|
|
|
Terms Across ContextsThese are introduced by author(s), in alphabetical order. We can re-organize the terms as we talk about them. Some terms are defined more than once; cross-referencing and supplementary material welcome! Please consult the “French-English” link, organized on the principle of “false friends” (mentioned also by David Nentwick and Chris Thaiss in their glossary entries), and the 2009 CCCC workshop link (organized as an overall set of terms), to see examples of how we might further develop this glossary in advance of our workshop in ways that will increase our understanding and exchange. This glossary can be edited by any one of you—feel free to comment on definitions or add new terms or new definitions of existing terms. Participants who sign up for the workshop will be pointed here, as well.
Le bac—“baccalauréat,” required exit exam for French high school students, which determines in large part who will be eligible to attend university; because of the French system of tracking, several versions of le bac exist, some of which test more heavily in areas of, for instance, math and science or literature. Classes Prépas—“Classes Préparatoires,” the two years (or sometimes three, for a pitiable few) of intensive preparatory classes required for admission in the Grandes Écoles school system in France; followed by written and oral exams, which establish a hierarchy among the students; those with the highest rankings get their first choice of Grande École, while the lowest scoring students are eliminated from the running. ESIP—“École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Poitiers,” which roughly translates to College of Engineering at the University of Poitiers, France; the University is on the southeastern corner of a small, historic town of about 100,000–150,000 residents, about a sixth of which are university students, and only about 250 of whom belong to the prestigious school of Engineering. FYC—“First-Year Composition,” a writing-intensive course required of most US students in their first year of university and college. Grandes Écoles—Very rough equivalent of the Ivy League school system in the US. Interdisciplinarity—Seemingly an alternately growing and ebbing fad in US higher education; institutional sanctions of interdisciplinary scholarship have more often than not been strategic and self-aggrandizing, nonetheless, many significant contributions to contemporary American thoughts have come from collaborations between specialists from disparate academic domains; Although the term is sometimes used as a lazy synonym for “innovation,” the notion of interdisciplinarity has forced US scholars to reconsider “discipline,” which, we have found, is much less cohesive than it originally appears. Les oraux—Oral English exams, in part prepared and in part improvised, required of ESIP students at the end of every school year. Rhet/Comp—“Rhetoric and Composition,” also known as “Writing Studies,” a field of practitioners of writing-related scholarship, teaching, and research in the US. Soutien—Optional, supplementary English classes available to all ESIP students, but encouraged for weaker students; soutiens typically take the form of additional TOEIC test prep and drills. TOEIC—“Test of English for International Communication,” a test of English proficiency, which leans more heavily toward professional communication; the multiple-choice test, which measures listening and reading comprehension (but not speaking), making it cheaper to administer and grade, is required of all ESIP students. Students who fail the first time must continue to take the test until they get a passing mark. WID/WAC—“writing in the disciplines” and “writing across the curriculum,” an amalgam of research and scholarship on the efficacies, challenges, and best practices of teaching writing geared toward students’ fields of study.
Swedish terminology (when translated into English) Teachers (Lärare) - Academics/staff/lecturers teaching the courses. Study programme (Program) Course (Kurs) - An educational module, a course Study period (Läsperiod) - There are four study periods during one academic year, 2 in the autumn and 2 in the spring. One study period is 7 weeks, consisting of either one, two or more courses. Credit (Poäng) - In Sweden we follow the European standard: ETCS, European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System where 7,5 credits equal five weeks of fulltime studies.
Class: In the US, an instructional unit that meets regularly for a designated period, called a module in the UK.
Faculty: In the US, academic professionals engaged in teaching and research, called academic staff in the UK.
Academic Discourse: A specific genre which holds certain assumptions and conventions: logic, clarity, and argument in essay form. Used in many US first year composition courses as the model of writing done across the university. Can be considered dry by many first year writing students. See David Bartholomae for his discussion on students’ struggle to learn the “code” of academic discourse in “Inventing the University.” Also see Patricia Bizzell’s text, “Academic Discourse and Critical Consciousness.” Acculturation: The change in culture that occurs after continued contact with another culture. This, like assimilation, usually affects the subordinate culture rather than the dominant. However, unlike assimilation, the original culture remains intact. Linguistically, acculturation entails a creole or pidgin, such as Haitian Creole or Spanglish. More fluid than assimilation, acculturation can also encompass transculturation, a term used by Mary Louise Pratt in her essay, “The Arts of the Contact Zone.” In transculturation, subordinate groups choose certain cultural traits from the dominant culture, then take them and transform them into a hybrid cultural characteristic which serves a purpose, such as communication.
