Talking Story, Writing Proper : Pidgin-Speaking Hawaii Writers at Oregon State University

Graduation date: 2016This thesis is based on a two-part study that analyzes the cultural and linguistic\ud characteristics of the Hawaii student population at Oregon State University (OSU). I\ud designed and conducted a survey among Hawaii students at OSU. Then I interviewed\ud ten Hawaii students who self-identified as Hawaii Creole English (a.k.a. Pidgin)\ud speakers. The study results produced five major themes associated with Pidgin\ud speaking Hawaii writers: 1) students' negotiation of language and culture; 2) the\ud social implications of speaking Pidgin; 3) students' formal writing experiences as\ud Pidgin speakers; 4) students' use of communicative rhetorical strategies such as\ud audience awareness, controlling audience impressions, and storytelling; and 5)\ud students' wishes for OSU writing instructors to acknowledge linguistic and cultural\ud differences in their students. Using these themes, I critique the K-12 education in\ud Hawaii, the advantages and disadvantages of translingualism as a theoretical\ud approach, and the attitudes towards language diversity in OSU writing classrooms. I\ud argue that through greater awareness of Pidgin-speaking Hawaii students and the\ud characteristics of their writing-related behaviors, OSU writing instructors can create a\ud more inclusive environment for language diversity