Composition Studies 27.1 (1999)

Working at the turn of the millennium, writing teachers and writing program administrators are facing, among many others, two important challenges. The first is to provide an appropriate instructional environment for all types of students, as the student population at many university campuses is becoming increasingly diverse and international. The second challenge is to provide educational opportunities in which students—both native and nonnative speakers—can prepare themselves for an increasingly internationalized world. One of the ways in which we have responded to these challenges is to offer what we call a cross-cultural composition course, which is designed to integrate US and international students and is taught by an instructor who is prepared to address the needs of both groups of students. Our goal in this essay is to consider this cross-cultural composition course as an alternative placement option that can provide an effective learning environment for ESL writers as well as a way of promoting international and intercultural understanding for both US and international students.

Matsuda, P. K., & Silva, T. (1999). Cross-cultural composition: Mediated integration of US and international students. Composition Studies, 27(1), 15-30.