Call for Proposals

Note: the response to this CFP generated enough excellent contributions to create two separate edited collections. The first collection focuses on research that furthers our understanding of a translingual disposition or orientation to languages and language ideologies and explores the impact such an understanding has on writing classrooms. The second collection presents a reflective analysis of pedagogical approaches to engaging translanguaging in writing programs in U.S. institutions of higher education.

Practical Pedagogies: Engaging Domestic and International Students in Translingual & Translocal Writing

In response to recent theoretical work in writing studies that explores the constructs of translingualism (Horner, Lu), plurilingualism/translingualism and negotiated literacies (Canagarajah), and the investigations of the composing strategies of multilingual and English as additional language (EAL) students in English writing classrooms (Horner, Lu, Matsuda, Canagarajah, Jordan, Poe Alexander), this project seeks to bring together a corpus of pedagogical practices based within translingual and translocal constructs. This collection moves to actualize the “changes being made at the organizational level to rethink the ways in which English is represented in U.S. composition teaching, the design of writing programs and curricula, and the preparations of (future) teachers of postsecondary writing” (Horner, Necamp, and Donahue). As those familiar with translingual and translocal scholarship are aware, the development of theory far surpasses the availability of practical pedagogies. This collection will fill the pedagogical gap in translingual and translocal scholarship with its focus on enacted classroom practice. As such, Practical Pedagogies: Engaging Domestic and International Students in Translingual & Translocal Writing moves to offer a number of tested, practical responses to the current theoretical discussion and seeks to aid in the development of not only translingual and translocal teaching, but also our understanding of the communicative strategies of diverse student writers. The move from theoretical frameworks to working pedagogies will not only benefit our students, but better inform the teaching of diverse learners within our writing classrooms, as well as shape language and educational policies and research.

Consequently, a primary goal of this collection is to build a rich description and analysis of the various programs, pedagogies, teachers, and students that are already successfully composing within translingual and translocal norms. We seek contributors that represent a diverse cross-section of teacher-scholars—ranging in expertise (e.g. bridge programs, FYW, upper level writing, business and science writing, and multimedia writing), professional status (e.g. pre-service teachers, graduate students, non-tenured faculty, tenured faculty, and administrators), and geographic and institutional location (e.g. US-based, international).  We are working towards a collection that offers a variety of approaches to and perspectives on translingual and translocal pedagogies. Proposed chapters can draw on a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods and methodology to situate the programs, pedagogies, and composing activities described; including, ethnographies, case studies, action research, classroom-based research, longitudinal studies, corpus-based studies, and meta-analyses.  In particular, we are asking for proposed chapters that consider some of the following questions/issues:

  1.  US-Based Writing Programs: What are the goals of US-based writing programs that offer courses based within translingual and translocal themes? What type of writing courses engage these themes? What populations of students enroll in these institutions, and courses?
  2.  International Programs: How do non-US institutions engage translingual and translocal themes? What can we borrow from the pedagogical strategies of our international colleagues who teach in not-monolingual spaces and in not-composition classes, but who nonetheless engage students in translingual and translocal writing practices?
  3. Pedagogies aimed at Domestic Multilinguals: Who are the domestic multilinguals that populate our writing courses? What are their linguistic abilities? What are their past experiences with language and writing? What types of courses are they enrolling in? How have teaching practices shifted to serve this population of diverse learners?
  4.  Pedagogies aimed at International Multilinguals: Who are the international multilinguals that populate our writing courses? What are their linguistic abilities? What are their past experiences with language and writing? What types of courses are they enrolling in? How have teaching practices shifted to serve this population of diverse learners?
  5. Integrative Pedagogies: How are translingual and translocal pedagogies useful to all students, regardless of their linguistic backgrounds? Why is it important to employ these pedagogies in classrooms of heterogenous student backgrounds?
  6. Monolingual Teacher Experiences: How do the experiences of monolingual teachers differ from multilingual teachers? Why are these experiences valid? What opportunities do monolingual teachers have that are not afforded to multilingual teachers?
  7. Multilingual Teacher Experiences: How do the experiences of multilingual teachers differ from monolingual teachers? What opportunities do multilingual teachers have that are not afforded to monolingual teachers? What are the implications if the home language(s) of the multilingual teacher does not match the home language(s) of his/her students? How does multilingual ability aid in the teaching of multilingual (and monolingual) students?
  8. Mentors, Teachers, and Relationships: How do relationships between teachers inform and propagate translingual and translocal pedagogies? Why is mentoring important for teachers of translingual and translocal writing? What is afforded through mentoring (both to the mentor and mentee)? Why do we need mentoring in translingual and translocal pedagogies?
  9. Students and their Texts: What can students’ own perceptions of their composing processes as they write and think about writing tell us about “translingual” composing and how they might relate to “translanguaging” or translocal writing? What do the “master narratives” (literacy=social/economic/moral mobility) and “little narratives” students invoke tell us about translingual and translocal literacies? What is the role of “antecedent genre knowledge” in the stories students tell?

We welcome 500 word proposals that provide a brief narrative of the chapter’s aims, situate the proposed chapter in existing scholarship, discuss the approach or methodology, and consider implications for writing research, pedagogy, or teacher education. If your proposal is accepted, plan on developing a manuscript between 5000-6000 words in length.

 

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