“Blessed in my own way:” Pedagogical affordances for dialogical voice construction in multilingual student writing

Abstract

While the theoretical orientation of voice as an amalgamated dialogical effect has received consensus in second language writing circles, classroom practice and research have not kept pace with these developments. This article reports the trajectory of a Japanese student in negotiating the classroom affordances provided by a dialogical pedagogy to construct her desired voice. Analysis of the ways this pedagogy facilitated awareness in the student and progressive understanding in the teacher suggests implications for a pedagogy of voice. The study unveils the components that are amalgamated, process of dialogicality, and the challenges in achieving a co-constructed voice.