Reading and Writing for Complexity: Using Key Concepts and Key Terms to Engage Multilingual and Other Learners in Scholarly Conversations

Authors

  • Anna Sophia Habib George Mason University, English Department
  • Karyn Mallett INTO-Mason
  • Sharon Doetsch-Kidder George Mason University English Department
  • James Savage George Mason University English Department
  • Esther Namubiru INTO-Mason

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13021/G8788K

Keywords:

multilingual support, teaching reading, student writing, reading strategies, rhetorical awareness,

Abstract

Mason faculty across the curriculum have expressed concern about their multilingual studentsââ¬â¢ ability to understand and engage with complex course content (Zawacki and Habib, 2014). This interactive session by composition and language faculty in the INTO Mason undergraduate and graduate pathway programs is designed to respond to this faculty concern. The session will provide strategies for how to teach students to engage with complex course content through conscious attention to the key concepts in their course readings and the terms used to define, describe, expand, and limit those concepts. This approach serves as a foundation for reading comprehension, drawing connections between sources, building an object of study, limiting or shaping the scope of a research question, finding search terms, evaluating sources, and writing coherent academic paragraphs.

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Participants will learn tools for teaching deep reading that will allow students to confidently recognize the writing strategies of successful academic scholars. By drawing attention to the conventions and language patterns of academic writing, students can improve their comprehension of complex course content while developing skills for critical thinking, writing, and research.

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Author Biographies

Anna Sophia Habib, George Mason University, English Department

Term Assistant Professor of English and Assistant Director of Multilingual Composition

Karyn Mallett, INTO-Mason

Associate Director of English Language Programs

Sharon Doetsch-Kidder, George Mason University English Department

Term Assistant Professor of English

James Savage, George Mason University English Department

Term Assistant Professor of English

Esther Namubiru, INTO-Mason

Term Instructor, English Language

Published

2016-07-15