Playing the game: Proficient working-class student writers' second voices

Four case studies of proficient undergraduate writers from working-class ba ckgrounds were conducted in the context of a course preparing sophomore and junior students to be tutors for first-year basic writers. It was found th at, in contrast to much of the theorizing by ann about working-class academ ics that emphasizes loss, a stronger theme in these students' narratives of growing academic literacy tr,as gaining, Students explained their experien ces in ways that suggested a greater degree of agency, an awareness of them selves as writers in a contact zone, and a stance of tricking teachers on t he way to producing acceptable texts. These findings suggest that writing i n the contact zone of the classroom may require a double-voicedness that ne ed not always be heard by instructors but is nevertheless important to stud ents.