Writing Within the Course of English 5M

As a college student who is enrolled into the course of English 5M, it is expected that
writing is nothing more than a sequence of self-making decisions. In order to have authority
within the course, the writer has to be well aware of not only the audience, but also applying
their disciplinary knowledge from the different backgrounds of discourse conventions they were
previously exposed to.
Authors Ann Penrose and Cheryl Geiser (1994), present two types of college students
within the academic atmosphere. Those two types were classified as the insider and
outsiders of writing. The insider college student is recognized as someone who maintains
authority in an ethical sense where they are then recognized as a reliable source; while an
outsider lacks the knowledge of retaining authentic information, therefore as a result the college
student falls into the incapability of showing authoritativeness within the subject of English
(510-511).
Through the course of English 5M, Multilingual students are expected to construct reading
responses by making analytical valid connections with the chosen text. By doing so, students
should recognize the most important skills gained from the course; which is the development of
authority and gaining characteristics of an insider.
Multilingual students often encounter weaknesses through the duration of their english
curriculum experience. The two dominant struggles they face are to be able to read and write at
the college level. In the article Multilingual Students and College Writing, by Dana Ferris,
Ferris directs her attention towards the trials Multilingual writers endure while they are involved
with education and how they are the ones who: (1) have insufficient English Language skills as it
causes them to perform grammatical mistakes; and (2) because of their writing weaknesses it
prevents them to write cohesively (Dana Ferris).
Because multilingual students tend to put more of their concentration in improving their
writing abilities, it unfortunately distracts them from being able to effectively frame a connection
with the authors central purpose. As a consequence, the multilingual student falls behind in
course of English 5M since it is a requirement for neophytes to rather attend and respond to the
prompt than to exert all of their attention to rectifying grammar mistakes.
Behind every authors text there is a contextual meaning which is important for colleagues
to understand what their intended purpose is. In doing so, they are gaining features of an insider.
As specified by Stuart Green (2001), author of Argument as Conversation informs his
audience about, your attempt to understand the context is an active process of making
connections among the different and conflicting views present within a conversation (Greene,
37). Another tip to consider derives from the article previously mentioned above by Ann Penrose
and Cheryl Geiser. They made observations upon Rogers way of portraying the authors claim
as a priority in his writing. The authors then had mentioned that , This focus on the authorship
of knowledge claims pervaded Roger's reading, writing and thinking. In his notes, definitional
features are organized by author (509). Since writing is an ambiguous form of language
demonstrating links between the texts adds a layer of authorship for the writer.
Having said that, there is a requirement in the English 5M curriculum where students are
also instructed to produce self interpretations, in the same manner as Roger, based off of the
assigned texts they were given throughout the course. In addition, the expectations for incoming
students entering the multilingual course is to merely construct reading responses based off from
the interpretations they developed from the text. These responses give the students a preparation
in achieving the creations of making in depth connections with different genres of literary works.
Another element to possess as a skill in the course of English 5M is being able to
concentrate on the quality and content of the writing process. Corresponding to author Lucille P.
McCarthy (1987), professors do not seek for the quantity of the students work, but are rather
concerned about the college students performance of showcasing their expertise which derives
from the process of taking in and fully understanding the information the individual has procured
from the lecture or text.
As students begin to understand the concepts of critical reading and practicing the
establishment of forming clear analysis, Multilingual writers are able to grow in obtaining
advantageous skills throughout the course of writing. Professors also stress the quality of the
paper to be the integral part of the grade in reason that they are seeking whether or not the
student applied their authorial voice.
An additional feature an insider sustains is the ability to have well-rounded writing
influences; with that in possession of a quality multilingual students are in an advantageous state
where it enables them to successfully address to a variety of different discourse communities.
Based on the article Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents, by Keith Grant-Davie, Davie
also highlights the importance it is of a rhetor (writer) to consider who they are in a particular
situation and be aware that their identity may vary from situation to situation (354).
Retaining strategies such as, responding to the particular context with a clear
comprehension and the experiences of having a diverse writing style is a guarantee that the
writer will have a victorious response. So, if the writer is well established with communicating
their voice by following the rules then the audience will have a clear picture of what the
portrayal of the writer is.
The downfall of being a multilingual writer is that it is difficult to get them to think beyond
the gist of the academic text; in other words, their authorial voice is inadequately out of context
when responding to the prompt.McCarthy records a professor saying, Students need to get a
feeling for the journals, the questions people are asking, the awareness theyre getting, and the
procedures theyre using (McCarthy, 241).
The professor which McCarthy interviewed had made a couple key remarks about students
not building a relationship with the author; let alone their own work did not correlate with the
three points of authority: awareness, procedures, feeling which were previously mentioned by
McCarthys interviewee.
 Now, the least important skill (which is best to avoid) is becoming an outsider when it
comes to analyzing any college-level literary texts. Many Multilingual writers enter a college-
level course where they apply algorithmic writing techniques which impedes them from
fabricating a successful response.Author of Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of
Language Mike Rose (1980) focuses on the topic of why college students encounter writers
block and where it derives from. He states, certain disruptions of that process can be explained
with cognitive psychologys problem-solving framework (Rose, 534).
Avoiding these deficient writing habits, or as Mike refers to it as dysfunctional rules
(540), will guide the Multilingual writer to the peak of success. Writing with flexibility will
allow the college student to broaden their thinking abilities rather than just seeing the obvious.
Needless to say there are still quite a few of more qualities in which an insider and outsider
procure. As for the features outlined above, those were merely the basic concepts in which will
help a newcomer (outsider student) capture an idea of what it is like throughout the course of
English 5M. Though it might be a challenge because of the cognition of two or more languages,
but to put our minds at ease Elizabeth Wardle describes, learning to write in new
communities entails more than learning discrete sets of skills or improving cognitive abilities. It
is a process of identifying with certain groups, and choosing certain practices over others
(297).
It is agreed that newcomers are classified as outsiders at the beginning of the semester;
although, as the course moves onward it is expected for students to already demonstrate strong
skills of authority and view the text with an insight point of view.
Certainly, it is up to the incoming student to successfully become an insider. It is the goal of the
course students to not only benefit just in this particular course, but including all the academic
fields they interact with.

Works Cited
Grant-Davie, Keith. Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents. Rhetoric Review 15.2
(1997): 264-79. Print.
Greene, Stuart. Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched
Argument. The Subject Is Research. Ed. Wendy Bishop and Pavel Zemliansky.
Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2001. 145-64. Print.
Lamott, Anne. Shitty First Drafts. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New
York: Anchor, 1994. 21-27. Print.
McCarthy, Lucille P. A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing across the
Curriculum. Research in the Teaching of English 21.3 (1987): 233-65. Print.
Penrose, Ann M and Geisler Cheryl. Reading and Writing Without Authority. College
Composition and Communication, Vol. 45, No. 4 (1994): 505-520. Print.
Wardle, Elizabeth. Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces.
Enculturation 5.2 (2004): n. Pag. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.