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WRITE TO LEARN,
LEARN TO WRITE
WRITING INTENSIVE CURRICULUM PROGRAM NEWSLETTER
Index
Watch, Listen, and Learn: Welcome to the sixth issue of Write to Learn,
Using Video Feedback to Assess Learn to Write, the Writing Intensive Curriculum
and Improve Student Writing (WIC) Program newsletter. This issue presents
Forrest Rodgers articles on the teaching of writing to students
with various linguistic backgrounds and providing
The Number of Multilingual Writers students with productive feedback on their writing
is Greater Than You Think . . . and using a cutting-edge method. This newsletter also
So are the Ways You Can Help provides information about new WIC endeavors
Them Succeed and future WIC events.
Tanya K. Rodrigue, PhD
Kate Parsons
Forrest Rodgers, PhD and assistant professor of criminal justice, discusses his
Spotlight on Faculty: research and experiences with providing video feedback on student writing
Michele Louro, PhD in “Watch, Listen, and Learn: Using Video Feedback to Assess and Improve
Kate Parsons Student Writing.” He explains the benefits of using video and audio to help
students improve their writing and provides pedagogical tips for instructors
interested in experimenting with this feedback mechanism.
The WIC Program will host a In “The Number of Multilingual Writers is Greater Than You Think . . . and So are
two-day intensive professional the Ways You Can Help Them Succeed,” Kate Parsons, MAT in TESOL candidate
development seminar in May and WIC graduate assistant, explores the subject of multilingual student
2018. All faculty interested in writers in college settings. She provides a detailed explanation of who can be
considered a multilingual writer (MLW) and works to deconstruct two common
learning about best practices
assumptions about this student demographic. At the end of her article, Parsons
in the teaching of writing provides pedagogical tips for college instructors who work with multilingual
are welcome to participate. writers.
Preference will be given to W-II
The Spotlight on Faculty section features Michele Louro, PhD, associate
and W-III instructors. Faculty
professor of history, and faculty fellow for the Center for Research and Creative
will receive a $360 stipend Activities. Louro discusses her work with student writers and the ways in which
for participation. Detailed her own writing informs her teaching of writing in history courses.
information will be circulated in
March 2018.
Sincerely,
Tanya K. Rodrigue, PhD
WIC Coordinator and Assistant Professor of English
The WIC Program is actively seeking article submissions for upcoming newsletter issues on various topics related
to writing pedagogy. Some possible topics are: an effective or challenging student writing activity or assignment;
the process of designing a W-designated course; the benefits and challenges of teaching a W-designated course;
the function and purpose of writing in a field or discipline; and the role of writing in careers related to a discipline.
Articles should be approximately 750-1200 words. Please send ideas, drafts or polished articles to Tanya Rodrigue
at trodrigue@salemstate.edu. All submissions will be considered, yet given space limitations, not everyone will be
asked to further develop their work.
Video Feedback Vs. Traditional Feedback: Below are some comments from students about video
A Research Study feedback:
Because video feedback is relatively rare, I wanted to • “You were the first professor I had to ever use video
gather data from students to see if they consider this to feedback, and I thought it was great and had a positive
be an effective practice. After all, if it is not meaningful reaction to it. I assume it makes your job and life a little
for students, it is not a task worth doing. During the 2016 easier.”
Writing Intensive Curriculum (WIC) Seminar program, I
embarked on a research project wherein I surveyed my • “Written feedback in relation to rubrics is nice, but for
former students who had received and viewed video overall writing quality video feedback helped me the
feedback on at least one of my course assignments. This most.”
study was limited to only my former students because
I knew of no other professors across campus who did • “It makes it feel more personal/makes me feel like the
this. Limitations aside, I gathered survey data from 45 professor cares more about the feedback itself.”
CONTINUED
• “Takes much longer than traditional feedback. Its (sic) a Overall, using audio and/or video feedback is a relatively
waste of time.” new practice that is emerging in teaching and learning
across a variety of educational levels. It has significantly
In addition to these negative comments, there are some enhanced my ability to connect with students and to
disadvantages to using this type of feedback. First, you improve their writing abilities. It is my hope that other
must be in a quiet area where you are free to record videos. educators will incorporate this into their classes to the
I mostly have to do this at home or in my office when I benefit of future generations of students.
can shut the door. This is a clear disadvantage compared
to traditional feedback, with which you can pretty much
do anywhere. Also, technology sometimes fails. I have WIC Brown Bag Lunch Series presents two events in
encountered several problems with Canvas: the audio has spring 2018: How the Salem State Writing Center Can
not worked; the platform has not submitted the recorded; Help Instructors (January 29 at 11 am) and Supporting
or Canvas is down. Although the latter would impact any Multilingual Writers (March 26 at 11 am). Please
mode of feedback, the other two technological issues may RSVP to WIC graduate assistant Kate Parsons at
deter some from trying this feedback mechanism. k_parsons4@salemstate.edu or on the WIC Eventbrite
website: bit.ly/2jh7LC5.
