This dissertation reports the results of an ethnographic study of the personal and academic literacies of four students during their first year at Florida State University. This research was shaped by one main question: How do first-year students use personal and academic literacies? / To investigate this question, I followed four students through three semesters of college, beginning the summer term preceding their first academic year. I conducted over one hundred student and teacher interviews, collected over sixty formal essays, observed seventy-plus days of class, and collected other artifacts, including personal journals and class handouts. By analyzing all of this data as well as reading theorists' and teachers' accounts of students' experiences, I constructed a descriptive and analytical account of these students' literacies and lives. / This study concludes that students' literacies relate to their academic success, which is heavily determined by non-academic factors, including family support, confidence, and reliance upon teachers. Student literacies are related to the roles students play. Some students come to college more equipped to handle the various student and writer roles expected of them. / I propose that support services be put into place to help students succeed. Also, this study suggests that keeping personal writing in the first-semester writing course helps students develop confidence in themselves as writers and students. All students should experience at least one safe writing environment. The classroom cultures created by teachers and students prove vital to students' academic success. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: A, page: 3037. / Major Professor: Wendy Bishop. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77540 |
| Contributors | Sewell, Donna Newberry., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 338 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
Page generated in 0.01 seconds