Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 41, No. 1, August 2006

Table of Contents

• EDITORS' INTRODUCTION: The Discourse of Standards

  Melanie Sperling and Anne DiPardo

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: College

• On Saying It Right (Write): "Fix-Its" in the Foundations of Learning to Write

  Anne Haas Dyson

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  Abstract: The basics of child writing, as traditionally conceived, involve “neutral” conventions for organizing and encoding language. This “basic” notion of a solid foundation for child writing is itself situated in a fluid world of cultural and linguistic diversity and rapidly changing literacy practices.

  Keywords: College

• Crafting an Agentive Self: Case Studies of Digital Storytelling

  Glynda A. Hull and Mira-Lisa Katz

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  Abstract: Drawing on data from a multi-year digital storytelling project, this comparative case study offers portraits of two emerging authors—one a child and the other a young adult—who used multiple media and modes to articulate pivotal moments in their lives and reflect on life trajectories. The conceptual framework blends recent scholarship on narrative, identity, and performance, with an eye towards fostering agency. These cases demonstrate how digital storytelling, in combination with supportive social relationships and opportunities for participation in a community based organization, provided powerful means and motivation for forming and giving voice to agentive selves.

  Keywords: College

• "Loud on the Inside": Working-Class Girls, Gender, and Literacy

  Pamela Hartman

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  Abstract: Drawing on data gathered during a seven-month study of the literacy practices of a group of White, working-class girls who have successfully navigated their high school’s English curriculum, this ethnography investigates (1) how gender and class influenced the girls’ uses of literacy in the classroom and (2) how the girls used texts from English class to construct gender.

  Keywords: College

• AT LAST: What's the Problem? Constructing Different Genres for the Study of English Learners

  Marjorie Faulstich Orellana and Kris D. Gutierrez

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  Abstract: In our previous “At Last” essay, “The ‘Problem’ of English Learners: Constructing Genres of Difference” (Gutiérrez & Orellana, 2006), we identified a predictable genre that characterizes much research on English Learners. We noted how the genre may unwittingly perpetuate deficit constructions and keep us from identifying other issues for redress—such as structural and institutional inequalities that create the vulnerability of non-dominant students in schools and society. In this essay, we pose alternative ways of conceptualizing, examining, and reporting our work with English Learners and members of other non-dominant groups. We hope our suggestions will facilitate efforts to research, write, and think against the grain.

  Keywords: College

• GUEST REVIEWERS

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  Keywords: College

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