USMA & USCGA Discuss Supporting English Language Learners

The Writing Program hosted Lieutenant Commander Mariette Ogg (Acting Director, Hewitt Writing and Reading Center, U.S. Coast Guard Academy). In the morning, LCDR Ogg joined Dr. Jason Hoppe (Director, Writing Program) and Dr. Colleen Eils (incoming Associate Director, Writing Program) to discuss signature writing across the curriculum and high-impact practices for program development. In the afternoon, LCDR Ogg's visit promted a joint discussion between the Writing Program and representatives from the Center for Enhanced Performance (Ms. Michelle Gerdes), Department of Foreign Languages (Dr. Stephanie Irani-Tehrani), and Mounger Writing Center (Mrs. Luciana Herman, Dr. Vivek Freitas). The discussion centered on the challenges that faced by English Language Learners—international cadets as well as Generation 1.5 students (cadets who may have grown up speaking languages in addition to English in the home) and others—at service academies. The panel brainstormed possibilities for better supporting such cadets as well as the faculty who teach them, in part by shifting emphasis from deficit discourses (what the students lack, and the errors or awkwardness that inevitably emerge as they take on more complex linguistic challenges) to pedagogical strategies that develop students by building on their distinctive cultural and educational strengths.