On Second Language Writing

Researching and Teaching Second Language Writing in the Digital Age

This book presents a comprehensive approach to issues related to researching and teaching second language (L2) writing in digital environments. In the digital age, new technologies have revolutionized the ways we communicate and construct knowledge, and have also reshaped the traditional notions of writing and literacy, posing new challenges and opportunities for L2 teachers and students. This book provides up-to-date coverage of the main areas of L2 writing and technology, including digital multimodal composing, computer-mediated collaborative writing, online teacher and peer feedback, automated writing evaluation, and corpus-based writing instruction. It synthesizes the relevant literature, analyzes theoretical perspectives, compiles relevant resources, and offers research and pedagogical recommendations to guide scholars in undertaking new L2 writing research and instructional practice in technologically-supported educational contexts. This book will be of relevance and interest to researchers, language teachers, and graduate students in applied linguistics and education.

Assessment in the Second Language Writing Classroom

Assessment in the Second Language Writing Classroom is a teacher and prospective teacher-friendly book, uncomplicated by the language of statistics. The book is for those who teach and assess second language writing in several different contexts: the IEP, the developmental writing classroom, and the sheltered composition classroom. In addition, teachers who experience a mixed population or teach cross-cultural composition will find the book a valuable resource. Other books have thoroughly covered the theoretical aspects of writing assessment, but none have focused as heavily as this book does on pragmatic classroom aspects of writing assessment. Further, no book to date has included an in-depth examination of the machine scoring of writing and its effects on second language writers. Crusan not only makes a compelling case for becoming knowledgeable about L2 writing assessment but offers the means to do so. Her highly accessible, thought-provoking presentation of the conceptual and practical dimensions of writing assessment, both for the classroom and on a larger scale, promises to engage readers who have previously found the technical detail of other works on assessment off-putting, as well as those who have had no previous exposure to the study of assessment at all.

Second Language Writing in Transitional Spaces