Please cite as:
Ortega, L. (2007). Locating Purposes and Needs for Writing in
a Foreign Language. Plenary delivered at the 6th Symposium
on Second Language Writing, Nagoya Gakuin University,
September 15-17, 2007.
Copyright © Lourdes Ortega, 2007
Locating Purposes and
Needs for Writing in a
Foreign Language
Lourdes Ortega
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
6th Symposium on Second Language Writing
Nagoya Gakuin University, September 15-17, 2007
Locating myself and my interest in foreign
(as opposed to second) language writing
Writing in a foreign language...
... formidable challenges for FL
educators and FL researchers
Challenges facing FL writing
Material
Sociopolitical
Cultural
Purposes & Needs...
... FL writing is often felt to be less
purposeful and less needs-driven
than SL writing
FL students have little reason to write in the
L2 -- writing in the L2 plays no immediately
apparent role in their lives
SL students often have pressing reasons to
want to become better L2 writers -- material,
academic, and social incentives
Locating...
Locating...
... Bhabha’s (1994)
The location of culture
Location of culture through...
in-betweenness (interstices)
Right to difference-in-equality
Liminality
Borders, thresholds, bridges
interstitial perspective, double vision
Post-colonial experience affords
interstitial perspective, double vision
“I do want to make graphic what it means to survive, to
produce, to labor and to create, within a worldsystem whose major economic impulses and cultural
investments are pointed in a direction away from you,
your country or your people. Such neglect can be a
deeply negating experience, oppressive and
exclusionary, and it spurs you to resist the polarities
of power and prejudice, to reach beyond and behind
invidious narratives of center and periphery”
(Bhabha, 1994/2004, p. xi)
Post-colonial experience affords
interstitial perspective, double vision
“I do want to make graphic what it means to survive, to
produce, to labor and to create, within a worldsystem whose major economic impulses and cultural
investments are pointed in a direction away from you,
your country or your people. Such neglect can be a
deeply negating experience, oppressive and
exclusionary, and it spurs you to resist the polarities
of power and prejudice, to reach beyond and behind
invidious narratives of center and periphery”
(Bhabha, 1994/2004, p. xi)
Post-colonial experience affords
interstitial perspective, double vision
“I do want to make graphic what it means to survive, to
produce, to labor and to create, within a worldsystem whose major economic impulses and cultural
investments are pointed in a direction away from you,
your country or your people. Such neglect can be a
deeply negating experience, oppressive and
exclusionary, and it spurs you to resist the polarities
of power and prejudice, to reach beyond and behind
invidious narratives of center and periphery”
(Bhabha, 1994/2004, p. xi)
... reach beyond binaries
think beyond narratives of originary
and initial subjectivities
“What is theoretical innovative, and politically
crucial, is the need to think beyond narratives
of originary and initial subjectivities and to
focus on those moments or processes that are
produced in the articulation of cultural
differences... ‘In-between’ spaces [...
nourish...
] new
signs of
Focus
on those
moments
or identity,
processesand
that
innovative sites of collaboration, and
are produced in the articulation of
contestation...”
cultural differences
(Bhabha, 1994/2004, p. 2)
The experience of non-nativeness
can also foster a double vision, a
desire (indeed, a need!) to reach
beyond binaries, and to look at the
in-betweenness in things
Fundamental role of the
imagination
Purposes/needs for FL writing...
Locations we don’t know about,
our imagination cannot see
Some challenges for FL
writing
Material challenges
Large-size classrooms
Overloaded teacher schedules
... both particularly serious obstacles for
“process” L2 writing pedagogies
e.g., Casanave (2004), Leki (2001), You (2004)
Sociopolitical challenges
for FL writing
The paralyzing burden of
high-stakes testing on FL
writing pedagogies
Teaching writing (or not),
when tests ignore it
Writing-free national EFL mandates
(e.g., Taiwan
Cheng, 2005)
Job-hunting test credentials
(e.g., pre-2006 TOEIC in Japan)
For tests that include writing...
