Last week, the Center for Writing Studies, the Undergraduate Rhetoric Office, and Linguistics co-sponsored a visit by Dana Ferris. Dr. Ferris is Professor and Associate Director for Second Language Writing in the University Writing Program at University of California, Davis and a leading scholar on second language writing.
Dr. Ferris had a full schedule. Over the few days she was here, she had conversations with Engineering writing project teams and with the Writers Workshop online study group; led a brownbag for the Linguistics department; visited a Linguistics course; held a Writing Across the Curriculum Workshop; and conducted professional development workshops for the Undergraduate Rhetoric Program and for the Writers Workshop.
I was fortunate enough to be at a few of these events. I took part in the WAC workshop, “Creating Conditions for Success: Responding to Multilingual Writers,” talked to her about research methods and online tutoring as part of the Writers Workshop online study group, and attended the Writers Workshop professional development meeting, in which Dr. Ferris discussed error feedback for second language writers.
My favorite event was the chat the Writers Workshop online study group had with Dr. Ferris. This was a more informal event attended by Dorothy Mayne, Tom Carreras, Evin Groundwater, Logan Middleton, myself, and Writers Workshop Director, Carolyn Wisniewski, all of whom are part of the workshop’s online study group. We had the opportunity to share what our research study entails and ask Dr. Ferris questions that affect us as both consultants and researchers. We discussed how some second language writers might experience more difficulties working on their writing online depending on their level of oral proficiency. Dr. Ferris reminded us how important it can be to take a step back and remember to take our time--to set an agenda both writer and consultant can agree on, establish rapport, and make sure that writers leave with a visual or written record of what was discussed and how they can proceed going forward.
The WAC workshop and at the Writers Workshop professional development meeting focused on similar themes. During the WAC workshop, Dr. Ferris zoomed out to discuss how instructors can establish the conditions multilingual students need to be more successful writers. In particular, Dr. Ferris introduced the idea of response systems (see Ferris “Inclusivity through Community,” 2015). For non-composition courses, Ferris emphasized the need to understand students’ language background, to create well-constructed assignments with clear expectations, and to provide students with multiple opportunities for feedback. During the Writers Workshop professional development meeting, Dr. Ferris focused more specifically on error (see Ferris Treatment of Error, 2011) and how writing consultants should be aware of the distinction between error, which impedes understanding and/or violates the expectations of native speakers and readers, and accent, which marks students’ writing as non-native but doesn’t impede understanding.
I’m still mulling over everything I learned while Dr. Ferris was here. Her approach to error seems practical, yet sensitive to student writers and to instructors. Most importantly, it’s applicable to many contexts across campus, which means we can all play a role in helping multilingual students become better writers, particularly if we pay attention to the feedback we give them.
