One of the things that caught my attention from last week’s Matsuda and Hammill reading was their suggestion that L2 writers are actually learning two languages when in the composition classroom: both English and Standard Academic English. Although this seems relatively obvious, I didn’t really think about this. A lot of my struggles with L2 writers is helping them understand the difference between colloquial English and academic writing. With Spanish speakers, this is usually a lot easier, because I can explain it in Spanish—but I have yet to figure out how to help non-Spanish L2 writers through this. Any suggestions?
Some of the stuff in this article also reminded me of the Shen reading where she outlines some of the errors in writing that students make and their connections to the writing that they produce. Matsuda and Hammill advocate for justifications in conferences where students explain their rhetorical choices. Perhaps this would make the entire process less threatening/intimidating to students.
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