How Students Seek and Use Writing Support: Exploring the Spectrum of Literacy Brokering Practices in Higher Education

Abstract

Many students in higher education seek support with academic writing by engaging in literacy brokering, defined as third-party interventions in the creation of academic texts (Lillis & Curry, 2010). Such interventions may take many forms, from illicit practices such as purchasing a paper (see Newton & Lang, 2016) to innocuous practices such as receiving feedback from a friend or family member. While it is generally acknowledged that literacy brokers can have a significant role in mediating written texts, most previous research on this topic has focused on professionals’ writing for publication (e.g. Lillis & Curry, 2006, 2010), and very little research has considered students’ engagement in literacy brokering as such. In addition, research on specific types of student literacy brokering (e.g., proofreading; see Harwood et al., 2009, 2010) has given insufficient attention to issues of access and equity surrounding students’ academic writing, specifically ways in which the social context may influence students’ choice of literacy broker and reasons for seeking writing support.The aim of this mixed methods study was to examine how and why students in higher education engage in literacy brokering practices and what kinds of outcomes result from such practices. The study adopted an academic literacies approach, applying methods from social network analysis as well as constructs of identity (Ivanič, 2005) and indexicality (Bucholtz & Hall, 2004, 2005) to investigate students’ pursuit of writing support as one dimension of their academic writing practices. In the first phase of the study, data collected via an online survey of undergraduate and graduate students (N = 241) were quantitatively analyzed to describe students’ ways of engaging in literacy brokering and identify differences between demographic groups (domestic vs. international, multilingual vs. functionally monolingual) with respect to relevant aspects of social network structure (e.g., access to writing support, network density). In the second phase of the study, students’ literacy brokering practices and reasons for pursuing such support were further explored through interviews with select survey respondents (N = 8) and their instructors and writing tutors (N = 4), a survey of instructors (N = 7), and an analysis of feedback and revisions on students’ written texts (N = 17). The study identifies common forms of literacy brokering and indicates how access to social resources may inform students’ ways of seeking writing support. In addition, it illustrates how socially constructed expectations and beliefs about writing shape students’ practices of writing and revision, which in turn contribute to their identities as students, writers, and members of disciplinary communities.