Resources for Working with Multilingual Writers

Writing Across the Curriculum

Campus Resources

Consult with UW’s ESL staff, 5134 Helen C. White (http://www.english.wisc.edu/esl, 263-3780). The ESL program offers a sequence of courses to improve the skills of multilingual students in reading, speaking, and writing English.

Encourage students to seek out the Writing Center, 6171 Helen C. White Hall (http://writing.wisc.edu, 263-1992). Please have realistic expectations, though, for how much and how quickly the Writing Center can help. It takes time, sustained instruction, and hard work on a student’s part to make significant progress.

Contact the GUTS Tutorial Program, 333 East Campus Mall, Suite 4413 (http://guts.studentorg.wisc.edu, 263-5666). This program connects UW students with volunteer tutors for assistance with academic courses, study skills, conversational English, and intercultural exchange.

Online Resources

CCCC Statement on Second Language Writing and Writers: www.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/secondlangwriting

Writing Across Borders, directed by Wayne Robertson of Oregon State University: Available on YouTube

Only thirty minutes long, this film presents international students’ perspectives on writing in U.S. universities, accompanied by advice for instructors from ESL specialists. The website offers a discussion guide for those who are using the film for professional development purposes.

Print Resources

Canagarajah, A. Suresh. “Toward a Writing Pedagogy of Shuttling Between Languages: Learning from Multilingual Writers.”

College English 68.6 (2006): 589–604.

Ferris, Dana. “The ‘Grammar Correction’ Debate in L2 Writing.” Journal of Second Language Writing 13.1 (2004): 49–62.

Fraiberg, Steven. “Composition 2.0: Toward a Multilingual and Multimodal Framework.” College Composition and Communication 62.1 (2010): 100–26.

Hinkel, Eli. Teaching Academic ESL Writing: Practical Techniques in Vocabulary and Grammar. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.

Horner, Bruce, Min-Zhan Lu, Jacqueline Jones Royster, and John Trimbur. “Language Difference in Writing: Toward a Translingual Approach.” College English 73.3 (2011): 303–21.

Leki, Ilona. Understanding ESL Writers: A Guide for Teachers. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1992.

Matsuda, Paul. “The Myth of Linguistic Homogeneity in U.S. College Composition.” College English 68.6 (2006): 637–51.

Raimes, Ann. “What Unskilled ESL Students Do as They Write: A Classroom Study of Composing.” TESOL Quarterly 19.2 (1985): 229–58.

Roberge, Mark, Meryl Siegal, and Linda Harklau. Generation 1.5 in College Composition: Teaching Academic Writing to U.S.-Educated Learners of ESL. NY: Routledge, 2009.

Smitherman, Geneva, and Victor Villanueva, eds. Language Diversity in the Classroom: From Intention to Practice. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003.

Zamel, Vivian. “Strangers in Academia: The Experiences of Faculty and ESL Students Across the Curriculum.” College Composition and Communication 46.4 (1995): 506–21.

Zamel, Vivian and Ruth Spack, eds. Crossing the Curriculum: Multilingual Learners in College Classrooms. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2004.