Localizing

writing initiatives

Charlyne Sarmiento

Vera Lúcia Cristovão

Elizabeth Narváez-Cardona

Goal:

Reflecting upon different institutional contexts and

highlighting opportunities for WAC/WID movements.

Activities:

1. Demystifying situated genres by localizing

assessment criteria.

2. Finding opportunities to mobilize emerging

Colombian writing centers.

3. Identifying possibilities for curriculum

implementations in writing courses in Brazilian Higher

Education contexts

Contextual Background

California Institute of Technology

Hixon Writing Center

• History of Writing Center

• History of First Year Composition at Caltech

• Culture of Writing

Writing in Core Curriculum

The singular use of "Ability" reduces student development of writing to one generalized skill that can be transferred to multiple disciplines or settings.

“Writing Effectively”

Developing a Writing Culture

Context of the teaching of writing in first language and foreign language

(English) in Brazil

.. http://portal.inep.gov.br/superior-censosuperior-sinopse

Figures on Higher Education in Brazil

Number of universities in Brazil: …………………………..2,365in the public sector…………. 284in the private sector……….. 2,081

Number of students at Higher Education: …………..6,739,689in the public sector………….1,773,315 in the private sector………..4,966,374

Number of courses………………………………………….......30,420Number of teachers………………………………………………378,257

in the public sector…………. 150,815in the private sector………….227,442

There are no general education requirements in Brazilian HigherEducation.

ESP PROJECT AT UNIVERSITIES IN BRAZIL:

in the 1970s and 1980shttp://www4.pucsp.br/pos/lael/cepri

l/workingpapers/BrazilianESP.pdf

The emerging status of English as a Lingua Franca in Brazil has fostered discussionsand new proposals regarding the teaching of writing. This is what has happened at my university.

Activity

We have reproduced two abstracts of papers referringto the teaching of writing both in the first language(Portuguese) and in a foreign language (English, in this

case).A. Choose one of them and make comments on theliteracy practices that you can infer that are beingoffered in Brazilian Higher Education.B. Reflect upon the experience about the University ofWisconsin – Madison, and identify possibilities forcurriculum implementations in writing courses inBrazilian Higher Education contexts.

Camargo, Márcio José Pereira de, & Britto, Luiz Percival Leme. (2011). Vertentes do ensino de português em cursos superiores. Avaliação: Revista da Avaliação da Educação Superior (Campinas), 16(2), 345-353. Retrieved January 22, 2013, from http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1414-40772011000200006&lng=en&tlng=pt. 10.1590/S1414-40772011000200006.

… CHAPTER 9.ACADEMIC LITERACIES IN THE SOUTH: WRITING PRACTICES IN A BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITYBy Désirée Motta-RothFederal University of Santa Maria (Brazil)Abstract: Paulo Freire (2000, p. 46), the renowned Brazilian educator, once stated that “one learns to read by reading.” To understand what writing does, we need to experience interaction mediated by writing. In this essay I focus on the importance of learners’ participation in academic activities for the development of academic literacies: the material and symbolic acts that (re)produce verified knowledge, associated with higher education. I will give an overview of the writing practices at the Federal University of Santa Maria (Universidade Federal deSanta Maria or UFSM), where I have been investigating and teaching academic writing since 1994. The essay starts with a brief history and mission statement about the university. The second section brings a general description of writing at UFSM in relation to why and in relationto what goals this writing occurs. In the third section, I analyze English undergraduate and Applied Linguistics graduate students’ answers to a questionnaire about their literacy practices. The essay closes with a description of the principles for a writing program and a note on ambitions and frustrations regarding writing pedagogy in my local context.

Chris Thaiss, Gerd Bräuer, Paula Carlino, Lisa Ganobcsik-Williams, and Aparna Sinha. 2012. Writing Programs Worldwide: Profiles of Academic Writing in Many Places. Perspectives on Writing. Fort Collins, Colorado: The WAC Clearinghouse and Parlor Press. Available at http://wac.colostate.edu/books/wrab2011/