This articlereportson a qualitativemultiplecase studythatexplored the academicdiscoursesocializationexperiencesof L2 learnersin a
Canadian Groundedin thenotionof of university. "community prac-
tice"(Lave&Wenger1,991,p.89),thestudyexaminedhowL2learners
negotiatedtheirparticipationand membershipin theirnewL2 class-
roomcommunities, in classdiscussionsT.he particularly open-ended
included6female studentfsrom and10of participants graduate Japan
theircourseinstructorSst.udent interviewasn,dclassroom self-reports,
observationwserecollectedoveran entireacademicyeartoprovidean
ofthestudents' abouttheir in-depthl,ongitudinaalnalysis perspectives
classparticipationacrossthecurriculumT.hreecase studiesillustrate
thatstudentsfaced a major challengein negotiatingcompetence,
identities,and power relations,which was necessaryfor them to
and be as and membersof participate recognized legitimate competent
theirclassroomcommunitiesT.he studentsalso attemptedto shape
theirown learningand participationby exercisingtheirpersonal
and their whichwere agency activelynegotiating positionalities, locally
constructedin a classroom. forclassroom
given Implications practices
and futureresearchare also discussed.