Assimilation: A process which a subordinate group takes on certain characteristics and ideologies of the dominant group, often at the expense of their own culture’s characteristics and ideologies. This can be a conscious or unconscious act. See Richard Rodriguez’ narrative “Hunger of Memory” for his detailed description of his own linguistic and cultural assimilation in education.
Code Meshing: Canagarajah argues that in a multicultural, multidialectical world, we need to stop looking at proficiency as the only norm. Instead, Canagarajah proposes a process of code meshing for students, a mix of local and varietal Englishes with Standard Academic English. Based on the linguistic term “code switching,” used to describe the process of switching between primary language and second/third languages, but can also apply to switching between dialects and between public/private languages. Also see Young and Elbow. Cultural Capital: Bourdieu’s definition to describe the complex relationship between “cultural heritage” and habitus, i.e. the traits that serve to distinguish one’s subject position within a dominant culture. Bourdieu argues that in addition to economic status, cultural heritage also serves in defining success, or failure, for students. In the context of this essay, cultural capital implies cultural proficiency, which is indelibly linked to linguistic proficiency in the dominant language. Dialect: “a variety of a language used by some definable group” and arises within communities defined by physical location, socio-economic identity, or “cultural perspectives” (“CCCCs Students’ Rights to Their Own Language”).
Linguistic Imperialism/Colonization/Violence: Used by linguists such as Phillipson and cultural theorists such as Anzaldua who equate linguistic dominance to linguistic genocide due to the intrinsic nature of language and identity. Within each dominant language lies dominant ideology; therefore the globalization of English also implies the rise of Western ideology at the cost of indigenous language and embodied knowledge. Minoritized: Describes the process of minoritizing, which, according to Lloyd and JanMohammed, is inevitably linked to issues of “position.” Focuses on the implicit and explicit meaning of the term “minor.” One is not inherently minor; instead, one is identified as minor based on subordinate economic, political and ideological positioning, and thus minoritized by a dominant group.
Non-native English speaker: A person whose primary language is not English. English could be a second, third, or fourth language. Defined in some disciplines as English Language Learners (ELL). Non-standard English speaker: A person whose primary language is a variation of Standard Academic English. Examples in the US include Black English Vernacular or Chicano English. International examples include Jamaican Patois, Kenyan English, or British Cockney. Private/Home Language: Usually a student’s first language, this term applies to non-Native English speakers who have recently arrived in the US. Called private or home language because it differs from the more public English students encounter, some scholars see it as a hindrance towards learning English in a school setting. Undetachable part of student’s identity, intertwined with culture and family. Students may feel compelled to devalue private/home language due to the immense value placed on SAE in school. Public/School Language: Not just English, but Standard Academic English. For many students, transition between school and home is seamless. However, for others who use another language at home, the transition can be problematic. Scholars such as S. Canagarajah and V. Young argue for more linguistic inclusion in learning institutions. See code-switching and code-meshing, an act of linguistically moving between both home and school language. Standard Academic English: Applies to written and spoken discourse. SAE implies acceptable tone, word choice, and diction. Used as a marker for “educated” person by some standards, and used as a model for first year college level writing in most US higher education institutions.
Academic integrity Acculturation Appropriation Internalization of values Social cohesiveness Social reinforcement Plagiarism
Educational genre: Genres used for teaching purposes only. Writing practice/ genre practice: The terms “genre practices” and “writing practices” refer to the fact that genres in educational settings are routinely used in a recurring and regulated manner. Genres are embedded in teaching routines and serve defined functions of learning, reflection, and communication within the study programs. They are also used for examination and grading purposes. Traditionally, study programs end with the submission of a final thesis which is seen as an important opportunity for independent learning but also as part of a passage ritual within academic socialization. Genre practices are regulated by detailed pre Writing culture: The attitudes, routines, genres and genre/ writing practices that characterize writing routines in certain institutions, disciplines or countries.
