A Case Study of Multilingualism in an Historically Black University Writing Center Kendra L
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Florida State University Libraries 2015 Language in the Center: A Case Study of Multilingualism in an Historically Black University Writing Center Kendra L. Mitchell Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES LANGUAGE IN THE CENTER: A CASE STUDY OF MULTILINGUALISM IN AN HISTORICALLY BLACK UNIVERSITY WRITING CENTER By KENDRA L. MITCHELL A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Kendra L. Mitchell defended this dissertation on December 4, 2015. The members of the supervisory committee were: Kristie S. Fleckenstein Professor Directing Dissertation Robert A. Schwartz University Representative Maxine L. Montgomery Committee Member Rhea Estelle Lathan Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii In memory of my grandparents: Bishop John F. Mitchell, Mother Essie B. Mitchell, and Samuel E. Sharper, Sr., and in honor of my grandmother, Juanita Sharper I hope I have made you proud. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “It takes a village to raise a child”—African proverb A common interpretation of this axiom refers to the collective rearing of a child, often extended to mean that no one accomplishes a task alone: the assumption, in turn, is to expect interdependency. Therefore, I thought it befitting to use this saying as a metaphor for the dissertation process, acknowledging the generosity of those who have contributed to its completion. My village is vast, ranging from my committee members to the custodial staff in the Williams building who followed my journey closely, cheering all the way. To my family: thank you, especially my mother, Sherry Arlene Sharper, for accepting the journey and hanging in there even when I was too buried in my scholarship to reciprocate the visits and dote on you in real life as I have desired in my heart. Better days are ahead. To my FAMU WRC family: This project would not exist if you did not embody “Excellence with Caring.” Thank you for always believing in and supporting me. I am especially indebted to Dr. Veronica Adams Yon for more than I can truly acknowledge. To my ALARM covenant family: Thank you Bishop and Pastor Stewart and covenant family for being an added value to my life and a continued support. To the Kingsbury family and fellowship committee: thank you for investing in my scholarship. To my committee: you have been gracious beyond measure, and I am grateful. Dr. Kristie S. Fleckenstein, your tireless generosity has helped not only shape this project but also shape me as a scholar. Your mentorship has been invaluable. Dr. Rhea Estelle Lathan, thank you for believing in this day long before I could see it. Dr. Maxine L. Montgomery, I have learned to be that much more dexterous in my teaching and scholarship because of the opportunities you have extended me and for that I am grateful. Dr. Robert Schwartz, thank you for the insight for future applications of my study. Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge a few special persons: Dr. Faye Spencer-Maor, you introduced me to rhetoric and composition studies through books and intellectual debates in the FAMU WRC that led to this study. You saw something in me far greater than the simple life I sought, and I will always be appreciative of those days. Dr. Natalie King-Pedroso, you also saw this day before I had the first degree. Thank you for your light and showing me my own. Also, special thanks goes to Janiece Smith for being not only a friend but an answer when I needed it most. And to the many others near and far, baaie dankie (Afrikaans). iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... vi 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................1 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................................24 3. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................65 4. ANALYSIS ...........................................................................................................................92 5. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................133 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................143 A. IRB APPROVALS ..............................................................................................................143 B. INITIAL INTERVIEW .......................................................................................................146 C. CUED-RECALL INTERVIEW ..........................................................................................148 D. SAMPLE CODING .............................................................................................................150 E. INFORMED CONSENT FORM ........................................................................................152 NOTES .........................................................................................................................................154 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................160 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................172 v ABSTRACT Concerned with the 1974 Conference on College Composition and Communication initiative Students Rights to Their Own Language (SRTOL), a resolution calling for writing teachers to respect the rich diversity of languages students bring with them to the classroom, this dissertation investigates the language interactions between writing tutors and their tutees in a historically black college or university (HBCU) writing center to better understand the intersection of African American Language (AAL) and Edited American English (EAE) . Composition studies has yet to explore the implementation of SRTOL in a historically black university, particularly in the site of a writing center. This dissertation fills that gap. Using a case study methodology, this dissertation constructs a rich description of the ways participants negotiates the challenges posed by linguistic push-pull (Smitherman) guided by three questions: 1. How are AAL and EAE used in the within an HBU writing center? How do the uses of AAL and EAE reflect linguistic push-pull (LPP)? 2. How does the intersection of AAL and EAE support or erode the writing center’s learning goals as well as the student's and or tutor's perceptions of his or her learning goals? 3. What does this intersection of multiple language practices reveal about the benefits and challenges of implementing multilingual teaching in a HBU writing center? This study included eight self-identify AAL participants, three tutors and five tutees, who negotiated AAL and EAE for two ends: to bond and to work. Given that the tutor-tutee interactions in this study share AAL and EAE, the results of this study revealed that patterns in (a)motivation: reticence, resistance, and diversion. For example, Matthius, an AAL-speaking tutor, used EAE syntactical as well as organizational structures when teaching his participants EAE grammar, but he used rhetorical features of AAL, such as signifying, narrativizing, and indirection, to establish or sustain fictive kinships with his tutees that positively influenced student and tutor outcomes. Meanwhile, Maya's use of these same strategies at time yielded adverse responses. Overall, the interpretation of these data depicts how LPP supports, and at times erodes, the expectation of learning in the FAMU Writing Resource Center. vi Though challenges of teaching AAL include the homogenizing HBCUs and deciding who will teach it, the benefits of viewing AAL as multilingualism yielded individual and collective valuation of language and culture. Taken together, AAL tutors and tutees align with Natalie DeCheck’s claim that tutors who share common interests with tutees, such as language, motivate tutees to improve their writing. Specifically, they use AAL to redefine amotivation as an agentive process of learning and instruction. The results of this agency not only expands our understanding of culturally-situated motivation but they also complicates Smitherman’s definition of LPP, to love and hate one’s language simultaneously. Tension between the tutor and tutee, however, proved to be more complex and resulted from varying degrees of LPP. This study, then, also provides insight to intersection of African American language and culture and their impact on AAL student-tutor negotiations of academic literacies. By seeking deeper knowledge of the language and literate practices of African American learners, this dissertation provides a means of supporting and valuing these learners and the spaces they create to value themselves while traversing the often dismal academic terrains. vii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Concerned with the 1974 Conference on College Composition and Communication initiative Students Rights to Their Own Language (SRTOL),