Text Design Patterns in the Writing of Urban African American Students

Abstract

This article focuses on the expository writing patterns of four academically successful African American high school students. Through detailed text analyses, the research examines subtle and often overlooked culturally influenced text design patterns that these academically successful bidialectal students bring into the classroom. Although the research looks specifically at literacy practices of urban African American writers, the findings have implications for a broad range of culturally diverse students and demonstrate writing strategies that composition teachers can call upon in their attempts to design more effective writing instruction for diverse groups of students.