Post on 01-Jul-2015
Localizing
writing initiatives
Charlyne Sarmiento
Vera Lúcia Cristovão
Elizabeth Narváez-Cardona
Goal:
Reflecting upon different institutional contexts and
highlighting opportunities for WAC/WID movements.
Activities:
1. Demystifying situated genres by localizing
assessment criteria.
2. Finding opportunities to mobilize emerging
Colombian writing centers.
3. Identifying possibilities for curriculum
implementations in writing courses in Brazilian Higher
Education contexts
Contextual Background
California Institute of Technology
Hixon Writing Center
• History of Writing Center
• History of First Year Composition at Caltech
• Culture of Writing
Writing in Core Curriculum
The singular use of "Ability" reduces student development of writing to one generalized skill that can be transferred to multiple disciplines or settings.
“Writing Effectively”
Developing a Writing Culture
Context of the teaching of writing in first language and foreign language
(English) in Brazil
.. http://portal.inep.gov.br/superior-censosuperior-sinopse
Figures on Higher Education in Brazil
Number of universities in Brazil: …………………………..2,365in the public sector…………. 284in the private sector……….. 2,081
Number of students at Higher Education: …………..6,739,689in the public sector………….1,773,315 in the private sector………..4,966,374
Number of courses………………………………………….......30,420Number of teachers………………………………………………378,257
in the public sector…………. 150,815in the private sector………….227,442
There are no general education requirements in Brazilian HigherEducation.
ESP PROJECT AT UNIVERSITIES IN BRAZIL:
in the 1970s and 1980shttp://www4.pucsp.br/pos/lael/cepri
l/workingpapers/BrazilianESP.pdf
The emerging status of English as a Lingua Franca in Brazil has fostered discussionsand new proposals regarding the teaching of writing. This is what has happened at my university.
Activity
We have reproduced two abstracts of papers referringto the teaching of writing both in the first language(Portuguese) and in a foreign language (English, in this
case).A. Choose one of them and make comments on theliteracy practices that you can infer that are beingoffered in Brazilian Higher Education.B. Reflect upon the experience about the University ofWisconsin – Madison, and identify possibilities forcurriculum implementations in writing courses inBrazilian Higher Education contexts.
Camargo, Márcio José Pereira de, & Britto, Luiz Percival Leme. (2011). Vertentes do ensino de português em cursos superiores. Avaliação: Revista da Avaliação da Educação Superior (Campinas), 16(2), 345-353. Retrieved January22, 2013, from http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1414-40772011000200006&lng=en&tlng=pt. 10.1590/S1414-40772011000200006.
… CHAPTER 9.ACADEMIC LITERACIES IN THE SOUTH: WRITING PRACTICES IN A BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITYBy Désirée Motta-RothFederal University of Santa Maria (Brazil)Abstract: Paulo Freire (2000, p. 46), the renowned Brazilian educator, once stated that “one learns to read by reading.” To understand what writing does, we need to experience interaction mediated by writing. In this essay I focus on the importance of learners’ participation in academic activities for the development of academic literacies: the material and symbolic acts that (re)produce verified knowledge, associated with higher education. I will give an overview of the writing practices at the Federal University of Santa Maria (Universidade Federal deSanta Maria or UFSM), where I have been investigating and teaching academic writing since 1994. The essay starts with a brief history and mission statement about the university. The second section brings a general description of writing at UFSM in relation to why and in relationto what goals this writing occurs. In the third section, I analyze English undergraduate and Applied Linguistics graduate students’ answers to a questionnaire about their literacy practices. The essay closes with a description of the principles for a writing program and a note on ambitions and frustrations regarding writing pedagogy in my local context.
Chris Thaiss, Gerd Bräuer, Paula Carlino, Lisa Ganobcsik-Williams, and Aparna Sinha. 2012. Writing Programs Worldwide: Profiles of Academic Writing in Many Places. Perspectives on Writing. Fort Collins, Colorado: The WAC Clearinghouse and Parlor Press. Available at http://wac.colostate.edu/books/wrab2011/