Multilingual Writers Research Articles

Learning and teaching trans-inclusive language and register hybridity for multilingual writers

In multilingual instructional spaces, language use can reinforce or ­disrupt gender disparities. This self-study, situated in the context of a university developmental English writing course, examines how an instructor sought to raise L2 learners’ critical language awareness, operationalized as consciousness of ways that gender disparity is mediated by and through language. It also explores how one L2 Chinese learner, Wesheng, explored transgender themes and register during a curricular unit in this course. Focusing on Wesheng’s written and oral discourse, we illustrate the process through which his instructor developed a deeper understanding of his register-use. Data sources include writing samples, curricular materials, the instructor’s journal and feedback, and a semi-structured learner interview. Analyzing these sources through register and performance perspectives, we show how the learner exhibited hybridity in ‘en-gendered’ and academic registers of English and performed egalitarian and multilingual voices as he interacted with instructional resources. We conclude the article with discussions on the affordances of using register analysis to support critical language writing pedagogies and instructional strategies that teachers can use to cultivate L2 students’ socio-sexual literacies.

CLA and WPA: A justice-oriented approach to writing program administration

Using critical language awareness (CLA) as a framework for writing program administration (WPA), two writing program directors reflect on the history of their program in light of changing trends in the fields of composition and TESOL. By describing how CLA has informed program policies and practices ranging from the micro to the macro, we illustrate how CLA can help writing program administrators make their commitment to linguistic justice concrete and practicable. We consider the effects of CLA on teachers and learners in terms of (1) the language we use to describe our program (a values statement and other public-facing documents), (2) the guidelines we provide for language instruction across our curriculum, (3) our approaches to placement for multilingual writers, and (4) hiring and working conditions for faculty. We conclude with some theoretical and practical questions facing CLA-inspired WPA work going forward.

Национальная идентичность и литературный канон в британской традиции ХХ в.

The author of the article investigates the problem of a literary canon changing in the situation of installing the multilingual writers’ texts into literary tradition. The texts under consideration are the literary and publicistic works by Joseph Rudyard Kipling and John Robert Fowles, the writers acknowledged classical beyond Britain but appreciated as the mass literature authors in the United Kingdom. The paper aims at revealing the reasons and the consequences of installing the Rudyard Kipling’s and John Fowles’s texts into the literary canon, and at defining how the multilingualism and multiculturalism of these writers is connected with their interpretation of the notions of “Englishness” and “Britishness.” Anglo-Indian Kipling’s axiological priorities are the hierarchy of the text characters depending on their national and cultural characteristics and creating the unique author’s multicultural mythology. The key axiological principle of Fowles is understanding of the priority of French culture over the English one and creating the specific sample of an ideal representative of “Englishness,” who is the cosmopolitan lonely rebel with a strong artistic sense. Fowles’s national and cultural identity is shown in his stories and novels with the communicative fragments in different languages to create a very complex multicultural conceptual landscape, often ironical.

Contingency as a Barrier to Decolonial Engagement: Listening to Multilingual Writers

Based on the concept of transformative listening by García (2017) that views listening as a form of decolonial work that must take place in writing centers, the article examines colonial thinking and contingency as toxic preexisting conditions of writing center ecology that hinder our ability to listen to marginalized multilingual voices. Recognizing the commonality between multilingualism and contingency, both as ignored marginalized intersecting identities in the hierarchy of the racialized and corporatized university system, the article describes the complexity of engaging contingent workers in decolonial work and listening. Further, it argues that contingency creates significant barriers to the type of antiracist and decolonial work that García calls for that cultivates transformative listening. The article proposes specific types of collaborative training and partnerships that writing centers should invest in to foster decolonial listening and work while addressing the material constraints faced by contingent faculty and staff.

Review of Creating Digital Literacy Spaces for Multilingual Writers

This is a book review of Creating Digital Literacy Spaces for Multilingual Writers by Meghan Bowling-Johnson.

