The growth of voice: Expanding possibilities for representing self in research writin - 0 views

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  #1 Amanda Haydon on 12 Mar 12

   

  Viete, Rosemary, and Phan Le Ha. "The Growth of Voice: Expanding Possibilities For Representing Self In Research Writing." English Teaching: Practice And Critique 6.2 (2007): 39-57. ERIC. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
  
  In this article, Rosemary Viete explores the complexity behind students losing their voices when engaging in research writing by observing her student, Phan Le Ha who is "a young scholar…educated in Vietnam and then in Australia for postgraduate studies" (40). Viete illustrates how a writer's voice can be silenced based on conflicting differences between cultures, ethnicities, societal values, etc. She states that "literacy practices in the academy (of many Western universities) are ideologically underpinned by values of democracy and individualism, yet often deny the individual's right to write based on other norms" (40). Ones inability to write within the boundaries of social norms may cause researches to become self conscious about their own abilities, which shows the interaction between "language performance and sense of self" (42). Viete argues that we should create what was referred to by Homi Bhaba as a "thirdspace" or "a new space [that] opened up new possibilities for selfhood in the discourses" (47).
  
  I liked this article because of its focus on the complexities that come with how students lose their voices not only when writing in separate areas of expertise, but in writing in their own areas of expertise. The fact that having a voice in one's work can be so political and must adhere to the cultural, social, religious, etc. norms of a given society shows just how excruciatingly complicated it must be for ESL students to adjust to this style of writing, as well as how amazing it is that native speakers have become so accustomed to these rules that they can just naturally maneuver in and out of them.

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Viete, Rosemary, and Phan Le Ha. "The Growth of Voice: Expanding Possibilities For Representing Self In Research Writing." English Teaching: Practice And Critique 6.2 (2007): 39-57. ERIC. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <br /> <br /> In this article, Rosemary Viete explores the complexity behind students losing their voices when engaging in research writing by observing her student, Phan Le Ha who is "a young scholar…educated in Vietnam and then in Australia for postgraduate studies" (40). Viete illustrates how a writer's voice can be silenced based on conflicting differences between cultures, ethnicities, societal values, etc. She states that "literacy practices in the academy (of many Western universities) are ideologically underpinned by values of democracy and individualism, yet often deny the individual's right to write based on other norms" (40). Ones inability to write within the boundaries of social norms may cause researches to become self conscious about their own abilities, which shows the interaction between "language performance and sense of self" (42). Viete argues that we should create what was referred to by Homi Bhaba as a "thirdspace" or "a new space [that] opened up new possibilities for selfhood in the discourses" (47). <br /> <br /> I liked this article because of its focus on the complexities that come with how students lose their voices not only when writing in separate areas of expertise, but in writing in their own areas of expertise. The fact that having a voice in one's work can be so political and must adhere to the cultural, social, religious, etc. norms of a given society shows just how excruciatingly complicated it must be for ESL students to adjust to this style of writing, as well as how amazing it is that native speakers have become so accustomed to these rules that they can just naturally maneuver in and out of them.</div>

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