Second Language Writing in First-Year Composition: Generation 1.5
Some main points from the readings…
Leki, Chapter 3: Undergraduate Writing
· The bulk of L2 writing research has been focused on this group
· What writing courses should these students be in?
· Where should L2 writing concentrate?
· Issues concerning “gatekeeping” entrance and exit exams
· Do the needs of L2 writers match the writing center’s ideology?
· Issues of plagiarism
· Some studies now focusing on: Feelings, attitudes, and perceptions in relation to L2 writing, writing courses; personal goals for learning to write in English; specific pedagogical approaches for L2 writing
Leki, “The Legacy of First-Year Composition”
· The issue: First-year composition as a (nearly) universally sanctioned institution in the United States
· But, the plus: L2 writing courses also to exist for credit at universities because of this
· Usually focus on writing rather than any other language skill
· L2 students may need oral or reading skills more than writing skill
· English department genres are privileged in these courses: “Elitist high handedness” (63)
· Are students drawn to plagiarize because they must write about topics they know very little about?
· Because first year comp ends in a year, academic support for L2 writing also ends then in many universities
· Two types of learning transfer: Specific, near transfer and general, far transfer
· L1 faculty continually try to think through first-year composition: Do away with? Make it optional? Other substitutions?
Matsuda, “The Myth of Linguistic Homogeneity in U.S. College Composision
· Unidirectional English monolingualism accounts for the relative lack of attention to multilingualism in composition scholarship.
· The myth of linguistic homogeneity: The image of the typical composition students as native speakers of a privileged variety of English
· Concomitant policy of linguistic containment: Exclude from entering higher education, ignore language issues if minority is small, use placement procedures
· Brief history of ESL students in U.S. higher education
o 1784: Yale hosted a student from Latin America
o Latter half of 19th century: First sizable influx of international students
o Early 20th century: Second influx
o 1911: Michigan creates first English course specifically designed for international students
o 1933: Good Neighbor policy brings students from Latin America
o 1941: ELI at Michigan
o Conclusion of World War II: Another influx
o 1953: About 150 institutions had established English as a Second Language programs for international students
· No program can completely contain language differences, so why “fight” it?
· Placement options should not be abandoned; some students need and want this.
And some discussion questions (partly inspired by a few key quotations)…
1. “Institutions of higher education doom first-year composition programs to fail by making writing courses compulsory, by making English departments responsible for first-year composition, by providing so little funding for the courses that they have to be staffed by indentured servants (TA and instructors) with the least clout and, for TAs, the least experienced, […], by assuming writing gets learned in a year of first-year composition.” (“Legacy,” 59)
a. What is your reaction to this quotation?
b. Does it relate at all to your experiences as teachers here? Where, if at all, do you find commonalities?
c. If this quotation is even partly true, how do we begin to teach L2 learners in this described environment?
2. “Yet a semester or two of extra language instruction was often not enough to help students fit the dominant image…” (Matsuda 647)
“Yet, beyond whatever help L2 students can get in writing centers, because first-year composition ends in a year, so does academic support for L2 writing at many universities.” (“Legacy,” 67)
a. Why does composition have to take place during the freshman year?
b. How can writing be given more support throughout academic careers?
c. What other options could be created for students… other than simply in the freshmen year?
d. Do you see upsides to this writing taking place during freshmen year for ESL students? What?
3. “One of the persisting elements of the dominant image of students in English studies is the assumption that students are by default native speakers of a privileged variety of English from the United States.” (Matsuda 639)
a. How do you see this “myth of linguistic homogeneity” enacting itself in college classrooms?
b. Once teachers realize that college composition classrooms cannot be a monolingual space, what can they do to update their teachings and give space for all cultures in the room?
4. “In these we see the focal students […] finding their identities constructed for them by teachers and institutions as first and foremost ESL students” (“Synthesis” 33).
“Isaac Leon Kandel, for example, wrote that international students did not benefit as much from the instruction not because of their lack of ability but because “courses were organized primarily with the American student […] in mind”” (Matsuda 645).
a. How do we go about not simply labeling students ESL or native speakers, but rather look past that one label often liberally given in order to help the other identities of students come forth?
b. How can the assignments in the composition classroom contribute to helping Generation 1.5 students find their own identities there?
c. The United States was founded by immigrants, yet, as Matsuda says, continues a policy of containment. How do we create classrooms that don’t simply have “the American student in mind”?
5. “We view writing as so important that we must devote a year of first-year composition to studying it and since all students devote a year to studying writing, writing must be very important.” (“Legacy,” 66)
a. Why do you think writing is so privileged a language skill for ESL students?
b. How can we implement oral and reading skills into the curriculum, as well?
c. What if the students need other language skills more than writing skills in order to succeed in their chosen fields?
6. “Only first-year composition has an impact on virtually all students” (“Legacy,” 63)
a. If you were given the opportunity to design—or redesign—the first-year composition program in regards to ESL students, what is one thing you would do?
b. Why would you make that change?
c. What kind of placement of the students would you use… if you would use any?
d. What kind of measure would be used to assess the ESL students’ writing ability at the beginning of the semester (or before even enrolling in a course)?
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