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A sociolinguistic investigation of talk and the construction of social identities in peer instructional writing groups
Abstract
This dissertation is an ethnographic study of talk in peer instructional writing groups. It is concerned with the relationship of talk and various writing process activities to the construction of the community within the group and to the definition of social identity by the members of the peer group. The research question asked was "what norms of language use can be identified in the talk of peer writing groups, and for what purpose are the norms used by the group members?" The study was conducted in an English class at a regional vocational high school over a two and one half year period. The same peer writing group of four adolescent males was observed from tenth grade through twelfth grade. Data in the form of audio tapes, fieldnotes, and student writing was collected and then analyzed using a sociolinguistic based method of conversational coding and analysis. The purpose of the analysis was to identify norms of language use established by the members of the peer writing group, and to evaluate the purpose for which the norms were used. Eighteen norms of language use connected to writing process activities and storytelling in the group were identified. The findings suggest that talk within a peer writing group is being used for more than the accomplishment of the assigned task; the talk connected to the writing process activities is also being used to accomplish the construction of a language community within the group and to define the individual social identities of the peer group members. That the group established norms of language use for directing the talk within their group is significant, and that those norms were based upon aspects of the writing process and storytelling is important in that it indicates the existence of a means through which writing and social identity are connected.
Subject Area
Curriculum development|Language arts|Secondary education
Recommended Citation
Ludlam, David Edward, "A sociolinguistic investigation of talk and the construction of social identities in peer instructional writing groups" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9233094.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9233094