Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Language Ideologies In First Year Composition Textbooks, Joanna Clevenger

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis examines how standard language ideologies are perpetuated in the five most frequently assigned first year composition textbooks from four higher education institutions in Southern California’s Inland Empire. Standard language ideologies position one variation of a language as superior, correct, appropriate and the normal variation of a language which everyone should be able to speak. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, the five textbooks were analyzed in order to uncover the embedded power and hegemony over women, people of color, and those from a lower socioeconomic status which are prevalent throughout society because they are unchallenged and widely accepted as the …

The So What Of So In Writing Center Talk, Jo Mackiewicz, Colin Payton

The Writing Center Journal

Even small, taken-for- granted words can have a strong influence on the pedagogical effect of a writing conference. In this study, we examined how experienced and trained writing center tutors’ use of the discourse marker so helped them to connect ideas and to manage their conferences with students. We examined the extent to which tutors’ use of six types of so varied according to the English L1 (EL1)/ English L2 (EL2) status of their interlocutor. We studied 26 conferences: 13 involved eight tutors working with 13 EL1 students, and 13 conferences involved eight tutors working with 13 EL2 students. We …

Decisions Squared: A Deeper Look At Student Characteristics, Performance, And Writing Center Usage In A Multilingual Liberal Arts Program In Russia, L. Ashley Squires

The Writing Center Journal

This article contributes to the ongoing discussion of student characteristics and usage/nonusage patterns in the writing center. Using a sample of 107 economics students from a selective, bilingual liberal arts program in Russia, the author finds statistically significant relationships among GPA, gender, English-language proficiency, and writing center usage. Namely, writing center usage predicts higher GPA and closes two achievement gaps related to gender and English proficiency. These findings complicate the picture presented by Lori Salem (2016), whose research showed gender, low SAT score, and being an English language learner to be strong predictors of writing center usage and produced a …

“Starting From Square One”: Results From The Racial Climate Survey Of Writing Center Professional Gatherings, Rachel Azima, Kelsey Hixson-Bowles, Neil Simpkins

The Writing Center Journal

Though the conversation about race and racism in individual writing centers has developed in the last 30 years (Coenen et al., 2019; Condon, 2007; Dees et al., 2007; Denny, 2010; Faison, 2018; García, 2017; Greenfield, 2019; Greenfield & Rowan, 2011; Grimm, 1999; Kern, 2019; Lockett, 2019), scholars rarely discuss the racial climate of writing center professional spaces. This article reports on the findings from the Racial Climate Survey of Writing Center Professional Gatherings. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in spring 2019, when participants were asked about their experiences and perceptions of the racial climate of international, national, regional, and …

Review: Self+Culture+Writing, Samira Grayson

The Writing Center Journal

Review of Self+Culture+Writing: Autoethnography for/as Writing Studies, edited by Rebecca L. Jackson and Jackie Grutsch McKinney.

Front Matter

The Writing Center Journal

Front matter and editors' introduction to The Writing Center Journal 40:1 (2022).

Tutors For Transfer? Reconsidering The Role Of Transfer In Writing Tutor Education, David Stock, Shannon Tuttle Liechty

The Writing Center Journal

Writing center professionals’ (WCPs) efforts to integrate transfer of learning theory into writing tutor education have exceeded empirical research on the effects of such curricula. Building on research in this area (Cardinal, 2018; Hill, 2016), we designed and implemented a semester-long, transfer-focused training curriculum for experienced undergraduate writing tutors that sought to build on tutors’ prior knowledge of writing center pedagogy. We tracked these tutors’ understanding of, attitudes toward, and uses of transfer and transfer talk in writing center sessions over the course of a semester. Through analysis of training meeting transcripts and a post-training survey, we found that tutors …

Back Matter

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Forbidden Forests: Negotiating Censorship In Children's And Young Adult Literature During A New Era Of Conservatism In 2022 And Beyond, Avila Hendricks

Title III Professional Development Reports

Harambee! In Swahili, “Harambee” means “All pull together!” The impetus for this report grew out of a unifying discussion with other 2022 Children's Literature Association (ChLA) conference attendees.These discussions led to the decision to “pull together” against the rise of “extreme” conservatism and the increase of banned books across the United States.

