow me. Therefore, I firstly describe and justify a theoretical framework for reflection that is informed by Critical EAP and Academic Literacies theory (Ivanič, 2004; Lillis and Scott, 2015) and Bourdieu’s (1986) concepts of Habitus and Field. This framework helped to conceptualise doctoral studies as a journey within which the student is shaped in becoming a novice scholar. I then go on to deconstruct and analyse this journey, from which, I identify a number of categories. With these categories, I argue that theory in Academic Literacies, as we know it, may have limitations as to how it can support the journey of LGBTQ doctoral students. From this, I sketch out a tentative framework for what could be a queering of academic literacies, focusing on positionality, dispositions, power, choice, and authenticity of the self as key categories. I finish with a discussion about future directions, giving time for questions and comments from delegates.

This paper will be of interest to conference delegates who are involved in doctoral education as either students, supervisors, or in-sessional providers. It will also be of interest to LGBTQ (and ally) delegates, and those who are interested in reflective analysis and writing.