Recent Publications

I've been too busy to even keep track of my own work. Here are a few publications that recently came out.

Knoblauch, A. A., & Matsuda, P. K. (2008). First-year composition in the 20th century U.S. higher education: An historical overview. In P. Friedrich (Ed.), Teaching academic writing (pp. 3-25). New York: Continuum.

As the title suggests, this chapter provides an overview of the development of first-year composition--starting with the creation of the first-year composition course in the late 19th century. It also considers the rise of rhetoric and composition as a discipline in the mid 20th century and explores some of the major pedagogical approaches in the 20th century. Abby, by the way, is going to start as Assistant Professor at Kansas State University.

Matsuda, P. K. (2008). Myth: International and U.S. resident ESL writers cannot be taught in the same class. In J. M. Reid (Ed.), Writing myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching (pp. 159-176). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

This piece examines one of the extreme positions I've seen people take--that ESL writing courses (intensive or first-year) are for international students only and that resident students' needs are too different from international students for them to be placed in the same course. Well, it may be, but given the demographics, all writing teachers--mainstream, basic, or ESL--need to be prepared to work with students who come from various language backgrounds.

Matsuda, P. K. (2008). Voice in second language writing: Implications for Japanese learners of English. JACET Summer Seminar Proceedings, No.7: Issues in L2 Writing Instruction (pp. 9-14). Tokyo: The Japan Association of College English Teachers.

This is an outcome of a JACET summer seminar in Kusatsu, Gunma, Japan. (If you are in Japan in August, I highly recommend it.) Based on my earlier study of voice (Matsuda, 2001), I considered the implications of voice for English learners in Japan. While my view on voice encompasses both individual and social voice, I couldn't help but notice that many Japanese students want to develop their own individual voice. That is, they don't want to stand out but they don't want to be the same as everyone else. Individual identiy, after all, is something we create by combining socially available discursive and non-discursive repertoire.

Matsuda, P. K., & Atkinson, D. (2008). A conversation on contrastive rhetoric: Dwight Atkinson and Paul Kei Matsuda talk about issues, conceptualizations, and the future of contrastive rhetoric. In U. Connor, E. Nagelhout, & W. Rozycki (Eds.), Contrastive rhetoric: Reaching to intercultural rhetoric (pp. 277-298). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Dwight and I often have conversations on various topics in the field (and we often don't agree with one another), and we decided it would be a good idea (and fun) to share some of those conversations with other people in the field. So we tape-recorded one of our conversations when I visited his family cottage on Deer Isle, Main. Steve Simpson transcribed the conversation for us. (He reflects on that experience in Simpson and Matsuda (2008) that I mention below.) We edited it very little, but it sounds remarkably coherent and even handed--it was interesting for us to see what kinds of conversations we often have. (We were aware of the presence of the tape recorder, of course, but after a few beers, it just didn't seem to matter.)

Matsuda, P. K., & Tardy, C. M. (2008). Continuing the conversation about voice in academic writing. English for Specific Purposes, 27(1), 100-105. (doi:10.1016/j.esp.2007.04.002)

This is a response to the response that Paul Stapleton and Rena Helms-Park wrote to our article on voice (Matsuda & Tardy, 2007). It may sound pretty strong, but we felt compelled to respond to all the points that Stapleton and Helms-Park raised in their piece. (I've met them both, and they are great people.) Chris and I have a follow-up article on voice (though not in response to this dialogue) that's being considered for publication as we speak.

Simpson, S., & Matsuda, P. K. (2008). Mentoring as a long-term relationship: Situated learning in a doctoral program. In C. P. Casanave & X. Li (Eds.), Learning the literacy practices of graduate school: Insiders' reflections on academic enculturation (pp. 90-104). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Steve and I wrote this piece during the summer of 2006. I thought of this as a culminating experience for our mentoring relationship at UNH and an important step toward our relationship as colleagues. It was useful for me to reflect on my approach to mentoring and to hear Steve's perspective as well. I was also happy that we were able to receive responses from some of my other mentees, including Michelle Cox, Joleen Hanson, Matt Schneider, and Christina Ortmeier-Hooper. Matt Schneider, who came from San Francisco State to work with me during the summer, observed the whole process of writing this piece. I was lucky to have had the chance to work with these and many other great grad students at UNH, who remain my important colleagues and friends.

A list of major publications is available at: http://matsuda.jslw.org/publications.html.

References for a Job

I've written on the topic of requesting a recommendation letter, but what about asking someone to be a reference?

Of course it depends on the situation, but the same general principles of requesting a recommendation letter also apply.

• Don't assume that the person can (or is willing to) serve as your reference. Ask for their permission to have their names included--before you include the name on your resume or CV.
• Ask for the preferred contact information. Some people may wish to receive those phone calls at home while others may not like to be bothered at home. Others may prefer email over phone.
• Provide some information about the job. Who is the employer? What's the nature of the job? (Summer job? Permanent job? Internship?) Is there a job description? In what ways do you think you qualify for the job?
• Provide the timelines. When is the application deadline? When will they be scheduling the interviews? When does the job start? This type of information will help your prospective reference to anticipate when they might receive the call.

