4.12.2022 Where the field is now

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4.12.2022 Where the field is now

4/12/2022

As we near the end of our time in class, we are getting further away from the "birth" of the field. As this week's readings show us, Comp & Rhetoric is always evolving to respond to a version of "But what about. . . ". That seems to me to be the best recommendation of the field, that it is never satisfied with where we are at as scholars and teachers.

Please use this space to post this week's reading response. In-class, you will have time to post your reading response and to read and respond to your classmates. We had two rather diverse sets of readings: multilingual writers and how to best support them and writing with technology. Are there connections to be made between these two areas of scholarship in Composition & Rhetoric?

40 Comments

Sarah

4/12/2022 04:58:41 pm

In spite of the grumbling about SEI (Sheltered English Immersion) endorsement, I found my own participation in that class to be hugely beneficial. SEI introduces the need to integrate academic language into the instruction and overall language development of English Language Learners. Several of Edlund and Griswold’s talking points are reminiscent of that coursework, notably the establishment of an environment which is conducive to language acquisition – both socially and academically. The interlanguage continuum fascinates me, especially since I’ve proven myself to be a horrendous learner of languages, because it’s hopeful: student learners have knowledge of language and its mechanisms, and that knowledge can and should be relevant to their learning a second language.
More difficult to grasp, at least in an individualized and practical way, are language assumptions across cultures. Such assumptions and expectations already impact FYW for US-born students, as we’ve discussed countless times, because of their various backgrounds and linguistic experiences. To now contextualize the expectations of student writers’ “rhetorical influences” and “organizational patterns” (326) can feel like a daunting task to instructors who must determine the value of composition as both a reflection of ideas and a potential inroad to academic discourse. We keep asking the same questions – What is “good” writing and what feedback is useful in moving each student toward success?
The ELL student that proved the most challenging to me as a teacher was a 10th-grade boy who had moved from the Dominican to Boston 4 months before entering my classroom of entirely and exclusively English-speaking students. He spoke very little English, and while he seemed to enjoy class, had little interest in academics. I feared the days that his SEI instructor would not join us in class and did my best to come up with visual and digital learning opportunities that might create opportunities for success. As I read Silva, Leki, and Carson’s article, the image of that student came flooding back. While I worked hard to motivate him through academic opportunities, I was missing the balance between “integrative and instrumental motivation” (346). He wanted to know how to walk down the hall and enter the cafeteria and – quite honestly – skate by on his homework the way the rest of his classmates seemed to do. Most importantly, he needed a “right to his own language” for academic purposes, but desperately sought the English of his peers, not his teachers, socially. Again, this is where the experiences of high school language acquisition seems distinct from what occurs on the university level, where students are choosing and seeking an academic environment. Motivation still, however, must be both integrative and instrumental, as students work to immerse themselves in academia while moving toward social and career opportunities for success.
In light of the reading on new media pedagogy, it seems pertinent to consider how technology closes at least some of the gaps between cultures, expectations, and even language use. Technology does not make L2 instruction easy, but it makes feedback, focused instruction, and differentiation far more effective than it was even a few years ago.

4/12/2022 05:13:11 pm

I share a lot of how you feel about sort of missing the mark when engaging with mulitlingual students--like I'm not doing it right. Like should I be doing more with grammar or less? Am I asking too much or too little. I have no real answer to this. I've learned to just ask my students who are multilingual to tell me how to help them. Another thing that I worry about with very smart advanced multilingual students: that I can't explain the grammar. Some rules are just arbitrary, but no multilingual student wants to hear "because that is just the rule." But it keeps me honest and on my toes.

Kayleigh Holt

4/12/2022 05:15:34 pm

Hi Sarah, that thought you mentioned at the end, of considering how technology closes at least some of the gaps is one that I was thinking about as well. It seems like translation apps and software are improving every year and it would be great to have something that is geared towards use in the classroom in the future. Even if its use is more just to be able to seamlessly translate the instructions on an assignment so that the student can read them in their own language, which might make it easier for them to them tackle the assignment themselves.

