FROM STRUGGLES TO STRATEGIES: L2 DOCTORAL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC DISCOURSE SOCIALISATION INTO ACADEMIC PUBLISHING DURING CANDIDATURE
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Although publishing during doctoral candidature is increasingly central to academic success, yet research on L2 doctoral students’ writing for publication has largely focused on Anglophone contexts or examined challenges primarily at the linguistic level. Less is known about how L2 doctoral students in non-English-dominant settings navigate the combined linguistic, structural and epistemological demands of academic publishing. Addressing this gap, this qualitative case study examines how two L2 doctoral students, one Malaysian ESL student and one Algerian EFL student are socialised into publishing practices at a research-intensive university in Malaysia. Guided by second language socialisation, academic discourse socialisation and communities of practice frameworks, data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal a trajectory from struggles to strategies in L2 doctoral publishing socialisation. Students initially faced linguistic difficulties in academic expression, structural challenges in navigating reviewer feedback and publication processes, and epistemological challenges in positioning their research. Over time, they developed strategies through supervisory guidance, sustained writing practices, and distributed support networks.
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