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Colloquium: Preparing L2 Writing Teachers for Generation 1.5
Session title: Preparing pre- and in-service teachers for writing instruction
Youngjoo Yi ( yyi@gsu.edu
)
Georgia State University
TESOL 2009 , Denver, CO. Thursday, March 26, 2009, 10:00 AM-11:45 AM
I discuss out-of-school writing practices that high school Generation 1.5 students engage in, with respect to the types, medium, and language choice for those voluntary writing activities. This includes a discussion of how knowledge of these students’ out-of-school writing experiences and practices could be used in the teacher training process.
References: Adolescent Generation 1.5 students’ writing (literacy) practices outside school
Black, R. W. (2005). Access and affiliation: The literacy and composition practices of English-language learners in an online fanfiction community. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 49 (2), 118-128.
Black, P. (2006). Language, culture, and identity in online fanfiction. E–Learning, 3 (2), 170-184.
Bruna, K. R. (2007). Traveling tags: The informal literacies of Mexican newcomers in and out of the classroom.
Linguistics and Education, 18 , 232-257.
Choi, J. (2009). Asian English language learners’ identity construction in an after school literacy site. Journal of
Asian Pacific Communication, 19(1), 130-161 .
Cruickshank, K. (2004). Literacy in multilingual contexts: Change in teenagers' reading and writing. Language and
Education, 18 (6), 459-473.
Haneda, M., & Monobe, G. (2009). Bilingual and biliteracy practices: Japanese adolescents living in the United
States. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 19(1), 7-29.
Lam, W. S. E. (2000). L2 literacy and the design of self: A case study of a teenager writing on the internet. TESOL
Quarterly, 34 (3), 457-482.
Lam, W. (2004). Second language socialization in a bilingual chat room: global and local considerations. Language
Learning & Technology, 8 (3), 44-65.
Lam, W. S. E., & Rosario-Ramos, E. (2009). Multilingual literacies in transnational digitally-mediated contexts: An exploratory study of immigrant teens in the U.S. Language and Education, 23 (2), 171-190.
Orellana, M. F., Reynolds, J., Dorner, L., & Meza, M. (2003). In other words: Translating or "para-phrasing" as a family literacy practice in immigrant households. Reading Research Quarterly, 38 (1), 12-34.
Rubinstein-Ávila, E. (2004). Conversing with Miguel: An adolescent English Language Learner struggling with later literacy development. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 47 (4), 290-301.
Rubinstein-Avilla, E. (2007). From the Dominican Republic to Drew high: What counts as literacy for Yanira Lara.
Reading Research Quarterly, 42 (4), 568-589.
Sarroub, L. K., Pernicek, T., & Sweeney, T. (2007). 'I was bitten by a scorpion': Reading in and out of school in a refugee's life. International Reading Association, 50 (8), 668-679.

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Yi, Y. (2007). Engaging literacy: A biliterate student’s composing practices beyond school. Journal of Second
Language Writing, 16(1), 23-39.
Yi, Y. (2008). Relay writing in an adolescent online community. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 51(6),
260-270.
Yi, Y. (2009). Adolescent literacy and identity construction among 1.5 generation students: From a transnational perspective. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 19(1), 100-129 .
Implications for teacher educators to prepare in- and pre-service teachers to teach writing
Teacher educators need to help pre- and in-service teachers (1) expand their notion of writing,
(2) value adolescent Gen. 1.5 students’ out-of-school, self-sponsored writing practices, and (3) bridge out-of-school writing with classroom practices.
Pre- and in-service teachers can and should
(1) Reflect on their own everyday writing
* Kinds of writing activities
* Meaning/role of writing (writing as a social practice)
* What involves writing
(2) Get familiarized with the literature
* Acknowledge and value adolescent Gen. 1.5 students’ writing practices
Literacy as a social practice (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Gee, 1999; Heath, 1983;
Scribner & Cole, 1981; Street, 1984).
Multiple literacies (“through multiple experiences, in multiple contexts, with multiple text genres (both oral and written), for multiple purposes” (Kern, 1995, p. 67).
(3) Teachers as ethnographers ( conduct ethnographies )
* Rarely discuss the skills and tools that our teachers need in order to conduct their own
ethnography
* Teach ethnographic skills: participant observation, fieldnotes, artifacts (survey), interviews
(4) Make focused observations on “writing instruction” in the classroom
Compare/contrast out-of-school & in-school writing practice
Bridging out-of-school writing w/ classroom practices