Skip to content
2018
Volume 76, Issue 4
  • ISSN: 0010-096X
  • E-ISSN: 1939-9006

Abstract

Extracting a writer’s profile from a broader literacy study aimed at documenting extracurricular literacy practices among the Latinx population in Northwest Arkansas, this article presents a case study of a Peruvian woman’s lifelong use of literacy to enhance her personal agency in the face of personal, social, and civic demands. The article presents the writer’s profile as an indicator of the various literacy demands faced by the Latinx community and suggests that a critical consideration of such demands may lead to improved understanding and theorizing of writing through a lifespan writing research lens. Such a reorientation to writing may have a beneficial impact on first-year college composition courses by cultivating pedagogical practices oriented toward socioculturally diverse student populations and nontraditional students in college-level writing courses.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.58680/ccc2025764567
2025-06-01
2026-02-11
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Alvarez Steven. “Taco Literacy: Public Advocacy and Mexican Food in the U.S. Nuevo South.” Composition Studies, vol. 45, no. 2 2017, pp 151–66.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Anderson Paul, et al. “The Contributions of Writing to Learning and Development: Results from a Large-Scale Multi-Institutional Study.” Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 50, no. 2 2015, pp 199–235.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Artze-Vega Isis, et al. “Más Allá del Inglés: A Bilingual Approach to College Composition.” Teaching Writing with Latino/a Students: Lessons Learned at Hispanic Serving Institutions edited by Kirklighter Cristina, et al., State U of New York P 2007, pp 99–117.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Baca Isabel. “It Is All in the Attitude— The Language Attitude.” Teaching Writing with Latino/a Students: Lessons Learned at Hispanic Serving Institutions edited by Kirklighter Cristina, et al., State U of New York P 2007, pp 145–68.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Baca Isabel, et al. editors Bordered Writers: Latinx Identities and Literacy Practices at Hispanic-Serving Institutions. State U of New York P 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bandura Albert. “Toward a Psychology of Human Agency.” Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 1, no. 2 2006, pp 164–80.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Bhabha Homi K. The Location of Culture. Routledge 1994.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Bizzell Patricia. “Hybrid Academic Discourses: What, Why, How.” Composition Studies, vol. 27, no. 2 1999, pp 7–21.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Bou Ayash Nancy. Toward Translingual Realities in Composition: (Re)Working Local Language Representations and Practices. Utah State UP 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Brandt Deborah. Literacy in American Lives. Cambridge UP 2001.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Cedillo Christina V., and Bratta Phil. “Relating Our Experiences: The Practice of Positionality Stories in Student-Centered Pedagogy.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 71, no. 2 2019, pp 215–40.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Cintron Ralph. Angels’ Town: Chero Ways, Gang Life, and Rhetorics of the Everyday. Beacon P 1997.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Clark Suzanne, and Ede Lisa. “Collaboration, Resistance, and the Teaching of Writing.” The Right to Literacy edited by Lunsford Andrea, et al., MLA 1990, pp 276–85.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Curl Jennifer Eileen. In Their Own Words: Acknowledging Heritage Literacies and Languages with College-Bound English Language Learners in Advanced English Language Arts Classrooms. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. DeStigter Todd. Reflections of a Citizen Teacher: Literacy, Democracy, and the Forgotten Students of Addison High. National Council of Teachers of English 2001.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Dippre Ryan J., and Phillips Talinn editors Approaches to Lifespan Writing Research: Generating an Actionable Coherence. UP of Colorado 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Domínguez Barajas Elías. “Crafting a Composition Pedagogy with Latino Students in Mind.” Composition Studies, vol. 45, no. 2 2017, pp 216–18.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Domínguez Barajas Elías. The Function of Proverbs in Discourse: The Case of a Mexican Transnational Social Network. De Gruyter Mouton 2010.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Domínguez Barajas Elías. “Parallels in Academic and Non-Academic Discursive Styles: An Analysis of a Mexican Woman’s Narrative Performance.” Written Communication, vol. 24, no. 2 2007, pp 140–67.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Enoch Jessica, and Bessette Jean. “Meaningful Engagements: Feminist Historiography and the Digital Humanities.