Writing Faculty Perception and Application of Linguistic Justice Principles

Laurie Miller

Advisor: Douglas Eyman, PhD, Department of English

Committee Members: Courtney Wooten, Paul Rogers

Horizon Hall, #4225, https://gmu.zoom.us/j/92769807236?pwd=NDVldEJ5dXBVbXYzMStDeUZYdFNEUT09
June 17, 2024, 02:00 PM to 04:00 PM

Abstract:

Writing studies in the United States has a long history of advocating for linguistic equity, starting with the passing of the Students’ Right to Their Own Language (SRTOL) in 1974 and more recently in the form of translingualism (Lu & Horner, 2013) and anti-racist writing (Baker-Bell, 2020) theoretical frameworks and pedagogies. Alongside this, the reality of larger numbers of language diverse students enrolling in US universities and colleges has motivated writing programs at many institutions to launch linguistic justice initiatives. However, the reach and impact of such programs has not been studied.

This dissertation presents a mixed-methods study that measures to what degree writing faculty in a composition program at a large public university have taken up the concept of linguistic justice and describes factors that influence the operationalization of linguistic justice in their teaching practices. Survey, interview, and document data were combined and analyzed using activity theory (Engeström, 2000) as a way to describe the linguistic justice program as a dynamic system in all its complexity with all its internal tensions. This analysis show that training and faculty working groups have been effective in helping faculty understand and adopt a language equity stance; however, it has been hard for faculty to operationalize that stance in their teaching. Identified contradictions within the activity system, including the need to develop a localized understanding of linguistic justice, division of labor issues, the use of syllabus templates, and a large number of learning outcomes in sequenced courses, serve as focal points for modification of the composition program’s linguistic justice initiative and present potential paths forward to not only advance this initiative but also to help situate linguistic justice as part of the overall university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative. The findings and methodology of this study can serve as a model for other higher education institutions looking for ways to include and advance linguistic justice within their writing programs and overall DEI efforts.