Semester of Graduation
Spring 2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Secondary and Middle Grades Education not Ph.D
Department
Bagwell College of Education
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Darren Crovitz
Second Advisor
Anete Vasquez
Third Advisor
Jennifer Dail
Abstract
When students use AI writing tools to revise their work, the algorithms often erase the cultural and linguistic markers that constitute their authentic voice. This erasure operates through the same mechanisms that linguistic justice scholars have documented for decades: a dominant language ideology that frames non-dominant expression as deficient and “corrects” it into standardized prose. As a first-generation Appalachian educator who spent years suppressing her own voice to succeed in academic spaces, I recognize this pattern from the inside. Using autoethnography as a methodology, this study examines how my journey from voice erasure to reclamation informs my pedagogy to help students preserve their authentic voices while using AI writing tools. Through personal narratives and teaching vignettes, I argue for a three-part pedagogical framework: protected human writing spaces where voice can emerge, balanced integration that sequences protection before AI collaboration, and critical AI literacy instruction that makes algorithmic bias visible.
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, Secondary Education Commons