My language is a mess. I have picked up bits and pieces of a dozen languages in my travels, and these fragments all find their way into my spoken English now and then. My language changes with my audience. I speak English with nit noi Thai to one friend. I turn around and speak English with un po' di Italiano and un poco de Espanol with another. Ciao bella. Hanguel mai? Selamat pagi. Kap jai lai lai. Khun suai. Xinchao. D'accord. Obrigado. My spoken English slows sometimes as I work through all of these pieces, restructuring my thoughts into something that other people can usually understand.
I tend to refine these foreign fragments completely of my written language, but I have to wonder if now and then my writing my just be better with them present. In our readings this week, we are looking forward to the future of composition in the college classroom, including the use of multilingual and multimodal approaches. As the last post for the key term project, I am considering how these approaches work to promote discovery and student voice.
Canagarajah argues for "code meshing" of World English and Metropolitan English, rather than limiting them to their informal and formal uses, respectively. Allowing students to write with their own World Englishes encourages them to explore their own individual voices and to communicate through them. Doing so also encourages students to experiment and play with language and structure--to discover their own most effective means of persuasion.
Fraiberg takes the concept of "code meshing" a step further, arguing for a "convergence culture" and a system of "knotworking"--more fully integrating multiple languages and media instead of working between the divide of World English and Metropolitan English. When used effectively and persuasively, this convergence approach does push students to discover their own voices through writing.
As long as multilingual and multimodal approaches do not interfere with the communication of ideas, they should absolutely be used in the composition classroom, especially as they aid students to learn, teach, and discover.
On the future of composition:
Canagarajah, Suresh A. “The Place of World Englishes in Composition: Pluralization Continued.” CCC 57.4 (2006): 586-619.
Fraiburg, Steven. “Composition 2.0: Toward a Multilingual and Multimodal Framework.” CCC 62.1 (2010).
Wardle, Elizabeth. “‘Mutt Genres’ and the Goal of FYC: Can We Help Students Write the Genres of the University?” College Composition and Communication 60.4 (June 2009): 765-89.
Fraizer, Dan. “First Steps Beyond First Year: Coaching Transfer after FYC.” WPA: Writing Program Administrator 33.3 (2010): 34-57.
No comments:
Post a Comment