The Literacy Matters project encourages students to find their voices

Sometimes, you don’t always know when you have a treasure on your hands.

That’s one way to look at the project that Dr. Christopher Minnix, Melba Major and David Hornbuckle in the Department of English have created out of the EH091 writing course. Designed for students looking to hone their writing skills, the EH091 class has, for a couple of years, given students a platform to tell their own “literacy stories.”

“We’ve used this approach a lot in the composition classroom since 2013,” Minnix says. “It is a way of getting students to think of themselves as writers.”

The students in 091 classes come from diverse backgrounds and many have some uncertainty about writing. Regardless of their circumstances, they are looking for tools to help them develop their skills and self-assurance. And the instructors say that getting the students talking about how they feel about reading and writing is the first step to building confidence in their own work.

“What we’re doing is asking students to write a story about a formative experience with reading and writing,” Major says. “That could be a negative experience or a positive experience. But we want to get them thinking about it, writing about it, and then sharing it with others.”

Once the students complete the assignment, they’re asked to read each other’s work then share their essays by reading them aloud. “Coming from a creative writing background, it occurred to me that it’s hard for our students to write with an imaginary audience in mind,” Major says. “I thought it might help them to have a real audience to write for, so their classmates filled that role. Writing for and reading to each other shows the students the power of voicing stories.”

After seeing how impactful the experience was within the classroom, the instructors decided to expand the platform and allow students to read their work to a broader audience at the Edge of Chaos for Literacy Matters: A Celebration of Student Writing, an idea inspired by Major’s experience with spoken-word events. This fall, eight students read to a receptive crowd of about 40 attendees, a small enough group that each person could read his or her full essay.

“Literacy narratives are such dramatic, engaged pieces,” Minnix says. “I’ve never read one that was boring. They really lend themselves to being treated, respected and presented like highly regarded creative works.”

The professors say it was rewarding for students and faculty to see how powerful their writing is. “One of the things that really stood out is that the students took ownership of their writing in a way they often don’t when they’re just doing an assignment,” Minnix says. “They saw that they have the potential to achieve what they want to achieve.”

Rachel Watts was a participant in the Literacy Matters event and says, “I really enjoyed reading my personal narrative. I think it was a great experience to be able to show others my ability and creativity in writing. I think the EH091 class is a great class that helps each student perfect and get into the swing of college writing.”

Akram Haimed, another student in the EH091 class, says presenting at the Edge of Chaos was a brand-new experience for him. “That was my first time doing something like that, presenting in front of people in college,” he says. “I really learned a lot, not just from the class but from the other students, too.”

A native of Yemen, Haimed came to the U.S. at age 14 and only knew a few words of English when he arrived. He says his essay was about what it was like to learn a new language and culture, but hearing the stories from students who grew up here showed him that everyone has a point of view when it comes to reading and writing English. “It was good for me to hear that,” he says.

Minnix and Major say that the students’ work is also being added to The Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives at Ohio State University. The Ohio State archive aims to document how people across the country have experienced reading and writing; stories can be shared in a variety of formats, including video.

The professors say that the EH091 course classification is really meaningless when you look at the quality of work the students are producing. “Whatever their placement in whatever class, their writing is excellent,” Minnix says. Major agrees, “We had an 091 student win Best in Class in the Peggy Jolly Award competition last year. The competition recognizes excellence in English composition and the judges select one overall winner from the three composition classes: 091, 101 and 102, and then two additional Best in Class winners.”

Minnix says the long-term benefit for the students is significant. “To me, the best thing about this project is knowing that the students have found a voice, and they are developing a real love for learning and thinking.”