History Bump

My tentative key research questions are “How much should L2 pedagogy adopt L1 values, assessment standards and research methodology while retaining its own unique legacy?”, “Where to draw the line between L1 basic writers and L2 basic writers?”. After having an idea about these two questions, I will move onto a more practical question “Is the current ESL placement testing at Syracuse University effective?” The three questions are pertinent to my teaching at SU where most L1 and L2 writers are having the same writing courses, and I want to investigate how L1 and L2 construe and construct writing differently. If time permits, I will conduct an empirical research combining qualitative and quantitative methods on SU’s ESL placement testing system. Hopefully, this will turn out to be something presentable and publishable.

Concerns:
My biggest concern today is how much I can read and synthesize before the end of semester, although I’ll always try my best. The second concern is that how much people in the ESL field actually think about methods and methodology since my impression is that certain empirical research methods have been conventionalized and people never think about it anymore.

Workload:
I used Kaplan’s works (particularly the one on different thought patterns among people in different regions) in my master’s thesis, and I’m still familiar with it. I met and talked with Paul Matsuda, Tony Silva, Helen Fox and Ilona Leki last October when I was in Purdue for the L2 conference. I know some of their works but I definitely need to read more.
My anthology will include but not limit to:
-"CCCC Statement on Second-Language Writing and Writers." College Composition and Communication 52.4 (June 2001): 669-674.
-Kaplan, Robert B. "Cultural Thought Patterns in Inter-Cultural Education." Language Learning 16 (1966): 1-20.
- Leki, Ilona. "A New Approach to Advanced ESL Placement Testing." WPA: Writing Program Administration 14.3 (Spring 1991): 53-68.
-Leki, Ilona. "Cross-Talk: ESL Issues and Contrastive Rhetoric." Writing in Multicultural Settings. Ed. Carol Severino, Juan C. Guerra, and Johnnella E. Butler. NewYork: MLA, 1997. 234-47.
- Lu, Min-zhan. "From Silence to Words: Writing as Struggle." College English 49 (April 1987): 437-48.
-Matsuda, Paul Kei. "Process and Post-Process: A Discursive History." Journal of Second Language
-Raimes, Ann. "A Basic Bibliography in Teaching English as a Second Language." Teaching ESL at CUNY, a special issue of Resource. CUNY, 1981: 46-8.
-Raimes, Ann. "Errors: Windows Into the Mind." College ESL 1.2 (1991). Rpt. Dialogue on Writing: Rethinking ESL, Basic Writing, and First-Year Composition. Ed. Geraldine DeLuca, Len Fox, Mark-Ameen Johnson, and Myra Kogen. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2002. 279-288.
-Ramanathan, Vai, and Robert B. Kaplan. "Audience and Voice in Current L1 Composition Texts: Some Implications for ESL Student Writers." Journal of Second Language Writing 5.1 (1996): 21-34.
-Roy, Alice M. "Alliance for Literacy: Teaching Non-native Speakers and Speakers of Nonstandard English Together." College Composition and Communication 35 (1984): 439-47.
-Roy, Alice M. "Developing Second Language Literacy: A Vygotskyan Perspective." Journal of Teaching Writing 8 (Spring/Summer 1989): 91-98.
-Silva, Tony, Ilona Leki, and Carson. "Broadening the Perspective of Mainstream Composition Studies." Written Communication 14.3 (July 1997).
-Silva, Tony. "An Examination of Writing Program Administrators' Options for the Placement of ESL Students in First Year Writing Classes." WPA: Writing Program Administration 18.1-2 (Fall/Winter 1994): 37-43.
-Silva, Tony. "Differences in ESL and Native-English-Speaker Writing: The Research and Its Implications." Writing in Multicultural Settings. Ed. Carol Severino, Juan C. Guerra, and Johnnella E. Butler. New York: MLA, 1997. 209-19.
-Adams, Katherine; and John Adams. "Write, Read and Edit: ESL Theory in the Basic Writing Curriculum." The Writing Instructor 4.3 (1985): 116-122.
-Bloch, Joel, and Lan Chi. "A Comparison of the Use of Citations in Chinese and English Academic Discourse." Academic Writing in a Second Language. Ed. D. Belcher and G. Braine. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1995. 231-274.
-Bloch, Joel. "Plagiarism and the ESL Student: From Printed to Electronic Texts." Linking Literacies: Perspectives on L2 Reading-Writing Connections. Ed. D. Belcher and A. Hirvela. Ann Arbor: U Michigan P, 2000. 209-228
-Boyd, Zohara, and Harriette Cuttino Buchanan. "English as a Second Language Techniques in Developmental Writing." CEA Critic 42.3 (1980): 37-40.
-Buley-Meissner, M.L.C. Understanding how native and non-native students learn towrite. (1985) DAI 46, 07A
-Eichler, Marie Hutchison. Developing Basic Writing Skills in English as a Second Language. U Pittsburgh P, 1981.
-Ferris, Dana R. "Rhetorical Strategies in Student Persuasive Writing: Differences Between Native and Non-Native English Speakers." Research in the Teaching of English 28.1 (February 1994): 45-65.
-Grabe, William, and Robert Kaplan. "Writing in a Second Language: Contrastive Rhetoric." Richness in Writing: Empowering ESL Students. Ed. Donald M. Johnson and Duane H. Roen. New York: Longman, 1989. 263-83.
-"University of Illinois International Students Learn about Plagiarism in Class." The Council Chronicle (February 1994): 6.