Rethinking Multilingual Writers in Higher Education: An Institutional Case Study

Rethinking Multilingual Writers in Higher Education: An Institutional Case Study explores the complexities of multilingual students as language users and learners, emphasizing the distinctive assets that they bring to their education and the ways in which institutions of higher education can better meet their needs.

Teachers, university administrators, advisors, and other support staff will gain an understanding of the resources, challenges, and successes of this growing student population and become better equipped to provide them with the best possible educational opportunities. Through mixed-methods case studies focusing on the Northeastern University Writing Program and Writing Center, the authors unpack the complexity of multilingual students’ identities and languaging to challenge deficit and homogenizing narratives that overlook their linguistic assets and diverse educational experiences. Working within and against university categories for collecting information about students and assessing their writing, authors point out the limits of terms such as “international” and the problems with dichotomous L1/L2 and native/nonnative speaker labels. Finally, the book offers lessons learned about the importance of conducting program self-study to inform research and pedagogy for higher education institutions around the world.

This book will appeal to writing studies and linguistics scholars with interests in multilingualism, assessment, and mobility, as well as institutional stakeholders and researchers of higher education and multicultural education.

Qianqian Zhang-Wu is Assistant Professor of English and Director of Multilingual Writing at Northeastern University, USA.

Mya Poe is Professor of English at Northeastern University, USA.

Cherice Escobar Jones is a PhD student in English at Northeastern University, USA.

Cara Marta Messina is Assistant Professor of English at Marist University, USA.

Neal Lerner is Professor of English at Northeastern University, USA.