Responding to Non-Native Writers in Basic Writing Classes

This study discusses how to best respond to non-native writers in Basic Writing classes in order to achieve the most effective learning outcomes. Beginning with an overview concerning how to respond to Basic Writers in general and more specifically non-native writers, the paper then focuses on theories concerning the social aspect of language. Intertwining Contrastive Rhetoric with Mikhail M. Bakhtin’s notion of heteroglossia provides valuable guidelines by which instructors may respond to non-native writers in Basic Writing classes. A primary goal is to encourage the development of higher order discourse concerns, or rhetoric, rather than focusing on correcting lower order concerns, or mechanical issues, taking into account process writing theory. A basic premise of this paper is that effective communication in writing goes beyond linguistic rules and includes culturally conditioned thought processes that instructors should recognize and address.