Multilingualism in the Undergraduate Writing Classroom: Present Practices and Future Impact

Workshop Presentation
Deborah Williams  

What is a global university pedagogy in and for the 21st century and how might it address questions of multilingualism and linguistic diversity of faculty and students? In its exploration of these questions, which have implications for teaching with (or against) generative AI, our workshop demonstrates the centrality of the undergraduate writing class as the locus of innovative and adaptive ideas about teaching, learning, and the future of liberal arts education. The workshop brings together theoretical discussions about translingual pedagogies and specific practical tools in order to foster conversations and further innovations about working with multilingual students in our classrooms. With the rise of first-year writing programs at universities around the world, which often emphasize the importance of writing in English, it is essential to think about how faculty can engage with the issues of a multilingual classroom in ways that resist pedagogies focused on “remediation” or “fixing.” Drawing upon lessons learned from the global circulation of the liberal arts curriculum, the workshop will shed light on the under-valued potential of a translingual approach in the English-only composition classroom. The scholar-teachers convening the workshop will highlight the ways that translingual pedagogies offer students the opportunity to develop intellectual authority, creative power, and individual agency. This workshop will bring together theoretical discussions about translingual pedagogies and specific practical tools in order to foster conversations and further innovations about working with multilingual students across the global university.