It would help if you could provide the documents that you would normally provide when you ask for a recommendation letter.

You would want the person to say that you are well organized and considerate, and has strong communication skills (among many other things). If so, it would help if you could demonstrate those skills when you make the request.

New Course for Fall: APL601 Introduction to Applied Lingusitics

APL601 INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED LINGUISTICS

Thursdays 4:40-7:30

Instructor: Professor Aya Matsuda

Course Description:

This course provides an overview of the field of applied linguistics, or the study of real-life problems and issues related to languages. Topics to be explored include, but are not limited to, language education and acquisition, discourse analysis, language policy and planning, and World Englishes. The question of disciplinarity—e.g., the interdisciplinary nature of the field of applied linguistics, how the field is defined in different parts of the world, and how the disciplinary boundary is constantly pushed—is also addressed throughout the course. Global focus.

Assignments:

Article presentations, Professionalization activity, Reflective journals, Final research paper

*Please feel free to email Aya Matsuda (aya.matsuda@asu.edu) with questions.

CFP: AAAL 2009 in Denver

AAAL 2009 Abstract Submission Announcement

The 2009 conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) will be held March 21-24 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center, Denver, CO.

The 2009 conference's plenary presentations and invited colloquia (see below) address the theme of the relevance of applied linguistics-to the real world and to other fields of scientific inquiry. Proposals addressing this theme are particularly encouraged, but proposals are welcome in all of the following topic strands:

Analysis of discourse and interaction
Assessment and evaluation
Bilingual, immersion, heritage, and language minority education
Language and ideology
Language and learner characteristics
Language and technology
Language cognition and brain research
Language maintenance and revitalization
Language, culture, socialization, and pragmatics
Language, planning, and policy
Reading, writing, and literacy
Second and foreign language pedagogy
Second language acquisition, language acquisition, and attrition
Sociolinguistics
Text analysis (written discourse)
Translation and interpretation

The abstract submission deadline is August 15, 2008.

To login and submit your proposal, go to:
http://www.aaal.org/aaal2009/index.php?ID=8

For hotel reservation information, go to:
http://www.aaal.org/aaal2009/index.php?ID=7

For conference registration and rates, go to:
http://www.aaal.org/aaal2009/index.php?ID=5

The early registration deadline date is February 20, 2009.

AAAL Business Office

WPA Award for Grad Students

The Council of Writing Program Administrators is pleased to announce the call for nominations for its recently created award recognizing outstanding scholarship by graduate students writing on issues in writing program administration. Please review the description of the award and guidelines for eligibility vailable on the WPA website at this URL: http://wpacouncil.org/node/1228.

Conferences Ahead

Here are some of the conferences I'm planning to attend over the next year or so:

Symposium on Second Language Writing, West Lafayette, IN, June 5-7, 2008.

Thomas Watson Conference, University of Louisville, Louiville, KY, October 16-18, 2008.

National Council of Teachers of English, San Antonio, TX, November 20-23, 2008.

Conference on College Composition and Communication, San Francisco, CA, March 11-14, 2009.

American Association for Applied Linguistics, Denver, CO, March 21-24, 2009.

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Denver, CO, March 25-28, 2009.

Symposium on Second Language Writing, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, November 5-7, 2009.

CFP: A Brief History of Rhetoric in the

A Brief History of Rhetoric in the Americas: 3113 BCE to 2012 CE

Damián Baca & Victor Villanueva, editors

Call for Contributors

Focusing on rhetoric outside of the dominating Greco-Latin canon, this collection will examine rhetorical practices and traditions of the indigenous pre-Columbian past and their legacies in the global American present as well as the rhetorical legacies wrought by other colonized peoples in the Americas. The timeline referenced in our title, for example, follows the Epi-Olmec and Maya calendar, thereby evoking indigenous chronologies and cosmologies that we hope our contributors will engage. The purpose of this collection will be to look to the past and present simultaneously, as many of these rhetorics are in use today in various contemporary configurations.

Submissions might address issues of historiography, linguistic/rhetorical migrations, cartography, multiple writing systems, material culture, the impact of Western expansion and global-colonial power on rhetorical practices, etc.

We are especially interested in essays dealing with rhetorical traditions, voices, audiences and contexts in North American, Mesoamerica/Anahuac/Mexico, Sub-Arctic, Caribbean Islands/Arawak/Antilles, Austronesia (Philippine, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islands), and other "American" colonial peripheries.

In particular, we invite submissions that focus on pictographic, ideographic, logographic, iconographic, kinetic, material, and so-called "visual" rhetorics in the Americas, and/or those that root their theoretical/methodological approaches in rhetorics that do not derive from Sumerian or Egyptian (i.e.: Greco-Latin) traditions.

