DIALOGUE ON WRITING: RETHINKING ESL, BASIC WRITING, AND FIRST-YEAR COMPOSITION

Extract

DIALOGUE ON WRITING: RETHINKING ESL, BASIC WRITING, AND FIRST-YEAR COMPOSITION. Geraldine DeLuca, Len Fox, Mark-Ameen Johnson, and Myra Kogen (Eds.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2002. Pp. xvi + 488. $46.00 paper.

This collection is weighty, offering the reader 28 essays on first (L1) and second (L2) language writing theory and method in the college composition classroom, although the concepts of “theory” and “method” become problematic by the end of the collection. In their preface, the editors—who work with basic writers, English as a second language (ESL) writers, and first-year composition students—state that the book arose out of their conversations about the needs and strengths of these writers. The editors' backgrounds offered them an opportunity to look at the issue of college writing from a variety of perspectives as they began the task of selecting pieces for the collection. Three years and 300 articles later, they came down to 28 pieces, divided thematically into four parts—teaching writing, becoming a writer, responding to writing, and beyond the writing classroom. One of the editors wrote a separate introductory essay for each part, providing a comprehensive overview; indeed, one of the strengths of the anthology is the editorial voice that opens each section.