4/12/2022 05:21:33 pm

I always think of Star Trek. How everyone had this translation pack like somehow installed in their heads and so whatever language you spoke was the language that you heard--even if no one else is speaking it. This is an interesting idea for what would be gained in a classroom if translation technology got to this point. But, at the same, time, language is culture. What would be lost if there was not effort to understand each other. And what about concepts that can't be translated in language alone? I'm musing. This is not relevant to what you guys are talking about. Just me thinking.

Olivia L

4/12/2022 05:26:33 pm

Sarah, I completely agree. I don't know what I would do without that SEI course. It gave me a lot of the resources I have today for working with ELs. Technology has had a huge impact on the way I teach L2's. You work it perfectly. It does not make it "easy", but it absolutely helps and I think it makes a big difference.

Ashley Merola

4/12/2022 05:28:41 pm

Sarah, I completely agree with your assessment of L2 writing instruction in the secondary setting. Your connection to new media, as well as your anecdote, reminded me of an experience I had with one of my EL students in my own classroom. His first language is Portuguese and he took my English 11 College class completely online last year. At that time, he did not attempt to start (let alone finish) his writing assignments. No matter how many SEI strategies I implemented, I struggled to make him feel more motivated to write. He ended up withdrawing in the middle of the year, which could also be attributed to other circumstances. However, I now teach this student in the same English 11C class and he is absolutely thriving. The learning experiences are essentially the same, and yet the lack of a technological barrier has actually improved his L2 acquisition. As you say, the culture of the classroom is an interesting factor to consider in this change - he is now one of my star participants!

Kayleigh Holt

4/12/2022 05:09:30 pm

The role of computers in the classroom is something that we all have seen adapt and change rapidly, particularly over the last two years during the pandemic. Teaching remotely, and then teaching in a hybrid model, have led to many teachers developing skills in the use of multiple media formats out of necessity, even if they were not particularly technologically inclined previously. Some good that came out of all the trial, and often error, that occured through the experimentation with various types of digital media over the last few years, is the curation of a set of digital media resources that have been extremely beneficial to my classroom. Something that Lisa Gerrard writes about in her chapter is the fact that “computers socialize the classroom” (p. 412), a phenomenon that I have seen occur in my classes as well. If a student sees another student is unsure where to find a website, or is struggling to navigate to a specific file on their computer, even the quieter students are willing to speak up to offer suggestions and advice. This low pressure environment, where they are all in it together using the same technology, aids the classroom in building a sense of community.

Another benefit that I have seen in using digital media in my classroom is the way that chats, discussion boards, or something similar, can be used to facilitate invention that is more driven by the students. Gerrard writes in reference to students using digital media such as online forums or blogs that “they also are more willing to take risks and speak more openly than they would in other contexts” (p. 413). Students who may feel too scared to raise their hand and speak in front of the class, may feel far more comfortable adding their ideas to a discussion board, or commenting on a fellow students’ ideas.

4/12/2022 05:16:15 pm

I want to believe what Gerrard says. When I was coming up, this was a big thing, that online writing somehow gave voice to the voiceless, but scholarship challenged this--that bullying takes place even in an online setting. Another area of critique in the scholarship is that students are all about the show but not the know in online writing. Consider discussion boards: how often to students not read what the other students are writing and simply reply with a "I totally agree." There is evidence that relationships with. teachers are deepened in online learning when teachers (though very time consuming) respond deeply and often. But not always with peers.

Sarah

4/12/2022 05:23:33 pm

Yes to all the shared-space pros, but for all the advantages, one disadvantage that was mentioned earlier in the chat (not sure who posted) is that students can sway/influence other students' ideas, particularly in a K12 space where peer influence is so impactful. This ties into the concerns about online bullying and intimidation. To be honest, though, these concerns are real without the digital component -- but the impact on a digital platform is potentially more far-reaching.

Brian Seibert

4/12/2022 05:21:03 pm

Hi Kayleigh,
As much as technology can be a burden it does have its benefits. You mentioned Gerrard claim that "computers socialize the classroom." I agree with you, students have been helpful when their classmates struggle with any technology. They are usually quick to jump up and help a colleague. Although they can get themselves off task, they are exposed to certain social aspects that they may not have been comfortable enough to participate in without the technology.