... Teaching writing to the test
tests that demand writing
School-leaving University-entrance University-exiting
tests
exams
exams
China’s NMET (Qi
Luxia, 2005, 2007);
guided writing 6.5%
Hong Kong’s HKCEE
(Liying Cheng,
1997); Grade 11
writing = 20% 1.5
hrs
Germany, Poland
(Reichelt, 1997,
2005)
University homemade exams in
Japan (Brown &
Yamashita, 1995;
Watanabe, 1996,
2000)
CET-Band 4 in
China (Gan et
al., 2004; You,
2004)
Tests impose a straight jacket on
pedagogies:
“Three teachers said they required multiple drafts
from their students on a regular basis [...] But as
the writing tasks they gave to the students were
almost all simulations of the writing section of the
CET, which in most cases was a form of guided
composition (i.e., students develop essays on topic
sentences provided), the students’ revisions and the
teacher’s feedback were predominantly concerned
about grammatical and lexical errors rather than
exploring and discovering meaning.”
(You, 2004, p. 102)
Consequences are long-ranging
Testing burdens FL pedagogies
directly by affecting teacher
decisions but also indirectly
via student expectations and
textbooks
(Gorsuch, 2001)
Consequences are deep
Tests can contribute to “students’
narrow definition of writing”
(Luce-Kapler & Kingler, 2005)
Yet, we shouldn’t imagine these constraints
as homogeneous or deterministic
Differences between urban & rural geographies in
China (e.g., Hu, 2005)
Societal-structural
Differences between academic and
vocational schools
in Japan (e.g., Gorsuch, 2001)
texture
We need to imagine: beyond originary, inherited space and time
differences in life experiences
differences in negotiating constraints
Individual
(e.g., MacPherson, 2005)
agency
Cultural challenges
For FL writing
Globalization & Local context:
tension-ridden interpenetration of
values and practices from centers to
peripheries
and (only rarely)
back from peripheries to centers
Well documented:
Spread of center pedagogies...
Cumming (2003) reports that “writing
process” and “genre” were well known
concepts for 17 experienced writing
instructors across a variety of FL contexts
he investigated (Hong Kong, Japan, and
Thailand, as well as French Canada)
... and tension between professional
knowledge and local needs...
“Most of the teachers I interviewed told me
that they had read about the process
approach, genre-based approach, and writing
for academic purposes approach. But they
could hardly use them in their classes
because ‘‘We teach the students examination
writing,’’ as one of the teachers remarked.”
(You, 2004, p. 102)
Yet, we need to see in-between
Attested local adaptations
Leki (2001) : Ambivalence in them (p. 205):
‘failures’ to
properly
understand and
implement best
methodologies
conscious or
unconscious
solutions to resist
the impositions
from the center
“the right to resist center imposed materials
and methods” (p. 197)
Interlude
What we know and can imagine:
EFL writing scholarship
In the last 16 years
Table 1. EFL studies in JSLW 1992-to date (36% of 148 primary studies)
Countries
Schools (K-12)
China
Hong Kong
4
India
1
Higher education
Other
Total
6
6
9
13
1
Japan
12
12
Korea
1
1
Singapore
3
3
Taiwan
3
3
Other FL
countries
5
6
4
15
Total
10
40
4
54
Table 2. EFL studies in TQ 1992-to date (33% of 48 primary writing studies)
Countries
Schools (K-12)
Higher education
Other
Studies
China (3)
2
1
Li (2007), Shi et al.
(2005), Shi (2001)
Hong Kong (4)
3
1
Braine (2005),
L. Flowerdew (2003),
J. Flowerdew (2000),
Pennycook (1996)
Japan (1)
1
Kobayashi (1992)
Singapore (1)
1
Other EFL
countries (7)
1
5
1
Liebowitz (2005),
Curry & Lillis
(2004), Turner &
Upshur (2002),
Angelil-Carter
(1997), Thesen
(1997), Culk (1994),
Albertini (1993)
Total
2
11
3
16
Stroud & Lee (2007)
Table 3. Some themes in EFL scholarship
(JSLW & TQ 1992-to date; N=70)
Theme
Illustrations
Cognitive processes of composing
Pennington & So (1993), Roca de Larios et
al. (1999), Sasaki (2000), Wang & Wen
(2002)
(Critical) contrastive rhetoric & instruction
Kubota (1998), Gosden (1998), Sengupta
(1999), Lee (2002), Kang (2005)
Feedback/response and revision
Brock (1993), Jacobs et al. (1998), Ashwell
(2000), Min (2006), Miao et al. (2006)
Writing for publication in English
Gosden (1996), Casanave (1998), J.