This report offers insight into some of the issues surrounding the increase in censorship in children's and young adult literature. It includes a brief review of the recently scrutinized book, Dear Martin by Nic Stone, and it concludes with some recommendations for negotiating censorship in conservative communities.

Responsible Classrooms: Unfinalizability, Responsibility, And Participatory Literacy In Secondary English Language Arts, Emma Jamilah Gist

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines participatory literacy practice in secondary English language arts classrooms. While literacy achievement in this context is often measured according to a student’s ability to receive and repeat predetermined information within the scope of mandated curricula and standardized tests, this study attends specifically to classroom literacy practice that centers authentic, unanticipated, dialogic student response. Within its consideration of literacy practice, this study applies the Bakhtinian notion of unfinalizability to consider those conditions that allow for learning experiences that are not predetermined but are rather uniquely, unpredictably, and unrepeatably co-constructed by individual students, student groups, and teachers. These unfinalizable …

Sheltered Math Curriculum For Middle School English Learners, Jasmine Ercink

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Language barriers have shown a need for differentiation and sheltered instruction in the classroom for English Learners (ELs) to be successful in the United States public school system. This project proposes a mathematics curriculum using SIOP so that both groups of students in the middle school level can increase their proficiency in the mathematics content area as well as experience opportunities for academic and social language development. The purpose of this report is to describe the processes, methods, data, and intent of the mathematics curriculum for these learners. The curriculum acts as an effective intervention to fill gaps in both …

Student Centered Language Teaching: A Focus On Student Identity, Rachel Mano

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation of essays that describe what the writer has come to see as essential topics in second language acquisition. It begins with a professional environment piece, and then a teaching philosophy statement focused on student identity and interaction in the classroom. This is followed by an essay on observations of teaching. The next two sections focus on pragmatic resistance among advanced learners and the importance of preparing learners for peer interaction. The portfolio concludes with an annotated bibliography outlining the main concepts associated with Communicative Language Teaching, a method that is commonly employed in second language …

Final Master's Portfolio, Heather Eubank

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

The following is my final portfolio for the Master of Arts in English with specialization in English Teaching program. An analytical reflective narrative introduces four projects exemplifying the range of theories and methods that have informed my work, the skills I have gained, and the growth I have demonstrated throughout my time at BGSU: a research proposal titled “The Effect of Decreasing Literary Texts in the High School English Language Arts Curriculum: Proposed Perceptions and Analysis of Student Engagement and Performance”; my statement of teaching philosophy and first-year composition course syllabus; an annotated bibliography of pedagogical research and literary criticism …

English Is Not Dead! Long Live English: Teaching The Evolution Of English And Inclusive Communication Via Online, Face To Face Or Hybrid Instruction, Teresa Marie Kelly, Stephanie Thompson, Sheryl Bone

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

When popular media and many individuals discuss changes in English, some erroneously contend that the language has always been the same and changes amount to little more than “politically correct woke liberalism” desired by only certain people. The English language continually evolves as a natural process that nothing can force nor prevent. Field-specific language also changes with increased understanding and knowledge. The variety of English taught to most students also shifts as Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC)/Writing Across Disciplines (WAD) initiatives increasingly focus on Global English rather than the standard of any one country or group. Even informal interactions with …

Dismantling Structural Systems Of Oppression Through A Revolutionized Pedagogy, Ambar A. Quintanilla

Toyon: Multilingual Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Call For Manuscripts

Virginia English Journal

No abstract provided.

A Sequence Of Poems On Writing, Teaching, Words And Thought, Louis Gallo

Virginia English Journal

no abstract,it's poetry

Breaking Down Barriers: Practicing Silent Discussions In The Classroom, Kristina E. Bell

Virginia English Journal

While full-class oral discussions may be beneficial for some students, there may also be others in classrooms who may feel uncomfortable with participating in discussions such as these for a myriad of reasons. These reasons often extend beyond the negative assumption of students not caring about classroom content. In my own classroom, one discussion practice that I have had the opportunity to utilize with success is that of a “silent discussion,” a discussion that is both independent and silent, while allowing for written interaction amongst peers. Breaking down barriers for students and allowing for greater opportunities for active engagement through …

Eating The Earth: The Poetic ‘Coming Out’ Journey Of One Middle School Teacher, Clint D. Whitten

Virginia English Journal

No abstract provided.

