Student voice is a difficult concept to capture in research. This study attempts to provide a vehicle for understanding student perceptions about writing and writing instruction through a case study supported by discourse analysis of student talk. The high school students in this study participated in interviews and focus groups about their…

The language teens use in digital spaces--from social network posts to instant message chats to text messages--often does not adhere to Standard Written English (SWE). Their digital writing involves a combination of written and conversational languages and often has a digital thumbprint that distinguishes the writer. As a means to understand this…

Examines three writing assignment variables--topic, purpose, and audience--to determine how writing prompts affect student performance in grades 7, 9, and 11, and in college freshmen. Finds these variables influenced writing quality at different grades in different ways; generally, specific purpose and topic cues produced better essays. (SR)

A study explored whether high school readers respond significantly differently to African novels in which unfamiliar cultural elements are presented "aggressively" than to those with an "assimilative" presentation of unfamiliar cultural elements. The three novels are set in Africa: Nancy Farmer's "A Girl Named…