Using case study and cross-case qualitative analyses, the researcher explored the utilization of wordless picture books as mentor texts with young multilingual learners in second grade. Eight students participated in the study and four focus students were highlighted through case studies. The researcher implemented three, 45-minutes lessons per…

In this dissertation, I present two studies on transnational, multilingual undergraduate students which focus on students' rich, complex communication patterns across contexts. First, I examine the linguistic, literate, rhetorical, and cultural resources they deploy to make meaning across non-academic contexts as they take care of everyday tasks,…

Many patterns found in natural language syntax have multiple possible explanations or structural descriptions. Even within the currently dominant Minimalist theoretical framework (Chomsky 1995, 2000), it is not uncommon to encounter multiple analyses for the same phenomenon proposed in the literature. A natural question, then, is whether one could…

Students in the United States continue to struggle with explaining math concepts or their solutions to math problems, despite knowing how to solve the problems. Compared to other nations, these students have been shown to perform lower in math on state tests, specifically on portions where they have to engage in mathematical writing. The research…

This research project aims to understand the multimodal composing practices and social relationships within the context of my third-grade writing workshop when an alternate approach to teaching writing is employed. This alternate approach disrupts a traditional workshop as the theory of writing is changed to a theory of making in a multimodal…

This project explores the recent paradigm shift within Writing Studies toward a translingual pedagogical approach, situating many of the critiques of this approach as limitations produced by dominant liberal models of Writing Studies pedagogy. Taking up Vershawn Ashanti Young and Frankie Condon's call to move toward a more anti-racist translingual…

This study investigated multilingual writers' prior L2 writing knowledge transfer and how it relates to multilingual writers' metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation. Specifically, this study aimed to 1) explore how multilingual writers transfer their prior L2 writing knowledge, 2) investigate multilingual writers' metacognitive…

This qualitative narrative inquiry study examined the challenges and opportunities in a writing workshop framework and teachers' perceptions of their role in addressing the inequities of writing instruction in the early grades. The narrative inquiry study examined the contextualized phenomena within writing instruction in early childhood…

This dissertation explored the lived experiences of undergraduate and graduate students with learning disabilities and learning-affected disorders within the context of the college writing classroom. Utilizing a critical incident technique (CIT) framework, the dissertation inquired about the writing processes, learning styles, decisions regarding…

The purpose of this study was to challenge autonomous views of writing and deficit views of students who struggle with school literacy. This study is an exploration of students' use of social, linguistic, and cognitive resources to construct meaning in narrative writing events in school. The following research questions guided this inquiry: What…

Driven by the desire to expand and deepen the understanding of the academic performance and multiliteracies development of international Chinese undergraduate students, and the current scarcity of research on the said topic, this study examined first-year international Chinese students' academic writing process, and how this process was situated…

Freshman composition instructors at Christian institutions face a disturbing predicament: competing pedagogies, administrative pressure to prove freshman composition's merit, public clamoring for greater return on the college investment, technology redefining what "writing" is, a postmodern audience, and most concerning, the challenge to…

This dissertation is a qualitative study of a curriculum I designed for composition students in the Fall of 2012. The curriculum I created is informed by the Freirean edict that a self-generated desire to "create knowledge" is far more likely to result in meaningful, holistic learning than simply "banking" information. In the…

This research is a classroom case study to determine the effectiveness of a color-embedded writing strategy on the writing performance of adolescents with mild-moderate disabilities. Assessment and documentation of students' composition skills progress was made using the TOWL-4 writing assessments. Comparisons were made between those students who…

Past experiences influence how teachers identify as teachers, writers, and teachers of writing and impacts what they do in their classrooms, including their motivation and effectiveness in teaching writing. When teachers fail to identify as writers, they tend to spend less time teaching writing and may find it difficult to model a genuine passion…