The Dissipating Energy: When Teaching Priorities Are Repositioned, Lauren May

Virginia English Journal

The issue of teacher attrition has strengthened over the course of the decade, especially with the influence of a global pandemic (Zamarro et al., 2021). Ingersoll et al. (2018) found that 44% of teachers leave the field of education within the first five years of their careers. More recently, Zamarro et al. (2021) described a 6% increase in teachers expressing the desire to leave their teaching careers within the next five years. A wide range of demands have contributed to teacher attrition across the years, and it can be problematic when teaching philosophies are pushed aside as teachers attempt to …

Review Of Teaching In Rural Places: Thriving In Rural Classrooms, Schools, And Communities, Rachelle Kuehl

Virginia English Journal

This is a book review of Teaching in Rural Places: Thriving in Classrooms, Schools, and Communities, a first-of-its-kind textbook geared for preservice teachers interested in teaching successfully in rural schools.

Who’S ‘Ere?: Identifying And Addressing Rural Erasure In Ela Classrooms, Chea L. Parton

Virginia English Journal

This article briefly discusses research on the role of rural out-migrant ELA teachers' place-connected identities on rural erasure through text selection and instructional practice. Based on the research findings, it provides resources such as an equity audit for course syllabi and classroom libraries as well as tools for finding and selecting rural young adult literature to combat rural erasure and support teachers' inclusion of critical rural perspectives in their teaching.

Editorial

Virginia English Journal

No abstract provided.

“I Kind Of Pushed Back”: Efficiency And Urgency In A No-Excuses Writing Curriculum, Katie Nagrotsky

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Drawing on the concept of structuring contexts (Berchini, 2016) this article explores a white teacher’s understanding of teaching writing in a no-excuses charter management organization network. Through a deductive analysis, the author traces how the teacher’s beliefs about language were shaped by the CMO’s emphasis on efficiency, influencing how he acted on and adapted centralized curriculum and assessment practices. Documenting the ways that whiteness works within the writing curriculum and assessment practices despite stated broader organizational commitments to culturally relevant teaching, the author shows how the curriculum appropriated texts written by People of Color while the assessment practices prioritized correctness …

Criticism, Praise, And The Red Pen: The Role Of Elementary School Teachers On The Enduring Efficacy Of Writing Instructors, Julie Kimble

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

A teacher’s own early experiences with writing, whether positive or negative, have a significant effect on the students that they teach, especially those who go on to become teachers. In a graduate education and reading program at a public university in the southern United States, we ask our teachers through a writing biography assignment to explore these memories of their earliest writing experiences and determine how those experiences fit into their current teaching careers. For this qualitative project, the researcher analyzed essays that were submitted for a “Writing Autobiography” assignment for this graduate level writing class for educators. This study …

Online Midwinter Seminar (Oms) #1 Report, Ben Dressler

Student Research

A report on the Mythopoeic Society's first annual Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS) by Ben Dressler.

Full Edition, Keb Editorial Board

Kentucky English Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Practices For Professional Learning When Composing Teaching Materials, Jessica Rivera-Mueller

The Utah English Journal

As teachers, we know that reflection is essential for professional learning. However, it can be challenging to find time to engage in reflective experiences that prompt meaningful learning, especially in this historical moment. For many of us, time has become increasingly scarce during the past two years as we have navigated new and uncertain teaching conditions. Like many teachers, I had to spend additional time creating teaching materials and learning experiences for delivery in new and multiple contexts. I spent the early months of the pandemic just keeping up with daily teaching demands-even though I value the activity of reflection. …

Scary Character And Setting Vignettes, Melissa Heaton

The Utah English Journal

Most students know how to write stories, but their stories are often void of description and life. Instead of my students writing whole narratives, I have them focus their mental binoculars by writing snippets of stories that I call Scary Character and Setting Vignettes.

Book Review: Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain In A Digital World, Leah Day

The Utah English Journal

Decades ago, Jeff Goldblum delivered some of the greatest wisdom of our time in his iconic role as Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park. Chastising the myopic man responsible for bringing back dinosaurs, he explains, "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, that you didn't stop to think if they should." As our schools race toward 1: 1 student/ device ratios and parents give tablets and smartphones to their kids at younger and younger ages, it's hard to deny that we might be as reckless as those darn dino lovers. Maryanne Wolf is not a doomsdayer or a luddite, …