In 1998, Catherine Prendergast observed that, although composition scholars sometimes identify a subject by race or ethnicity, "the legacy of racism in this country which participates in sculpting all identities--white included--is more often than not absent from the analysis of that writer's linguistic capabilities or strategies." Since then,…

Discusses three dominant ways in which language is understood within English studies: structuralism, dialogic discourse, and journals. Shows how each approach produces a different awareness of student texts. Demonstrates how different language theories entail unique interpretive strategies that either promote or disable particular understandings…

When beginning composition students are initiated into the discourse community of the academy, they often attempt to mimic academic discourse via a particular style of writing marked by fragmentation, incoherence, odd or inappropriate diction, the juxtaposition of colloquialisms with sophisticated academic structures, and an unintentionally…

This collection offers insights into what a democratic vision of literacy looks like in practice. Building on the work of teacher and literacy scholar Jay Robinson, the 10 essays in the collection explore the relationships between literacy and society. The essays pay tribute to Professor Robinson, who retired in 1966 from the University of…

This paper focuses on a language variation model that incorporates a number of concepts from linguistic and rhetorical studies. The model views language variation as a product of two correlating causes: one, the user and his or her personal, regional, and social dialect; and the other, the user's use of the language in terms of such discourse…