Olivia L

4/12/2022 05:28:51 pm

I wrote about Gerrard's same comment!!!!! I find it so difficult to agree with this. While she definitely includes points to back up her idea that it acts as a social tool, I think it is very different from face-to-face communication. I also think if she had written this after experiencing the world online for a year, she would have a different view point. Our entire world seems to be online now and it is not the same socialization that we got before.

Melissa Batty

4/12/2022 05:09:58 pm

As an educator, multimedia opportunities may assist in a student’s ability to research, write, and revise; providing instantaneous knowledge that may offer a wealth of contributions to voice and authorship –– as students can retrieve information on the web far faster than perusing through a library. Access to computers offers students the “real-time” ability of crafting texts and peer assisting, whilst providing educators tools and techniques that create more equitable classrooms regarding the time and feedback given to each student. Freewriting becomes truly inventive when implementing “invisible writing;” having students produce a text by typing while the monitor remains black, fashions an experience free from academic worry. Syntax and other revisionary edits become an afterthought, and the primary focus is on finding one’s authentic voice. In a technologically driven world, digital writing appears to represent the future of humanities –– creating educational spaces that teach students how to expand their creativity with the incorporation of interactive elements into their writing and allowing students to collaborate on assignments outside of the classroom. However, the complexity of multiple media writing lies not in the ways that an educator may incorporate it into the classroom, nor its effectiveness, but rather the ethical and social ramifications that may occur if students stray from assignments, or find themselves, by accident or not, causing discursive turmoil. Despite the given assignment, it is extremely difficult with any social media platform, for an educator to monitor what their students are saying and how others may react to the context. Therefore, digital media acts both as a highly creative way to teach writing and a potential albatross for educators seeking to offer academic agency to students.

Equally complicating for educators, is their pedagogy as it relates to Second Language Acquisition. Krashen argues that SLA is to be done in classrooms free from the constraints of colonial academia; non-threatening spaces offering equitable communicative interactions and logical input. However, most educators are bound to the restrictive policies of their institutions –– which often, still hold the imperial belief that Standard American English is linguistically superior to all other languages. How then do teachers implement composition lessons that are equitable? It is intrinsically important that educators understand the cultural and rhetorical backgrounds of second language learners. This knowledge provides valuable insight into how and why a student, whose first language is not English, writes in a certain manner; the patterns found in their texts may not be normative English but instead, they adhere to the rhetoric of their native language and culture. Ferris states that educators can create rubrics valuing quality of response, content, organization, use of readings in text, and language and mechanics, in opposition to rubrics that place value on the traditional categories found within English composition. Although most theorists argue that educators should hold SLA students accountable for linguistic accuracy, there appears to be more focus on the classroom as a space of providing rhetorical equality through comprehensive instruction, positive feedback, and pedagogics free from cultural and linguistic bias.

4/12/2022 05:19:22 pm

I appreciate that you've put the two areas for tonight's discussion in conversation with each other. I must admit that I am not convinced that technology has made it possible for students to find their authentic voice. For me, I think it's more about genre than technology. I think that theoretically that technology makes things easier, but, particularly when it comes to locating and evaluating sources, I think the technology is overwhelming and takes a long time to learn to do well.

Shauna Briggs

4/12/2022 05:28:38 pm

I agree that there is a lot of constraint on educators from their institutions in how they can teach and inform multilingual students, and it’s disheartening. We’re not allowed to provide translated instruction at my school, since we pay for translators to communicate directly as needed (which is redundant because they are overloaded with work and couldn’t possible translate everything they are asked to). One of my favorite assignments I do comes at the beginning of every school year, right when I start composition instruction, where I ask students to find a word from another language/culture that conveys and idea, message, or meaning, and that has no direct English translation (the easiest example is “hygge” which many are familiar with from TikTok) and they have to present on the words origins and meanings and discuss why it is important to that culture. This teaches my students how and why language is so important, and not just the English language but all other languages as well. It’s always so lovely watching my multilingual students use examples from their own language/culture and really feel a sense of pride (and fascinating when they elect to find an example from a different language/culture).

