Decisions, Agency, and Advising: Key Issues in the Placement of Multilingual Writers into First-Year Composition Courses

Saenkhum, Tanita

doi:10.7330/9781607325482

Cited by 11 publications

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“…This is not to say that students should be expected to comply with every norm. Rather, we suggest that college personnel must provide students with enough explicit information about those expectations so that those students can make informed decisions-a crucial aspect of their agency and identity enactment within higher education (Saenkhum, 2016;Shapiro et al, 2016). We can (and should) have critical conversations with students, in fact, about academic norms and expectations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Sense of Resistance: How Adult Immigrant Students Pursue Agency Through Identity Work in Higher Educational Contexts

Suh¹,

Shapiro²

2020

TESL Canada

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Student resistance in the language/literacy classroom has been an important focus of research in TESOL and applied linguistics. This article examines resistance by two adult-arrival immigrant students in a developmental literacy classroom, drawing from a larger ethnographic case study focused on students’ transition into community college. The students’ behaviours seemed puzzling or self-defeating to some college personnel, but when viewed through the theoretical framework of identity work, they can be read as attempts to counteract institutional marginalization. Findings from this analysis illustrate how an understanding of the histories, identities, and investments of adult immigrant learners can help educators respond to “difficult” moments in the classroom and beyond. This study has several implications for higher education practitioners: First, we must question our initial assumptions about student behaviours, so that we interpret those behaviours accurately. Second, we must be explicit about the norms of the academic culture, so that students can more effectively enact their desired identities and display symbolic capital in college courses. Finally, we must build curricula, policies, and pedagogies that are more inclusive and relevant for adult immigrant learners. These findings add to scholarly conversations about immigrant students’ funds of knowledge and agency enactment within postsecondary education. La résistance des étudiants dans la salle de classe de langue ou de littératie est devenue un point focal de la recherche en TESOL et en linguistique appliquée. Cet article examine la résistance de deux étudiants immigrants adultes récemment arrivés dans une classe de développement de la littératie, en s’appuyant sur une étude de cas ethnographique plus large qui se concentre sur la transition des étudiants vers un collège communautaire. Aux yeux de certains membres du personnel du collège, le comportement des étudiants semblait déroutant ou semblait nuire à leur réussite; cependant, quand on utilisait la perspective du cadre de travail identitaire, le comportement peut se comprendre comme des tentatives de contrecarrer la marginalisation institutionnelle. Les résultats de cette analyse illustrent comment la compréhension des histoires, des identités et des investissements des étudiants immigrants adultes peut aider les éducateurs à répondre aux moments « difficiles » dans la salle de classe et au-delà. Cette étude a plusieurs implications pour les praticiens de l’enseignement supérieur. Premièrement, nous devons remettre en question nos suppositions premières à propos du comportement des étudiants de façon à l’interpréter correctement. Deuxièmement, nous devons expliquer clairement les normes de la culture universitaire, afin que les étudiants puissent entrer plus efficacement dans leur identité recherchée et montrer leur capital symbolique dans les cours collégiaux. Pour conclure, nous devons créer des programmes, des politiques et des pédagogies qui soient plus inclusives et plus pertinentes pour les apprenants immigrants adultes. Ces résultats s’ajoutent aux conversations universitaires sur le fonds de connaissances des étudiants immigrants et leur capacité d’agir au sein de l’enseignement postsecondaire.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Sense of Resistance: How Adult Immigrant Students Pursue Agency Through Identity Work in Higher Educational Contexts

Suh¹,

Shapiro²

2020

TESL Canada

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“…CCCC's advocacy for DSP is, to some extent, logical. Effective placement of multilingual students is high-stakes; when multilingual students perceive their placement as arbitrary, unfair, or remediating, their motivation, self-efficacy, and overall engagement suffer (Ortmeier-Hooper, 2008;Saenkhum, 2016). Yet, as noted above, placement is labor-intensive (and thus expensive) to do well (Silva, 1994;Ferris & Lombardi, 2020), leading to a frequent reliance on standardized test scores to place multilingual students in writing courses.…”

Section: An Emerging Alternative: the Possibility Of A Dsp Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Problem” of L2 Writers in College Composition Placement: Identity, Outcomes, and the Future of Directed Self Placement

