The CCCC Research Impact Award Committee selects Languaging Myths and Realities: Journeys of Chinese International Students by Qianqian Zhang-Wu as the recipient of the 2023 award for “the empirical research publication in the previous two years that most advances the mission of the organization or the needs of the profession.” The award committee admired Zhang-Wu’s ethically conscientious research methodology, which combined an array of ethnographic methods and discourse analysis, as well as her use of an emic approach that allows her to identify important nuances and make key distinctions that demonstrate the diversity of Chinese students. Committee members praised her rich examination of students’ multilingual and multi-modal languaging practices inside and outside of the classroom and also the strategies students used, successful and not, to help them navigate the monolingual, monocultural U.S. education system. Zhang Wu’s study illuminates the need for critical examination of our assumptions about multilingual students’ needs and preparedness and the need for better and more comprehensive support systems for international students. Zhang-Wu does an exceptional job of situating her methodology and findings within the relevant disciplinary conversations, and her work contributes to CCCC’s mission by “produc[ing] knowledge about language,” “develop[ing] evidence-based resources,” and, most importantly, “advocat[ing] for students, teachers, programs, and policies that support ethical and effective teaching and learning.”
Qianqian Zhang-Wu Wins 2023 CCCC Research Impact Award