Melissa

4/12/2022 05:32:10 pm

Shauna,

What a wonderful assignment. It ties in so many of the theories we have been examining, from New Media to Antiracist assessment to Cultural Studies. It offers students the ability to authenticate their own cross-cultural and multilingual experiences, taking the pressure off of you, the educator.

4/12/2022 05:33:23 pm

This is a great assignment! Similar to the one about taruff I was talking about, but easier to manage. This is an assignment that teaches language diversity--and some pretty high level language theory too--that language conveys thought in a context.

Brian Seibert

4/12/2022 05:15:31 pm

With the overwhelming prominence of technology in society and the classroom, writing is taking on a new form. Very rarely do students compose essays with pencil and paper, especially at the college level. As I sit and observe my students I realize that even standardized tests are done completely on computers. While a typed response typically is far more aesthetically pleasing than a handwritten version on scratch paper, it does not necessarily equate to better writing. In contrast, the many opportunities we (children and adults) have to interact with technology for communication can have a negative effect.

In my classroom, all of my students have access to school issued computers. Although I am a fan of paper manipulatives in the classroom, most of my assignments have been posted on Google Classroom. This is consistent with the way education is heading but causes many problems. In chapter 11, “Writing in Multiple Media,” Lisa Gerrard details the helpful online tools for social networking and collaboration. When students are able to communicate ideas with each other, their writing tends to benefit. However, if they are not focused on the task, the opposite occurs. For example, I occasionally use a Google application called Jamboard that allows students to respond briefly to a prompt. Their classmates can also see their responses. This is also a great formative assessment tool, but typically students take the opportunity to sabotage their classmates’ answers. Students are able to draw on templates and manipulate others’ texts. That is just one of many examples of students using the technology improperly.

Technology can also assist L2 writers in many ways. For some, ideas flow better when using technology over traditional methods such as handwriting. For instance, an EL student in my class last year struggled to understand directions and write complete sentences in English. Even though he progressed throughout the year, he still struggled with that method. However, one of the final projects we did was to create an argument where students decided if humanity should explore the oceans or space. They were to produce a visual of their project and present it to the class. This student’s slideshow was among the best, and his presentation blew me away with how well he was able to explain his ideas.

Alyssa Campbell

4/12/2022 05:20:00 pm

Brian-

The part that really stood out to me, and perhaps this is because I teach sixth graders, was the way in which they edit and ruin each other's Jamboard responses. I feel like that is both a perfect example and metaphor for the beauty and bane that is technology; it encompasses all of its potential and the wonderful things it is capable of doing, and of course, its limitations based on the users themselves.

Sarah

4/12/2022 05:26:49 pm

Beauty and bane -- well said! I must say that even 8th graders have great in-class responsibility with one another's work than the 6th and 7th graders in our same district. Maturity has much to do with this process. I also have to imagine that Google will continue to imagine ways where we can more easily limit student editing access on platforms like Jamboard, so that individuals' work can be protected.

Shauna Briggs

4/12/2022 05:22:09 pm

Brian, struggling second language learners are one of the reasons I make everything available on GC (even when I don’t want to) because it allows them to more easily translate directions into their own languages. I also find that my L2 students end up making the more engaging and aesthetic presentations and I think that comes from a desire to really succeed and do well, and also a pride that comes from their own work. It’s always been one of my favorite things to see it click or students who are struggling early on.

4/12/2022 05:24:40 pm

I feel what you say about students sabotaging students. In undergraduate classes, I moved very far away from discussion boards because I saw students post last minute and basically post an answer that was an amalgam of what others said before them. Students noticed it. One student in particular was so brazen about it that her classmates actually complained to me about it. That is why I have moved to posting during class to a question that requires you have done the reading. It's a better assessment of actual contribution. Students still scam. But it's much easier to tell.

Melissa

4/12/2022 05:25:08 pm

Hi Brian,

I cannot begin to understand how frustrating it must be to have students sabotage one another while interacting with the technology you use to complete assignments. I do, however, completely believe that it may be the norm. I fear that students, even at the collegiate level, do not understand the ramifications of misusing technology –– whether it is associated with classwork or within their personal lives. I mention that New Media is both a wonderful tool as well as an albatross for educators; it is truly a double edged sword. On one hand it is convenient for "real time" learning and collaborration and on the other hand it offers students the opportunity to "zone out" academically, or use the time to scroll through Instagram, Twitter, etc.

