Working with Multilingual Writers

Carol Severino, carol-severino@uiowa.edu, University of Iowa

◦Terminology

◦Attitudes

◦Principles

◦Strategies

It’s helpful to know about

International Students

Resident Bilinguals

Multilingual Writers=2 main groups , but with flexible, permeable boundaries

In the US: AKA Visa Students, “Foreign Students” May be returning to their countries to live & work;

motivation for learning English may be more instrumental than integrative (Garner & Lambert, 1972)

Overseas: Students at English-medium national or US-affiliated

universities might be in more of an English as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) vs. English-as-a Second-Language (ESL) situation

Who are International students?

May be stronger in reading & writing, but weaker in speaking, listening, & knowledge of US culture & expressions

International students in the US:

AKA Immigrant ESL students; language minority students; English Language Learners (ELL); Generation 1.5 (Rumbaut & Ima, 1988)

Learned English through informal spoken interactions; may therefore be fluent in informal spoken English

Probably more aware (part) of US (youth) culture

May speak (or are spoken to in) another language besides English at home.

Who are US resident bilinguals?

Have had some years of high school (& possibly middle & elementary school) in the US

May have limited knowledge of English grammar

May have limited L1 (home language) literacy

May identify as fully bilingual, as native speakers of English (Matsuda & Matsuda, 2009), or as a member of the L1 culture.

More features of resident bilinguals

Resident BilingualsTend to Be

Ear Learnersof English

International Students tend to be Eye Learners of English (Reid, 1998)

Besides knowing some terms, what attitudes do we need to cultivate?

Empathy

Curiosity

Knowing who our students are enables us to tutor them better.

The “Just Ask” Approach Learning is reciprocal cultural exchange in the WC as “contact zone” (Pratt).

Curiosity Good tutoring:

Cultural relativity

Linguistic relativity

Rhetorical relativity

The attitude of curiosity is based on:

In your first/home language, how do writers make arguments? What are the features of good communication & writing?

How is this word or idea expressed in your first/home language?

Ask international writers:

What do you miss most about China (Korea, the Sudan, India)?

What impresses you most about the US (or your city or college)?

What confuses you most about life in the US?

About possible culture shock, homesickness, adjustment to the US, ask:

Writing in English as a native or near native language is also hard for us tutors.

Expressing on the page what is inside our heads precisely and effectively is a struggle for almost every writer.

Writing is always a problem-solving process (Flower & Hayes, 1981), but L2 writing can

present more problems to solve.

Empathy with writers is natural:

Your own experiences studying or traveling in other countries, regions, or cultures.

Your own experiences if you are also multilingual & multicultural.

Your own experiences writing, speaking, reading, and listening in your own L2 & learning to write in new fields and genres.

Cultivate an attitude of empathy based on:

Curiosity & empathy go a long way but…

But is it enough to relativize & empathize?

We also need to know principles related to second language (L2) & literacy development

It can take up to 7 years to acquire academic proficiency in an L2.

(Collier, 1987).

e.g., Students must know 9,000 word families for successful academic reading (Nation, 1996).

Principle 1:

Like L2 speaking, L2 writing, especially by international L2 writers, will probably always be “accented.”

e.g. “I have done many researches on field of medicine.”

Principle 2:

Language proficiency is complex= the level of one’s ability to speak, read,

write and listen in a language.

includes fluency and accuracy.

depends on knowledge & application of rules of grammar, syntax, vocabulary, pragmatics.

Principle 3:

Growth in proficiency is not always linear; learning can plateau, or even regress at times.

Principle 4:

the ability to function in the academic environment

to comprehend lectures, & discussion comments of classmates.

to collaborate with classmates.

to comprehend readings (time).

to comprehend and fulfill writing & speaking tasks.

to know when & how to ask for help.

Principle 5: Academic literacy is complex=

Negative transfer of L1 features:Phonetic

Grammatical

Syntactic

Lexical

Discoursal/rhetorical [Handout]

Transfer decreases as proficiency increases.

Principle 6: Writers’ challenges can be caused by many factors including…

System of tenses

Agreement

The pesky ‘s’

The word order of questions

But writers are also challenged by features of English:

No, we must apply the principles to strategies to promote further learning of writing and language.

So, is knowing these principles enough to tutor well?

Deductive vs. Inductive Organization: Thesis paragraph previews content & organization & features the main/controlling idea.

Direct vs. indirect statement of ideas/arguments:

Writer vs. reader responsibility

Documentation of sources. Quoted material uses “ “ & is cited.

Rhetoric is Situated : When in Rome….

Strategy 1: Explain readers’ expectations for academic papers

Higher Order Concerns (HOCs): assignment fulfillment, argument, audience awareness, ideas, organization, support, clarity

Lower Order Concerns (LOCs): grammar, mechanics, citation style.

You can weave work on lower order concerns into work on higher order concerns.

If you can, read to the end of the paper before you comment (Matsuda & Cox, 2009).

Remember to praise what the writer did well or better.

Strategy 2: Generally work more on Higher Order Concerns than Lower Order Concerns

Ask student Tell-Me-More Questions about problems that obscure meaning (confusing passages)

“Can you tell me more about what you say here?” “What do you mean by_____?”

“Do you mean that________?”

Strategy 3: Set priorities in error correction (error gravity).

Indicate errors that are rule-based for the student to correct further=TREATABLE ERRORS.

Help to correct those errors that don’t seem rule-based, e.g. faulty vocabulary/word choice=UNTREATABLE ERRORS, which often obscure meaning.

A helpful error categorization (Ferris):

Show curiosity; learning in the WC is reciprocal

Empathize, Relativize Clarify academic & cultural expectations

Give feedback without overwhelming Enjoy learning from multilingual students=an armchair travel & cross-cultural opportunity

So remember to:

Terminology: International Student from Korea

Attitudes: Curiosity about and empathy with his experiences with replay culture and with his problem-solving processes

Principles: Acquisition, Accent, Transfer, English syntax, vocabulary, grammar

Strategies: Praise; Weaving the Local into the Global; prioritizing errors in meaning by asking tell me more questions, categorizing treatable vs. untreatable errors.

Let’s apply these concepts to an L2 draft: