I just requested teh following four dissertations through ILL:
Turnbull, Marielle. “Becoming One with the University: Basic Writers and Academic Voice.” Diss. Ball State U, 1994.
Abstract:
Basic writers often require different courses than traditional Freshman Composition 1 students to succeed in college. Ball State University’s basic writing program offers a two-semester sequence that provides students with additional time and attention, thereby addressing these students’ special needs. The program encourages students to see themselves as academic writers and as part of the academic community.
This study examined the degree of presence of academic voice in students’ writing as measured at four intervals during the program’s initial year. A 2 x 4 analysis of variance measured change in academic voice for female and male students, using the Academic Voice Checksheet. In addition, students’ levels of confidence was measured using the Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test (W.A.T.) and correlated to the presence of academic voice using the Pearson product-moment correlation. Findings are presented in an analysis of the study group as a whole and in an analysis of six individual students’ work. Those students’ profiles were examined for overall academic voice, discrete features of academic voice, the W.A.T. overall scores, and specific questions dealing with student confidence.
The analysis revealed that a change in the degree of presence of academic voice occurred during the two-semester sequence. However, male and female students were seen to have the same basic profile, thereby suggesting no difference according to sex of student, challenging current gender theory. A comparison of the initial measurement and the final measurement indicated a positive change in a majority of academic voice scores.
A correlation between the academic voice score and a decrease in students’ writing apprehension was found in the final measurements. Five percent of students’ W.A,T, score may be explained by the academic voice measurement. In the study group, 65 percent of the students showed a decrease in W.A.T. scores between the two measurements, indicating a positive lessening of writing apprehension.
This study suggests that the basic writing sequence at Ball State University is providing an environment that facilitates students’ use of academic voice and lessens their writing apprehension. Both factors enhance students’ opportunities for academic success.
Fredericksen, Elaine Freedman. “Congenial neighborhoods: A descriptive ethnography of feminist-inspired writing classrooms.” Diss. The U of Alabama, 1996.
Abstract:
The dissertation examines composition theory and feminist theory in an attempt to see where the two have run parallel or converged and to suggest possibilities for further convergence in the teaching of freshman composition at the university level. It focuses on two target classes of EH101 taught at The University of Alabama in fall 1995 which included innovative assessment procedures, conferencing, collaboration, and other techniques derived from feminist pedagogy and designed to reduce classroom hierarchies and student anxiety. Research includes consideration of student-centered classrooms and issues of diversity and equity, going beyond the feminist concern for gender and applying equally well to other groups of marginalized or low-power learners.
The dissertation includes chapters on the teacher’s role as collaborator rather than distributor of knowledge; peer collaboration in the form of discussion and debate, response groups, workshops, and conferencing; problems of equitable assessment; and students’ attitudes toward writing as well as their process in developing voice, authorial ownership, and strong self-concepts. The final chapter is a followup report on students who took part in the study, including interviews with both students and their EH102 instructors, and also including observations of later classes in which the same methodology was used. Study results suggest that students profit from an interdisciplinary approach to composition which encompasses the best advice of experts in composition and feminist pedagogy.
Matthews, Debra Ann Holmes. “In our voices: A pedagogical approach to reducing writing apprehension.” Diss. George State U, 2001.
Abstract:
For many students, their previous experiences in English classes have not been pleasant ones; therefore, they approach the class with reservations and pessimistic attitudes. They have heard the horror stories of freshman English, and as one student remarked to me, they “just want to get through it.“ The fact that some students view the writing classroom as a hostile environment has a negative effect on their writing ability. Somewhat uncomfortable with the process from the outset, students are petrified by the thought of the red pen bringing their grammatical and developmental errors to the surface. I have observed this fear of evaluation in my freshman composition classes at Macon State College. If students are to become less apprehensive and more effective writers, the classroom has to become a place where risk taking is encouraged in a nonthreatening manner. Through the voices of my students and my voice, this study develops a pedagogical approach for reducing writing apprehension.
The primary questions that this study seeks to answer are as follows: Do classroom practices affect writing apprehension, and to what degree do the instructional practices of one teacher, the researcher, reduce writing apprehension? Data for the study include a case study involving one class and such artifacts as a reflective research journal, course syllabus, lesson plans, a description of classroom practices, and samples of student work, The Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Scale, an accepted empirical method for measuring apprehension, developed by John A. Daly and Michael D. Miller in 1975, was administered as a pre-test and a post-test. All three major participants, two apprehensive and one nonapprehensive, had scores which reflected a reduction in apprehension on the post-test. In addition, through classroom observations and interviews with the major participants, it is also evident that they view the writing process more positively than they did at the beginning of the semester.
Martin, Eric V. “Reconceiving the Voice-to-Style Relationship in Academic Discourse: A Study of Students’ Initial Perceptions and Emerging Writing Practicies.” Diss. Illinois State U, 1995.
Abstract:
This dissertation examines style, voice, and traditional academic discourse by exploring the initial perceptions and emerging writing practices of seven undergraduate composition students. It analyzes student desires to develop a variety of written voices that draw upon personal experiences and observations. These voices are emblematic of “ways of knowing,” and must be cultivated in the academy rather than effaced by narrow and inflexible forms of communication. A synthesis of postmodern theories supports such arguments.
A two-part study examines the students’ perceptions and writing practices. In Part I, the composing processes of six students are explored in a sixteen-week writing course. Data consisted of analyses of the students’ formal and informal writings, observations of their classroom interactions, teacher-student conferences, and a questionnaire. The data reveal that the students wish to situate personal experiences and observations in their academic writing but that many work to conceal such signs of personal investment.
In Part II, student composing processes are explored further through a study of 102 essays drawn from a random sample of 1,700 freshman portfolios. An extended analysis of the linguistic and rhetorical features of one student’s portfolio reveals that the argumentative essay is the dominant text type among these students. This text type values a detached, pseudo-objective style of discourse and an accompanying voice over the students’ experience-rich voices. This analysis also reveals the efforts of some students to resist the text type to transform knowledge.
Such findings extend those from Part I. When both parts of the study are considered in relation to the synthesis of postmodern theories, they offer writing teachers insight into the ways students struggle to reconcile personal and academic voices and the ways teachers may reconceive the voice-to-style relationship when adapting their pedagogy.