Kayleigh Holt

4/12/2022 05:30:57 pm

Hi Brian, I too have run into those issue with Jamboard in my classroom. To the point that I don't use Jamboard anymore and have switched to Padlet, which unfortunately takes a bit more set up and is not as instantaneous as Jamboard, but has the added security of not allowing students to change another's answer and also allows me to decide if I want to approve posts before they can be seen by the whole class.

Also, just a side note, but in my 8th grade ELA class one of the activities that we do at the beginning of the year is debate practice, and I would say that hands down the topic the students get the most into is whether humanity should explore the oceans or space.

Alyssa Campbell

4/12/2022 05:16:07 pm

I had somewhat of a response to this week's writing typed up, but I think I am going to work from scratch and get those bonus points! (It helps of course that my presentation is the one I am tying connections to!)

I see first of all the parallels between the ever-changing lens through which we look at the world, and especially the ever-changing lens through which Composition and Rhetoric looks at the world. I see the overlaps between the language changes regarding how we view, value, describe, and interact with students that speak multiple languages and the way we look at online platforms, ways to collaborate digitally, and new and creative ways to process information. There is a connection that for me, seems intuitive, between expanding how we get students to understand information, and who we are allowing that information to be accessible to. With each new way to present information, while of course there is the risk of over-informing or making it overwhelming, the goal is to allow students to access, grapple with, and understand the content and make it their own so that they can take it with them. With this increase, it of course makes sense too that it is happening alongside the shift to encourage, support, and allow learners regardless of their background access to it.

Shauna Briggs

4/12/2022 05:17:59 pm

I can talk about my L2 students literally all day because they are my favorite human beings on Earth. The absolute kindness, compassion, motivation, and community that I have witnessed first hand this year has been astounding. I have a small(ish) class made up of approximately 60% L2 students who speak Portuguese, Spanish, or Haitian-Creole. These students have worked together far more than I could ever have anticipated and they really strive each and every day to boost each other’s learning. We made a decision a few weeks ago that we were going to spend the first 10-15 minutes of class learning ASL. This came about because our school received a new student who is from Brazil and nobody realized (for WEEKS) that this student was deaf and was struggling to learn because he can only lip-read in Portuguese and we were still wearing masks at the time. This was a big moment for our Portuguese students who assembled together to set up a plan for this student to make their life easier as they transitioned and began their language acquisition, which for many of them has included learning sign language. YouTube has been such an integral part in our learning of sign language and thus has invited technology into our classroom in a productive way that is aimed at creating a more unified learning experience for all. It has been one of the most heartwarming and fulfilling experiences I have had as an educator.

Kayleigh Holt

4/12/2022 05:22:25 pm

Shauna, this is amazing. Your students sound phenomenal and that is such a wonderful expression of community and support for them to begin learning ASL so that all of them will be able to communicate.

Alyssa Campbell

4/12/2022 05:22:42 pm

Shauna-

Thank you so much for sharing this story! I genuinely teared up thinking of this child's frustration and desperation to understand and be understood, and the sheer determinedness of his peers to make sure that both of those things can happen for him. This reminds me of the positives of teaching. I also love that you are devoting time and showing that you care and making a commitment to those students in their schedule with you.

Alyssa Campbell

4/12/2022 05:24:29 pm

Just realized you never specified the gender of this student...not sure where I read or inferred that they use he/him....oops!

Melissam

4/12/2022 05:28:31 pm

All I can say about this is it makes me believe that human decency is not dead. What a beautiful and transformative act your students undertook.

Brian Seibert

4/12/2022 05:31:14 pm

Hi Shauna,
I thought that was an amazing adjustment to practice! I had a similar situation recently where a student was placed in my class who was a level 1 or 2 EL. The school had no knowledge of this before placing him. As a team, we identified this early on and scaffolded activities such as including drawings for him to represent his ideas. Similar to your situation where the other students in class teamed up to help this student, this student's classmates brought him around everywhere in the building he needed to be and translated instructions.

