DIALOGUE ON WRITING: RETHINKING ESL, BASIC WRITING, AND FIRST-YEAR
COMPOSITION. Geraldine DeLuca, Len Fox, Mark-Ameen Johnson, and
Myra Kogen (Eds.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2002. Pp. xvi + 488.
$46.00 paper.
This collection is weighty, offering the reader 28 essays on first
(L1) and second (L2) language writing theory and method in the college
composition classroom, although the concepts of “theory”
and “method” become problematic by the end of the
collection. In their preface, the editors—who work with basic
writers, English as a second language (ESL) writers, and first-year
composition students—state that the book arose out of their
conversations about the needs and strengths of these writers. The
editors' backgrounds offered them an opportunity to look at the
issue of college writing from a variety of perspectives as they began
the task of selecting pieces for the collection. Three years and 300
articles later, they came down to 28 pieces, divided thematically into
four parts—teaching writing, becoming a writer, responding to
writing, and beyond the writing classroom. One of the editors wrote a
separate introductory essay for each part, providing a comprehensive
overview; indeed, one of the strengths of the anthology is the
editorial voice that opens each section.