Teaching Multilingual Learners: Beyond the ESOL Classroom and Back Again

Abstract

As we commemorate the publication of the twenty-fifth volume of the Journal of Basic Writing, it seems appropriate to reflect on the state of basic writ ing today.Thirty-one years have passed since this journal was founded in 1975 by Mina Shaughnessy-JBWs first editor-along with eight female colleagues at CUNY's City College of ew York.'In some ways, the field of basic writing, always contested and endlessly under construction, appears in 2006 to be besieged from all sides.In recent years, the United States has experienced a proliferation of government-mandated high-stakes tests at all educational levels.ot only have these tests caused many students to be labeled as not competent in writing, but they have also influenced definitions of competence in writing.Testing formats that are economical or logistically convenient for large-scale administration have often led to a constricted, impoverished definition of writing, thus devaluing the very competence they were designed to ensure.To further complicate the situation for the faculty and students who are affected by these problematic definitions of competence in writing, legislatures in several states have passed laws forbidding "remedial classes" in four-year in stitutions or prohibiting academic credit for basic writing courses.CUNY itself, whose Open Admissions policy was implemented in 1970, has also undergone changes in recent years.On May 26, 1998 (and again on January, 25, 1999, after a legal challenge to the first vote), CUNY's Board of Trustees voted to phase out all "remediation" in its four-year colleges by January 2001.In practice, this meant that only students who passed all three of the University's assessment tests (reading, writing, and math) upon entrance could be admitted to a bachelor's degree program in one of the four-year colleges.Others would have to begin their studies in an associate's degree program or in one of the University's com munity college Despite these setbacks, however, the field of basic writing seems to be experiencing a resurgence of energy and commitment from scholars and practitioners across the country.In response to legislative mandates banning "remediation" from four-year institutions, faculty committees are developing creative and academically sound programs to offer students BW support as well as academic credit.Often, this involves removing "remediation" from separate "skills" departments and instead offering regular English Department courses, which carry at least partial academic credit.

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