Diane Belcher

English for Specific Purposes: Teaching to Perceived Needs and Imagined Futures in Worlds of Work, Study, and Everyday Life

This overview of the current state of English for specific purposes (ESP) begins by surveying ongoing debates on key topics: needs assessment and its goals, specificity in instructional methods, and the role of subject knowledge in instructor expertise. Two strands of current theory and research are next surveyed, namely, genre theory and corpus-enhanced genre studies, and critical pedagogy and ethnographies, followed by examples of research and theory-informed pedagogical strategies for literacy and spoken discourse. Topics in need of further inquiry are suggested.

Coming back to voice: The multiple voices and identities of mature multilingual writers

Abstract Compositionists often speak of the need to help students acquire a voice or identity in their writing. This interest in teaching voice is understandable but also problematic. Satisfactorily defining “voice,” especially from a second language (L2) point of view, is one of those problems. Another is a reliance on various conceptualizations that privilege a “Western” or a romantic or individualistic notion of voice in classroom situations where many students do not share such a background. In this paper, we use three case studies to address a third problem: a tendency in L2 writing instruction and research to overlook the voices, or identities, already possessed by L2 writers, many of whom at the graduate level bring a history of success as professional/academic writers in their native language and culture to the L2 writing classroom. We examine the role voice can play not as a teaching device but rather as a means by which to investigate and understand the voice-related issues these mature writers encounter in L2 contexts.

Authentic Interaction in a Virtual Classroom: Leveling the Playing Field in a Graduate Seminar

Abstract This article looks at how a class newsgroup, originally created to facilitate the sharing of responses to readings, impacted on class participation in a graduate seminar that included students who initially appeared at a possible disadvantage—linguistically, educationally, and experientially. Analysis of these culturally diverse students’ contributions to the asynchronous class discussion, of their evolving intellectually and emotionally supportive interaction, is presented and discussed. Concerns about the limitations of the apparent empowering and democratizing effects of computer networking are raised.

An argument for nonadversarial argumentation: on the relevance of the feminist critique of academic discourse to L2 writing pedagogy

Abstract The feminist critique of academic discourse has begun to heighten awareness of the agonistic, competitive nature of much academic writing in English. This article considers what the implications of this gendered discoursal consciousness may be for L2 writing educators, both as teachers and as academic writers themselves. Vignettes of two L2 writers who have successfully negotiated nonadversarial academic texts are presented and discussed. Finally, guideposts for a nonadversarial model of academic discourse are suggested.