Uses of Background Experience in a Preparatory Reading and Writing Class: An Analysis of Native and Non-native Speakers of English

Abstract

The goal of the study reported in this article is to analyze ways students in the first course of a three-quarter college preparatory sequence in reading and writing write about their experiences in their essays. The student participants were three native speakers of English and three native speakers of Punjabi, who had lived and studied in the United States for between three and five years at the time of the study. In order to assess how these students' writing related to the context of the class and the students' backgrounds, both faculty and students were interviewed. The students were asked about their reactions to their placement, their pre-college educational experiences, and their perceptions of the preparatory class. The reading and writing sections are taught separately and in sequence. The instructors share equal responsibility for assessing the students, so both instructors were asked to evaluate the students' achievement in relation to their expectations for the course. Analysis indicates that, for the students in this study, both native and non-native speakers of English are trying to find ways to make the transition from high school to college. However, in order to succeed, each of these students needs individual orientation to the demands of the preparatory class. Some students need more help with development of ideas whereas others need more help with editing for correctness. In many open-access colleges, high school graduates, whether they are native or non-native speakers of English, take the same test to place them in composition programs. At some of these colleges, all students who are identi- fied as not yet ready for college-level courses are placed in the same preparatory classes. To a certain extent, the attitudes of the students towards this placement as well as their peers and teachers in the preparatory courses influence their progress in writing. These placement practices assume that both native and non-native speakers share experiences that will provide common ground for them to complete the assignments. A comparison of the experiences that both groups of students select to use as content for their essays and the writ- ing qualities they use to do this may indicate aspects of the common ground they share both in high school and in communities in the United States.