Across the Curriculum and Languages: Strategies for Teaching Multilingual Students

The student population in U.S. higher education is becoming increasingly diverse both linguistically and culturally. While integrating writing and speaking into courses across the curriculum provide valuable learning opportunities for all students, it also poses an increased challenge to students for whom English is not the primary language--and to their teachers. In this workshop, Dr. Matsuda will provide an overview of various issues in teaching multilingual students in courses across the curriculum. He will then discuss strategies for working with linguistically and culturally diverse student population effectively and efficiently. There will be an opportunity to discuss specific questions and concerns that participants have about working with multilingual writers.

Matsuda is Director of Composition at the University of New Hampshire, where he works closely with doctoral students in composition studies and master's students in English Language and Linguistics. He has presented lectures and workshops on second-language writing at numerous universities throughout the United States as well as in Japan, Mexico and Taiwan. His research interests include second-language writing, contrastive rhetoric, English for Academic Purposes, and World Englishes.