ORIGINAL ARTICLES First-year English at The College of : Student Perceptions

Raymond A. Oenbring, Brianne Jaquette, Christine E. Kozikowski, & Ivy Higgins. The College of The Bahamas1 ABSTRACT As an institution that has, since its inception, focused primarily on teaching rather than research, The College of The Bahamas has, following other Bahamian public institutions, not traditionally produced substantial empirical studies of Bahamian society and educational practices. Accordingly, this report presents the findings of a student exit survey of the largest first-year writing course at The College of The Bahamas, a study designed to measure students’ perception of learning in the course. To facilitate comparison, the survey instrument generally followed publicly available survey studies of first-year composition students at other postsecondary institutions. While the exit survey suggests that students perceive the course as a whole to be beneficial for their development as academic writers, there is some evidence that students, in their responses to the survey, over-represented their learning in the class. Based on the data, the authors make several suggestions for improving student experience and outcomes in first-year writing courses at The College of The Bahamas. These suggestions include offering students more opportunities to learn library research strategies and building connections between writing instructors at the College of The Bahamas and secondary school English teachers in the Bahamas.

Introduction students when taking college Although college composition has been taught composition courses. Indeed, although the at postsecondary institutions in the discipline of rhetoric and composition has not Anglophone Caribbean for decades, little is yet spread evenly throughout the English- known within the discipline of rhetoric and speaking world—with the field’s main centre composition (a field dedicated to the of innovation and practice still being systematic study of best practices in the postsecondary institutions in the United teaching of postsecondary writing) regarding States—there is an established tradition of either the practices of college writing teaching college composition at postsecondary instructors in the Anglophone Caribbean or institutions in the Anglophone Caribbean. the unique issues faced by Anglophone This includes the flagship postsecondary

1 Raymond A. Oenbring, Brianne Jaquette, Christine E. Kozikowski, & Ivy Higgins, School of English Studies, The College of The Bahamas, P.O. Box N-4912, Nassau, Bahamas. Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank William Fielding, Anne Lawlor, and the anonymous reviewer for their help in the development of the study. E-mail: [email protected] APA reference: Oenbring, R. A., Jaquette, B., Kozikowski, C. E., & Higgins, I. (2016). First-year English at the College of The Bahamas: Student perceptions. The International Journal of Bahamian Studies, 22, 43-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.15362/ijbs.v22i0.265

R. A. Oenbring, et al., 2016. Journal compilation The International Journal of Bahamian Studies, 2016 44 R. A. Oenbring, et al. First-year English at COB. institution of the Commonwealth of the COB’s founding, the guiding pedagogical Bahamas, The College of The Bahamas approaches of these courses have changed (COB). considerably over the years; broadly stated, English 119 and 120 have, in line with Since COB’s establishment as a two-year developments in the North American tradition college in the 1970s, its students have always of rhetoric and composition, moved from a taken two college composition courses in their product-oriented, current-traditional approach first year, English 119 and English 120, a relying heavily upon timed writing and a tradition that continues to the present. For modes discourse taxonomy to a process- years, English 119 focused specifically on driven approach using portfolio assessment. exposition and 120 focused on argumentation, Moreover, English 300, also originally using a both construed in a traditional, narrow modes discourse taxonomy, has recently been manner. This rigid dichotomy, stemming from redesigned so that students spend time the modes discourse taxonomy, has, since fall exploring the unique styles of writing used in 2015, been abandoned. Now the distinction their specific fields of study—that is, between the two classes revolves around the incorporating developments from the rhetoric number of texts from which students are and composition tradition of Writing in the expected to synthesize information, with 119 Disciplines. having students work with single texts and 120 having students work with multiple texts. As an institution that has, for decades, focused almost exclusively on teaching rather Ongoing concern among both COB faculty than research, COB has produced very few and the broader Bahamian community empirical studies designed to assess the regarding COB students’ and graduates’ efficacy of its teaching practices and the continuing difficulties with writing Standard outcomes of its classes. While the term English eventually led to the development of a outcomes is commonly used in the discipline third English composition course, designed to of rhetoric and composition to refer to the be taken in the third year, specifically English explicitly defined list goals for first-year 300/301. Developed as the institution started college writing courses published by the offering four-year degrees, English 300/301 United States Council of Writing Program was designed as a “refresher” academic Administrators (2014), the present study, writing course for both continuing following the broad moves in educational matriculated students and for students with assessment language and theory, uses the term previous associate degrees returning to COB outcomes in the more general sense of class to upgrade to bachelor’s degrees. results. Nonetheless, the survey instrument of At present, COB students enrolled in the study is clearly informed by the values and bachelor’s degree programmes take three goals of the WPA outcomes statement. English composition classes (English 119, COB, like many Bahamian public institutions, 120, and 300) as part of their academic lacks baseline empirical data, whether programmes, an English composition load publicly-available or not, to draw upon for significantly higher than that faced by making informed decisions about its practices students at most postsecondary institutions in and policies. While COB students complete North America. While the course numbers teaching evaluations for most sections once for the courses students take in their first year per semester, these studies are lecturer- (119 and 120) have remained the same since focused rather than programme-focused, and,

