PART ONE:
GENERAL STATEMENT
The Conference
on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) recognizes
the presence of a growing number of second-language writers
in institutions of higher education across North America. As
a result of colleges and universities actively seeking to increase
the diversity of the student population, second-language writers
have become an integral part of higher education, including
writing programs.
Second-language
writers are found in writing programs at all levels--from basic
writing and first-year composition to professional writing
and writing across the curriculum--as well as in writing centers.
Although providing additional linguistic support in the forms
of intensive language programs and special second-language
sections of writing courses may be helpful they will not remove
the responsibility of writing teachers, researchers, and administrators
to address second-language issues because the acquisition of
a second language and second-language literacy is a time-consuming
process that will continue through students' academic career
and beyond.
Second-language
writers include international visa students, refugees, and
permanent residents as well as naturalized and native-born
citizens of the United States and Canada. Many of them have
grown up speaking languages other than English at home, in
their communities, and in schools; others began to acquire
English at a very young age and have used it alongside their
native language. To many, English may be the third, fourth
or fifth language. Many second-language writers are highly
literate in their first language, while others have never learned
to write in their mother tongue. Some are even native speakers
of languages without a written form.
Second-language
writers--who have come from a wide variety of linguistic, cultural,
and educational backgrounds--may have special needs because
the nature and functions of discourse, audience, and persuasive
appeals often differ across linguistic, cultural and educational
contexts. Furthermore, most second-language writers are still
in the process of acquiring syntactic and lexical competence--a
process that will take a lifetime. These differences are often
a matter of degree, and not all second-language writers face
the same set of difficulties. While some native speakers of
English may face similar difficulties, those experienced by
second-language writers are often more intense.
For these
reasons, we urge writing teachers and writing program administrators
to recognize the regular presence of second-language writers
in writing classes, to understand their characteristics, and
to develop instructional and administrative practices that
are sensitive to their linguistic and cultural needs. We also
urge graduate programs in writing-related fields to offer courses
in second-language writing theory, research, and instruction
in order to prepare writing teachers and scholars for working
with a college student population that is increasingly diverse
both linguistically and culturally.
We also stress
the need for further investigations into issues surrounding
second-language writing and writers in the context of writing
programs. Since those issues permeate all aspects of writing
theory, research, and instruction--from textual features and
composing processes to collaborative strategies and writing
assessment, we encourage scholars and researchers of writing
to include second-language perspectives in developing theories,
designing studies, analyzing data, and discussing implications.
PART TWO:
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING PROGRAMS
Placement
Decisions
regarding the placement of second-language writers into writing
courses should be based on students' writing proficiency rather
than their race, native-language background, nationality, or
immigration status. Nor should the decisions be based solely
on the scores from standardized tests of general language proficiency
or of spoken language proficiency. Instead, scores from the
direct assessment of students' writing proficiency should be
used, and multiple writing samples should be consulted whenever
possible. Writing programs should work toward making a wide
variety of placement options available--including mainstreaming,
basic writing, and second-language writing as well as courses
that systematically integrate native and nonnative speakers
of English. Furthermore, writing programs should inform students
of the advantages and disadvantages of each placement option
so that students can make informed decisions.
Assessment
Writing prompts
for placement and exit exams should avoid cultural references
that are not readily understood by people who come from various
cultural backgrounds. To reduce the risk of evaluating students
on the basis of their cultural knowledge rather than their
writing proficiency, students should be given several writing
prompts to choose from when appropriate. The scoring of second-language
texts should take into consideration various aspects of writing
(e.g., topic development, organization, grammar, word choice),
rather than focus only on one or two of these features that
stand out as problematic.
Class
Size
Since working
with second-language writers often requires additional feedback
and conference time with the instructor, enrollments in mainstream
writing classes with a substantial number of second-language
writers should be reduced; in classes made up exclusively of
second-language writers, enrollments should be limited to a
maximum of 15 students per class.
Credit
Second-language
sections of composition courses should be offered for credit
that can be used toward satisfying the writing requirement.
Second-language writing courses prerequisite to required composition
courses should be offered for credit that can be used toward
satisfying the foreign-language requirement and should receive
the same credit accorded other prerequisite composition courses.
Teacher
Preparation
Any writing
course--including basic writing, first-year composition, advanced
writing, and professional writing as well as second-language
writing courses--that enrolls any second-language writers should
be taught by a writing teacher who is able to identify and
is prepared to address the linguistic and cultural needs of
second-language writers.