Francophone: native French speaker
Anglophone: native English speaker
Allophone: term specific to Québec denoting a person whose native language is neither French nor English
La Capitale Nationale: local term for the city of Québec; not to be confused with Ottawa, the capital of Canada; important for its nationalist connotations Charte de La Langue Française: also known as “Law 101”; provincial legislation establishing French as the official language of government, education, commerce, signage, etc in Québec. DEC (Diplôme d’études collégiales): certificate of college education; note: the “College” is a particular Québec institution: similar to a “junior college,” students are required to attend a College as a prerequisite to study at any Québec university épreuve uniforme: literally, “standardized test”; French term for Exit Exam MEQ: Québec Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (Québec Ministry of Education, Leisure, and Sports)
Faux amis: literally “false friends”; misleading cognates (sound and look alike but have different meanings in the two languages; these pairs easily fool second language learners) Avoir de la chance/le hasard: to be lucky; luck (chance≠luck)(hasard≠hazard) Decevoir: to disappoint (decevoir≠deceive)
Tromper: to fool/deceive
Celui-la, celle-la: that one/that Celui-ci, celle-ci: this one/this
In working with the translators of the survey and of responses to the survey, I’ve been fascinated by two opposite phenomena: (a) the variability of meaning of supposed “synonyms” and “common terms” not only across languages but also within the same language depending on context, and (b) our ability to understand one another and share meanings. If we are frustrated by the malleability of such terms as “thesis” and “faculty” and “staff” and “course,” to name just a few, we might decide to give up the concept of international literacy as hopelessly entangled by misunderstanding; but we have so many examples of the success of cross-cultural exchanges that we forge ahead, as in this workshop plan, and try to overcome the obstacles to mutual understanding. A few terms central to the Mapping Project: “care”—as in the second question on the survey: “Who ‘cares’ in the institution about student growth in and through writing? How is this concern—or lack of concern—shown in funding, requirements, attitudes, actions?” Most respondents have tended to understand the intent of the term, which is to show concern through some sort of action, whether by giving feedback to student writers or setting up a tutoring center or collaborating with other teachers to re-design curriculum, etc. “Care” can mean to “take leadership” or “be officially responsible,” but it can also mean an individual teacher wanting to help his or her students become more fluent or versatile in literacy. “WAC (writing across the curriculum)”—In the US portion of the Mapping Project, Tara Porter and I learned from the 1300 responses to that survey that most respondents had a fairly homogeneous understanding of “WAC,” mainly because it has been used and elaborated in the US research literature and at US conferences for 30 years. Here’s the definition from the Mapping Project website: ‘WAC refers to ‘writing across the curriculum’ and usually implies an initiative in an institution to assist teachers across disciplines in using student writing as an instructional tool in their teaching.” Though often used interchangeably in the US with “WID (writing in disciplines)” (see below), we gave them substantially different definitions, in order to highlight the collaborative, pedagogical focus of “WAC.” As many of the responses to the international survey illustrate, outside the US it may be quite common for there to be much student writing occurring in disciplines without there being a “WAC program” that brings teachers together to talk about student writing or do any collaborative planning. Conversely, one major reason why WAC programs began in the US was the lack of student writing in disciplines and the desire of literacy proponents to increase it. “WID (writing in disciplines)”—Here’s the definition from the Mapping Project website: “WID refers to ‘writing in disciplines’ and usually implies that writing is occurring in some form as assignments in subjects or courses in one or more disciplines in an institution; it also refers to research that studies the theory, structure, and rhetorical properties of writing that occurs in disciplines, whether in teaching the discipline or in disciplinary scholarship.” Note the distinction between pedagogical uses of writing in disciplines and professional scholarship. Most responses to the international survey list academic genres that occur in subjects in their institutions: e.g., “theses,” “reports,” “essays.” In some responses, concern is expressed about lack of preparation of graduate students to write professional articles for journals. |