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Admitted or Denied: Multilingual Writers Negotiate Admissions Essays
Author(s) -
Wight Shauna
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of adolescent and adult literacy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1936-2706
pISSN - 1081-3004
DOI - 10.1002/jaal.667
Subject(s) - negotiation , representation (politics) , construct (python library) , literacy , sociology , face (sociological concept) , linguistics , pedagogy , psychology , media studies , social science , political science , politics , computer science , philosophy , law , programming language
This article presents data from a collection of yearlong case studies on resident multilingual writers’ college admissions essays. The focal student in this piece revealed the challenges that such writers face in presenting themselves to college admissions officers. Exploring these cultural and linguistic conflicts, this analysis uses Goffman's performance theories, which argue that writers (re)construct identities in response to changing social cues. Literacy educators, researchers, and policymakers can use these insights to help resident multilingual writers balance the demands of academic audiences with their preferred forms of representation.