Project Background: This research builds on work done by David Foster and David Russell on writing in cross-national contexts and work by Charles Bazerman, Tiane Donahue, and others.

Time Frame: Indefinite

Research Question or Hypothesis: 1. Where is student writing happening in your institution? In what genres and circumstances? 2. Are students writing in English in your programs? If so, in which courses, programs, major? When do they begin writing in English? Why are they writing in English? 3. What do faculty across disciplines say about student writing? 4. What difficulties do students encounter with the kinds of writing they are expected to do? 5. Who cares in your institution about the improvement of student writing or student learning through writing? 6. Is improvement in student writing an objective of certain courses in a discipline or of the overall curriculum? How and why? 7. What do teachers in the disciplines do to initiate students into disciplinary discourses? Do they do any explicit writing instruction? If no explicit instruction, why not? 8. What do you consider to be the “standard” characteristics of writing in English and/or [native language] that cut across disciplines? Are there alternatives to the standard within disciplines? Programs? According to individual professors’ preferences? 9. Do teachers have explicit criteria/standards for grading writing, whether individual, developed within the disciplines, mandated by the institutions, etc? 10. Do you have the same kinds of assessment pressures we have in the U.S. from governmental agencies and local internal and external constituencies? If so, what are the consequences of students’ performing poorly in writing? 11. Is there any faculty development work on designing effective assignments and responding effectively to student writing? 12. Have any teachers in/across disciplines discussed/planned curricula in relation to student writing? If so, what is the source of their interest? What scholarship informs the discussions?

General Research Approach: Qualitative

Participants and Setting: Thus far I've interviewed program leaders at Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden; the Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University, Stockholm; the European University Institute, Florence, Italy; and writing center directors at the University of Hong Kong and Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea (via email.

Research Methods: Interviewing and content analysis

Data / Information Sources: program websites, recorded interviews, written responses to questions, professional scholarship produced by program participants, etc.

Funding: None thus far

Support: None

Results Available: View Results File (above)