Negotiating Academic Literacies: Teaching and Learning Across Languages and Cultures

"Negotiating Academic Literacies" is a cross-over volume in the literature between first- and second-language/literacy research. This anthology of articles bring together different voices from a range of publications and unites them in pursuit of an understanding of the teaching and learning of academic literacy. The editors preface the collection of readings with a conceptual framework that clearly articulates the current debate about the nature of academic writing and writing instruction. College classrooms have become sites where multiple languages and cultures intersect - not only for students in the process of acquiring English, but for all learners who find themselves in an academic situation that exposes them to a set of expectations that are different from what they have known. This book is a contribution to the effort to discover new ways to support learning across languages and cultures - to transform views about what it means to teach and learn, to read and write, and to think and know. In this volume, "academic literacy" is defined as the ability to write and read critically the various texts assigned in college. The editors draw on the findings of second-language acquisition research and stress their application as fundamental to the acquisition of academic literacy for all college-level students, not just second-language learners. This volume includes the perspectives of student writers as well as those of teachers and researchers. The chronological ordering of articles provides an historical perspective, revealing ways in which issues related to teaching and learning across cultures have been addressed over time. The readings have consistency in terms of quality, depth and passion; the authors raise philosophical questions even as they consider practical classroom applications. This book is both a reference for teachers who work or plan to work with diverse students in post-secondary institutions, and a text for graduate-level courses, primarily in TESOL, freshman composition, composition studies and literacy studies.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface. M. Shaughnessy, Diving In: An Introduction to Basic Writing. M. Rose, The Language of Exclusion: Writing Instruction at the University. M. Cliff, A Journey Into Speech. E. Kutz, Between Students' Language and Academic Discourse: Interlanguage as Middle Ground. J.P. Gee, What Is Literacy? B. Mellix, From Outside, In. M-Z. Lu, From Silence to Words: Writing as Struggle. R. Spack, Initiating ESL Students Into the Academic Discourse Community: How Far Should We Go? K. Spellmeyer, A Common Ground: The Essay in the Academy. F. Shen, The Classroom and the Wider Culture: Identity as a Key to Learning English Composition. R.E. Land, Jr., C. Whitley, Evaluating Second Language Essays in Regular Composition Classes: Toward a Pluralistic U.S. Rhetoric. P. Elbow, Reflections on Academic Discourse: How It Relates to Freshmen and Colleagues. M.L. Pratt, Arts of the Contact Zones. V. Zamel, Questioning Academic Discourse. P.N. Limerick, Dancing With Professors: The Trouble With Academic Prose. L.D. Delpit, The Politics of Teaching Literate Discourse. L.L. Blanton, Discourse, Artifacts, and the Ozarks: Understanding Academic Literacy. H.G. Widdowson, The Ownership of English. V. Zamel, Strangers in Academia: The Experiences of Faculty and ESL Students Across the Curriculum. A. Pennycook, Borrowing Others' Words: Text, Ownership, Memory, and Plagiarism. R. Spack, The (In)visibility of the Person(al) in Academe. N. González, Blurred Voices: Who Speaks for the Subaltern?

Review :

"...Zamel and Spack have selected authors well. All of the pieces are worth reading, and many of them are certain to invite lively discussion about academics and their words."
—Contemporary Psychology

"[I] recommend this book, particularly to new teachers in the field of ESL writing, who may have yet to grasp the magnitude of their task. However, even for seasoned teachers and researchers already familiar with the arguments as summarized so far, Zamel and Spack's volume offers something engaging and challenging."
—TESL-EJ

"Spack explores the crucial role teachers play in managing the conflicting identities in the classroom and suggests a dialogue on what has been ignored. A treasure for teacher educators and new writing teachers to have in a single volume."
—TESOL: Teacher Education Interest Section Newsletter

"Although ESL is closely related to composition, education, linguistics, anthropology, and other fields, the work of ESL scholars is too seldom seen in the publications of these fields, and vice versa. The appearance of Zamel and Spack's edited collection of influential, thought-provoking readings on academic literacy from ESL as well as from these other areas is therefore welcome indeed. Perusing this collection of previously published articles allows one to see the multitude of connections among the fields represented."
—TESOL Quarterly

"This collection provides an effective introduction to some of the important figures in the field of discourse and second language for people who teach literacy to students of diverse backgrounds and who train teachers. These essays provide a historical perspective of the study of academic literacy. Finally, a teaching tool and useful reference, this book is also important as an addition to the limited number of books which explore topics related to second language writing and linguistic diversity."
—Teaching and Learning Across Languages and Cultures