“Teaching Composition in the
Multilingual World Second Language Writing
in Composition Studies” by Paul Kei Matsuda was interesting to read. I
learned a lot about what “multilingual writers” go through (Matsuda 38).
Certain sections the author called attention to, made me think about my writing
center theory and practice class. For example, my class just got done reading about
“WAC/WID” and some points Matsuda brings up in his discussion did not cross my
mind (47). In fact, a lot of the suggestions Muriel Harris and Tony Silva give
in “Tutoring ESL Students: Issues and Options” I have heard before during
discussions in my writing center class. Furthermore I agree with a lot of the
points Matsuda raises, especially “it is time to start thinking more seriously
about how to prepare monolingual students to write like the rest of the world”
(50). Although I agree with this point, I am a little worried. I would love to
know and write others languages fluently but if some people have so many
difficulties learning English I imagine learning another language being twice
as hard. I remember deciding to stop learning Spanish after my third year in
high school because the exam was so difficult. In my high school, the fourth
year was the year really dedicated to writing in Spanish. I stopped before I
even got to the most challenging part, and I was already struggling. I just
have a feeling that I would be struggling and stressing, and I prefer not to go
through that unless I have to.
A part of me feels like it is not fair
to have “ESL writers” go through so much and learn English fully while some
people have the option to fully learn another language (Matsuda 38). The years
they require us to take in school were not enough and after reading Matsuda it
does not compare to what others go through to learn English. In my opinion, all
you really needed to know was enough to pass the tests. Lastly, I like how Matsuda
gave some suggestions in his article that would possibly make things fair for “multilingual
writers” (38). Moreover, these articles make you think about your own actions.
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