Symposium on Second Language Writing 2019

The regular presence of second language (L2) writers in college composition programs has led writing programs and writing program administers to continue to determine appropriate placement that can address the differing needs of this linguistically diverse population. This workshop, which is grounded in a theoretical framework of agency (Saenkhum, 2016), will discuss (1) practical strategies that enable writing programs to maximize student agency in the process of placement decisions and (2) an assessment framework that leads to a sustainable assessment of placement practices.

Through a critical review of placement frameworks, including placement methods and placement options (e.g., Matsuda & Silva, 1999; Silva 1994), we will consider how participants can create placement procedures that maximize student agency in the placement of students into writing courses in their local contexts. Specifically, led by the presenter, participants will design placement materials/documents (e.g., brochure, handout) that can be used at their institutions aiming to better communicate placement information to related stakeholders, including students, advisors, and writing teachers. In the second half of the workshop, the presenter will discuss a framework for assessing placement that is continual and includes perspectives from multiple stakeholders. The presenter will share with participants some assessment instruments that have been utilized to assess placement practices of an L2 writing program.

Participants will be asked to consider this assessment framework to be applied in their own institutional contexts. Ultimately, these hands-on activities will give participants concrete strategies for creating and assessing placement practices that better serve the needs of L2 writers. The workshop will leave time at the end for questions and discussion, and participants will also be encouraged to share their designed placement materials and/or assessment tools.

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Collaborative writing is an activity which involves the co-authoring of a text by two or more authors who share responsibility for the creation of the entire text (Storch, 2013). A growing body of research (e.g. Kim, 2008; Shehade, 2011; Storch, 2002, 2005; Yeh, 2014) has shown that when second language (L2) learners engage in collaborative writing activities they are exposed to different ideas, they negotiate how to express their ideas, and they give and receive peer feedback on language use. In other words, these activities can provide L2 learners with opportunities for language learning as well as for learning to write in the L2. However, simply assigning students to produce a text jointly will not necessarily result in a successful learning activity. Successful collaborative writing activities need to be carefully designed and implemented.

In this hands-on workshop we focus on these design and implementation decisions. We consider first the different kinds of writing tasks that have been employed in research on collaborative writing in terms of their suitability for the specific teaching context and student population. We then deal with issues related to grouping of learners, including the advantages and drawbacks of same proficiency versus mixed proficiency groups, the size of the group, and whether the teacher should allocate students to writing groups or allow students to self-select. The final issue relates to how best assess collaborative writing, looking at some of the proposed grading schemes which attempt to assess not only the final product but also the learners’ contributions to the collaborative writing activity. I conclude the workshop by outlining areas that require further investigation.

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This workshop reviews the theoretical framework of Intercultural Rhetoric (IR), its primary research methods, and applications in teaching writing. The workshop consists of three parts. In the first part, we will provide an overview of IR with a focus on its continued relevance for researchers and teachers of second language writing, from contrastive rhetoric to translingualism. Part two illustrates the methods of analysis associated with IR with a detailed description of a recent empirical study that explored the writing in English of international graduate students in the US employing multiple IR methods of analysis. Finally, we will present a pedagogical application, an ESP course for Chinese undergraduate students competing in the international Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling, based on an IR analysis of winning essays. The audience will be invited to reflect on the research and pedagogical applications presented and possible application that audience members could develop in their contexts.

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Publishing in academic journals can be intimidating to newcomers. The goal of this workshop is to help demystify the review and publication process, especially for scholars who are relatively new to publishing. The workshop, facilitated by a current and past editor of the Journal of Second Language Writing (JSLW), will draw on behind-the-scene insight into the JSLW to address questions such as: Is JSLW the right venue for my research? What pitfalls should I avoid in preparing my paper? How can I successfully turn dissertation research into an article? What are editors and reviewers looking for in submissions? How should I respond to reviews? The workshop will follow a two-part structure, beginning with a full-group workshop with some interactive activities, and ending with two smaller discussion groups, in which we address individual questions.

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In the quest for accountability in writing assessment, teachers might lose sight of those to whom we should first be accountable: our students. Providing students with clear, accessible, and understandable classroom writing assessment materials promotes accountability. In this 3-hour hands-on workshop, participants explore theoretical and practical issues related to the assessment of L2 writers and their writing by working to understand and create assessment instruments that are transparent and comprehensible to students while acting as both teaching and assessment tools. The workshop leader will first distribute and discuss examples of student writing and several different types of rubrics. Participants will practice rating various writing sample, discussing their decisions before dividing into small groups to create assignments for their own classrooms. They will work to generate criteria for the assignments, following up with rubric creation based on those criteria. Participants will then present their criteria and rubrics for critique and discussion.

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One of the common goals for English for Specific or Academic Purposes classes should be to prepare students to write in a variety of ways appropriate for a variety of classes. That is, instructors should be teaching for transfer of learning. Though the notion of “teaching for transfer” has been misunderstood, misapplied and sometimes even controversial, scholars in writing studies in recent years have begun to identify and operationalize the tenets of writing transfer pedagogy in various useful and accessible ways.

This Institute workshop will provide both an introduction to the teaching for transfer research in the larger writing studies community and hands-on ways to apply it, especially in courses and programs focused on L2 writers. This workshop will provide demonstrations, practice, and discussion focusing on how this goal of teaching for transfer might be achieved. First, the concept of transfer of learning will be explained, and the types of questions and instructions most amenable to learning transfer will be presented. Then a variety of writing prompts and the analyses to deconstruct them will be presented and practiced. Following this, participants will be assisted in creating their own writing prompts, based upon the principles demonstrated. The workshop will conclude with questions and suggestions from the participants.

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Second language writing specialists often find ourselves in administrative roles—often inadvertently and with or without official titles. The administrative work, in addition to the additional workload, often creates new and unexpected challenges because of the lack of recognition, institutional status, funding, staff support, or institutional status. Furthermore, few graduate programs offer coursework or professional development opportunities in the area of program administration specifically for second language writing specialists.

This session is an attempt to fill this gap by providing an opportunity to discuss various issues L2 writing specialists face in engaging in administrative work, and offering strategies to overcome those challenges. Some of the possible questions to be addressed include: How can I raise the awareness among my colleagues about the presence and needs of L2 writers? How can I work effectively with faculty members who have more institutional power and status than I? How can I motivate colleagues to participate in professional development workshops on L2 writing? How can I create visibility and legitimacy for my administrative work related to L2 writing? How can I manage my administrative workload and avoid being burned out?

The session will begin with a discussion of the particular issues faced by the participants. The presenter will then offer insights, strategies and resources in addressing those issues. This session is a highly interactive discussion based on the participants' specific needs, and the presenter will address them by drawing on his knowledge of writing program administration scholarship as well as his own experience as a writing program administrator and educational consultant.

This is a ticketed event. Visit the Institute page for more information.