Date Approved

5-13-2025

Graduate Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Communications (M.S.)

Degree Program

School of Communications

First Advisor

Dr. Anthony Spencer

Academic Year

2024/2025

Abstract

This study interrogates the intercultural experiences of African international students (AIS) in a US Midwestern University. With a focus on West African students, the project explores how students confront and overcome linguistic, cultural, and systemic barriers as they create new dynamic spaces which are neither American nor African, but a mixture of both in a predominantly White institution. Drawing on the theoretical constructs of hybridity and language ideology, the findings reveal how AIS actively negotiate identity by using traditional African cultural traits, rooted in Africanism—with new cultural influences, generating unique, fluid and constantly-evolving hybrid identities. I utilized ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews to better understand how AIS engage in ongoing identity negotiation through language, food, cultural expressions, and technology. In this study I conducted 40 hours of ethnographic observations over a 5-month period and interviewed 12 West African students.

Language emerges as a powerful site of hybridity, where students constantly shift between linguistic norms to balance intelligibility and cultural authenticity. These hybrid identities emerge through active, creative processes of cultural and linguistic hybridization. The findings offer important implications for higher education, emphasizing the need for more culturally responsive support systems that recognize the distinct experiences of African students. Additionally, this research contributes to the fields of communication and migration studies by advancing a nuanced understanding of identity formation in transnational contexts. By foregrounding the voices of African students, this project challenges monolithic representations of international students and underscores the power of intercultural dialogue.

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