Translation and dealing with “the other” in scholarly research and publishing:

Although languages other than English, along with various forms of translation, are intrinsic to multilingual researchers’ scholarly activities, they generally remain less visible in English-medium publications. In this discussion paper, I explore this topic from a broader sociopolitical perspective by looking at the use and function of translation in various stages of research and writing for publication. Drawing on recent studies on multilingualism in academia and my own experience as a teacher of research communication, I argue that in the academic context, translation cannot be seen as a mere linguistic act or a communication tool as it is inextricably tied to complex and multilayered contexts, identities, and ideologies. Thus, translation decisions should not be based solely on practical considerations but also on a critical evaluation of the intricate social, cultural, ethical, and ideological dimensions of scholarly communication and interaction. Developing a greater awareness of the multiple functions and far-reaching effects of translation is beneficial for all actors directly or indirectly involved in scholarly research and publishing. I believe that a deeper reflection on these issues not only contributes to more diversity and equity in academia but enables novice multilingual writers to embrace their agency and make decisions that are better aligned with their personal values, interests, and goals.

Anti-racist translingualism: investigating race in translingual scholarship in US Writing and rhetoric studies over the past decade

ABSTRACT In this exploratory study, we adopt corpus linguistic methods to quantify, contextualize and investigate race in translingual scholarship in US writing and rhetoric studies over the past decade. Results indicate that while race is mentioned minimally in the corpus, in instances where it is mentioned many scholars pay attention to intersectionality, language, colonial history, and power relations. Additionally, while there is a large representation of international students and newly-arrived immigrants in translingual scholarship in US writing and rhetoric studies over the past decade, domestic multilingual writers of color remain underrepresented. Situating translingualism in greater anti-racist initiatives, we discuss research and pedagogical implications that call for joint efforts from translingual scholars and practitioners to strive for linguistic justice and anti-racist translingual practices.

How do we know (if) it works? A review of research evaluating publishing pedagogies for multilingual writers

Growing research attention is being paid to supporting multilingual scholars and students in publishing, especially in English-medium academic journals. The institutional provision of instructional support has been documented in most global regions. While research has reported on the design of initiatives and studied participants’ experiences, the efficacy of such initiatives remains understudied. To address this gap, we explore the extent to which research has documented the benefits of instructional initiatives for writers and how effectiveness has been measured. Surveying research published between 1999 and 2021, we found that, overall, instructional initiatives have been evaluated as fostering learners’ development mainly in these areas: (1) awareness of rhetorical practices; (2) understanding of how to respond to feedback; (3) ability to use lexico-grammatical resources; (4) ability to evaluate and select target journals; and (5) submission rates and publication outcomes. We argue that indicators for effectiveness in these areas, including the rigid use of rhetorical moves, standard English, and the quality of text revisions, reflect the contested nature of academic literacy practices in terms of conceptions of language, writing, and instruction. We close by discussing implications for course designers and identifying avenues for future research.

Translanguaging Practices in Composition Scholarship and Pedagogy: Issues, Evidence, and Controversies

The notion of translanguaging has hitherto gained prominence in composition scholarship and pedagogy. Scholars have specifically pointed out that translanguaging pedagogy is particularly germane if it is implemented in the teaching and learning of writing in a multilingual setting. Drawing upon the plethora of published studies, these scholars have argued that translanguaging strategies can help maximize students’ linguistic resources and communicative potentials. This conceptual article looks at intellectual endeavors which try to challenge the monolingual ideology and its biases, and to justify the legitimacy of mixing different linguistic codes for achieving desired communicative goals in written communication. Contemporary issues of composition scholarship and pedagogy under translanguaging vantage point of view will be addressed, and evidence of code-meshing from multilingual writers showcasing the acts of translanguaging in academic writing presented. Finally, the article discusses the controversies over the application of the notion of translanguaging in writing research and pedagogy.

