Writing Across Borders

A very important aspect for reflection that derives from watching this documentary is the wide variety of challenges that international students face when coming to the US. Depending on where they come from, they will find difficulty in understanding certain requirements, conventions, or procedures of what is expected from them in writing academic papers. This also poses a great challenge to teachers. For assessing purposes, Tony Silva proposes setting a standard of what would be accepted (good enough) so that all students are treated with justice. I believe however that by doing this you are putting aside those students who will not settle for good enough, but who want to make the most out of their potential. By this, I by no ways mean that all students’ work should be assessed equally.  Each student’s paper should be assessed on the light of its potential and an ongoing exchange of feedback and advisory. I prefer to go by the narrator final remark that a teacher should feel empathy for his/her students and try to predict the problems they may encounter. Nonetheless, I believe that this must not be done at the expense of other students. No matter how daunting a job may seem, a teacher’s work should be to address each student needs and to maximize their full potential. Probably this is a naïve, unrealistic statement, but if this goal is never in our perspective, we will most certainly never achieve it.

From a more personal perspective, I experience this very often. As Deborah Haley puts it, this not only happens when students are faced with a writing task. It also happens when thoughtful opinions are required in the middle of an ongoing, heated debate. Often times I find myself trying to organize my ideas in English, just to find out that when I am ready to express them, the debate has moved to another topic. Other times, when I try to rush to speak, so I don’t miss the opportunity to share my ideas, I end up saying things that do not entirely fit what I was thinking. It is without doubt a very big challenge to all International students, but I also believe that it is part of the challenge you accept when studying abroad. I am convinced that when you travel to another country you must have an open mind to learn and understand other’s opinions, ideas and values. I see this as no different task. However, the educational system and academia must be knowledgeable of the difficulty that this represents and the cultural richness and openness that can be gained from adopting inclusive practices in classrooms with ESL students.