The International Journal of Bahamian Studies Vol. 22 (2016) R. A. Oenbring, et al. First-year English at COB. 45 more importantly, confidential. Furthermore, 1960s, at the time of both UWI’s movement the dearth of academic publication by COB to full university status and ’s faculty likely feeds COB’s image problem achieving political independence from Britain, throughout The Bahamas, with many as part of a general “Use of English” class preferring to study abroad over which, following courses being developed in studying at COB and the government of The the United Kingdom at the time, seemingly Bahamas spending millions of dollars per year focused more on teaching formal logic and on foreign consultant studies (Johnson, 2013) oral presentation than on writing instruction that could potentially be conducted by an (2015, p. 82-83). While adequately supported national research instruction at UWI has become, through the university. Beginning to fill this lack of importation of American-in-origin empirical studies, this article presents the composition textbooks and through UWI findings of an exit survey of students faculty training in the United States, more conducted by college composition faculty in centrally focused on teaching writing in the November 2015. The exit survey, designed to decades since, UWI has never fully adopted measure student perceptions of learning American (post-)process writing philosophy, during their first required first-year retaining many product-oriented current- composition course, addressed the traditional writing models (e.g., the modes). overarching research question: given the Moreover, UWI has retained in its writing unique cultural and linguistic milieu of The instruction an emphasis on the rhetoric of Bahamas, how do COB students rate the excellence rather than access or equity, efficacy of the current practices of COB something that manifests itself in the writing instructors in building their academic Caribbean composition classroom in the form writing skills? of grading standards that can appear punitive Literature Review to American-trained faculty. For example, Although little is known within the discipline Rose and Sookraj (2015) revealed that the of rhetoric and composition regarding current average grade in first-year Use of English practices of college composition in the class at the University of is D. Anglophone Caribbean, Milson-Whyte’s Several years before Milson-Whyte’s recent (2015) volume stands as a landmark magisterial study, Anderson and Irvine (1993) study. In the book, Milson-Whyte provided studied critical literacy among college an overview of the historical development of composition students at the University of academic writing pedagogy at the University (Lankshear, 1997) in the of the West Indies (UWI), the one preeminent United States Virgin Islands. In The Bahamas regional doctoral-degree-granting institution specifically, the one extant study working in the Anglophone Caribbean, an institution within the rhetoric and composition tradition that does provide some degree of regional analyzing the peculiarities of teaching college consistency and regional education identity in composition within the local environment is the postcolonial Commonwealth Caribbean. Bruce (2015). Building upon her work on Endorsing the use of writing instruction writing programme administration models that emphasize the writing process management strategies, Bruce critically and disciplinary awareness in Anglophone assessed her experience working at and Caribbean postsecondary institutions, Milson- managing her American university’s small Whyte noted in the volume that English Bahamian campus. In a different study, writing instruction began at UWI in the working within the tradition of applied

