Article Review Choices

For the Article Review Assignment, I have chosen two articles from the Journal of Basic Writing to consider. I have included their abstracts here.

Teaching Multilingual Learners Across the Curriculum: Beyond the ESOL Classroom and Back Again
Vivian Zamel and Ruth Spack


Abstract: Language and literacy are situated in specific classroom contexts and are acquired as students engage with the subject matter and tasks of these courses. Therefore, all faculty--not just those who teach courses devoted to teaching English to speakers of other languages (ESOL)--are responsible for contributing to multicultural students' acquisition of language and literacy. Drawing on qualitative research studies, including first-hand accounts of students and faculty who discuss their expectations and experiences in undergraduate courses across the curriculum, this article explores how faculty can facilitate the learning of multilingual students. Analyzing a variety of pedagogical strategies that faculty across disciplines have enacted in their own teaching, we find comfirmation for our theory that when writing is assigned for the purpose of fostering learning, and when instructors provide supportive feedback in response to what students have written, writing can serve as a powerful means for promoting language acquisition. Significantly, this across-the-curriculum research indicates that when faculty transform their pedagogy to meet the needs of ESOL students, all students benefit. This research also has critical implications for the philosophical and pedagogical perspectives that bear on ESOL teaching.






Building Academic Literacy from Student Strength: An Interdisciplinary Life History Project
Robin Murie, Molly Rojas Collins, and Daniel F. Detzner

Abstract: U.S. high school graduate students for whom the home language is not English run the risk of inadequate preparation for the rigors of higher education. Whether this poor preparation is the result of disruptions caused by the transition to a new country/language/culture, or of a watered-down high school curriculum that reacts to language error but does not always help the student develop a rich academic literacy, there is a need for courses and assignments that acknowledge the strengths of multilingual writers and that build fluency and academic literacy in ways that allow students to make meaningful connections with the college curriculum. This article describes a pilot ethnographic research course, Life History Project, designed in collaboration with a professor in Family Social Science and two ESL basic writing instructors.




Zamel, Vivian and Spack, Ruth. "Teaching Multilingual Learners Across the Curriculum: Beyond the ESOL Classroom and Back Again." Journal of Basic Writing (JBW) 2006 Fall; 25 (2): 126-152

Murie, Robin, Collins, Molly Rojas, and Detzner, Daniel F. "Building Academic Literacy from Student Strength: An Interdisciplinary Life History Project." Journal of Basic Writing (JBW) 2004; 23 (2): 70-91