Exploring child agency and positioning in mother-child homework dynamics: Learning to write the five-paragraph essay

This article details the discursive positions adopted during a mother and child’s bilingual (Turkish and English) interactions drafting five-paragraph essays over the course of a semester. Using positioning theory (Davies and Harré, 1990), the researchers analyze the multiplicity of positions adopted as the mother-scholar navigates her dual roles as parent and educator and her bilingual child develops agency as an emerging writer. Data sources included video recordings of four homework sessions, the teacher’s assignment prompts, and the child’s drafts and final essays. The research questions included: What positions become central as a mother and child co-construct writing through dialogue? How do these positions limit or facilitate the child’s agency in the writing process? This analysis provides valuable insight for parents and teachers for how to better support multilingual and multicultural students and their agentic development as writers.