'Kind of like jazz': Reader stance, shared authority, and identity in a twelfth -grade English course

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the nature of students' reading and response stances within one twelfth-grade, untracked Advanced Placement English class employing collaborative instructional methods. More specifically, the study aimed to (1) describe the nature and variety of literary response stances these readers assumed during classroom literature discussions; (2) examine how these literary response stances, students' interactional stances toward others, and students' own academic self-perceptions manifested their "literary identities" in this classroom; and (3) explore the ways in which the instructor facilitated these response stances and students' "literary identities" in constructing the instructional climate of the classroom.;Transcripts from student-led small-group literature discussions, student and teacher interviews, fieldnotes, and student writing samples were analyzed inductively and were coded to address the main research questions. Findings suggest that the six focal students in this study manifested their own "literary identities" that emerged over time in this classroom as the composite of students' stances toward various literary texts and students' self-perceptions as learners and classroom participants. Specifically, students revealed their literary identities through the number and variety of response stances they exhibited, primarily within the context of small-group literature discussions. These literary response stances evidenced the type and range of both literary and non-literary experiences, resources, and strategies which students employed in constructing meaning with classroom literary texts. Furthermore, these literary identities were manifested through students' interactional stances toward each other and the teacher, and they reflected students' academic self-perceptions, including their own self-efficacy as A. P. English students and their relative authority to negotiate literary interpretations in this classroom.;Finally, these literary identities emerged within a highly facilitative context where the teacher provided the instructional space within which these students could bring their literate and literary "selves" to the process of negotiating meaning among various classroom texts and each other. Implications for research and practice deriving from this study highlight the significance of identity in understanding literary response and the importance of fostering multi-vocal and collaborative classroom environments.