The Impact of Social networking on Changing Educational Identity: A Case Study of Pakistani Female Postgraduate Student in ManchesterHaleema Sadia Mian (PhD Year 1)School of Education, The University of Manchester, Manchester

1. IntroductionInternational students are attracted to UK universities for availing the opportunity to improve academic qualifications. According to UK council for international student affairs (UKCISA) 428,225 international students came to UK for higher studies in the year 2010-11. Settling in a new environment is a challenging task for overseas students. They need to understand the local academic, social and cultural life of the University. Social networking may provide a useful means of communication and understanding for incoming Pakistani students to adjust well to their new setup. Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are used for maintaining pre-existing social ties and creating new connections. Experiences during the transitional period of socio-cultural adjustment may have an impact on the student’s educational identities.

2. Literature ReviewInternational students in their transition to UK have to adopt different social and cultural patterns from psychological and sociological aspects (Ryan, 2011). Students shifting position may demand the process of understanding through interaction to increase the level of fitness so that the demands of a new cultural environment can be met (Amy 2011, Ye 2006). According to Holland et al (1998), participants in an interactive context can strategically shift from one position to another depending on what features are more relevant and effective in every specific situation. Doing so, they actively construct different identities and use them as resources, conferring relevance and strength to their argumentations. Social networking may provide a useful means of communication and understanding for incoming Pakistani students to adjust well to their new setup (Lin, 2012). Wenger (1998) argues that, “The experience of identity in practice is a way of being in the world

3. Aim and ObjectivesThe study aims to explore the impact of social networking on adjustment through changing educational identity of Pakistani female postgraduate students in Manchester.

4. Research Questions Research questions to be addressed include:How can becoming an international student impact on student’s educational identity?

What academic challenges do Pakistani female postgraduate students face at UK ?

How social networking support their educational identity and adjustment?

The study is designed on the basis of my personal experiences, when I joined UK for higher studies. I found the transition to UK very challenging because becoming a successful learner in Pakistan is exam based and teacher centered while in UK it is assignment based and student centered. The proposed study has implication for the international students to develop change in their espoused identity for better adjustment at academic and socio-cultural life of the University. Moreover, the study has suggestion for universities as to how they can respond to the better inclusion of international students

5. Conceptual FrameworkStudent’s construction of different identities, in the context, will be explored through positioning theory of Holland et al (1998). Student’s initial adjustment and identity change will be explored through legitimate peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Their academic identity change in the transition will be viewed through Cultural Models of Gee (2004).

6. MethodTo address the research questions, qualitative exploratory case study research methods will be used as it is concerned with in-depth understanding of students changing identities. The cases will be Pakistani female postgraduate students at the University of Manchester. Six Participants will be recruited through purposive non-probability sampling strategy. The methods for data generation will be narrative interviews at three different stages of study. Narrative interviews will enable the voices of participants to be heard, placing them central to the research process as they reflect upon, interpret, give meaning to and construct past events and experiences within a social context. In order to direct the participants, they may be requested for relevant academic materials, which serve in making the interview more directed and informed. Based on the nature of the research questions

and the methods used in this project, data will be initially analyzed by beginning in thematic and then shifting from an examination of the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the talk through narrative and discourse analysis.

haleema.mian@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Wenger 1998

7. Contribution to Knowledge Information is available in the literature on international students regarding their socio-cultural adjustment, but there is a gap in the available literature on the subject for Pakistani students through offline and online networking. The study will also contribute to the literature on the impact of social networking through changing identities.

8. ReferencesAmy L.G. (2011). College Students Use of Electronic Communication with Parents: Links to Loneliness, Attachment, and Relationship Quality. Behavior and Social Networking, 14 (1-2).Gee, J. P. (2004). Situated language and learning: a critique of traditional schooling. New York, NY: Routledge.Holland et al (1998). Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Lave, J. &Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge, MA:Cambridge University Press.LIN, J.-H. (2012). Social Networking and Adjustments among International Students. New Media & Society , 421-440.Ryan, P. K. (2011). Social Networking Digital and Information Literacy. Newyork: The Rosen Publishing group. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, MA:Cambridge University Press.Ye, J. (2006). Traditional and Online Support Networks in the Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Chinese International Students in the United States. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(3), 863–876.