Abstract
The importance of writing for daily life has grown in recent years, driven by increases in text messaging, social media, and multimodal digital composing, and it also figures prominently in the development of 21st century literacies. However, theorizing and educational practice related to second language (L2) writing in U.S. collegiate language programs have not kept pace with these shifts. Whereas innovative writing pedagogies have been widely implemented in L2 contexts outside the U.S., American collegiate language educators continue to overemphasize linguistic accuracy and marginalize the sociocultural and cognitive dimensions of writing. Drawing on insights from New Literacy Studies and L2 writing scholarship, this presentation posits writing as a multifaceted act of communication that must be cultivated from the early stages of language acquisition and integrated across language, literature, and cultural studies courses. Building on the concept of meaning design as foundational to L2 communication, I articulate five principles of a Design-oriented approach to writing instruction and argue for its value in collegiate language programs.
Bio
Heather Willis Allen is Associate Professor of French in the Department of French and Italian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a core member of her university’s second language acquisition doctoral program. She teaches undergraduate French writing and culture courses and graduate courses in applied linguistics and serves as Course Chair for Elementary and Intermediate French courses. Her research has appeared in the ADFL Bulletin, Foreign Language Annals, the French Review, L2 Journal, the Modern Language Journal, and Second Language Research and Practice. Her collaborative projects include A Multiliteracies Framework for Collegiate Foreign Language Teaching (with Kate Paesani and Beatrice Dupuy), Alliages Culturels: La Société Française en Transformation (with Sebastien Dubreil) and Educating the Future Foreign Language Professoriate for the 21st Century (co-edited with Hiram Maxim). Her recent book, A Design Orientation to Second Language Writing Instruction, was published in August 2025 as part of Routledge's Multiliteracies and Second Language Education series
LOCATION:Online on Zoom STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20260414T144500Z DTEND:20260414T154500Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR