Writing Across Borders: Issues of Fairness

As I watched Writing Across Borders, I was not surprised by the ways in which culture and L1 writing conventions influence writing in an L2. I have tutored many international students in college-level writing, and many of them struggle with learning the conventions of academic English writing. Students must not only become familiar with standard academic writing, but also learn about what writing conventions are acceptable in their individual disciplines. Different citation styles, reader expectations, and organizational focuses can seriously confuse students who are trying to transfer their knowledge of L1 writing into an L2. Just yesterday, a friend of mine who is a TA in the crop science department at the U of I, mentioned how difficult it is for him to fairly assess international student writing because he often gets confused by non-linear organization and sometimes significant grammatical errors. He wants to give students a fair grade based on the content of their essays; however, writing conventions can get in the way of his ability to understand and interpret the content. Grading international student writing alongside the writing of native speakers can provide some very real challenges.

I thought the video gave some great suggestions for approaching international student writing fairly. Because American writing classrooms often deal with topics that are highly politicized and often controversial, it is important for teachers to recognize that international students might not be familiar with these issues. In other cases, dealing with these controversial topics (particularly topics which might be taboo in other countries) could make them very uncomfortable and inhibit their ability to write effectively. As a writing instructor, I hope I can give students flexibility when choosing topics to write about, as well as refer them to resources about topics, if necessary. I don’t plan to lower my standards, but as the video suggested, I will predict the difficulties that my students might have and prepare to make accommodations for them, as needed.