Taking the Leap: Supporting Multilingual Writers Through Translanguaging

AbstractTranslanguaging pedagogies support student writers in expressing themselves using their full language repertoires, writing for authentic audiences, and connecting to their identities. However, many teachers, particularly those who identify as “monolingual” and teach in English‐medium classrooms, may not know how to introduce translanguaging into their writing instruction. This study explores how three pre‐service teachers enrolled in a writing methods course enacted translanguaging pedagogies in their English‐medium student teaching classrooms. Drawing on case study methods, this article highlights entry points to translanguaging pedagogies in writing instruction, suggesting that teachers can foster translanguaging by crafting invitations to compose bilingually, choosing topics and genres intentionally, using strategic supports, and pushing themselves to step beyond their comfort zones. Ultimately, this article argues that all teachers of writing can begin to invite their students’ languages into their writing classrooms, creating spaces where children draw on their full language repertoires as they make and express meaning.

Translational Authorship and Multilingual (Re)writing in Uljana Wolf and Sophie Seita's Subsisters: Selected Poems (2017)

ABSTRACT As the field of literary studies moves away from national canons, research on multilingual writing tends to focus on the aesthetic features used by multilingual writers to challenge the primacy of the mother tongue. This article complements such accounts by showing that writing across languages has wider implications for literary theory than the questioning of the monolingual paradigm. Multilingualism has the potential to disrupt normative understandings of the literary text as a unique and stable product written by a single author. The article uses Uljana Wolf’s multilingual poetry and Sophie Seita’s experimental translations in Subsisters (2017) to explore translational authorship as a form of collaborative (re)writing that redefines linguistic and textual ownership as communal, blurring the boundaries between native and foreign language, original and translation. To demystify the idea of the author as an original genius with perfect mastery of language, Wolf’s writings simulate translation failure. This practice, which I call pseudomistranslation, invites us to take originality less seriously and to engage with literature in more playful ways.

Review: The Florentine Codex: An Encyclopedia of the Nahua World in Sixteenth-Century Mexico, edited by Jeanette Favrot Peterson and Kevin Terraciano

Review: <i>The Florentine Codex: An Encyclopedia of the Nahua World in Sixteenth-Century Mexico</i>, edited by Jeanette Favrot Peterson and Kevin Terraciano

Multilingual Writers’ Voices of Publishing in English

Over the last few decades, an increasing number of multilingual writers have been exposed to publications. They are eager to publish their work in English-medium journals. However, many multilingual writers and researchers have encountered challenges in producing and publishing legitimate research articles to meet expectations from the international disciplinary and discourse communities. This study investigated reasons influencing multilingual writers from Asian countries to publish their articles in international English-medium journals. A survey questionnaire was sent to 67 Chinese and Indonesian scholars to explore their voices of publishing in English. This study explained why there were a low number of academic research publications in English by scholars with Asian backgrounds and explored multilingual writers’ perceptions of publications in English, challenges they encountered in the pursuit of research publications, and their tactics in coping with those challenges. Results showed multilingual writers considered that publishing in international journals would be beneficial to their academic careers. However, they perceived that the process of publication in high-status Anglophone journals was challenging. In particular, a lack of applicability of research methods might impede multilingual writers from producing and publishing their studies in target international journals.

“Someone Is Watching Me While I Write”: Monolingual Ideologies and Multilingual Writers Behind the Scenes of L2 Writing Tutorials

AbstractIn the present study, I draw on Canagarajah’s (2019) negotiated‐literacy orientation and the systemic functional linguistic (SFL) approach to discourse analysis (Eggins &amp; Slade, 1997) to demonstrate the varying degrees to which Fatima and Chow, two multilingual doctoral students, were able to question and negotiate normative literacy practices during L2 writing tutorials and how such negotiations may be impacted by the language ideologies internalized by the writers and/or their tutor. The main sources of evidence were interviews with the two doctoral students and excerpts from audio‐recorded writing tutorials, complemented with stimulated‐recall data contrasting tutor and writer interpretations of the same recorded literacy events. The results suggest that the variable degree to which the two multilingual writers are cognizant and resistant of monolingual ideologies impacted their orientation to negotiate literacy in the tutorials. In addition, some of the tutor’s interactional practices were seen to restrict the space for meaning negotiations and hamper the potential to reconcile the diverse literacy dispositions of the tutor and the two multilingual writers. By grounding aspects of negotiated literacy in specific discourse‐semantic moves, the study puts forth implications for a more critical tutoring pedagogy.