Megan G

4/12/2022 05:33:50 pm

Hi Shauna!
What a perfect way to start your response. I love the passion you have for your students!! Thank you for sharing the story about your student from Brazil. Your dedication to implementing ASL lessons will be so helpful not only for them, but also for all of your students as they interact with the deaf/hard of hearing community in the future.

Olivia L

4/12/2022 05:35:00 pm

WOW! What a special experience! I find that my ELLs always have each other's backs. They really do work well together and work out problems together. I had a student come from China with no English and trauma. One of my Chinese speaking EL's stepped right up and guided her through everything. Since then, she has made significant progress.

Maura Geoghegan

4/13/2022 11:10:12 am

Hi Shauna,

Wow what an incredible group of students! That is so heartwarming that they have such a strong sense of community that they're learning ASL to be able to communicate with your new student. This just highlights how important developing a class community can be as well as implementing technology into the classroom.

Olivia L

4/12/2022 05:22:03 pm

The integration of internet and media has changed writing forever. Lisa Gerrard has a good point when she says the online word processors are invaluable in making revisions. It makes drafts "malleable" (p 410). Although during this article, students had to bring "flash drives" for their drafts, we now have Google Docs which allows instant sharing and collaboration. I find Gerrard's argument that "Computers socialize the classroom" very interesting. I always had that original thought that using computers is so "cold" and "mechanic" and impersonal. I still think this effects students who are constantly staring at their screens all day. Times have changed since her point though! I am sure we are using it more than she would have ever imagined. She does have a point from this time. Students feel more comfortable with writing online because it is low-stakes. They can easily complete peer edits with each other and it gives easy access to grammar edits for ELLs. Speaking of ELs, computer-based writing is extremely beneficial to them. I always love my paper and pen, but for a non-English native, it is a great tool.
These two areas are more relevant than we may think! We used technology in one of my undergraduate classes about accommodating diverse needs and special ed. The tools online are so useful for ELs and special education students. Simple sites such as Google Translate really help them to form their writing and understand the prompt. As I mentioned in my optional activity, writing on Google Docs is a useful tool for ELs as well. This is low stakes for them because 1) they do not need to speak out loud, 2) they are not able to see who writes what, 3) they can collaborate with other students and see the work of English-speaking natives. Something I had previously highlighted in Clark's chapter adheres to this as well. She says, "Large quantities of reading material, classroom discussions, videos and films, and one-on-one interactions with tutors or native-speaking peers will all help students acquire vocabulary, context-building background knowledge, and grammatical forms." (p 321). This exposure is crucial. Media use also offers an easy way to differentiate for ELLs without being singled out.

Megan G

4/12/2022 05:30:52 pm

Hi Olivia!
I think the advances in technology for special ed and ELLs are fascinating. I love how something as common and simple as google docs can even be viewed as an amazing tool. I think it is so helpful for student to see and comment on other student's work as it can remove a lot of their insecurity around writing. It is relatively user friendly as well, which breaks down another barrier.

Megan G

4/12/2022 05:26:02 pm

I really connected with the values present in “Writing in Multiple Media” by Lisa Gerrard. All too often technology is bashed for interfering with education and taking students away from what the real lesson is. Gerrard argues that when utilized properly, technology enhances lessons and creates greater opportunities for students to connect to the outside world. In the section on Multimedia Composition, she argues for the value in non-traditional assignments. “A writing course in which students are taught to code a web page or create and edit a Podcast or video has not shifted its focus away from writing, but instead has extended the genres in which students write and the contexts in which their writing takes place” (420). Working on projects like this would allow students to practice better collaboration and communication with peers, utilization of various editing software, and learning how to take words on a page and edit them based on their sound.
In particular, podcasts encourage students to learn about other cultures. There are so many prompts for a podcast project that would promote their exploration of their peers and their identities. Conducting interviews on each other’s cultures would be a great way to create a cohesive class identity and allow students to practice writing out and editing interview questions. Assignments like these also allow them to be in conversation and learn from each other not just faculty. I believe in current classrooms, technology must be integrated in some form to meet students where they are at and encourage collaboration. These skills will be transferable to their future careers, especially in a time where more positions are becoming remote and dependent on collaboration solely through technology.