The International Journal of Bahamian Studies Vol. 22 (2016) 46 R. A. Oenbring, et al. First-year English at COB. linguistics, Bain (2005) quantitatively Although there is still an ongoing debate analyzed errors occurring in COB students’ regarding the value of Internet surveys as a Standard English compositions stemming research method, with certain scholars from the influence of their home language (Fricker & Schonlau, 2002) being more (Bahamian Creole English). skeptical of the value and reliability of Internet surveys than others (Fenner et al., In Anglophone Caribbean postsecondary 2012), at least one study (Gosling, Vazire, institutions there have been no published Srivastava, & John, 2004) has found that, studies using student surveys to gauge the while Internet surveys may have biases, these efficacy of college composition classes. While biases appear to be no greater than other broad exit surveys of first-year composition surveys that rely upon self-selected programmes are, indeed, relatively rare in the participants. While Internet surveys are, published academic literature, writing indeed, likely a less-than-ideal research tool programme administrators at several for scientifically accurate sampling, the American postsecondary institutions have, in relatively wide level of Internet access in The line with recent calls for more data-driven Bahamas (at least outside of the classroom) decision-making, produced official, publicly- has made Internet surveys a popular research available reports incorporating student exit tool; there is an established body of academic surveys as part of their overall assessment of publications in The Bahamas using Internet the state of their programmes (a 2013 report surveys as a research tool (Bethel, Minnis, & by the composition programme of the Fielding, 2012; Oenbring & Fielding, 2014). University of Alabama-Birmingham [UAB], What is more, there is an established tradition Minnix and Mwenga, 2013). Indeed, in in the Caribbean of using self-reported rhetoric and composition, there has, in recent electronic surveys for research (UNAIDS years, been a broad move toward more Caribbean Regional Support Team, 2014). empirical, data-driven approaches to the Nonetheless, drawing from the pioneering assessment of the programme outcomes of work of Bandura (1977, 1997)—whose first-year writing. Arguing for data-intensive studies also often used self-reported empirical studies of writing programmes, surveys—education scholars and rhetoric and Lang and Behr (2012), for example, composition scholars have both argued for the contended that importance of students’ self-belief in their writing program administrators, faced with abilities in furthering their learning, and have increasing demands for accountability and challenged the simple connection between assessment, as well as widely varying student assessment of learning and student student populations, need to have ways of performance (Tripp, 2012). understanding the interactions of students, Methods faculty, and administrators in their present For the study, a web-based questionnaire program, both in the short term and consisting of 20 closed-ended questions and longitudinally (p. 173). one open-ended response was developed by the research team (see appendix A) and The developers of the present study believe housed at popular web survey site student Internet surveys to be a time-efficient SurveyMonkey.com. In order to facilitate and cost-effective tool to support data-driven quantitative analysis, the closed-ended decision-making. questions were all on a Likert-scale (e.g., strongly agree = 4, agree = 3, neutral = 2,

The International Journal of Bahamian Studies Vol. 22 (2016) R. A. Oenbring, et al. First-year English at COB. 47 disagree = 1, strongly disagree = 0). critique my own writing; Q. 15. This course Specifically, students were asked to assess helped me analyze and/or critique the writing how much they agree with a variety of of others.); library research, incorporating assertions regarding their learning and/or their sources, and documentation (Q. 1. This course development as writers during the course was effective in helping me learn how to (e.g., this course helped me learn how to integrate sources and ideas from others into revise my papers). To facilitate comparison, my own writing; Q. 8. This course helped me most of the Likert-scale assertions in the learn how to do library and online research; survey instrument directly followed previous Q. 9. This course helped me learn how to first-year composition exit surveys performed document sources.); revision of essays (Q. 3. at other postsecondary institutions. For This course was effective in helping me example, assertions 1-3 of the survey respond effectively to writing assignments by instrument followed the publicly-available writing multiple drafts and revising; Q. 10. UAB report. Other Likert-scale assertions This course helped me learn how to revise my followed a first-year composition survey papers.); planning and organization (Q. 4. developed at Southwest Minnesota State This course helped me think about how to University in 2013 (see https://www. plan my writing; Q. 6. This course helped me surveymonkey.com/r/?sm=hqKZC6xQJ4dDqj organize my ideas and information.); QC6fRmPg%3d%3d). Per international identifying and fixing patterns of error in practice in research ethics, students not yet grammar and mechanics (Q. 12. This course aged 18, or legally adults in The Bahamas, helped me identify patterns of error that I were not allowed to complete the survey. make; Q. 13. This course helped me correct Following common practice at many my writing.); effective deployment of postsecondary research institutions (Ferrari & evidence to support main ideas (Q. 5. This McGowan, 2002), some instructors offered course helped me develop main ideas with students small completion bonus grades to specific details [such as examples, evidence, encourage their participation in the study. or statistics]); audience awareness (Q. 7. This Overall, students of four instructors from a course helped me consider the audience total of eight sections of English 119 [reader] for my paper); and, finally, style and completed the survey at the end of Fall register choice (Q. 11. This course helped me Semester 2015. The sample group of the consider how to make appropriate style study can thus be understood as a convenience choices [such as choices about words, sample. For each of the Likert-scale sentence length, and tone] when writing). assertions, weighted means as well as Other Likert-scale assertions in the survey standard deviations were calculated using were designed to measure students’ overall SPSS. impressions of whether they found the class to Following several of the major concerns of be an enfranchising and enabling experience the Council of Writing Program (Q. 16. This course helped empower me to Administrators Outcomes Statement for First- write.), and whether they believed their Year Composition (2014), the Likert-scale secondary English language classes prepared assertions in the survey instrument covered them for college writing (Q. 17. My English several different areas, including: critical language classes in high school prepared me reading (Q. 2. This course was effective in adequately for this class.). Other assertions helping me learn skills for analyzing texts; Q. were designed to both measure student 14. This course helped me analyze and/or perception of engagement in the class, and to

The International Journal of Bahamian Studies Vol. 22 (2016) 48 R. A. Oenbring, et al. First-year English at COB. serve as an indirect measure of students’ student-teacher ratio of 1:20 is adequate for honesty in their self-reporting in the study (Q. English composition courses (Q. 20. The 18. I attended class regularly; Q. 19. I teacher-to-student ratio was appropriate for completed all of the work according to me to receive adequate feedback and assignment requirements). The final Likert- support.). Lastly, students were invited to scale assertion was designed to measure provide whatever written feedback—directed whether students believe that the current

Table 1: Exit Survey Raw Results Strongly Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree M SD Agree Disagree 1. This course was effective in helping me learn how to integrate sources and ideas 29 58 10 1 1 3.14 0.714 from others into my own writing. 2. This course was effective in helping me 32 55 8 4 0 3.16 0.738 learn skills for analyzing texts. 3. This course was effective in helping me respond effectively to writing assignments 38 47 11 3 0 3.21 0.76 by writing multiple drafts and revising. 4. This course helped me think about how 41 39 18 0 1 3.20 0.808 to plan my writing. 5. This course helped me develop main ideas with specific details (such as 35 43 19 2 0 3.12 0.786 examples, evidence, or statistics). 6. This course helped me organize my 33 53 10 3 0 3.17 0.802 ideas and information. 7. This course helped me consider the 33 49 15 2 0 3.14 0.742 audience (reader) for my paper. 8. This course helped me learn how to do 31 36 27 3 2 2.92 0.944 library and online research. 9. This course helped me learn how to 38 45 13 3 0 3.19 0.778 document sources. 10. This course helped me learn how to 32 46 19 1 1 3.08 0.804 revise my papers. 11. This course helped me consider how to make appropriate style choices (such 34 44 18 1 0 3.14 0.75 as choices about words, sentence length, and tone) when writing. 12. This course helped me identify 34 43 19 1 0 3.13 0.759 patterns of error that I make. 13. This course helped me correct my 30 51 15 0 0 3.16 0.67 writing. 14. This course helped me analyze and/or 30 49 17 1 0 3.11 0.72 critique my own writing. 15. This course helped me analyze and/or 30 44 20 3 0 3.04 0.803 critique the writing of others. 16. This course helped empower me to 16 38 34 6 2 2.63 0.909 write. 17. My English language classes in high school prepared me adequately for this 20 32 26 13 6 2.48 1.147 class. 18. I attended class regularly. 50 31 14 3 0 3.31 0.83 19. I completed all of the work according 38 44 15 1 0 3.21 0.736 to assignment requirements. 20. The teacher-to-student ratio was appropriate for me to receive adequate 58 32 6 1 0 3.52 0.663 feedback and support.