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 64, no. 4 2013, pp 634–60.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Enríquez-Loya Aydé. “Interrogating Ghosts in the Writing Classroom: Decolonial Storytelling Strategies for FYC Bilingual Students.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2017, Portland, Oregon. Conference Presentation.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Enríquez-Loya Aydé, and Leon Kendall. “Chicanx/Latinx Rhetorics as Methodology for Writing Program Design at HSIs.” Composition Studies, vol. 45, no. 2 2017, pp 212–15.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Farr Marcia. “Essayist Literacy and Other Verbal Performances.” Written Communication, vol. 10, no. 1 1993, pp 4–38.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Farr Marcia. Latino Language and Literacy in Ethnolinguistic Chicago. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 2005.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Farr Marcia. Rancheros in Chicagoacán: Language and Identity in a Transnational Community. U of Texas P 2006.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Fluitt-Dupuy Jan. “Publishing a Newsletter: Making Composition Classes More Meaningful.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 40, no. 2 1989, pp 219–23.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. García Canclini Néstor. Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity Translated by Chiappari Christopher L. and López Silvia L., U of Minnesota P 1995.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Geertz Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. Basic Books 1973.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Guerra Juan C. Close to Home: Oral and Literate Practices in a Transnational Mexicano Community. Teachers College P 1998.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Guerra Juan C. “Cultivating Transcultural Citizenship: A Writing Across Communities Model.” Language Arts, vol. 85, no. 4 2008, pp 296–304.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Guerra Juan C. “Emerging Representations, Situated Literacies, and the Practice of Transcultural Repositioning.” Latino/a Discourses: On Language, Identity & Literacy Education edited by Kells Michelle Hall, et al., Boynton/Cook Publishers 2004, pp 7–23.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Hall Kells Michelle. “Linguistic Contact Zone in the College Writing Classroom: An Examination of Ethnolinguistic Identity and Language Attitudes.” Written Communication, vol. 19, no. 1 2002, pp 5–43.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Hall Kells Michelle, et al. editors Latino/a Discourses: On Language, Identity & Literacy Education. Boynton/Cook Publishers 2004.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Heath Shirley Brice. Ways with Words: Language, Life, and Work in Communities and Classrooms. Cambridge UP 1993.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Heath Shirley Brice, and Street Brian V.. On Ethnography: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research. Teachers College P 2008.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Horner Bruce, et al. “Opinion: Language Difference in Writing: Toward a Translingual Approach.” College English, vol. 73, no. 3 2011, p 303–21.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Howe Michael J.A. “Using Students’ Notes to Examine the Role of the Individual Learner in Acquiring Meaningful Subject Matter.” Journal of Educational Research, vol. 64, no. 2 1970, pp 61–63.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Ibarra Robert A. Beyond Affirmative Action: Reframing the Context of Higher Education. U of Wisconsin P 2001.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Institute of Education Sciences. “Fast Facts: Degrees Conferred by Race/Ethnicity and Sex.” National Center for Education Statistics, June 2020 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=72. Accessed 25 Jan. 2025.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Khadka Santosh. “(Teaching) Essayist Literacy in the Multimedia World.” Composition Forum, vol. 32, Fall 2015, https://compositionforum.com/issue/32/essayist-literacy.php. Accessed 25  Jan. 2025.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Kirklighter Cristina, et al. ?editors Teaching Writing with Latino/a Students: Lessons Learned at Hispanic-Serving Institutions. State U of New York P 2007.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Klausman Jeffrey. “Resurrecting the I-Search: Engaging Students in Meaningful Scholarship.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 35, no. 2 2007, pp 191–96.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Kogen Myra. “The Conventions of Expository Writing.” Journal of Basic Writing, vol. 5, no. 1 1986, pp 24–37.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Kynard Carmen. “‘Y’all Are Killin’ Me Up in Here’: Response Theory from a Newjack Composition Instructor/ SistahGurl Meeting Her Students on the Page.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 33, no. 4 2006, pp 361–87.