African American and Latino College Student Positioning Through Essay Revision

• In Event: Literacy, Positioning, and Agency: Multiple Perspectives From Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners and Families

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine issues of race, class and agency as first-generation Latino and African-American students position themselves through their essay revision in a gate-keeper, freshman composition course.

Positioning theory and current literature on college retention comprise the framework for this inquiry. In positioning theory, a position is defined as the rights one possesses in a given context (Harre & van Langenhove, 1999), and the positions students take up often determine the extent of their persistence in first-year, writing intensive courses (Helmbrecht, 2007).

While several studies have investigated approaches for helping underperforming Latino and African-American high school students positively position themselves as readers and writers, (Filipiak & Miller, 2014; Vetter, 2011), post-secondary success requires that students demonstrate academic language proficiency before advancing beyond basic composition courses. Grammatically flawed or substantively limited writing can generate negative instructor suppositions about students’ capacity for effective communication and critical reasoning. (Smith, 2010). This, in turn, can carry a heavy cost in how first-generation Latino and African-American students position themselves and view their prospects for college success (Helmbrecht, 2007; Hungerford-Kresser & Vetter, 2012; Martinez, Kock & Cass, 2011).

As part of the writing process, revision affords a prime opportunity for students to re-position themselves as they strategically evaluate the linguistic presentation of their arguments (Perrin, 2007). During revision, instructor feedback can legitimize students as the creators and conveyors of important messages while also affording opportunities for them to master the conventions of academic language (Graff, 2009; Smith, 2010). What remains largely unexplored is how first-generation, Latino and African-American students position themselves (or are positioned) as they write, revise, and engage in revision-focused dialogue.

The five Latino and African-American students who volunteered as participants were among students enrolled in a freshmen composition course that was offered each semester during the 2013 – 2014 academic year. Data analysis employed a multiple case study protocol (Barone, 2011), and data sources include interview transcripts, student work samples and instructor-student revision dialogue journals.
Findings include the following:
1. Revision-focused dialogue supported students’ self-positioning as college level writers since instructors’ words and phrasing served as models that students read repeatedly and applied in their own responses.
2. In several instances, instructors’ revision-focused dialogue was inconsistent with their inclusive, culturally responsive views articulated in interview data.
3. When students’ revisions included expanded discussion of their perspectives and experiences as first-generation students of color, their use of academic language was more accurate.

This study’s significance is that it contributes to the knowledge base surrounding first-generation Latino and African-American college student retention, a requirement in a prospering diverse democracy. By focusing on revision, it sheds light on class- and race-oriented discourses embedded within the process of developing college-level academic language proficiency. Equally as significant, it points to steps that instructors might take to better understand the complex interrelationship of these factors within their own discourses.

Author

• Mary McGriff, New Jersey City University