University of California, Irvine, USA
Duke University, USA
Multilingual Writing as Public Space
Jerry Won Lee
University of California, Irvine, USA
Scholars in many language-oriented fields such as applied linguistics and sociolinguistics have embraced the linguistic landscape as a methodological heuristic to study and make sense of an important element of language in society. Linguistic landscape studies, which entail analyses of public language artifacts such as street signs and commercial shop signage, are at their core the study of written artifacts in public space. Linguistic landscape research has proliferated in recent years, with numerous publications and even a dedicated conference and journal. Given that linguistic landscape research concerns the study of writing in public space, I raise the question of why scholars of writing studies have had so little to contribute thus far. After all, since much linguistic landscape research concerns multilingual writing in diverse urban contexts, it represents an important area of research for scholars of second language writing studies in particular.
This talk focuses on the ways in which everyday actors make use of multilingual writing resources to reinvent public space. It embraces a practice-centered view of language (e.g., Kramsch, 2005; Pennycook, 2010; Canagarajah, 2013) that views language as bound not only to predetermined conventions but also resources that are themselves reimagined through various processes of circulation and uptake. It thus offers an orientation to multilingual writing not merely as a phenomenon that has potential to circulate within public space but as a means of constituting such spaces. In so doing, it ultimately presents the linguistic landscape as an important site for new directions in second language writing research.
Jerry Won Lee is a Professor in the Department of English at the University of California, Irvine, where he currently serves as Director of the International Center for Writing and Translation, and Director of the Program in Global Languages and Communication. His recent book publications include Locating Translingualism (Cambridge University Press 2022), The Sociolinguistics of Global Asias (Routledge 2022), Language as Hope, co-authored with Daniel N. Silva (Cambridge University Press 2024). He is currently co-editing, alongside Li Wei, Prem Phyak, and Ofelia García, the Handbook of Translanguaging (under contract with Wiley-Blackwell) and, alongside Sofia Rüdiger, Entangled Englishes (under contract with Routledge), which explores the globalization of English in relation to its multiple, complex, and oftentimes unexpected entanglements.
Multimodal Composing as a Learning Activity in Second Language Classrooms: Processes, Products, and Pedagogical Practices
Xiao Tan
Duke University, USA
Multimodal composing, or the act of producing texts by integrating multiple semiotic resources, has received increasing attention in L2 teaching and research. Informed by a broader view of literacy, writing teachers have designed various activities to engage L2 students in the consumption, interpretation, and production of multimodal texts. Despite the growing interest, “multimodal writing” is often positioned in opposition to the traditional text-based writing practices that seem to dominate academic communication, thus raising concerns among teachers about its appropriateness in the academic context.
In this presentation, I will draw on the insights from a series of studies I have conducted to show that multimodal writing can and need to be configured in various ways to support students’ academic development. I will begin by reviewing the approaches to multimodal composition in L2 writing classrooms, showcasing a wide array of assignment designs and scaffolding procedures. I will then zoom in on students’ processes of completing a video proposal assignment in a naturalistic setting. In particular, I want to share observations of students employing problem-solving skills, negotiating language use, and mobilizing in- and out-of-school literacy experience during the process. The research-based nature of the video assignment also challenged students to think about “source citation” creatively and strategically. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of how multimodal composing can be integrated effectively into the L2 writing classrooms.
Xiao Tan is a lecturer in the Thompson Writing Program at Duke University. Her research explores the multimodal genres in academic communication and seeks to help students develop writing skills necessary for navigating the changing academic landscape. She also serves as the Associate Editor of Writing Spaces and works with the editorial team to build open-access textbook collections. She has published in journals such as Computers and Composition, Journal of Second Language Writing, and Journal of Global Literacies, Technologies, and Emerging Pedagogies. Her scholarly work also appeared in several edited collections.