ABSTRACT

This article reports on a cross-institutional, mixed-methods research study designed to gather data on first year writers’ language backgrounds at three North American universities. Researchers administered a language survey to 1,870 first year writing students and led follow-up focus groups with 32 participants. Researchers utilized three methods (descriptive statistical analysis, systematic qualitative analysis, and thematic qualitative analysis) to analyze numerical survey responses, written survey responses, and focus group transcripts. Results include both quantitative and qualitative findings, featuring one extended case study that incorporates all three data sources to richly detail the article’s argument: while language surveys are conducted to understand changing populations, they reify language backgrounds in the labeling act, thereby constraining language identities more complex than institutional language allows. The article features rather than obscures this tension, including student resistance to the survey as data reveal how students co-opt, adopt, and resist the language identities supplied to them.

摘要

本文报告了一项跨机构、混合方法的研究，旨在收集三所北美大学一年级作家语言背景的数据。研究人员对 1,870 名一年级写作学生进行了语言调查，并领导了有 32 名参与者的后续焦点小组。研究人员使用三种方法（描述性统计分析、系统定性分析和主题定性分析）来分析数字调查答复、书面调查答复和焦点小组记录。结果包括定量和定性研究结果，其中包括一个扩展案例研究，该研究结合了所有三个数据源以丰富详细地说明文章的论点：虽然进行语言调查是为了了解不断变化的人口，但它们在标签行为中具体化了语言背景，从而限制语言身份比制度语言所允许的更复杂。这篇文章突出而不是掩盖了这种紧张关系，包括学生对调查的抵制，因为数据揭示了学生如何选择、采用和抵制提供给他们的语言身份。