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Lillis Teresa. “Essayist Literacy, Gender, and Desire.” Student Writing, Routledge 2001, pp 119–43.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Lillis Teresa. “Introduction: Mapping the Traditions of a Social Perspective on Language and Literacy.” Language, Literacy and Education: A Reader edited by Goodman Sharon et al., Trentham Books 2003, pp xiii–xxii.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Mattern Krista D., et al. “Identification of Multiple Nonreturner Profiles to Inform the Development of Targeted College Retention Interventions.” Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, vol. 17, no. 1 2015, pp 18–43.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Meece Judith L., et al. “Students’ Goal Orientations and Cognitive Engagement in Classroom Activities.” Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 80, no. 4 1988, pp 514–23.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Mejía Jaime Armin. “Latina and Latino Rhetorical Issues.” Rhetoric, the Polis, and the Global Village: Selected Papers from the 1998 Thirtieth Anniversary Rhetoric Society of America Conference edited by Swearingen C. Jan and Pruett Dave, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1999, pp 15–17.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Mendez Newman Beatrice. “Centering in the Borderlands: Lessons from Hispanic Student Writers.” Writing Center Journal, vol. 23, no. 2 2003, pp 43–62.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Mendez Newman Beatrice, and García Romeo. “Teaching with Bordered Writers: Reconstructing Narratives of Difference, Mobility, and Translingualism.” Bordered Writers: Latinx Identities and Literacy Practices at Hispanic-Serving Institutions edited by Baca Isabel, et al., State U of New York P 2019, pp 125–46.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Miller James E. “The Linguistic Imagination.” College English, vol. 31, no. 7 1970, pp 725–32.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Nickoson Lee, and Sheridan Mary P. editors Writing Studies Research in Practice: Methods and Methodologies. Southern Illinois UP 2012.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Oboler Suzanne. Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives: Identity and the Politics of (Re) Presentation in the United States. U of Minnesota P 1995.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Oldenburg Ray. The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community. Da Capo P 1999.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Otheguy Ricardo. “Foreword.” Translanguaging with Multilingual Students: Learning from Classroom Moments edited by García Ofelia and Kleyn Tatyana, Routledge 2016, pp ix–xii.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Penrod Diane editor Miss Grundy Doesn’t Teach Here Anymore: Popular Culture and the Composition Classroom. Boynton/Cook 1997.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Pike Kenneth L. “Etic and Emic Standpoints for the Description of Behavior.” Language in Relation to a Unified Theory of the Structure of Human Behavior. De Gruyter Mouton 1967, pp 37–72.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Powell Pegeen R. “Retention and Writing Instruction: Implications for Access and Pedagogy.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 60, no. 4 2009, pp 664–82.
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Pratt Mary Louise. “Arts of the Contact Zone.” Profession, vol. 1, no. 1 1991, pp 33–40.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Pratt Mary Louise. Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation. Routledge 1992.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Purcell-Gates Victoria, et al. “Analyzing Literacy Practice: Grounded Theory to Model.” Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 45, no. 4 2011, pp 439–58.
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Rose Shirley K., and Weiser Irwin. Going Public: What Writing Programs Learn from Engagement. Utah State UP 2010.
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Ruecker Todd. “Retention and Persistence in Writing Programs: A Survey of Students Repeating First-Year Writing.” Composition Forum, vol., 46, Spring 2021, http://compositionforum.com/issue/46/retention.php. Accessed 25 Jan. 2025.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Ruiz Iris D. Reclaiming Composition for Chicano/as and Other Ethnic Minorities: A Critical History and Pedagogy. Palgrave Macmillan 2016.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Ruiz Iris D., and Sánchez Raúl editors Decolonizing Rhetoric and Composition Studies: New Latinx Keywords for Theory and Pedagogy. Palgrave Macmillan 2016.
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Sánchez Yemin, et al. “Familismo Teaching: A Pedagogy for Promoting Student Motivation and College Success.” Bordered Writers: Latinx Identities and Literacy Practices at Hispanic-Serving Institutions edited by Baca Isabel, et al., State U of New York P 2019, pp 105–24.
