Hispanic Students' Voices in Writing

Authors

Regine Pellicer, University of Texas-Pan American

Date of Award

5-2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Teaching English as a Second Language

First Advisor

Dr. Yong Lang

Second Advisor

Dr. Deborah Cole

Third Advisor

Dr. I. Moriah McCracken

Abstract

This study focuses on the voices expressed by Hispanic students enrolled in first-year composition classes at a Hispanic Serving Institution in South Texas. The present research highlights similarities with a study conducted in Tucson, Arizona among Hispanic households. Both studies emphasize the importance of women as active agents in the transmission of literacy practices and language ideologies, which also reflect the dilemma of families caught between tradition and modernity. Moreover, this study reveals that Hispanics tend to look for new frameworks for their lives in evangelical Christianity. This work also focuses on students' dissonances regarding the use of oral code-switching in South Texas, where Tex-Mex is spoken. Furthermore, the researcher investigates the use of code-switching in English composition and highlights its use as a rhetorical device.

Comments

Copyright 2010 Regine Pellicer. All Rights Reserved.

https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/hispanic-students-voices-writing/docview/737586656/se-2

Granting Institution

University of Texas-Pan American