Negotiating the Messiness of Teaching Linguistic Justice Online:  Reflections of Multilingual Writing Instructors During COVID

Forster Kudjo Agama; Marcela Hebbard; Bernadette M.  López-Fitzsimmons

doi:10.29333/ajqr/12872

Negotiating the Messiness of Teaching Linguistic Justice Online: Reflections of Multilingual Writing Instructors During COVID

Forster Kudjo Agama ¹, Marcela Hebbard ² ^* , Bernadette M. López-Fitzsimmons ³

More Detail

AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 128-148

https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/12872

OPEN ACCESS 1439 Views 416 Downloads

Download Full Text (PDF)

Abstract

This qualitative phenomenological study explores how multilingual writing instructors define linguistic justice and how they incorporate linguistic justice in their online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The global health crisis officially declared in March 2020, pushed educators around the world to become online instructors overnight. This rapid move to an online environment magnified technology, language, race, and socioeconomic inequalities. In higher education, online environments are prone to linguistic inequalities and linguistic racism. For decades, scholars in the field of composition have argued that in order to dismantle elitist monolingual ideologies, writing instructors, multilingual and monolingual alike, should investigate their own positions and pedagogical practices regarding language (teaching) practices. Thus, through the use of reflexivity, the authors served as researcher-participants and collected four different sources of data. The findings demonstrate that while the authors implement linguistic justice in their courses, their translinguistic histories impact their pedagogies differently. Furthermore, the data suggest that reflexivity prompts them to monitor their own attitudes, ideas, and actions by putting them on pause and allowing them to become uncomfortable – even frightened at times – about their experiences at the intersection of teaching and practicing linguistic justice. An implication of this study is that through reflexive interactions, practitioners can begin to make sense of their nuanced positionalities and become more transparent about their teaching roles and responsibilities as well as their identities in other areas of life in relation to linguistic justice.

Keywords: linguistic justice, online writing instruction, multilingual instructors, COVID-19 pandemic, qualitative research.