Teacher
Support
Writing programs
should offer pre-service and in-service teacher preparation
programs in teaching second-language writing. Writing programs
should also provide resources for writing teachers, including
textbooks and readers on the teaching of second-language writing
as well as reference materials such as dictionaries and grammar
handbooks for language learners. Moreover, writing programs
should encourage--and offer incentives for--writing teachers
to attend workshops on teaching second-language writers that
are presented at professional conferences such as CCCC and
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
PART THREE:
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Belcher,
Diane, and George Braine, ed. Academic Writing in a Second
Language: Essays on Research and Pedagogy. Norwood, NJ:
Ablex, 1995.
Braine, George. "Starting
ESL Classes in Freshman Writing Programs." TESOL Journal 3.4
(1994): 22·5.
Candlin,
Christopher N., and Ken Hyland, ed. Writing: Texts, Processes
and Practices. New York: Longman, 1999.
Connor, Ulla. Contrastive
Rhetoric: Cross-Cultural Aspects of Second-Language Writing. New
York: Cambridge UP, 1996.
Ferris, Dana,
and John S. Hedgcock. Teaching ESL Composition: Purpose,
Process, and Practice. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1998.
Fox, Helen. Listening
to the World: Cultural Issues in Academic Writing. Urbana,
IL: NCTE, 1994.
Hamp-Lyons,
Liz, ed. Assessing Second Language Writing in Academic
Contexts. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1991.
Harklau,
Linda, Kay M. Losey, and Meryl Siegal, ed. Generation 1.5
Meets College Composition: Issues in the Teaching of Writing
to U.S.-Educated Learners of ESL. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum,
1999.
Hillenbrand,
Lisa. "Assessment of ESL Students in Mainstream College
Composition." Teaching English in the Two-Year College 21.2
(1994): 125·9.
Kroll, Barbara. "The
Rhetoric/Syntax Split: Designing a Curriculum for ESL Students." Journal
of Basic Writing 9.1 (1990): 40·5.
Leki, Ilona. Understanding
ESL Writers: A Guide for Teachers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann-Boynton/Cook,
1992.
Leki,
Ilona, and Tony Silva, ed. Journal of Second Language Writing. New
York: Elsevier.
Martino,
Marta. "Issues in ESL: Give Credit Where Credit Is Due." College
ESL 2.1 (1992): 20·2.
Matsuda,
Paul Kei. "Composition Studies and ESL Writing: A Disciplinary
Division of Labor." College Composition and Communication 50.4
(1999): 699·21.
-----. Second
Language Writing Research Network Forum. Dept. of English,
Purdue University. <http://icdweb.cc.purdue.edu/~silvat/forum/>.
-----, and
Tony Silva. "Cross-Cultural Composition: Mediated Integration
of US and International Students." Composition Studies 27.1
(1999): 15·0.
Severino,
Carol, Juan C. Guerra, and Johnnella E. Butler, ed. Writing
in Multicultural Settings. New York: MLA, 1997.
Silva, Tony. "Toward
an Understanding of the Distinct Nature of L2 Writing: The
ESL Research and Its Implications." TESOL Quarterly 27.4
(1993): 657-677.
-----, ed.
Landmark Essays on ESL Writing. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2001.
Tannacito,
Dan J. A Guide to Writing in English as a Second or Foreign
Language: An Annotated Bibliography. Alexandria, VA: TESOL,
1995.
Tucker, Amy. Decoding
ESL: International Students in the American College Classroom. Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann-Boynton/Cook, 1995.
Valdes, Guadalupe. "Bilingual Minorities and Language Issues
in Writing." Written Communication 9 (1992): 85-36.
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The Executive Committee of the CCCC approved the Statement on
Second-Language Writing and Writers in November 2000. The statement
was also endorsed by the TESOL Board of Directors at their February
2001 meeting.
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Members of the CCCC Committee on Second Language Writing are:
Paul Kei Matsuda, Chair; Akua Duku Anokye; Christine Pearson
Casanave; Helen Fox; Tony Silva; Guadalupe Valdes and Bob Weissberg.
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Publication Information: CCCC Statement on Second-Language Writing
and Writers. (2001). College Composition and Communication,
52(4),
669-674.