Alexandria Hanson Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description First-year students often enter introductory writing courses with a wide range of language experiences and backgrounds. To develop critical language awareness, as Shawna Shapiro writes, it is important to help students “recognize the variation within their own linguistic repertoir—no matter how many languages or language varieties they […]
Communication Guide Assignment Read More »
Gitte Frandsen Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description Transnational, multilingual students have extensive experiences negotiating language difference by translating, translanguaging, and drawing from their literacy and rhetorical resources (Canagarajah). Further, by traversing physical and digital borders, these students habitually engage in the transnational flow of ideas and information, which gives them access to a wealth
Map-Making and Storytelling Read More »
Massimo Verzella Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description This assignment is informed by a pedagogical tradition that emphasizes the connections between the fields of writing and translation (Matsuda; Horner and Tetreault), a connection that becomes even more relevant in technical communication (Gnecchi et al.; Petts et al.). Just like writing, translation is process-based, iterative, and
Writing, Translating, and Revising Menus: An International Virtual Exchange Project Read More »
Kristen Vogel Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description In every course I teach, I work to instill in students the understanding that Standard English is merely one variety among many, rather than a superior form. In this assignment, students are asked to write an essay that analyzes the “grammar” of their own writing in a
The Grammar of Text Messaging: Analyzing Non-Standard English to Develop Genre Awareness Read More »
Madeline Crozier Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This activity helps students develop writing and listening skills through an exploration of how identity, language, and writing are connected. By including one or more podcast episodes as supplemental course content and then inviting students to reflect on and discuss the episodes, the activity brings multiple languages,
Reflective Writing About Podcasts for Critical Language Awareness Read More »
Chris Mayer Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This multi-step lesson engages students in the critical analysis of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) and its impact on linguistic diversity. Through assigned readings, writing tasks, and in-class activities, students will explore how Large Language Models (LLMs) can reinforce linguistic hierarchies and biases. Even older LLMs, like
Gen AI: Large Language Models and Linguistic Whitewashing Read More »
Ruth Li Volume 7 Chapter Description In this chapter, I offer an approach to teaching literacy narratives, which encourage students to reflect critically on their diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. I interweave examples from literacy narratives written by three of my first-year writing students in Saudi Arabia. By examining the ways students’ stories reverberate across
Reflecting on Literacy Identities Through Writing Personal Narratives Read More »
Florianne Jimenez and Aileen Salonga Volume 7 Chapter Description In this chapter, we focus on how Filipino university students think about and make sense of the notion of ‘good’ academic writing.1 We introduce a social and historical view of the entanglements between English and academic writing in the Philippines, which have resulted in an academic
Writing as the World Falls Apart: A Filipino Perspective on Academic Writing Read More »
Sana Sayed Volume 7 Chapter Description This chapter draws from Aja Martinez’s concept of counterstories as a rhetorical research methodology in rhetoric and writing studies and encourages you, a first year writing student, to draw upon your experiential knowledge to both challenge and reframe master narratives that are accepted by the majority. In first-year composition
Writing Counterstories: Ways to Challenge Dominant Narratives in FYC Read More »
Joanna Schreiber Volume 6 Chapter Description UX research is central to technical writing work. The three phases of user experience (UX) research—background, primary, and usability testing—presented in this chapter are intended to help you see research as both a fundamental and ongoing part of technical writing. This chapter provides a foundation for building your knowledge
Beyond Audience Analysis: Three Stages of User Experience Research for Technical Writers Read More »