4/12/2022 05:31:31 pm

This is an area of scholarship that I have been exploring more. A point that your group brought up in class--that learning the technology is part of the writing process these days. Just like people had to learn to use a fountain pen (I remember teachers telling us about how lucky we had it with our ball point pens), students must learn the tools of writing. And no writing happens in the world pen to paper anymore. And it is true that writing online changes how we write. And that needs to be studied too. It's part and parcel of this discussion about what writing actually is, what genres we write in, how tech influences genre.

Maura Geoghegan

4/13/2022 11:16:47 am

Hi Megan,

I agree that when utilized properly, technology can be a powerful tool to help students learn. I love using podcasts in the classroom and actually just started a unit with my students for season one of the Serial podcast. Students forget that podcasts are also a form of writing and narrative, and most students really enjoy analyzing a podcast as a form of text since it's something different they don't normally get to do in an English class. I was hoping to have them create their own podcasts at the end of the unit, but we won't have enough time this year, so I'm hoping to get to it earlier in the year next year. I love your idea of using podcasts to conduct interviews and explore others' cultures and identities.

4/12/2022 05:27:28 pm

What I love here is how the power dynamic shifts, Shauna, for the teacher and dominant language, to shared inadequacies (lets call them that---or community deficit). None of you know sign language so you all are learning together and making mistakes together. I love that. That will engender great trust between you and all of your students, especially the multilingual students. I'm a firm believer in looking like a fool in front of our students--so they see that we don't know everything.

Maura Geoghegan

4/13/2022 04:24:38 am

Gerrard’s chapter on writing using multiple media has many similarities to one of my group's pedagogy chapters from our presentation last week. Kennedy and Moore Howard’s chapter, “Collaborative Writing, Print to Digital,” touches upon many of the same ideas as Gerrard. The main difference is that Gerrard’s chapter focuses exclusively on the use of the computer in the classroom, whereas Kennedy and Moore Howard’s chapter focuses on how to write collaboratively using print and digital strategies. Both chapters discuss multimedia tools such as word processing, blogs, wikis, chatrooms, course management software, and Twitter as options that can be incorporated into the classroom to assist collaborative writing.

One argument made clear in both chapters is that it is not only necessary, but crucial for students to be taught how to write collaboratively and how to navigate multimedia tools due to the nature of the world today. As Gerrard points out, “research and writing are done very differently today than they were a generation ago; students need to understand multiple media and be able to create them” (420). Critics may argue against this since this is not what some view as traditional writing, however the purpose of a multimedia writing course or assignment is not to shift student’s focus away from their writing, but instead to extend their “ability to express themselves in interactive, visual, and auditory media as well as written ones” (420). Students need to be shown that a variety of media, such as blogs or podcasts, are viewed as genres of writing. This also helps students to understand the threshold concept that writing is a social act and something that is often done collaboratively in a variety of ways.

Viewing writing in a broader context is not only beneficial for multimedia purposes, but also for non-native speakers of English. Silva, Leki, and Carson argue that composition studies needs to have this “broader and more inclusive view of writing [because it] could profit from the perspectives and insights of second language studies” (Edlund and Griswold 318). Incorporating theories and strategies of second language acquisition alongside collaborative writing and multimedia writing theories would provide all students with a strong classroom experience, whether it’s K-12 or at the university level. Second language studies should be incorporated into composition studies more purposefully since “ESL students are already in mainstream classes” and without second language theory and research, the composition class is problematic due to the fact that it would be based on “grand claims on monolingual, monocultural evidence” (Edlund and Griswold 317-318). Teachers are not, and never will, teach the same monolingual, monocultural student, so it’s important that their teaching strategies reflect this awareness.

Incorporating multimedia tools alongside this would also help non-native speakers of English. Allowing students to practice writing in an online space often “frees students of inhibitions they may have talking in front of the class, and students are more likely to joke around, play with language, experiment with new ideas, and build a sense of community” (Gerrard 417). Multimedia tools and strategies help to build a sense of community, build students’ confidence with writing, provide the opportunity for collaboration, and offer students a real-world application to writing since they can, and most likely will, access tools such as blogs, podcasts, and Twitter outside of the classroom.

4.12.2022 Where the field is now

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ENGL 513

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