It's Not a Neutral Choice: Implications of Student Self-Placement in a Basic Writing Course
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| Title: | It's Not a Neutral Choice: Implications of Student Self-Placement in a Basic Writing Course |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Jennifer Burke Reifman |
| Source: | Journal of Basic Writing. 2025 44(1):37-68. |
| Availability: | Journal of Basic Writing. Available from: Sheridan Press. 450 Fame Avenue, Hanover, PA 17331. Tel: 717-632-3535; Fax: 717-633-8920; e-mail: pubsvc.tsp@sheridan.com; Web site: https://wac.colostate.edu/jbw |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 32 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research Tests/Questionnaires |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Student Placement, Basic Writing, Self Concept, Writing (Composition), Decision Making, Undergraduate Students, Freshman Composition, Student Attitudes, Social Bias, Essays |
| Geographic Terms: | California |
| DOI: | 10.37514/JBW-J.2025.44.1.03 |
| ISSN: | 0147-1635 |
| Abstract: | Research has indicated that students experience negative reactions to their placement in a basic writing course. Despite negative disposition toward basic writing, self-placement practices have become commonplace in higher education for advancing equity. Using the concept of "Possible Academic Selves," this article examines student writing produced in a placement process to challenge the neutrality of self-placement into a basic writing course. As statistical and textual analysis of student writing reveals, placement in a basic writing course could be viewed as a disruption to a student's Possible Academic Self, or the student they imagined they would be in college. Analyzing student placement challenge writing in this light, as well as considering the long history of the basic writer as "other," reveals the disruptions that can occur to a student's sense of self, complicating the nature of writing placement processes that rely on students to make choices about their own course placement. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1490378 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Research has indicated that students experience negative reactions to their placement in a basic writing course. Despite negative disposition toward basic writing, self-placement practices have become commonplace in higher education for advancing equity. Using the concept of "Possible Academic Selves," this article examines student writing produced in a placement process to challenge the neutrality of self-placement into a basic writing course. As statistical and textual analysis of student writing reveals, placement in a basic writing course could be viewed as a disruption to a student's Possible Academic Self, or the student they imagined they would be in college. Analyzing student placement challenge writing in this light, as well as considering the long history of the basic writer as "other," reveals the disruptions that can occur to a student's sense of self, complicating the nature of writing placement processes that rely on students to make choices about their own course placement. |
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| ISSN: | 0147-1635 |
| DOI: | 10.37514/JBW-J.2025.44.1.03 |
