What Faculty Teaching Writing Intensive Courses Need to Know about Multilingual Learners Jonathan Hall, English Department & WAC Writing Fellows Coordinator Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning York College, City University of New York April 29, 2010

Multilingual Learners in Writing Intensive Courses Principle #1 ▪Multilingual learners in advanced courses, including writing intensive courses, will continue to be multilingual, and they will continue to be language learners.

Academic English vs. Everyday English ▪Entry-level English is fairly easy compared to the entry-level of other languages. ▪The steepest learning curve is in going from everyday English to academic English. ▪NOTE: Your native English speakers, who may not have been asked to write at a high level before college, face THEIR steepest learning curve in your writing intensive courses, too!

Whose Job Is It? Students need help in moving from everyday English to academic English ▪Students themselves? ▸ Absolutely! ▪The English As a Second Language program? ▸ Only in the early stages ▪The English Department? ▸ Students’ learning of college-level academic language begins in composition but does not end there ▪The Writing Center? ▸ Tutoring can help but it’s a supplement to classroom instruction ▪The writing intensive course instructor? ▸ Who, Me? ▸ You betcha!

Multiple Roles of Writing Intensive Faculty ▪So not only do I have to be a WRITING teacher ▪Now I have to be a LANGUAGE teacher as well? ▪Fortunately not, because...

Multilingual learners in writing intensive courses Principle #2 ▪Multilingual learners in writing intensive courses are successful college students, not struggling language learners.

The Two Basic Principles of Instructing Multilingual Learners in WI Courses MLLs are learning a language--and your course material too. ▪#1 Forget that they are multilingual learners. ▸ Most of what they need is what your monolingual English-speaking students need as well ▸ Good pedagogy for MLLs is good pedagogy period. ▪#2 Always remember that they are multilingual learners. ▸ Anticipate language-specific issues. ▸ Address individual writing development.

The Yin-Yang of Writing Across the Curriculum Balancing Course Content with Reading/Writing Instruction ▪Your course has content & discipline-specific skills ▸ “Coverage” of announced course material ▸ Building foundations for later coursework in the major ▪Literacy Skills: Writing and Reading instruction ▸ Students need GUIDED practice in reading complex texts ▸ Students need specific INSTRUCTION in the process of writing the types of texts appropriate to YOUR course

Reading vs. Listening Uneven development of language skills ▪Although ELL instruction targets speaking, listening, reading, and writing, these areas seldom develop in a smooth proportion in an individual language learner. ▪MLL’s reading skills are often better than their listening skills, especially for advanced concepts or complex sentence structure. ▪Your speaking style is probably more complex than you think it is, from an MLL viewpoint. ▪Cultural references that you think are obvious--and may be obvious to U.S.-born students--may NOT be obvious to MLLs who were educated elsewhere.

Presenting content: Some MLL- friendly methods MLL English reading & visual skills are often stronger than their listening skills ▪The hardest thing for MLLs is just talking without contextual materials. ▪Provide text whenever possible: ▸ write on the board, overhead projector, computer ▸ use handouts ▸ refer to specific pages in assigned reading during class discussion; make sure students bring book to class ▪Accommodate both MLLs and visual learners whenever possible ▸ provide diagrams, graphs, tables of data, photos, etc.

Writing as differentiated instruction Opportunities to use writing to customize a student’s experience of your course ▪Writing assignment construction and written explanation of the discipline-specific writing process ▪Writing assignment in-class presentation ▪Scaffolded assignments: checking in at points of the writing process: topic selection, research, outlining, etc. ▪In-class workshops: peer critiques, model papers ▪Feedback on student writing: written and/or oral

Making writing assignments MLL-friendly And more accessible for monolingual students too ▪Rule #1: ALWAYS give writing assignments IN writing. ▸ Even low-stakes in-class writing should have a prompt written on the board ▸ Explain orally as well, but give them something to take away ▪Writing assignment handout should include a discussion of both PROCESS and PRODUCT ▸ For a formal paper, don’t stop with a brief prompt ▸ Describe HOW you expect students to select a topic, develop it, what research is expected, etc. ▸ Describe the final product you’re looking for--not just format but the intellectual structure ▸ Explain the goals of the assignment and how they relate to the goals of the course

Managing the Assignment Using small amounts of classtime to monitor student progress on and understanding of the writing assignment ▪PRESENT the assignment: take some class time to talk about it. Don’t just give them the handout and then move on to content. ▪STRUCTURE major assignments so that students have to complete key components along the way. Talk about these landmarks in class as they come up. Give students an opportunity to discuss issues they may be facing in the writing process.

Content and Structural Issues Feedback on Writing by Multilingual Learners--and others ▪Focus first on content and structural issues ▸ Does the paper fit the assignment? ▸ Does the student demonstrate understanding of key course concepts and material? ▸ Is student internalizing the goals of the assignment and course? ▸ Does the organization of the paper reflect an understanding of discipline-specific and/or course- specific rhetorical requirements? ▸ Comment first on understanding and argument ▸ Show that you take the student’s IDEAS seriously.

Grammatical issues Feedback on writing by MLL students--and others ▪Grammar may be the first thing you notice but it shouldn’t be the first thing you comment on ▸ No sense in revising a sentence that needs to be cut out ▸ MLL students may be very aware of grammatical issues ▸ They may excessively focus on grammatical correctness and may even be used to instructors who give them exclusively grammatical feedback ▸ But they probably know English grammar better than most of us because they’ve studied it explicitly ▸ The problem isn’t that students don’t know the rules but that they have trouble APPLYING them in a situation that makes greater COGNITIVE demands than they’ve faced before.

Multilingual Learners in Writing Intensive courses Principle #3 ▪All students, not just multilingual learners, may experience a falling-off, usually temporary, in their writing skills when they are asked to produce documents in a new genre or a new discipline, especially when more advanced cognitive demands are being made of them at the same time.

Error as cognitive overload Old Beliefs and New ▪OLD BELIEF: Errors are a sign of laziness. ▪NEW: Errors can be a sign of intellectual effort. ▪OLD BELIEF: Errors stem from not understanding grammatical rules, so teach the rules again. ▪NEW: MLLs usually have extensive training in grammatical rules; they sometimes have difficulty applying them in new, challenging situations. ▪OLD BELIEF: Errors in writing intensive papers show that MLLs don’t really “know” English after all. ▪NEW: Mastering academic language is a difficult transition for ALL students, including monolingual English speakers who have not previously been challenged to write above “everyday” English level.

Multilingual Students in Writing Intensive Courses Principle #4 ▪Multilingual learners may have certain advantages over monolingual English speakers in learning new forms and adapting to novel rhetorical situations. ▸ They’ve already learned another language and are taking an advanced writing course in it. ▸ Learning a third language is easier than learning a second language. ▸ Learning a new dialect of English--academic English-- may be easier for them than for monolinguals who have never been asked to write at an advanced level.