(Re)Imagining Translingualism as a Verb to Tear Down the English-Only Wall: “Monolingual” Students as Multilingual Writers

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Editorial Foreword

The 13th volume of The Romanian Journal for Baltic and Nordic Studies reflects some of the research presented at the 12th International conference on Baltic and Nordic studies titled "Rethinking multiculturalism, multilingualism, and cultural diplomacy in Scandinavia and The Baltic Sea Region," which will be held on May 27-28, 2021, under the auspices of the Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies. RethinkMulti-Kulti2021 was called to reflect on multiculturalism, multilingualism, and cultural diplomacy in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region 10 years after German Chancellor Angela Merkel predicted the end of German multicultural society. Many politicians with Conservative leanings praised the confirmation that the half-century-cherished multi-kulti "utterly failed," and far-right gurus interpreted it as an omen. Furthermore, Merkel's track record as a committed democratic-minded politician, EU leader, and proponent of migrant integration has garnered near-universal support for this argument. Furthermore, in academia, Merkel's assertion has never been adequately questioned, but rather taken for granted. Meanwhile, policies governing multiculturalism and multilingualism in the EU and EEA have been stuck in a rut, particularly in what Fareed Zakaria properly refers to as illiberal democracies. The purpose of the conference was not to resurrect the political objective behind multi-kulti, but rather to critically reassess the role of multiculturalism, multilinguism, and cultural diplomacy from the viewpoint of Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region. We see Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region as interrelated and partially overlapping by a plethora of historical, cultural, and social channels, hence papers dealing with multiculturalism, multilinguism, and cultural diplomacy as reflected in these regions and wider Europe were planned. Papers on connections, liaisons, affiliations, divergences, animosity, legal or de facto statuses of cultures and languages in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region were also presented during the conference. How multilingualism, multiculturalism, and cultural diplomacy prospered or muddled through transitions from liberal nations to far-right or far-left governments and back were also addressed. The volume's first issue focuses on lingualism, bilingualism, and multilingualism as a path to diversity and how individuals reflected on it. Kari Alenius looks at the telling case of the Sámi minority in northern Finland and the disputes over whether or not to grant it wide autonomy, which was ultimately determined in favor of opponents of the proposal. Johanna Domokos examines the case studies of two contemporary multilingual writers, Sabira Sthlberg from Finland and Tzveta Sofronieva from Bulgaria, to demonstrate how they aspire to address cross-culturally to readers of all languages, backgrounds, and locations, concluding that "the reader is empowered to take part in not only piecing together but creating a better 'new' world." Sabira Sthlberg is the author and coauthor of two articles that address multiculturalism in a very solid and original manner. The first follows the partly mythical and partly tourist-tracking journey of international traveller and well-known Swedish-language author Göran Schildt, who sailed on his yacht Daphne in the Black Sea and the Danube Delta in the summer of 1963 as one of the first cracks in the curtain separating the two opposing ideological blocs. The latter, co-signed with Dorijan Hajdu, focuses on the relationships between family members, as expressed particularly in Swedish and Serbian language, allowing for a highly comprehensive knowledge of diversity from inside. Finally, Adél Furu's most recent article in our journal examines educational trends in the context of Russian and Estonian second language training in Finland, observing the shift from language loss to language maintenance. We hope that all of these pieces will spark new thought on the subject and help our readers better comprehend multiculturalism and multilinguism as they were perceived and implemented in Europe, particularly in our and the previous century.

