Weekly Response: Matsuda's "Teaching Composition in the Multi Lingual World"

Matsuda discusses the role of second language writing in composition studies. He realizes that teaching English in college continues to evolve as student populations change, and he talks about how writing for ESL is separated from writing for native speakers, which may not be the correct choice. Then he says the "myth of linguistic homogeneity" (37) has not been properly addressed among those who teach writing to first language speakers.

Second language writing (L2 Writing) "refers to writing in any language that the writer did not grow up with, including the third, fourth, fifth language, and so on." (38). There are other acronyms too, such as ESL, ESOL, and ELL. All seem to carry a stigma. Generation 1.5 is a new label for ELL who are not foreign.


Sometimes students were put in ESL courses when they didn't necessarily belong there. It was either a political or economic decision on the institution's part. In the 1990's, ESL became recognized as a discipline, and there was much discussion and scholarship. Now, with colleges striving for diversity and the amount of foreign students at an all time high, L2 writing issues are debated at the forefront of composition studies.

Some schools are developing separate sections of FYW for second language writers. Matsuda suggests that placement in such sections should be optional. Other schools with less diversity may place L2 writers in a basic English class. Matsuda disagrees with this approach because these courses often don't count towards graduation. They force the student to pay for extra classes and can be a source of embarrassment as well. Writing centers often have a large amount of L2 writers, but Matsuda contends that some professors and most peer tutors are not prepared to help L2 writers. This is an issue that NJIT is actively addressing.

There are issues that the author feels still need to be addressed:
What version of English should be the norm?
Assessment and placement of students.
How to handle grammar issues.
Do we need to develop our American students to write more like the rest of the world?
Composition scholars must determine how to internationalize the field.

About half of my FYW students at NJIT are ELL in some way. Almost all of my students at Essex were ELL.  I speak and write in other languages, so I understand the struggle of trying to be understood in a language that is not comfortable or intuitive. Unfortunately, it is difficult to teach this type of facility with language. My personal experience (and I don't assume I can speak for anyone else but myself on this point) is that immersion and practice are the only strategies that ever improved my grasp of foreign languages, especially writing. From all we have read this semester, it seems there is no consensus on how to teach writing to anyone, much less on how to teach L2 writers.

LINK to draft of my final project.