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Scollon Ronald, and Scollon Suzanne B. K.. Narrative, Literacy, and Face in Interethnic Communication. Ablex 1981.
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Severino Carol. “‘We Are Not All the Same’: Latino Students, HispanicServing Institutions, and the Need to Reform Rhetoric and Composition.” Review of Teaching Writing with Latino/a Students: Lessons Learned at Hispanic-Serving Institutions by Kirklighter Cristina et al. College Composition and Communication, vol. 60, no. 4 2009, pp W137–W145.
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Street Brian V. Cross-Cultural Approaches to Literacy. Cambridge UP 1993.
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Street Brian V. “Multiple Literacies and Multi-Literacies.” The SAGE Handbook of Writing Development edited by Beard Roger, et al., Sage 2009, pp 137–50.
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Szwed John F. “The Ethnography of Literacy.” Writing: The Nature, Development, and Teaching of Written Communication edited by Whiteman Marcia Farr, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1981, pp 13–23.
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Torgerson William J. “Learning to Surf the Sea of Conversation: A Way into Meaningful Research.” Journal of Teaching Writing, vol. 26, no. 2 2011, pp 85–104.
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Tracy Sarah J. Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact. 2nd ed., Wiley Blackwell 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Trimbur John. “Essayist Literacy and the Rhetoric of Deproduction.” Rhetoric Review, vol. 9, no. 1 1990, pp 72–86.
    [Google Scholar]
  76. US Census Bureau. 2020 U.S. Census (P.L. 94-171) Redistricting Data Summary; Legacy Data Files Released 12AUG2021. https://www2.census.gov/programssurveys/decennial/2020/data/01-Redistricting_File--PL_94-171/Arkansas.
    [Google Scholar]
  77. US Census Bureau. Census, QuickFacts, Bentonville City, Arkansas, 2010 Census with Updated Population Estimates. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/bentonvillecityarkansas.
    [Google Scholar]
  78. US Census Bureau. Census, QuickFacts, Fayetteville City, Arkansas, 2010 Census with Updated Population Estimates. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fayettevillecityarkansas.
    [Google Scholar]
  79. US Census Bureau. Census, QuickFacts, Rogers City, Arkansas, 2010 Census with Updated Population Estimates. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/rogerscityarkansas.
    [Google Scholar]
  80. US Census Bureau. Census, QuickFacts, Siloam Springs, Arkansas, 2010 Census with Updated Population Estimates. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/siloamspringscityarkansas.
    [Google Scholar]
  81. US Census Bureau. Census, QuickFacts, Springdale City, Arkansas, 2010 Census with Updated Population Estimates. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/springdalecityarkansas.
    [Google Scholar]
  82. US Census Bureau. 2010 Census of Population and Housing: Arkansas: 2010 Summary Population and Housing Characteristics, CPH-1-5. US Government Printing Office 2012.
    [Google Scholar]
  83. Vaughn Margaret. “What Is Student Agency and Why Is It Needed Now More than Ever?” Theory into Practice, vol. 59, no. 2 2020, pp 109–18.
    [Google Scholar]
  84. Wilson Nancy, et al. “El Ensayo: Latinxs Writing about Writing.” Next Steps: New Directions for/in Writing about Writing edited by Bird Barbara, et al., Utah State UP 2019, pp 87–96.
    [Google Scholar]
  85. Yancey Kathleen B., et al. “The Teaching for Transfer Curriculum: The Role of Concurrent Transfer and Inside- and Outside-School Contexts in Support-ing Students’ Writing Development.”, College Composition and Communication, vol. 71, no. 2 2019, pp 268–95.
    [Google Scholar]
  86. Yancey Kathleen B., et al.Writing Across Contexts: Transfer, Composition, and Sites of Writing. Utah State UP 2014.
    [Google Scholar]
  87. Zentella Ana Celia. Building on Strength: Language and Literacy in Latino Families and Communities. Teachers College P 2005.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.58680/ccc2025764567
Loading
/content/journals/10.58680/ccc2025764567
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test