Steven Fraiberg is an assistant professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University. He teaches courses in first-year writing, literacy, and globalization. Dovetailing with these areas, his research focuses on multilingual practices in classrooms, communities, and workplaces. In this area, his recently published book (coauthored with Xiaoye You and Xiqiao Wang) published by Utah State University Press is titled Inventing the World Grant University: Chinese International Students’ Mobilities, Literacies, and Identities.
Project:
In this project, I am studying the multilingual literacy practices of marginalized and international students in a first-year writing course. Central to this focus is an effort to develop culturally sensitive and responsive pedagogies. Core to these moves is a shift from deficit models (in which students’ second languages have often marked them as second class) to asset-based approaches in which students’ home languages and literacies are conceptualized as resources for teaching and learning. The underlying aim is to inform teaching in the first-year writing program, the university, and the wider educational community. These moves are particularly critical for responding to the needs of an increasingly diverse student population and for preparing students as citizen-scholars in the context of 21st century globalization.