Flowerdew (1999a, 1999b), Curry & Lillis
(2004), Shi et al. (2005), Li (2007)
Plagiarism, voice, and their (trans)cultural
dimensions
Deckert (1993), Pennycook (1996),
Matsuda (2001)
L1/L2 composing pedagogical & curricular
landscapes
Kobayashi & Rinnert (2002); Reichelt
(1999, 2005); Ramanathan (2003); You
(2004)
Contributions of FL Writing
scholarship to L2 writing theory
Two Japan-based
research programs
Miyuki
Sasaki
Hiroe
Kobayashi
Keiko Hirose
Carol
Rinnert
Two Europe-based
Research programs
Rosa
Manchón
Rob
Schoonen
Liz Murphy Amos van
Gelderen
Julio Roca
Kees de
de Larios
Glopper
In a nutshell:
Context (SA)
L2 fluency vs.
L2 knowledge
L2 proficiency
Overall (L1) composing
ability
Experience
(=practice)
L2 composing
ability
Problem-solving
(L1 use, restructuring,
backtracking)
L1 & L2 training
(=meta-knowledge)
But What of Purposes and
Needs for FL writing?
In-between what we should know,
and what we should be trying to
imagine
TENAR, TENOP, TENOR?
Courtesy of Akiko Katayama to Sandy McKay, to me
TENAR = Teaching English for No Apparent
Reason (one of several facetious expressions used
to describe a learning situation where the purpose
is, at best, vague; this includes language courses
that apparently exist merely to allow students to
meet university graduation requirements;
common in Japan)
(ELT Acronyms, in ELT News, http://www.eltnews.com/guides/acronyms_3.shtml)
Purposes for FL writing
Writing to
Learn FL
Utilitarian
Practicing FL
Exams
Motivational
boost
Trade
Tourism
Science
Technology
Humanistic
Personal
Creativity &
selfexpression
CMC
Critical
thinking
Identity
construction
Pop
culture
Writing to learn an FL
Practicing L2
(grammar, voc)?
Motivational boost
through writing?
After all these years: Grammar, lexis, &
‘control of language’ still important in S/FL
writing
(Hinkel, 2006)
Writing
Language Development
 Writing --- metalinguistic reflection (Cumming, 1990;




Swain & Lapkin, 1995)
Writing -- collaboration and interaction (Swain, Brooks,
& Tocalli-Beller, 2002)... (in FL contexts this may happen
in the L1; Pennington et al., 1996)
Text reconstruction studies (Izumi & Bigelow, 2000;
Izumi, 2002)
Reformulation studies (Adams, 2003; Tocalli-Beller &
Swain, 2005; Qi & Lapkin, 2001)
Writing -- attention & practice (Manchón & Roca de
Larios, 2007)
Yet, not so much is known about writing as a site for
L2 development
(emphasis on linguistic profiling and rhetorical
analysis, not development)
Q: Pushed output applied to L2
writing?
Q: Ways to motivate writers to write
(more and better) in the FL?
Powerful effect of changing contexts for writing:
 8-to-11 month study abroad experiences (Sasaki,
2004, in press)
Rethink tasks:
 Uncorrected journal assignments (Casanave, 1994)
 Guided vs. unguided picture stories (Ishikawa, 1994)
 Create writing tasks that connect with student
interests and backgrounds (Lo & F. Hyland, in press)
Q: How is teacher agency exercised
to motivate students creatively,
even in the most difficult of
contexts?
“The writing tasks in the CETB-4 ask students to
write short argumentative or expository essays.
[Mrs Meng] explained that writing for daily
applications and writing for examinations serve
different purposes. In her own teaching, she
encouraged students to translate Chinese notices
and graffiti into English, or to keep an English
diary, all of which interested her students
enormously”
(You, 2004, p. 107)
“The writing tasks in the CETB-4 ask students to
write short argumentative or expository essays.
