Young Writers' Identities: Elementary Perceptions of Self as Writer Over Time

• In Event: The Elementary Years: A Longitudinal Look at Literacy and Language Practices of Immigrant Children

Abstract

Objective: Although writing in all educational contexts continues to be a high-stakes activity that is constantly assessed (Canagarajah, 2011), little qualitative longitudinal research explores elementary English Learners’ (EL) writing practices and development of writing identities. Additionally, Leki, Cumming, and Silva (2008) note that research in effective instruction for L2 writing is limited. With an understanding that “learning to write in an L2 is a process foundationally and substantively distinct from learning to write in an L1” (Hinkely, 2011, p. 528) the purpose of this paper is to explore how six immigrant students construct and enact their idea of what constitutes “good writing”, what influences these perceptions, and how their views about writing change over time.

Theoretical Framework: This paper is grounded in sociocultural theories of literacy, specifically drawing upon New Literacy Studies (Gee, 1991; Street, 1996) and Street’s (1985) models of autonomous and ideological literacies. We also utilize Bourdieu’s (1986) theory of forms of capital to examine how overemphasis of writing in standard written English impacts EL’s perceptions and writing identities.

Methods & Data: Drawing from the corpus of five years of longitudinal qualitative data as described in the introduction above, this paper highlights how the writing identities of six EL students emerge, grow, and change over the course of elementary school. The questions “Are you a good writer?” and “How do you know?” asked of the students annually were analyzed using a priori and grounded coding. Additionally, we drew from teachers’ discussion of each focal student “as a writer”, as well as parents’ comments about their child’s in- and out-of-school writing practices.

Results: The following findings emerged across the focal students’ perceptions of and writing identities:
1. For most of the students in this study, positive writing identity declines over time, especially compared to students’ perception of self-as-reader, which are generally more positive. For example, James, a student who excels at reading, commented in first grade that he is not a good writer, “Because, if I read more books, the badder I get at writing.”
2. Student frustration and a hyper focus on writing mechanics, orthography, and lexicon negatively impact student perceptions of selves as capable writers with important stories to tell. One student in particular, Liz, expresses frustration with writing because her penmanship isn’t “pretty”, which echoes teachers’ comments to her about her penmanship through the years.
3. Students often measure their ability on external objective measures such as standardized test scores and teacher evaluation of length or descriptive details. Specifically, Carlos and Felipe both cite “good writing” as writing produced in great volume; for them, length equals quality. Maya cites descriptive details (words with “chile”) as what constitutes good writing.

Significance: Implications of this research on teacher practice and L2 students’ experience of writing are wide-reaching. This paper will contribute knowledge to the body of literature by shedding light on how to improve teacher practice by understanding the nuanced and intersecting influences on the development of young ELs’ identity as writers (Hinkely, 2011).

Authors

• Kristin Papoi, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Stephanie Shedrow, University of Wisconsin