Co-text and critical reading for international postgraduates in Australia. Issue 3 (3rd July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zaini, Amin
• Is Part Of: Southern African linguistics and applied language studies. Volume 40:Issue 3(2022)
• Page Start: 353
• Page End: 372
• Publication Date: 2022-07-03
• Subjects: Linguistics -- Periodicals; Linguistics -- Africa, Southern -- Periodicals; African languages -- Periodicals; Afrikaans language -- Periodicals; South Africa -- Languages -- Periodicals; Linguistique -- Périodiques; Linguistique -- Afrique australe -- Périodiques; Langues africaines -- Périodiques; Afrikaans (Langue) -- Périodiques; Afrique du Sud -- Langues -- Périodiques; African languages; Afrikaans language; Language and languages; Linguistics; Africa, Southern; South Africa; Periodicals; 410.968
• DOI: 10.2989/16073614.2022.2064318
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1607-3614

Abstract

Abstract: This research article reports on a study that investigated the associations between co-text and reading texts critically. Four international postgraduates at an Australian university, through purposive sampling, volunteered in a qualitative study (i.e. a collective case study). Data collection involved reading four texts, participating in individual interviews, and focus group discussions, while data analysis was executed through a thematic analysis which yielded co-text as a main theme. Co-text was subsequently studied through Foucault's theories of discourse, subjectivities, the power-knowledge complex and resistance. The findings propose that there are associations between co-text, meaning construction and critical reading. Participants' cognisance of co-text, owing to their academic and political identities, informed meaning construction and led them to resist text ideas for potential co-text manipulation and what was reported as deliberate inadequate information. Pedagogically, this study suggests that teachers explicitly instruct students on the workings of co-text when reading texts critically.