The journey to university: experiences and practices of students from migrant backgrounds in higher education

Abstract

This dissertation primarily aims is to analyze and discuss the academic literacy practices and the experiences of four students of/from migrant backgrounds at a federal public university in Brazil, following the theoretical and methodological principles of Critical Applied Linguistics (Pennycook, 1997, 2017, 2021; Moita Lopes, 2006), literacy (New London Group, 1996), as well as Academic Literacies (Barton; Hamilton, 2000; Lea; Street, 1998, 2006; Lea, 2004), in dialog with decolonial studies (Mignolo, 2007; Quijano, 2000, 2007), with investigations about internationalization and the insertion of migrant students in higher education (e.g., Arar et al.., 2020, 2022) and migration and colonialism (Vergara­Figueroa, 2018; Mayblin; Turner, 2020). With crisis migration seen as a complex process, involving both the countries of origin and destination (Baeninger; Peres, 2017), and taking into account initiatives addressed to migrant students in Brazil, we analyzed Public Call 064/2020 and entries 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, considering public data on applicant participation, to understand the scenario where this group is situated at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Based on the narratives of the participants, we analyzed their academic experiences and academic literacy practices, situating them as international students. Our data analysis shows that the participants’ academic literacy practices are highly connected to digital technologies, and that the demands and challenges the participants face refer more to specific issues of appropriation of knowledge developed at the university and cultural differences from the university/academic settings, rather than language difficulties. The practical recommendations included in this research can be incorporated at UFMG and other higher education institutions.