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at the assignments and the design of the Discussion course itself rather than their instructor—they The overall similarity in the means for the saw fit to volunteer in a final open-ended different Likert-scale assertions, as well as the response (Q. 21. Not commenting on the overall lack of variation in the distribution of specific style of your lecturer, please offer responses to the various assertions is whatever feedback you may have on the suggestive; it indicates that students may have design of this course and the assignments in completed the survey without thorough the course). contemplation of the different assertions. Results Moreover, there was some evidence that some In total, the survey was completed by 99 students overrepresented their engagement students from eight different sections, with a and, perhaps, their learning in the course. relatively high overall response rate of 60%. This pattern was most clear in the means and In line with COB School of English Studies’ response distributions for the two assertions anecdotal overarching impression of student meant to serve as indirect measures of teaching evaluations, English 119 students, in students’ honesty in their self-reporting in the general, expressed the view that the course study (Q. 18. I attended class regularly; Q. was effective in building their academic 19. I completed all of the work according to writing skills and abilities, with most assignment requirements), with the student assertions having an average slightly higher mean responses (3.31 and 3.21 respectively) than agree (i.e., in the 3.0-3.3 range). far surpassing the levels of engagement that Assertions specifically regarding students’ most English 119 professors would attribute learning in the area of critical reading had an to their students. overall mean of 3.10. Similarly, assertions in All in all, student responses were generally the area of library research, incorporating comparable to published student surveys of sources, and documentation had a similar first-year writing at other colleges and mean of 3.08. Assertions on the topics of universities. For example, student responses revision of essays and identifying and fixing to the assertion this course was effective in patterns of error in grammar and mechanics helping me learn how to integrate sources each had a slightly higher mean of 3.15. and ideas from others into my own writing Moreover, assertions regarding planning and had a mean of 3.14, whereas the parallel organization had an overall mean of 3.19. assertion in the UAB study had a mean of Table 1 presents student responses to the 3.18 when adjusted to the scale used in the Likert-scale assertions, along with means and current study. In fact, COB students standard deviations. Unfortunately, few expressed, on average, slightly stronger students took the time to thoughtfully and responses for the assertions this course was thoroughly complete the open-ended section, effective in helping me learn skills for with most students (N = 60) writing nothing at analyzing texts and this course was effective all. Those students who did respond generally in helping me respond effectively to writing made comments directed at their lecturer (e.g., assignments by writing multiple drafts and Dr. X really works with you.), despite being revising than found in the parallel assertions directed against this in the instructions, or in the UAB study, with COB students’ short responses (e.g., great course). That is to responses having averages of 3.16 and 3.21 say, generally, the open-ended responses were and UAB students’ responses having scale- not insightful. adjusted averages of 2.96 and 3.01