Mesina

2023

SALT

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In response to the rapidly growing number of international and multilingual students on U.S. college campuses, many colleges’ first year composition (FYC) courses have expanded to include classes designated for “ESL” or “International” students, with increasing scholarship on the best pedagogical practices for such classes. Despite increasing scholarship on the best pedagogical practices for such classes, the implications of placing students into them remains “the thorniest of issues” (Crusan, 2011), with mounting debate as to how to measure L2 students’ suitability for either “ESL” or “mainstream” writing classes, as well as the role students should play in labelling themselves “ESL” writers. Directed Self-Placement (DSP) is emerging as a more equitable and anti-racist alternative to test-based placement; however, there are concerns about its suitability for L2 writers specifically (Crusan, 2011; Ferris, 2017). This literature review therefore aims to address two questions: (1) what are the unique challenges of placing L2 writers in FYC courses? Specifically, what are the implications of the identity labelling inherent in placing L2 students in courses designated as “ESL” or for “International Students” with regard to student investment and learning outcomes? (2) Might DSP offer a viable alternative to traditional L2 placement testing that addresses such implications?

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“…Generally, the available courses are ones designed for native English speakers or students who are not, a classification generally assumed by citizenship. Saenkhum (2016) characterizes this placement practice as rendering EAL students as "sort of aimless and passive, being moved around by various authority figures at their universities" (p. 4). As Crusan and Ruecker (2019) argue, most teachers lack assessment literacy, especially for assessing second language writing; assessment is thus challenging and often unreliable (Rubin & Williams-James, 1997).…”

Section: Dsp For Multilingual Writersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Matsuda and Silva (1999) refer to the traditional placement method as a "sink-or-swim approach" (p. 17). Saenkhum (2016) encourages challenging this custom by asking students what they want and promoting agency and understanding in their placement decisions but confesses that there is little empirical evidence on how to implement new methods.…”

Section: Dsp For Multilingual Writersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While writing and EAL studies have considered self-placement since the 1980s (e.g., Hackman & Johnson, 1981;LeBlanc & Painchaud, 1985), Royer and Gilles' (1998) article, "Directed Self-Placement: An Attitude of Orientation, " is largely recognized as DSP's foundational scholarship. Using Deweyan (Royer & Gilles, 1998) and Freirean (Royer & Gilles, 2003) ideologies supporting democratic and liberatory processes, DSP invites writing students to decide their own placement, theoretically granting students more agency, empowering self-responsibility, improving student experience, and motivating students to prove themselves correct in their self-assessment (Moos & Van Zanen, 2019;Saenkhum, 2016;Toth & Aull, 2014). However, self-placement, especially for multilingual writers (Saidy, 2018), raises questions about students' self-knowledge, understanding of the process and courses, and self-efficacy (Condon et al, 2001;Crusan, 2006Crusan, , 2011Kruger & Dunning, 1999).…”

Section: Dsp For Multilingual Writersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Two Sisters and a Heuristic for Listening to Multilingual, International Students’ Directed Self-Placement Stories

Horton¹

2022

Journal of Writing Assessment

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Directed self-placement (DSP) is considered useful in linguistically and culturally diverse writing programs, but questions of self-efficacy and institutional knowledge sustain hesitancy in using DSP with English as an additional language (EAL) writers. This interview study grounded in sociocultural literacy theory explores multilingual, international students’ engagement with writing placement and courses, showcasing two quadrilingual, bicultural, international student sisters, Hemani and Kavya. Despite nearly identical linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds upon concurrently entering a writing program, they experienced DSP differently and enrolled in different sections: Hemani in mainstream and Kavya in EAL courses. Hemani shares DSP’s positive impacts on her writing program trajectory whereas Kavya’s story uncovers lost opportunities and feelings of otherness. Findings affirm that multilingual, international student placement is complex and that DSP is highly contextual. This study highlights DSP’s mission of building student agency as motivation for collecting primary data so marginalized students can explain DSP’s effects on their identity and development. Responding to the need for empirical research of EAL writers using DSP, the analysis considers effects of placement and offers a heuristic for examining placement experiences across contexts.@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073697537 9 0 511 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}

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Decisions, Agency, and Advising: Key Issues in the Placement of Multilingual Writers into First-Year Composition Courses

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Making Sense of Resistance: How Adult Immigrant Students Pursue Agency Through Identity Work in Higher Educational Contexts

Making Sense of Resistance: How Adult Immigrant Students Pursue Agency Through Identity Work in Higher Educational Contexts

The “Problem” of L2 Writers in College Composition Placement: Identity, Outcomes, and the Future of Directed Self Placement

Two Sisters and a Heuristic for Listening to Multilingual, International Students’ Directed Self-Placement Stories

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