From Inquiry to Academic Writing A Practical Guide, 3rd edition

330 CHAPTER 11 | OTHER METHOdS Of InquIRy: InTERvIEwS And fOCuS GROuPS

Hartigan 6

a vehicle for exploration and learning, rather than as a fixed product

to be rehearsed and delivered as a final event” (p. 262) that works in

tandem with (not in isolation from) literacy practices. Digital media

allowed for the students to become what Hughes termed “co-creators,”

which helped students move beyond simply observing and analyzing

poetry as a generally traditional and boring academic topic. However,

the shift from print culture to new, performative media has yet to be

reflected in classroom culture.

Sharpening the ideas drawn from the conclusions of Hughes

(2009) points to the necessity of documenting the development of

a student’s voice and presence in multimodal, digital, and academic

writing. In essence, research must avoid implying that one form of

literacy is somehow more advantageous to the other without also

looking at how context influences the ways students feel about

themselves and what they write. To address this gap, my study will

analyze the differences, and perhaps similarities, in how students

develop and perceive their authorial presence and power in both kinds

of writing — multimodal and academic — and the influence of context.

After all, the mode of writing may not be as significant as the extent

to which children feel they have a safe space place to write, where

they can take risks without being afraid that their peers and teacher

will criticize them. They also need to know that they have ownership

of their writing as a means of expression and performance of who

they are, who they imagine themselves to be, and what they want for

themselves in the future.

Moreover, after 13

detailing how

she will address

her research

questions above,

she justifies the

importance of her

proposed study.

She also reminds

readers of a

significant gap in

current research.

Hartigan 7

Working Bibliography

Alvermann, D., Marshall, J., McLean, C., Huddleston, A., Joaquin, J.,

et al. (2012). Adolescents’ Web-based literacies, identity construc-

tion, and skill development. Literacy Research and Instruction,

51 (3), 179–195.

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