1st Year Writing

     What stood out most to me from this week’s readings was how the tacit nature of our understandings of language leads to hegemony and an imbalance of power in writing courses. Leki spoke of “the assumption of the power to define writing’ (p. 64). Matsuda argued that the ideology of unidirectional monolingualism that is inherent in composition courses works to separate and keep out those who do not speak a privileged form of English. He also argued that nonnative speakers and speakers of unprivileged forms of English are held accountable for skills that are not being taught. Harklau highlighted how teachers’ tacit understandings of immigration and bilingualism affect their instructional decisions, relationships with students, and contribute to the identities of 1.5 generation students. Harklau also pointed out that teachers are all susceptible to holding “common sense” notions which can negatively affect our students. How can teachers uncover their tacit understandings in order to work towards a more equitable learning environment?  What can teacher educators do to assist with this process? How can we increase communication and connections between K-12 schools and institutions of secondary education.

     Matsuda’s article also made me wonder about how American students are treated when they study as international students. Do other countries require language proficiency tests? Are American international students placed in remedial classes? Are remedial classes or writing classes even offered in foreign universities? I would be interested to know more about higher education in other countries.