Tongues Tide: Translingual Directions for Technologically-Mediated Composing Platforms

Abstract

This dissertation examines the link between classroom practices, language policies, and writing technologies in a translingual framework. Specifically, in the context of higher education, I explore the ways in which English-only policies dominate the academy and discourage linguistic diversity and inclusivity. This monolingual approach is emulated by composing software like MS Word and Google Docs, which surveil and constrain the languages and discourses available to student writers. These programs take a Current-Traditionalist approach to writing that is characterized by preoccupation with error and the positioning of the teacher as disciplinarian. In doing so, they inhibit translingual teaching and learning. Drawing upon the results of my ethnographic study on the composing processes of students in ENGL 109: Introduction to Academic Writing (a course taught at the University of Waterloo), I offer suggestions for improving the design of these technologically-mediated composing platforms to better accommodate translingual users.