On semantic and semiotic multilingualism in earlier and latest works of Sabira Ståhlberg and Tzveta Sofronieva

The present study describes the poetics of two contemporary multilingual writers, one born in Finland (Sabira Ståhlberg) and one in Bulgaria (Tzveta Sofronieva). Besides being prolific writers in literary genres such as poetry, prose, drama, both also translate and edit world literature. Early in their career each of them achieved a PhD. Sofronieva and Ståhlberg carry out academic activities through their research studies. After visiting a multitude of places, they have become not only literary figures of both their birth countries’ literature and the literatures of several other countries, but real literary citizens of the ‘new’ world literature (McDougall, 2014). Their philosophical and ecological aestheticism voices the most urgent problems of humanity by incorporating the latest insights of brain studies, quantum physics, psychology, migration and cultural studies. Their oeuvre addresses any reader irrespective of language(s), background(s), and location(s). After looking into the monolingually multilingual (using hidden code-switching) as well as multigraphic and multilingual (using overt code switching) artistic production of Sofronieva and Ståhlberg, this study compares two poems, one by each of them, sharing the common metaphor of the sea horse. The aim of this comparative study is to point out how their highly topical poetries activate the multilinguality of any reader, as well as how the linguistic, alphabetic code-switching and shifts of interpretation paradigms loosen formal and conceptual borders. By their act, the reader is empowered to take part in not only piecing together but creating a better ‘new’ world.

Attending to the Interactional Histories Behind Multilingual Writers’ Texts: New Directions in TESOL Teacher Education

AbstractDespite research attention to varied and nuanced social processes through which linguistically minoritized multilingual students create texts, writing instruction and assessment in schools continue to be dominated by a focus on students’ written products. Even formative assessment– arguably one of teachers’ most powerful tools in designing responsive instruction – tends to focus on careful analysis of students’ writing rather than the processes through which texts are created, or the rich histories of participation in previous literacy events that students bring to any such event. In this contribution, we answer Rose's (2019) call for a bidirectional flow between teachers and researchers by describing a multi‐layered inquiry we undertook, studying our teacher education practices as we asked in‐service teachers to undertake their own inquiry into students' writing. We describe our experiences adapting a methodological protocol for the observational study of multilingual writers for purposes of teacher education. Specifically, we reflect on our work engaging a set of in‐service teachers taking a graduate‐level TESOL course in conducting “interactional histories” analyses (Kibler, 2019). Through examples of in‐service teachers’ observations and their suggestions for future writing instruction, and our own reflections on the affordances and constraints of our approach, we explore the roles that interactional histories inquiry can play in teacher education. In particular, we describe its potential to help teachers build nuanced understandings of linguistically minoritized multilingual students’ development of writing expertise and identities, and teachers’ complex roles in this process.

Towards a multilingual approach in assessing writing: holistic, analytic and cross-linguistic perspectives

ABSTRACT In this article, we compare holistic, analytic and cross-linguistic measures of assessment in writing considering the whole linguistic repertoire of multilingual writers. We explore different ways to look at their three languages by focusing on the relationships between these languages rather than looking at each language in isolation. We analyse 399 compositions – 133 written in each language (Basque, Spanish and English) – using quantitative and qualitative methods. Using analytic accuracy measures we compare the error-types in the three languages and analyse their relationships. Using holistic measures, we focus on the relationships between five dimensions of writing (content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics). Using cross-linguistic measures, we analyse the influence of participants’ first and second language on the compositions written in English (L3). The results of the correlation analyses show different patterns of relationships among the measures and indicate that languages within a person’s repertoire are interconnected at different levels. Additionally, the results from the cross-linguistic analysis show that multilingual writers use their entire linguistic repertoire to write in their third language. We argue that analysing the entire linguistic repertoire of multilingual writers we gain new understanding about the way languages are connected and learned when writing.