Submissions Process
Please send a 250-500 word abstract of your contribution to Damián Baca via e-mail by May 3, 2008.

If your contribution is accepted for the volume, we anticipate a deadline of August 1, 2008 for full manuscripts (no longer than 10,000 words including notes and reference matter).

Contact Information
Damián Baca, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Rhetoric & Writing
Chicano-Latino Studies
baca@msu.edu
Michigan State University

Memorable Encounters

I just came back from AAAL in Washington, D.C., and CCCC in New Orleans. Both conferences were productive and stimulating in many ways.

At AAAL, Miyuki Sasaki, Aya Matsuda and I presented our interview-based phenomenological research on multi-competent academic writers. The collaborative process was interesting because we all brought different methodological and theoretical perspectives. But things came together nicely, and many people gave us positive comments. AAAL also featured a “graduate student night,” where experienced members of the field shared insights into the academic job search process. It was really well attended, and I enjoyed working with a group of graduate students who asked great questions about various issues in academic job search.

At CCCC, I attended the Executive Committee meeting and other related meetings. In addition, I gave two presentations. One of them was a discussion session on second language writing, organized by Jonathan Hall. Other presenters included Christina Ortmeier-Hooper, Jay Jordan, and Deirdre Pettipiece. The other presentation was part of a panel on the internationalization of composition that I organized. It included Chris Anson, Min-Zhan Lu, Joan Mullin, Xiaoye You, and Deb Holdstein. Both of the sessions were well attended, and I (and other presenters) received a lot of positive feedback.

One of the most stimulating aspects of the conference experience is the opportunity to interact with graduate students from various institutions. Each year, I talk with many graduate students who are interested in my research or who are interested in working with me in the Ph.D. program. Others are seeking insights that might help in their development as a teacher, researcher, and a member of the profession. During this conference season, too, I spoke with many graduate students about various issues in the field as well as issues related to their professionalization.

I don’t have the time to go into details of all of the interactions, but I’d like to share some thoughts about what makes some of those encounters particularly memorable. Although it’s impossible to remember everyone, I do try. I recognize many of the people I meet at conferences the next time I see them (which seems to surprise some of them). And there are specific things people do that make them particularly memorable.

First, I tend to remember people I encounter frequently (duh!). They attend many of the same sessions and meetings that I go to. They come to business meetings, award ceremonies, receptions. They introduce themselves and say “hi” when I see them again in the hallway. Or they at least make eye contacts and smile.

When they introduce themselves, they say their names and institutions clearly. Some of them even hold up the nametag as they say their names. They always wear nametags (even during dinners and receptions), which is helpful when I’m not sure if I remember their names. Some of them also give me business cards or handouts from their presentations. They also have websites where I can learn more about them and see their photos.

They talk about specific pieces of my work, how they encountered those pieces, what they thought of them, and how they are using them in their own work. They mention their advisors who know me, and in some cases, their advisors talk to me about those students.

They also talk about their own work. If they are presenting or have presented, they can describe the session in a sentence or two and, when asked, provide a succinct summary in ways that are relevant to the context of the conversation. I often can’t attend their sessions because of various meetings, but I do try.

They ask questions. They ask about my work and about own professional development experience and strategies. They may have specific questions about their own teaching, research or professional development situations. They usually provide enough contexts about their own experience and their current situation so I can understand their questions and provide most appropriate and relevant answers. Some questions are personal, but I don’t mind as long as they can explain the relevance of the question to their own professional development.

They often send me a follow-up email message about the encounter—it helps especially if they briefly mention in the email how we met and what we talked about. Some of them send me pictures we took together (which I really appreciate). Some even send me their pictures to help me remember what they look like. They may also have a link to their own professional website, where I can see their faces and learn more about their background and current projects.

Some of them also ask me to be their Facebook or Mixi friends.

And they come to the same conference regularly and present something whenever they can so I can attend their sessions and learn more about them and their work.

I look forward to seeing many of you at next year’s CCCC, AAAL and TESOL--and at the Symposium on Second Language Writing!

SLW-IS: Election Results

Dear friends,

 

Please join me in congratulating our newly elected interest section leaders, whose terms officially will begin at the close of the 2008 TESOL Convention in New York City:

 

Christine Tardy, 2008-2009 Chair-Elect

Cate Crosby, 2008-2010 Secretary

Allison Petro, 2008-2011 Steering Committee Member

 

Congratulations, Chris, Cate, and Allison, and thank you for your service to the SLW-IS! Thank you to everyone who voted in the election.

 

All the best,

Jessie

 

Jessie L. Moore

Assistant Professor of English

Elon University

 

Second Language Writing IS @ TESOL, Past Chair

Bryan Smith

Bryan Smith, a rising star in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), will be joining the English Department in Fall 2008. Bryan will be working closely with students in Master's in MTESOL and Ph.D. Rhetoric/Composition/Linguistics.

Welcome aboard, Bryan!