Guest Post: From the Symposium on Second Language Writing

[Note: This guest post was kindly provided by AuthorAID community member Sergio Lozano—a physician, translator, and editor in Mexico. Thanks so much, Sergio! –BG]

I attended the Symposium on Second Language Writing that took place this month at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, USA. Founded in 1998, this symposium brings together international experts, including teachers and researchers, in the field. Twenty-one countries were represented, and speakers from several countries presented research.

Plenaries, workshops, colloquia, concurrent sessions, and research presentations took place; topics included treatment of error, plagiarism, the use of technology, language transfer, writing centers, and language acquisition. The theme of the event was “The Future of Second Language Writing”, and the presentations of the invited colloquia were oriented toward this topic. (See http://sslw.asu.edu/2009/.)

Second language writing has an important place in academics because many students from other countries travel to the United States to pursue graduate degrees. However, it was noteworthy that teachers and researchers of other foreign languages, such as German and French, gave presentations.

Another interesting point was the use of writing centers to help native and second language students in their writing. I discovered for the first time that this is a common practice and that writing centers have proven to be an important resource.

Researchers as second language writers are always concerned about their use of English. Many feel that they have limited knowledge of the language and that there are few places to get help, a concern voiced by several at the symposium.

It is important to continue with events like this and with research and teaching in this important area. The next symposium will be in Murcia, Spain. For information, see http://sslw.asu.edu/2010/.