"And I Haven't Checked My Grammar Yet": Transnational Students Negotiating Literacy and Identity Across Border Zones

• In Event: Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Reading the Word and the World: Research on Literacy, Context, and Identity

Abstract

As a case study gleaned from a larger year-long study, this paper asks: In what ways do transnational students negotiate identities through relationships and literacy practice across border zones? This research focuses on how three Asian transnational high school students interacted with each other and their English teacher, building relationships that helped them negotiate the demands and freedoms of maneuvering a transnational identity in an American classroom and in the acquisition of academic literacy practices. Illustrated using transcript, video, and artifact data, were ways that the students used border crossing, critical inquiry, and personal reflection as they worked together to compose narrative and fictional texts. We trace how students moved toward critical awareness of their own learning and writing processes.

Authors

• Annamary Consalvo, The University of Texas - Tyler

• Christine Derbyshire, The University of Texas - Austin