Exploring The Dynamics of Second Language Writing
Exploring The Dynamics of Second Language Writing
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Exploring the
Dynamics of
Second Language Writing
Edited by
Barbara Kroll
California State University, Northridge
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A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data
Exploring the dynamics of second language writing / edited by Barbara Kroll.
p. cm. (The Cambridge applied linguistics series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-521-82292-0 (hardback) ISBN 0-521-52983-2 (pbk.)
1. Language and languages Study and teaching. 2. Composition (Language arts)
3. Rhetoric Study and teaching. I. Kroll, Barbara. II. Series.
P53.27 .E97 2003
808 .0071dc21
2002074049
ISBN 0 521 82292 0 hardback
ISBN 0 521 52983 2 paperback
vi
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Contents
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viii
Contents
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333
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Contributors
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the next
Introduction Teaching
generation of
second language
writers
Barbara Kroll
As a field of academic inquiry, the teaching of writing to second language (L2) learners sits at the junction of the discipline of composition
and rhetoric (which concerns itself primarily with identifying the nature of texts and the processes that writers engage in to produce those
texts) and the discipline of language learning (which concerns itself with
cognitive and affective factors learners engage in as they move toward
mastery of a particular linguistic code).1 No one teaching writing to this
population of learners can responsibly serve his or her students without
a clear recognition that these two fields intersect, especially at the postsecondary level. This volume is addressed to future L2 writing teachers;
the authors of the chapters are steeped in traditions of inquiry central
to composition and rhetoric and offer an applied linguistics perspective
focused on adult learners.
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Barbara Kroll
seem assured for the foreseeable future, and perhaps especially for teachers who focus on teaching writing skills.
To judge by what is going on in the United States, there is a steady
increase in the number of learners of English seeking entrance to our
institutions of higher education. The Institute of International Education (IIE) has been tracking the number of foreign visa students enrolled
in U.S. institutions of higher education since 1949 (Institute of International Education, 2001). That number has continued to increase every
year, undiminished in toto by any war or economic disaster impacting a
particular population or world area. In the decade from 1990 to 2000,
for example, the number of foreign visa students in the United States increased by over 140,000 and surpassed half a million2 for the first time in
the 19992000 academic year (Open Doors, 2001). And this says nothing of the vast and ever-growing number of L2 students on U.S. campuses
not included in these tabulations (or any other official counts) because
they are U.S. residents or citizens and do not hold foreign visas.
Further, countries outside the traditional English-speaking world are
increasingly drawn into situations where fluency in English becomes critical for their citizens who wish to participate in the global arena. For
example, a report prepared for the then Prime Minister of Japan and issued in January 2000 called for a national discussion on making English
Japans official second language and recommended that English-language
teaching be introduced in kindergarten (Tolbert, 2000). The document
suggested to the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi that increased fluency
in English among the Japanese would greatly contribute to reversing the
economic stagnation Japan was experiencing at the time, but this fluency
could be accomplished only with radical changes in the current methods
of delivering English-language instruction in Japanese schools (Tolbert,
2000). On another plane, many in our profession worry about the increasing number of languages dying out around the world, often with
English as the replacement tongue (Crystal, 2000; Nettle & Romaine,
2000), and the concomitant need for fluency in English. Regardless of
how one views such a phenomenon, it contributes to the increasing use
of English in geographic regions where, different from such places as
North America, Great Britain, and Australia, English does not have a
long tradition. To a certain extent, then, geopolitical realities contribute
to the expanding need for English-language teachers outside of Englishdominant countries.
So far, I have referred primarily to English-language teaching. The
teaching of writing is a specialized component of this instruction, one
that has come to occupy a prominent place in research and teaching
due in part to the ever-expanding student body and the recognition of
changes in global realities. Over the past quarter of a century or so, faculty
and researchers in many countries around the world have increasingly
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Barbara Kroll
plans, an interest in their students, and strong skills of their own in the
target language. To be sure, these are necessary components, but they are
not sufficient. As distinguished researcher Arthur Applebee pointed out:
Teachers of English need to make the distinction between knowledge
which informs their teaching, and that which should be imparted to the
student (Applebee, cited in Applebee, 1999, p. 362).
So too, teachers of writing to L2 students need to make the distinction between what can be termed foundational knowledge subject
matter content that serves them as professionals and procedural
knowledge ideas and techniques that will shape specific lesson plans
for their students. For example, as part of building a foundation of knowledge, future teachers must acquire an understanding of how the profession has evolved and what issues form the core of subject matter (as
opposed to methodological) concerns that is, they must know what
drives the field forward. Additionally, teachers should come to see that
the tools they will use for analyzing their own students progress (or
lack thereof) not only serve their immediate needs on a day-to-day basis
and form a component of requisite procedural knowledge but can also
provide raw data that might contribute to changes in course design motivated by their foundational knowledge of course possibilities (cf. Graves,
2000).
Because good writing teachers must have a rich understanding of the
field to be able to make the best possible choices in their uniquely situated
teaching positions, this book is designed to help them acquire such understanding. Knowing the field includes being able to recognize how any
given classroom choice speaks to a particular approach toward teaching
and/or awareness of student learning issues and/or interpretation of what
texts are and what they do. Further, even the most classroom-oriented of
teachers should be able to contribute knowledgeably to ongoing professional discussions. The so-called theorypractice divide is undoubtedly
an artificial one; I would prefer to conceive of the relationship between
research and practice in the field of second language writing as an interactive one. As I have pointed out elsewhere, Research insights drive
practice and concerns for practices that do not seem to be working drive
additional research (Kroll, 2001, p. 230).
Foundational knowledge gives faculty the scholarly background to
provide the best of instruction to students in second language writing and
guides instructors toward making appropriate curricula and classroom
choices. Attaining this scholarly background involves exposure to the
accumulated knowledge of the profession and an awareness of what tools
are available to expand and refine this knowledge base. It is simply not
enough for prospective teachers to focus solely on acquiring information
about methods and materials, important though they are. While I do
not mean to downplay the significance of being able to learn from the
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Introduction
A note on theory/model-building
Unlike introductions to some other disciplines, this book begins with
a historical perspective rather than an outline of theory. In contrast,
trainees in some fields, including linguistics, are initiated into and
expected to become familiar with well-established theories relevant to
their education and training. Although many researchers in the field of
second language writing, including several contributors to this volume,
are particularly interested in theory-building (e.g., Cumming, 1998;
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Introduction
their composing process(es), we are still talking about methods and not
theory, and this is just one variable in the multifaceted enterprise known
as writing.
Among other critical variables in the equation of writer, writing task,
discourse constraints, and audience expectations is context. Here, too,
terms such as EAP (English for Academic Purposes) and ESP (English for
Special Purposes), when first introduced, seemed likely to contribute to
theory-building; but they turn out to be methodologically based as well.
EAP and ESP provide helpful orientations to pedagogy perhaps more
than they do to theory-building because they suggest that the entire
curriculum for a writing course is context-driven; change the context
and you need to change how a course is packaged and delivered not a
trivial point, as well discussed by Swales (1990) among others.
Thus, this volume is not about specific pedagogical practices or any
given theory per se, but it is a volume that should help teachers to more
fully understand the framework of concerns within which the field and
its key constituents (teachers and learners) operate.
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Notes
1. I am aware that Matsuda (1998) presents a more complex vision of the
disciplinary relationships.
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2. The number of foreign visa holders is not the same as the number of
L2 speakers, since the tabulation includes native speakers of English (i.e.,
students from such places as England, Canada, and Australia plausibly
English L1 speakers are included in the IIE number).
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