[Mrs Meng] explained that writing for daily
applications and writing for examinations serve
different purposes. In her own teaching, she
encouraged students to translate Chinese notices
and graffiti into English, or to keep an English
diary, all of which interested her students
enormously”
(You, 2004, p. 107)
Reichelt (2005, p. 230) FL writing in Poland: Tenthgraders’ Advertisements for a New Teacher
WANTED!!! An excellent upper-intermediate class is searching
for a new English teacher. If you think (optional) you can
handle a group of loud, unorganized, annoying students who
never do their homework, you are welcome. We offer you a
headache, stomach diseases, concussion, neurosis, and lots of
ulcers. If you are a real man, prove it, and take your chance.
Q: Accuracy & motivation, how do
they affect each other?
“... giving students real topics where they had real
information and feelings to communicate taxed
their second language resources to the maximum
and thus resulted in less accurate language”
e.g., more direct and inappropriate translations
from Chinese to English
e.g., more occasions when students asked for direct
translation of a phrase or sentence from Chinese
to English while writing
(Lo & Hyland, in press, p. 13)
Motivation
as engagement
Accuracy
Concern
for accuracy
Motivation/
engagement
Exams
Globalization
Utilitarian/Instrumental
Purposes & Needs
Trade
Tourism
Technology
Science
Academia
Q: What antagonistic and affiliative
engagements (Bhabha, 1994) does
globalization afford various FL writers?
Antagonistic and affiliative engagements:
Former student, quoted with permission
My weakness is grammar and academic voice:
I did not think I was weak in my grammar but when I got comments
from a lot of professors about my grammar, I still feel I’m not
legitimate academic writer. Their comment make me to think I’m
not academically appropriate, but still need to go to ESL English
classes to fix my grammar. I feel often I’m a long-term patient in
a hospital to get a 10 year long surgery. [...]
[My other weakness is] Academic voice. I’m getting into postmodernism. But I don’t have post-modernist’s academic voice in
my writing. So, I really wish I can get their voice in my writing. So
that I can be part of their community.
Q: And how much English does
globalization really make available
for FL writers?
“Across the Greater China region, residents
can read Harry Potter books or Scientific
American, watch the Discovery or Disney
channels, and follow NBA stars or
Hollywood idols—all in Chinese. Outside
of school, young people may participate in
global culture without English”
(Chen et al., 2005, p. 610)
Humanistic
Creativity,
self-expression
Critical/analytical
thinking
Identity construction
In Germany, many teachers think that “writing in one or more foreign
languages, especially at the advanced level, trains students’ overall
linguistic sensitivity and often helps them with writing in German”
(Reichelt, 2005, p. 93)
“writing may be the perfect vehicle for accomplishing the eventual
construction of an appropriate and comfortable identity in the
FL”
(Leki, 2001, p. 205)
Writing may be one of the most
powerful sites for escaping the
native/non-native speaker
dichotomy and inventing a new
space in which nativeness eventually
may not matter (finally!)
Joseph Conrad
Franz Kafka
Nobody remembers them for being non-native writers,
but for being seminal writers
Ramanathan & Atkinson (1999)  ideology of individualism
Matsuda (2001)  identity unavoidable, discursive and social
repertoires context-specific
Kubota (2002, 2004)  liberal humanism that supports essential,
imagined “us” and “other”
Q: How do humanistic purposes and
center-periphery dialectics collide and
change each other?
More personal
purposes & needs
Q: Less conventional, less school-oriented
genres: Email, pop culture... How much FL
‘writing’ is there in them?
Locating Purposes and
Needs for Writing in a
Foreign Language
How can FL researchers & FL
teachers imagine and craft
richer and generative
purposes and needs for FL
writing?
With what lenses may we want
to look at in-between spaces
for purposeful FL writing?
We need to go beyond
binaries:
Second
Native
L1
C self
Foreign
Non-native
L2
C other
in-betweenness (interstices)
Canagarajah’s (2006) suggestion:
A pedagogy of shuttling between
languages/contexts:
 Focus on multilingual writers and
her/his mutiplicity of contexts, not only
texts
 Focus on versatility as much as
consistency
Writing in a foreign language...
...Will we be able to imagine
more purpose-ful, and needsinformed FL writing
... at the interstices?
Thank You
lortega@hawaii.edu
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