Jamie is a composition and poetry instructor. She recently attended a conference within her discipline at which she met and learned from colleagues who invite their students to submit assignments in multiple languages. The spirit of enabling diverse languages in written submissions is the understanding that writing in one’s first language allows for unique learning opportunities and enables culturally significant expressions not possible through English.
Jamie is initially excited by this idea, but the more she considered the practice the more concerned she became with the feasibility of reading and evaluating student work. Jamie mulled over the idea for some time before exploring possibilities with her department chair. In consultation, they considered opportunities through peer evaluation, collaborations with multilingual colleagues and expanding assignments to include a self-evaluation written in English.
Jaime emerged from the conversation committed to piloting a course where she would permit submissions in both English and Spanish. Additionally, her chair was inspired to explore composition classes conducted in diverse languages through partnerships with the world languages department.
- The Issue: Jamie is inspired by a writing composition practice that invites students' submissions in multiple languages. However, she is concerned about the logistics and feasibility of such a practice.
- The Deliberation: Jamie consults with her supervisor about possibilities, and they deliberate resources and opportunities inside and outside their department.
- The Growth: Jamie finds the support and confidence to initiate a bilingual submission initiative. Similarly inspired by their reflections, her department chair begins exploring composition course offerings in multiple languages.