References

Baker-Bell, A. (2020). Linguistic justice: Black language, literacy, identity, and pedagogy. Routledge.
Brandt, D. (1998). Sponsors of literacy. College Composition and Communication, 49(2), 165–185. http://www.jstor.org/stable/358929.
Canagarajah, A. S. (2010). A rhetoric of shuttling between languages. In B. Horner, M-Z Lu, & P. K. Matsuda (Eds.), Cross-language relations in composition (pp. 158–179). Southern Illinois University Press.
CCCC Online Writing Instruction Standing Group. (2021). The 2021 state of the art of OWI report. Conference on College Composition and Communication. https://sites.google.com/view/owistandinggroup/state-of-the-art-of-owi-2021
CCCC OWI Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction. (2013). A position statement of principles and effective practices for online writing instruction (OWI). http://www.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/owiprinciples
Colaizzi, P.F. (1978). Psychological research as the phenomenologist views. In R. Vaile & M. King (Eds.), Existential phenomenological alternatives for psychology (pp. 48–71). Oxford University Press.
Conference on College Composition and Communication. (1974). Students’ right to their own language [PDF]. In Students’ right to their own language. https://prod-ncte-cdn.azureedge.net/nctefiles/groups/cccc/newsrtol.pdf
Creswell, J. W., & Báez, J. C. (2020). 30 essential skills for the qualitative researcher. SAGE Publications.
Creswell, J.W., & Poth, C.N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches. SAGE Publications.
De Costa, P. I. (2020) Linguistic racism: Its negative effects and why we need to contest it. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(7), 833–837. http//doi:10.1080/13670050.2020.1783638
Dobinson, T., & Mercieca, P. (2020). Seeing things as they are, not Just as we are: Investigating linguistic racism on an Australian university campus. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(7), 789–803. https//doi:10.1080/13670050.2020.1724074
Dovchin, S. (2020). The psychological damages of linguistic racism and international students in Australia. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(7), 804–818. http//doi:10.1080/13670050.2020.1759504
Giampapa, F. (2011). The politics of “Being and Becoming” a researcher: Identity, power, and negotiating the field. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 10, (pp.132-144).
Gonzales Howell, N., Navickas, K., Shapiro, R., Shapiro, S. & Watson, M. (2020). Embracing the perpetual ‘But’ in raciolinguistic justice work: When idealism meets practice. Composition Forum, 44.
Greene, V.G., & Park G. (2021). Promoting reflexivity during the Covid-19 Pandemic. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 5(1), 23-29. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/9717
Hewett, B. (2015). Grounding principles of OWI. In B. Hewett & K. DePew (Eds.), Foundational practices of online writing instruction (pp. 39–98). WAC Clearinghouse, Parlor Press.
Hewett, B., & DePew, K. (Eds.). (2015). Foundational practices of online writing instruction. WAC Clearinghouse, Parlor Press.
Horner, B., Lu, M. Z., Royster, J. J., & Trimbur, J. (2011). Language difference in writing: Toward a translingual approach. College English, 73(3), 303–321.
Hussein, E., Daoud, S., Alrabaiah, H., & Badawi, R. (2020). Exploring undergraduate students’ attitudes towards emergency online learning during COVID-19: A case from the UAE. Children and Youth Services Review, 119, Article 105699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105699
Istenič, A. (2021). Online learning under COVID‑19: re‑examining the prominence of video‑based and text‑based feedback. Education Tech Research Dev, 69, 117–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-09955-w
Jansen, H. (2010). The logic of qualitative survey research and its position in the field of social research methods. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 11(2). ttps://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-11.2.1450
Joffe, H., & Yardley, L. (2004). Content and thematic analysis. In D. F. Marks & L. Yardley (Eds.), Research methods for clinical and health psychology (pp. 56–68). SAGE Publications.
Kukulska-Hulme, A. & Pregum, M. (2018). Linguistic diversity in online learning. In A. Creese & A. Blackledge (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and superdiversity (pp. 518-532).
Lee, E., & Canagarajah, S. A. (2019). Beyond native and nonnative: Translingual dispositions for more inclusive teacher identity in language and literacy education. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 18(6), 352–363. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2019.1674148
Legge, M. F. (2014). Autoethnography and teacher education: Snapshot stories of cultural encounter. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(5). https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2014v39n5.1
Matsuda, P. K. (2006). The myth of linguistic homogeneity in US college composition. College English, 68(6), 637–651. https://doi.org/10.2307/25472180
McKenzie, L. (2021, April 27). Students want online learning options post-pandemic. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/04/27/survey-reveals-positive-outlook-online-instruction-post-pandemic
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception (C. Smith, Trans.). Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1945)
Miller-Cochran, S. (2015). Multilingual writers in OWI. In B. L. Hewett & K. E. DePew (Eds.), Foundational practices of online writing instruction (pp. 297–313). The WAC Clearinghouse, Parlor Press. https://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2015.0650
Mitchum, C., Hebbard, M., & Morris, J. (2021). Expanding instructional contexts: Why student backgrounds matter to online teaching and learning. In W. P. Banks & S. Spangler (Eds.), English studies online (pp. 232–257). Parlor Press.
Motha, S. (2014). Race, empire, and English language teaching: Creating responsible and ethical anti-racist practice. Teachers College Press.
Motha, S., Jain, R., & Tecle, T. (2012). Translinguistic identity-as-pedagogy: Implications for language teacher education. International Journal of Innovation in English Language Teaching and Research, 1(1), 13–28.
Noor, S., Nasir Ali, M., Husnine, S.M. (2020.). Performance of online classes in Lahore, Pakistan during COVID-19. Performance Improvement, 59(9), 33–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.21938
Palaganas, E. C., Sanchez, M. C., Molintas, M. P., & Caricativo, R. D. (2017). Reflexivity in qualitative research: A journey of learning. The Qualitative Report, 22(2), (pp.426-438).
Patton, M. Q. (2015). What to observe: Sensitizing concepts (Excerpt). In Qualitative research & evaluation methods (pp. 358–363). SAGE Publications.
Pillow, W. (2003). Confession, catharsis, or cure? Rethinking the uses of reflexivity as methodological power in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 16(2), 175-196.
Robinson, H., Hall, J. & Navarro, N. (2020). Translingual identities and transnational realities in the U.S. college classroom. Routledge.
Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2012). Designing main questions and probes. In Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data (pp. 131–147). SAGE Publications.
Sánchez, F. (2013). Creating accessible spaces for ESL students online. Writing Program Administration, 37(1), 161–185.
Sayer, P., & Braun, D. (2020). The disparate impact of COVID-19 remote learning on English learners in the United States. TESOL Journal, 11(3), Article e00546 [no pagination]. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.546
van Manen, M. (2007). Phenomenology of practice [PDF]. Phenomenology & Practice, 1(1), 11–30. https://www.maxvanmanen.com/files/2011/04/2007-Phenomenology-of-Practice.pdf
Vieira. K. (2019). What happens when texts fly. College English, 82(1), 77–95. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/what-happens-when-texts-fly/docview/2305481826/se-2
Warnock, S. (2009). Teaching writing online: How and why. National Council of Teachers of English.

Citation

Kudjo Agama, F., Hebbard, M., & López-Fitzsimmons, B. M. (2023). Negotiating the Messiness of Teaching Linguistic Justice Online: Reflections of Multilingual Writing Instructors During COVID. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 7(1), 128-148. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/12872

Kudjo Agama, F., Hebbard, M., and López-Fitzsimmons, B. M. (2023). Negotiating the Messiness of Teaching Linguistic Justice Online: Reflections of Multilingual Writing Instructors During COVID. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 7(1), pp. 128-148. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/12872

Kudjo Agama F, Hebbard M, López-Fitzsimmons BM. Negotiating the Messiness of Teaching Linguistic Justice Online: Reflections of Multilingual Writing Instructors During COVID. AM J QUALITATIVE RES. 2023;7(1), 128-148. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/12872

Kudjo Agama, Forster, Marcela Hebbard, and Bernadette M. López-Fitzsimmons. "Negotiating the Messiness of Teaching Linguistic Justice Online: Reflections of Multilingual Writing Instructors During COVID". American Journal of Qualitative Research 2023 7 no. 1 (2023): 128-148. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/12872

Kudjo Agama, Forster et al. "Negotiating the Messiness of Teaching Linguistic Justice Online: Reflections of Multilingual Writing Instructors During COVID". American Journal of Qualitative Research, vol. 7, no. 1, 2023, pp. 128-148. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/12872

Kudjo Agama F, Hebbard M, López-Fitzsimmons BM. Negotiating the Messiness of Teaching Linguistic Justice Online: Reflections of Multilingual Writing Instructors During COVID. AM J QUALITATIVE RES. 2023;7(1):128-48. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/12872