Critical Writing for Social Justice: An Analysis of Argumentative Writing Sessions With Emergent Bilingual Learners

• In Event: Latinx Experiences in U.S. Schools: Students, Teachers, Teacher Educators, and Education Allies as Collaborators

Abstract

Objectives/Purposes
This paper focuses on a series of writing sessions with a group of fifth-grade, Latinx emergent bilingual learners (EBLs) as they engaged in an argumentative writing task. I analyzed how the students drew from their situated knowledge as they wrote about a range of social justice related topics by asking: in what ways did the students engage with and through the argumentative writing task?
Conceptual Framework
For the purposes of this study, I drew from both Wenger’s (1998) theory of communities of practice and intersectionality (Núñez, 2014). These theories served as useful heuristics for better understanding the multifaceted identity work transpiring across the writing sessions.
Methods and Data Sources
All focal students (n=4) spoke Spanish as their first language and were officially classified as EBLs. The data collected included student interviews, participant observations/interactions, ethnographic field notes, and writing artifacts (Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 2011; Roulston, 2010; Cummins, 2006). Students participated in one interview and 3-4 writing sessions. The writing prompt asked students to draft a letter to the president about an issue of importance to them. I utilized an iterative coding process, drawing from both In Vivo and Values Coding to analyze the data with the goal of portraying the participants voices, opinions, and values (Saldaña, 2016).
Results
The four focal students addressed issues related to immigration and homelessness. Below, I highlight a small subsection of findings from two students.
Jeff
Jeff (pseudonym) chose to write against the border wall. His pre-writing comments indicated he was both offended by and fearful of the degree of racism and xenophobia propagated by the current president. His letter demonstrated a sense of belonging to his family and also allowed Jeff to define a writing trajectory that connected his personal identity to the experiences of others within his local and extended community. Throughout the writing process, Jeff engaged in a critique of current power structures at the intersections of racial, immigration, and social class issues.
Jorge
Jorge chose to write about ending homelessness. His writing showed an astute awareness about issues of poverty. His process of meaning making aligned with a deep care for his community and a desire to imagine a world without homelessness. From an intersectional perspective, Jorge demonstrated an emerging worldview that engaged critically with the why and how of extreme poverty. Likewise, he made connections between the issues faced by those in poverty and the broader systemic conditions that contribute to the issue.
Significance
As Latinx and immigrant students navigate schools in the midst of the resurgence of xenophobic rhetoric (Lutz, 2019), this study argues for a critical, social justice approach to literacy development (Nieto, 2017). Likewise, the analysis contributes to understanding the unique ways that students engage with writing through their situated identities (Beach, Campano, Edminston, & Borgmann, 2010). In doing so, it highlights how teachers and researchers can work together to merge literacy development with opportunities for students to sharpen their critical consciousness and place as citizens in the world (Freire, 1970).

Author

• Evelyn C. Baca, Illinois State University