Abstract

For many transnational students in North America, digital literacies entail precarious participation—the adaptive engagement in digital literacy practices under conditions of systemic vulnerability and instability. This multiple case study examines how Chinese international students at a Canadian university perceive and navigate the precarity of their digital literacy practices across national and cultural boundaries. Findings reveal that the four participants exhibit tacit sensitivity to transnational digital precarity, employ strategic adaptation, and engage in measured resistance that cautiously transgresses digital norms. These insights contribute to broader discussions on digital literacies, transnational literacies, and digital precarity, extending and complicating existing frameworks in writing studies, literacy studies, and media studies.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2026-02-12
DOI
10.1177/07410883251410171
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
OA PDF Hybrid
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (63) · 6 in this index

  1. “On my campus, I am afraid.” China’s targeting of overseas students stifles rights
  2. Bahl R. Chang S. McKay D. (2021). Understanding international students’ misinformation behavior. Australasian…
  3. Literacy: An introduction to the ecology of written language
  4. Transnational literate lives in digital times
  5. 10.1080/09523987.2012.741199
Show all 63 →
  1. 10.1007/978-3-031-35469-4_15-2
  2. Brar A. (2023 November 7). Has China killed online anonymity? Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/china-social…
  3. Facebook
  4. Research in the Teaching of English
  5. Precarious life: The powers of mourning and violence
  6. 10.1080/14790718.2019.1575833
  7. Cao A. (2025 January 27). China’s Weibo adjusts algorithms to improve “public values” amid government crackdo…
  8. 10.1093/applin/amz009
  9. Technical Communication Quarterly
  10. Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the Internet age
  11. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches
  12. Dixon Stacy Jo. (2024). Most Popular Social Networks Worldwide as of April 2024 by Number of Monthly Active U…
  13. 10.1080/20004508.2022.2109561
  14. 10.1163/156916208X311601
  15. 10.7330/9781607327332
  16. 10.1002/ijop.12776
  17. What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy
  18. The interpretation of cultures
  19. 10.1080/10350330.2015.1059578
  20. 10.1007/978-3-030-90192-9_2
  21. 10.37514/ATD-B.2023.1527.2.12
  22. 10.1146/annurev-anthro-102116-041644
  23. 10.1017/CBO9780511841057
  24. 10.32674/jcihe.v16i3.5645
  25. 10.1080/00131857.2018.1454000
  26. 10.4324/9781003177647
  27. 10.5749/j.ctv65sz27
  28. Kumar A. (2001 April 5). Libertarian or just bizarro? Wired. https://www.wired.com/2001/04/libertarian-or-jus…
  29. 10.1007/s42438-024-00500-5
  30. New literacies: Everyday practices and classroom learning
  31. The splinternet
    Duke Law Journal
  32. 10.26522/ssj.v16i1.2551
  33. Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation
  34. Michaelsen M. (2020). The digital transnational repression toolkit and its silencing effects. Freedom House.
  35. 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.08.005
  36. Papery A. M. (2024 September 6). Backlash against immigrants challenges Canada’s welcoming image. Reuters. ht…
  37. How migrants manifest their transnational identity through online social networks: Compar…
    Comparative Migration Studies
  38. 10.1093/ccc/tcac016
  39. 10.7330/9781607329688
  40. 10.1177/23813377221115738
  41. The coding manual for qualitative researchers
  42. 10.1177/1086296X12459511
  43. Digital literacy for technical communication: 21st century theory and practice
  44. Literacy in theory and practice
  45. Computers and Composition
  46. Institution anonymized. (2024). University Quick Facts. [URL withheld].
  47. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199970773.001.0001
  48. 10.1002/jaal.623
  49. Computers and Composition
  50. Rhetoric Review
  51. 10.1080/00335630.2022.2128201
  52. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  53. 10.7330/9781646426447
  54. 10.1007/s12564-010-9117-x
  55. Yin H. (2013). Chinese-language cyberspace: Overseas Chinese cyber nationalism and migrant identity [Unpublis…
  56. Case study research and applications: Design and methods
  57. 10.1177/22125868211058911
  58. 10.21832/9781788926904