Date Approved
9-16-2022
Embargo Period
9-19-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Education
College
College of Education
Advisor
Monica Reid Kerrigan, Ed.D. & Catherine Michener, Ph.D.
Committee Member 1
Kate Seltzer, Ph.D.
Keywords
anti-racist practices, translanguaging, translingualism, transraciolingual approaches, tutoring writing, writing centers
Subject(s)
Writing centers
Disciplines
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Higher Education | Language and Literacy Education
Abstract
Despite presenting themselves as supportive, student-centered spaces that help writers and writing at all levels, writing centers, due to their monolingual bias and adherence to "standard" American English (SAE) norms, fail to support and include the language practices of all students, in particular, students of color (Grimm, 2009; Greenfield, 2019; Salem, 2014). To address this problem, the Midlantic writing center embarked on transforming their writing center to a more inclusive and socially just space. This ethno-case study, informed by translanguaging as a critical theory and pedagogy, explored the Midlantic writing center tutors' understanding of translingual and anti-racist practices, and their application of these practices when tutoring. The findings substantiated that tutoring in a writing center that was in a liminal state of in-betweenness lead to contradictions in how tutors understood and applied translingual and anti-racist practices. While tutors were able to articulate to varying degrees their understanding and acceptance of translingual and anti-racist practices, there was limited evidence of their application of these practices when tutoring. This study offers insights into how tutor training can be conceptualized to better educate tutors in transraciolingual approaches to tutoring and help writing centers transition to a translanguaging space of support and inclusion for all students.
Recommended Citation
Krishnamurthy, Sharada, "Tutoring in a Liminal Space: Writing Center Tutors' Understandings and Applications of Translingual and Anti-Racist Practices" (2022). Theses and Dissertations. 3053.
https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/3053
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Higher Education Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons
