Collecting Abstracts

The idea of reconciling cultural identities intrigues me. Initially, the idea of dealing with such reconciliation in the writing classroom seemed to me utterly purposeless, so I decided to read more about it. I'm compiling some readings on the matter, hopefully to stimulate a thesis. I plan on questioning the claim that a Basic Writing course can impact students' identities, if so, how. If identity is at all formed through the use of language, can a shift in language usage (by learning academic writing) effectively cause a shift in identity in some students? I will touch on these and other ideas as they come up.

Here are some abstracts:

Identity and discoursal elements: Three case studies of first-year writing students
by Hollander, Pamela Weisenberg, Ed.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2005
Abstract (Summary)
This dissertation examines, from a poststructural perspective, the writing of three first-year college students enrolled in the researcher's basic writing course, which was taught from a social constructivist perspective. The goal of this research is to gain a better understanding of how the course may have impacted the students' writing and their multiple and changing identities. Building on the idea that identity is formed through the use of language, the focus of this study is the discourses, and subject positions made available through these discourses, in students' writing. Interviews were used to identify discourses and subject positions contributing to the autobiographical selves (Ivanic, 1998) that students brought with them to the course and Critical Discourse Analysis was used to discover what discourses and subject positions were drawn on in students' writing.
The degree to which the case study students' writing and identities were impacted by the social constructivist curriculum and course readings varied depending on how closely the discourses and subject positions they took up before the course matched those of the course. Specifically, Autoethnographic genre was found to encourage the use of Social Constructivist Discourse, raising the possibility that genre plays an important role in providing students with access to Social Constructivist Discourse and associated subject positions. Nonacademic discourses and subject positions were found in the students writing. Students' identities were found to be sites of competing, shifting discourses.
This study implies that poststructuralist ideas are useful for theorizing about writing. The fact that there were multiple, competing discourses found in students' writing has implications for conceptualizing the first-year writing course as "dialectical" (Wall & Coles, 1991). Students may find other discourses more appealing than Social Constructivist Discourse because of their offer of comfort and optimism. The finding that students drew on subject positions and discourses they found in the course readings has implications for seeing readings as "sponsors" (Goldblatt, 1995; Herrington & Curtis, 2000), which give students authority to draw on particular discourses and subject positions.

Academic writing and identity: An ethnographic study of a basic writing class
by Otto, Sheila, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 2001
Abstract (Summary)
This dissertation reports findings from an ethnographic study of writing and identity in a basic writing class at a two-year college. Grounded in a theoretical frame where both identity and literacy are defined as socially constructed, the study examines the social construction of identity for basic writing students. Data collection, which occurred throughout the sixteen-week semester, consisted of participant observation, the recording of field notes, audio taping and videotaping of class sessions, interviews with participants, and the collection of artifacts. Selected classroom literacy events and the written texts of three students were analyzed using sociolinguistic and microethnographic methods. The analysis focused on (1) the moment-to-moment construction of identity as people interacted with one another during interactions in the classroom, and (2) the social positions created as a result of the linguistic choices students made in their written texts. Findings from this study indicate that the students positioned themselves very differently in their written texts than they did in their face-to-face interactions. During class discussions, specifically those conversations in which they discussed the subjects of their essays, students positioned themselves as engaged, knowledgeable, and interested participants. However, in their written texts, through the use of such linguistic techniques as nominalization, third person inanimate subjects, passive verb constructions, intransitive verbs, and low affinity modality, students positioned themselves as detached, unengaged authors, and they tended to position themselves and others as having little sense of agency. Students' written texts were weak, in part, because they attempted to distance themselves from the content of their essays. These findings suggest that issues of writing and identity should be discussed and examined by students and teachers in writing classrooms. By acknowledging that literacy is inextricably connected to issues of identity, teachers can begin to help students make choices about how they want to position themselves in their texts as well as in their interactions.

Redneck and Hillbilly Discourse in the Writing Classroom: Classifying Critical Pedagogies of Whiteness. Beech, Jennifer, Ph. D. University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.

Abstract: The article describes the class and race differences among middle and working class folks. Redneck is a polyvalent referent with multiple, shifting meanings across time and space. It notes how poor working class whites are despised and considered inferior to elite whites. Thus introducing the concept of white racism where poor whites are termed as hillbilly, redneck, white trash, and cracker, that in essence means that they are deviant, obsolescent and unsophisticated. In this process of discussing such issues students know their roles and prejudices while learning is enhanced by use of resources such as dictionary and websites.

Hollander, Pamela Weisenberg. "Identity and Discoursal Elements: Three Case Studies of First-year Writing Students." Diss. U of Massachusetts Amherst, 2005.


Otto, Sheila. "Academic Writing and Identity: An Ethnographic Study of a Basic Writing Class." Diss. Vanderbilt University, 2001.


Beech, Jennifer. "Redneck and Hillbilly Discourse in the Writing Classroom: Classifying Critical Pedagogies of Whiteness." College English 67.2 (2004): 172-186.