Tips for Experimenting with Video Feedback
2. A growing population that may include traditional or Instructors obviously play a major role in student success
adult students is that of recent immigrants from non- across the board and even more so when it comes to
English speaking countries. They may struggle with MLWs. Below, I address some common assumptions about
academic writing, reading, and speaking in English. the pedagogical needs of MLWs and provide suggestions
as to how to best support them as writers.
3. Generation 1.5 students are those who immigrated to CONTINUED
2
Thonus, Terese, “Tutoring Multilingual Students: Shattering the Myths,” Journal of College Reading & Learning, 44, no. 2 (2014): 204.
3
de Kleine, Crista and Rachel Lawton, “Meeting the Needs of Linguistically Diverse Students at the College Level: Executive Summary and Paper,” College Reading & Learning
Association White Papers. November 2015: 4. https://www.crla.net/images/whitepaper/Meeting_Needs_of_Diverse_Students.pdf
4
“International Student Data,” Institute of International Education, accessed December 1, 2017. https://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors/Fact-Sheets-and-Info-
graphics/Infographics/International-Student-Data
With more advanced MLWs, issues that may be labeled • Privilege meaning over grammatical correctness in
as grammar are in fact issues with vocabulary.5 Much of writing. Like other students, MLWs want to learn and
English is learned in “chunks,” that is, pairs or groups of share their ideas. Make a concerted effort to listen to
words that co-occur very frequently. While native speakers them. Ask yourself whether a missing definite article or
have access to a vast store of these language chunks, incorrect verb tense really impedes your understanding.
MLWs can only learn them through exposure. Consider that If it does, provide that specific feedback. If it doesn’t,
“to give something careful consideration” is acceptable read on.
while “to give something careful contemplation” is not,
though both are grammatically correct. • Be kind. As mentioned above, MLWs are learning English,
course content, U.S. culture, and academic culture
Assumption #2: It’s not my job to teach ESL. simultaneously. This is an enormous cognitive task. Signs
from faculty of both encouragement and discouragement
No, it’s not. But the MLWs in your classroom aren’t will weigh heavily on them.
just learning English. They are simultaneously learning
course content, U.S. academic expectations, U.S. cultural • If possible, include course content that is inclusive of
values and norms, and the English language. 6 A common linguistic and cultural difference. If that’s not possible,
misperception is that MLWs should “just learn English” scaffold background knowledge for MLWs. Courses that
first and then enter mainstream classrooms, but this utilize American literature or popular culture, for instance,
approach is impractical. Language, separate from function will put MLWs at a real disadvantage if they are expected
and context, cannot simply be brought like a machine to to somehow learn by themselves what their American
a fix-it shop. MLWs learn content, culture and English in counterparts are already intimately familiar with.
classrooms across the disciplines—through classroom
experiences, readings, assignments, instructor interactions • If you consider grammatical correctness in grading, be
and feedback, as well as from their peers. Adding to the explicit about it as a criterion and assign it a reasonable
impracticality is that MLWs are gaining not simply English percentage of the assignment or final grade.
but academic language proficiency, which is embedded in
discipline-specific academic discourse communities and • Get to know MLW backgrounds, if possible and
takes significant time to acquire. appropriate. It may help you to better understand their
particular linguistic strengths and challenges.
While you may not be responsible for teaching ESL, there’s
a lot you can do to increase the chances that MLWs in your • If providing feedback on grammar, focus on how it
classroom will succeed. impacts meaning. For instance, “I got confused here”
or “Who is they here?” can be more helpful than
“awkward” or “pronoun?”
5
Nakamaru, Sarah, “Lexical Issues in Writing Center Tutorials with International and US-educated Multilingual Writers,” Journal of Second Language Writing, 19, no. 2 (2010): 103.
6
Paul Kei Matsuda and Matthew J. Hammill, “Second Language Writing Pedagogy,” in A Guide to Composition Pedagogies, eds. Gary Tate, Amy Rupiper Taggart, Kurt Schick, and
H.B. Hessler (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 269.
When I teach writing, I often give a version of a research And then the practical stuff: make sure that you block off
talk to my students. I walk them through what peaks my the time to do it, make sure you’re accountable for your
interest, what sources I came up with that I could find, deadlines, don’t do it alone. These projects always work
what historians have said about a particular topic, and how out much better if you have a community of writers working
that became a project. How did I begin to draft that project? with you, whether it’s a writing group or a family member,
I oftentimes also use the story of my previous book. How whoever it is who you’re accountable to and you are also
did this become an idea? It actually began as a master’s sharing ideas with before you commit to a final draft.
thesis, and then a dissertation, and then a book. I say to my
students “I was like you, sitting in the classroom and trying KP: Thank you!