Noted Second-Language (L2) Writing Scholar Visits Mason

by Judy Hadley, GRA in Linguistics

On October 8, Paul Kei Matsuda, associate professor of linguistics and L2 writing at Arizona State University, met with faculty and staff from across the curriculum, the English Language Institute, and the writing center to talk about best practices and the research on working with writers from diverse language backgrounds. His evening presentation, “World Englishes and the Teaching of Writing,” drew an audience of nearly 100 students and faculty, reflecting the wide interest in this topic and mirroring the concerns, in our increasingly globalized university, of the sponsors for Matsuda’s visit: The English Language Institute, The Provost’s Office, Professional Writing and Rhetoric Program, Linguistics, Writing Across the Curriculum, and the School of Management.*  Following are a few of the many points of interest from Prof. Matsuda’s visit:

• Students often acquire the specialized terminology of the discipline more quickly than sentence syntax.
  
• It is easy to forget that multilingual students have to work much harder than native speakers just to get to a base level of writing competence. When teachers put a strong emphasis on correctness, these students may not feel confident enough to express the knowledge they possess.
  
• Different disciplines and workplaces have different levels of tolerance for grammatical errors, so we don’t always know what their definitions are for “good writing,”especially for L2 writers.

Some strategies to try:

• To see how students have matured as writers over the course of the semester, ask them to respond to the same in-class discipline-based prompt at the beginning and end of the course. Students can also compare their responses and reflect on the improvement they see.
  
• Use examples/models when giving an assignment. Use several strong examples so the students understand that they have choices as writers.
  
• Reflect on your own experiences as writers and readers, and keep in mind that it takes time to develop these skills.

* Matsuda’s talk is available on DVD to the Mason community upon request to Terry Myers Zawacki.