The International Journal of Bahamian Studies Vol. 22 (2016) 50 R. A. Oenbring, et al. First-year English at COB. respectively. Interestingly, COB students how to do library and online research. While expressed highest agreement with the this rating is not surprising given the fact that statement the teacher-to-student ratio was COB no longer provides systematic librarian- appropriate for me to receive adequate driven library instruction or computer- feedback and support (average of 3.52), integrated classrooms that English faculty can suggesting that 119 students believe that the book for instructional purposes, it should be current student-teacher ratio is appropriate for noted that many COB English faculty do their facilitating their learning. best to provide students with library However, students’ responses averaged instruction given the limited classroom and somewhat less than 3 for three different digital resources available. From the time of assertions, suggesting several areas where the institution’s founding, COB required all English composition faculty at COB and the students to complete a Library Orientation institution as a whole may wish to focus course taught by librarians to large groups of attention in the future. The specific assertions students in the College auditorium. with which students expressed somewhat less Eventually, the Library Orientation course agreement on average were: my English was cancelled with the intention of replacing language classes in high school prepared me it by incorporating library instruction into adequately for this class (M = 2.48); this first-year English composition courses. While course helped empower me to write (M = librarians did conduct one-hour sessions in 2.63); and this course helped me learn how to first-year English composition classes at COB do library and online research (M = 2.92). from 2008-2012, the library instruction programme was eventually cancelled, and, at The statement with the second-lowest rating present, most COB students receive little to (that is, this course helped empower me to no systematic library instruction as part of write) suggests that many students do not their academic programmes. view the class as an enabling or enfranchising experience. This finding accords with the While COB’s School of English Studies for general impression shared by many on COB’s years had a tradition of meeting with campus: that students, whether a product of secondary school English Language teachers their high school experience or otherwise, once a year for an information and training have a profound dislike for English language session facilitated by the Bahamian Ministry classes, a finding documented in other of Education, these meetings have recently Anglophone Caribbean nations, such as been discontinued. Among other topics, these Jamaica (Åberg & Waller, 2012). That is to information and training sessions covered say, students, on average, find English COB faculty’s concerns about the reading and language classes stifling rather than writing skills of incoming students and best empowering, with many students avoiding practices in preparing college readers and taking required English composition courses writers. The fact that students gave the until much later in their programme of study assertion my English language classes in high than COB advises. A similar trend was found school prepared me adequately for this class at UWI, although the driving force there the lowest average rating suggests that COB appears to be their fear of English and/or and the Ministry of Education may wish to writing (Milson-White, 2015). revive and expand these meetings, with the goal of better preparing high-school students Finally, students also gave a low mean rating for the rigours of college writing. An to the assertion this course helped me learn example of a relatively simple improvement

The International Journal of Bahamian Studies Vol. 22 (2016) R. A. Oenbring, et al. First-year English at COB. 51 that high-school English Language teachers in written open-ended responses. This major The Bahamas could implement would be to finding, arrived at through rigorous data increase the amount students write in collection, reflects well upon the English essayistic and analytical genres rather than in composition programme at the College of The narrative genres. Indeed, many Bahamian Bahamas and has the potential to provide both students do relatively little writing in a positive public relations message for COB analytical or essayistic genres in their high- and support for COB’s attempt to achieve school English language classes, as many international accreditation as it moves toward English language teachers believe narrative university status. Furthermore, the data writing to be an easier option for students for presented in the study will prove valuable in the Bahamian General Certificate of the future for revision of English writing Secondary Education exam (BGCSE), The courses at COB. Bahamas’ national high school exit exams, Nonetheless, the data suggest that equivalent to O-level/GCSE in other implementing a handful of improvements and Commonwealth nations. adjustments could enhance the student Limitations experience in English 119. The authors of the The authors recognize that this study had study make the following recommendations significant limitations. First, the survey was for improving the student experience in and completed by the students of only four the course outcomes of COB’s English lecturers and by only eight sections of the composition courses. First of all, the College more than 50 sections of English 119 offered of The Bahamas should expand the per year. Also, as previously mentioned, there availability of library instruction for English is some evidence that students overstated their 119 students. Secondly, COB should maintain degree of engagement and possibly learning in the current student-teacher ratio of 20 students the course, in the various areas covered in per section in portfolio-based English Likert-scale assertions. This finding composition courses. Thirdly, COB should seemingly supports the line of research in conduct further research to evaluate strategies rhetoric and composition and education for reducing student distaste for and studies more generally, which, following the disengagement in English composition work of Bandura (1977, 1997), challenges the classes. Fourthly, COB should resume annual correlation between students’ self-assessment meetings between COB English faculty and of their learning and their actual performance. high school teachers in The Bahamas and Conclusion continue to foster this relationship in order to While anecdotal evidence suggests that better prepare students for college writing at College of The Bahamas students find English COB. And, finally, this study should be composition courses highly challenging, the repeated, using the identical survey instrument exit survey indicates that students, as a whole, in five years to gauge whether these changes believe the course to be valuable for their have impacted student experience and course learning as well as for their development as outcomes. writers. This finding was supported both by students’ closed-ended responses and by their

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