Heather Willis Allen, Associate Professor of French, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Moving Beyond Product, Process, or Genre: A Design Orientation to L2 Writing Instruction
Writing’s role in daily communication has grown in recent years given increases in text messaging and multimodal online composing, and it also figures prominently in the 21st century literacies that students should develop. However, theorizing and educational practice related to second language (L2) writing in U.S. collegiate language programs have not kept pace. Whereas innovative writing pedagogies have been widely implemented in L2 contexts outside the U.S., American collegiate language educators have continued to overemphasize linguistic accuracy and to downplay the sociocultural and cognitive dimensions of writing. This presentation draws on insights from New Literacy Studies and L2 writing scholarship and views writing as a multifaceted act of communication that must be developed from the early stages of language acquisition and integrated through explicit instruction in language, literature, and cultural studies courses. Building on the concept of meaning design as the foundational element of L2 communication, I will articulate five principles of a Design orientation to teaching writing and will demonstrate through pedagogical examples how this framework is a compelling one for L2 writing instruction today.
Download Heather’s handout as a PDF
November 12, 2021
3 – 5 pm
B-4 Dwinelle Hall