Graduate Students and Academic Writing

I related to these articles on a personal level. Even though I am a native speaker of English and I recognize the privilege that comes with that, I was raised within a community that speaks with a marked dialect (southern and poor). As a graduate student, I feel a lot of the cultural and linguistic insecurity that was highlighted in Braine’s article.  Specifically, I struggle (as I’m sure many graduate students do) with situating myself with my research especially within ethnographic research. It sometimes seems like too great of a risk to reveal viewpoints that may not be in line with the status quo of a department or with larger power structures. Occasionally, I feel in danger of “outing” myself as “the other”, and I imagine that L2 learners might experience similar worries.  

I think that this speaks to the hybridity of both L1 and L2 communities. Canagarajah argued that “difference has to be redefined in more complex terms” (p. 10).  I agree, and I wonder why educators remain so intent on sorting, separating, and labeling learners whether by language skills or by other indicators.  As Braine illustrated, labeling students as lacking in English proficiency and placing them in ESL courses can be demoralizing. Teachers may intend to “help” students through such placements but making these decisions for students based on the institution’s values serves to isolate and control. Through assessment, placement, and instruction, institutions are deciding who gets to count as a student, as a scholar, or even as a person. I strongly agree with Canagarajah that teachers need to move towards negotiating with students and towards recognizing differences as resources.