Digital L2 Writing Literacies: Directions for Classroom Practices by Ana Oskoz and Idoia Elola

Reviewed by: Digital L2 Writing Literacies: Directions for Classroom Practices by Ana Oskoz and Idoia Elola Christine Campbell Oskoz, Ana, and Idoia Elola. Digital L2 Writing Literacies: Directions for Classroom Practices. Equinox, 2020, pp. 288. ISBN 978-1-781-79693-1. For more than a decade, the terms “literacies” and “multiliteracies” have circulated in the scholarship: The former refers to “social practices [exercised by individuals as parts of larger groups] that are fluid, sociocultural, multimodal, and dynamic” (Chen, H. I., 2013, “Identity practices of multilingual writers in social networking spaces” (see Language Learning & Technology, vol. 17, no. 2, p. 143); the latter are, according to the New London Group (1996), “representations of (multi) cultural and (multi)linguistic diversity” that include new communication technologies (Digital L2 Writing Literacies 5). The tome by Oskoz and Elola is a needed addition to the dialogue. This review will describe and analyze Digital L2 Writing Literacies: Directions for Classroom Practices. Martha Pennington, Editor, Frameworks for Writing Series, affirms in the Preface that it is “an authoritative and timely work,” promising that it provides “an up-to-date overview of digital writing in L2 contexts, with reflections on its specific applications and potentials as an environment for development of communicative skills and personal expression, and on how digital media have expanded the options for teaching language and writing in particular” (ix). The authors deliver on the promise, offering a well-referenced, highly-readable state-of-the-art book on digital L2 writing literacies intended for both researchers and teachers alike. Below, comments on the organization and content of the book. The publication is divided into seven chapters followed by Concluding Remarks, References, Author Index, and Subject Index. All chapters end with a section entitled “Ideas for Reflection and Discussion”; chapters 2–6 include the description of a class project. The “Introduction” aptly sets the general context, presenting five reasons in support of the use of digital tools in the L2 classroom, the first, and perhaps the most important, being that writing, as a technological development in its own right, will likely prevail in society, albeit in an expanded format that includes the incorporation of visual and aural modes. Chapter 1, “Digital Literacies: Definitions, Theoretical and Pedagogical Frameworks,” provides specific context for the rest of the book. Digital literacy (DL) “primarily applies to internet- and technology-mediated learning (Chen 2013), and it intersects with other literacies related to communication skills” (17). The authors emphasize the importance of teaching learners the potential of digital tools, for example, the new opportunities for developing L2 writer identities where learners work on projects in which they change ethnicity, race (“racebending”), or gender (“genderbending or cisswapping”) (24). Here, Oskoz and Elola review both sociocultural [End Page 524] theory (SCT) and activity theory (AT) as they apply to digital L2 writing literacies and pertinent pedagogical frameworks: bridging activities, genre-based frameworks, task-based approaches, and Learning by Design. Chapter 2, “Transforming L2 Writing: New Writing Tools, New Genres, New Ways of Writing,” proposes that the diversity of “semiotic resources supporting the digital texts requires a new set of conventions and rules which go beyond the written word” (51). Sinclair (2010), cited by Lotherington and Sinitskaya Ronda (2012), for example, posits that the traditional 3 Rs—Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic be replaced by Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute in the Digital Era. Table 2.1, which lists digital tools, modes, and genres for the L2 classroom, and the description of a multi-modal Travel Blog Project are of special note. Chapter 3, “Collaborative Writing in the L2 Classroom: Making the Most of Digital Social Tools,” reviews the newer practice of digital social writing in chats and discussion boards. The chapter ends with the Collaborating with Different Tools Project, related to collaborative writing. Chapter 4, “Developing L2 and Multilingual Students’ Identities as Writers: Acquiring a Voice,” posits that “students [today] are faced with needing to express, negotiate, and interpret intended meanings in communication forms not often considered or seen before in the L2 classroom, in order to interact with other digital community members” (107). Contextual factors such as linguistic background, dialects, and mixed populations in the same classroom can enhance the evolution of learner identity...