from VCCA Journal, Volume 6, Number 1, Winter 1991, 6-11
© Copyright 1991 VCCA Journal
When Project International Emphasis invited me to "internationalize" one of my courses, I saw the need and the difficulty with equal clarity. I could see that global awareness is a survival skill. Just in the last two years the world has changed so fast our perceptions can barely keep up. On the other hand, I never have time in a semester to do all I need to do, let alone what would be nice to do. In May, I feel like a nesting bird as the young leave: "Stay off the ground! Watch out for cats! Good-bye!"
Could anything be done with English Composition I, home of dozens of required skills and projects, all essential for survival in college and beyond, and with no room for any modish fripperies? My wife, source of most of my best ideas, pointed out an article by Mary McGrory in Washington Post ("Outpourings from the U.S.S.R.," 9 Jan., 1990, p. A2, col. 5). The article told of Peace Links, a women's peace-promoting organization that helps Americans and Soviets become pen pals. Peace Links can supply letters from Soviet citizens. Two months later, my students were excitedly bringing to class their first answers from Moscow and other Soviet cities, reading them aloud to the class and showing off postcards and photographs. I had not only internationalized my course but had also strengthened it without adding any material to "cover."
One of my most difficult tasks in freshman composition is to help my students develop a sense of audience. Every year I slog into the battle of convincing them to think of writing not as something they turn in for a grade, but as communication: something that achieves a purpose, talks to specific readers. But many of my students' attitudes have been ingrained for so many years that no amount of role playing, no podium hectoring, seems to give them a new vision.
Writing a letter to a Soviet citizen changed their vision of the possibilities of writing. In this assignment many of my students participated for the first time in writing that was real beyond the classroom.
With the packet of letters from Peace Links in hand, I began to cultivate a sense of audience in my classes by showing them a transparency of the letter I planned to answer.
Natasha:
Dear friends. I am eager to have a pen-friend in the USA. I am a teacher of English at a secondary school in Lyubertsy, a town not far from Moscow. I want to know as much as possible about the countries, the language of which I teach at school. I need it for myself and for my pupils.
.... My name is Natasha. I am 47. All the members of my family like travelling, museums, theatrics, art exhibitions. My daughters and I like singing and dancing. My husband is fond of hunting, volley-ball, tennis and car driving. ... And, of course everybody likes to read. We have a good library at home. With great respect, Natasha ...
Then we did a five-minute free-write on ideas for my response to Natasha's letter and began our discussion. What clues to personality and interest could we find? What would be the strong features of a letter to this person? What mistakes should be avoided? We developed ideas for me to include in my letter, as well as grading criteria for theirs.
We consulted a map of the Soviet Union, found Natasha's town, and calculated the miles and kilometers to Moscow. I added three criteria to the assignment: they would consult at least one written source, and include in their letters the information gained; they would use at least one phrase in Russian; and they would gracefully and silently illustrate one idiom that their pen friend didn't understand. Even my weaker students can feel like language mentors in this assignment. They widen their eyes at "All folks, and much love, Olga." And they smile when Alexei writes, "P.S. Forgive, please, if I've made any mistakes. I'll avoid it soon."
Usually, when I announce assignments, the groans and windy sighs that seem to be a high school ritual my freshmen bring to college can make me feel like management in a labor dispute. One of the most exciting episodes of this assignment was the swap session at the end of the first day. I walked around our discussion circle, passing out letters at random, and then assisted in a flurry of swaps. "I've got a basketball player"; "Here's a Depeche Mode freak"; "Here's a computer enthusiast." They were hooked immediately: comparing letters, puzzling over handwriting and idiom, noticing that in the Soviet Union addresses are written "backward," and already thinking about their answers.
As we discussed the letters my students would be answering, they further developed their sense of audience. We marvelled at the writers' skill in English, and at our single-language limitations. We talked about the Soviets' bravery in writing a letter into the void, for anyone to look at or critique--and about the motivation this showed. Tatyana wrote to Betty Bumpers, founder of Peace Links:
At the first, let me thank you for your noblest cause--you make friendship between people, you kill the man's fear, when one thinks of another sistem and political views. Bravo & hurrah to all of you!
Yuri:
About myself. I'm 27 years; worker, electrician man, work at plant shop, living in a small town on the North Urals. ..... Im ordinary man. We are simply people. Both american and russian. We as well you smile, cry, to the work, to the cinema, to the guest. Let's become some kind, more tolerant, better. We are people of Earth. Good-bye.
The next day I brought the rough draft of my own answer, mostly to show them that I do indeed draft and revise--some are still convinced that "real writers" write polished drafts on the first try. They didn't want to discuss my draft; they wanted to share and to work on their own. In small groups students read their drafts aloud and discussed revision.
I was pleased by how quickly my students began to think of their writing as something that would have an effect on a reader. They began to practice cultivating their audiences. In the letters they were to answer they saw clues that told them what to write about. They were learning to create a dialogue, learning what goes into one. They saw that they could use questions to provoke a response as well as to satisfy their real curiosity. They considered the reader's feelings and motivation; they wondered about cultural and political differences and about whether their questions might hurt or offend. They could see that if they offended their pen friend, they wouldn't get an answer. When they wondered, "Am I saying it right?" they were seeing that their language has consequences in a way that they don't see the consequences of an awkward phrase in a more academic paper.
When I suggested that they include what they know or think about their friend's country, my students began to wonder about their conceptions of the Soviet Union. They turned to their pen friends for answers.
Angela:
When you write me back could you tell me a little more about what you do and where you live? I have no idea what Leningrad is like. I picture in my mind a cold and gray place and that's it. Is that true?
Wondering what their Soviet counterparts were like, my students began to gain perspective on their own views.
Tony:
In our Country there is a big controversy about Abortion. That is one of the biggest issues I feel that is concerning the United States. I feel that Abortion is the same as Murder, but I'm afraid that my opinion is not to common anymore. What do you think of these things? Are they similar issues in your country?
Gillian:
I wish to know about your lifestyle, too. I have never been to another country, and I have lived in only two houses thirty miles from each other (approximately 44 kilometers); therefore, I do not know much about different life-styles.
My students were so intent on making contact with Soviet citizens that when my requirements clashed with their efforts to communicate, they resisted. I require my freshmen to make major revisions in first drafts, to do more than edit. It's another challenge to the writing habits most of them bring, and they often balk. This time, however, they had a better argument than "I don't see why I have to revise it if I like it the way it is." They said that a personal letter should be relaxed and casual, that too much revision would make their tone formal, their organization stilted. These arguments gave me pause. Certainly they had a point or two. I was delighted to stumble into these discussions, this rebellion. Now I could point out that revision can be for any purpose, in any direction the writer wants. Informality? Casual tone? Fine. Work for it. Create it, strengthen it. More important, I was delighted with these rebellions because my students were defending themselves as communicators, as people who had something to say, something to accomplish. They resented the professor's intrusions.
One of my school's goals for this course is for students to begin to do research. My requirement that they include research and Russian in their letters addressed this goal. "I don't know anyone who speaks Russian." "Well, how would you find out how to learn some?"
Andrea:
I tried to look up Tolgiatti on the map. I followed the Volga to the city of Kuybyshev. Near it was a city named Tolyatti. Is this your city's English spelling? I'd like to learn more about your city. Is it a large city?
Tracy:
Dear Vlad, Hey! How are you doing? MeH 30BYT [my name is] Tracy ... and I'm almost 18 years old. ... I don't speak Russian. I hope the little bit of Russian that I wrote was readable to you.
Ten days from the beginning of the project we brought to class our final copies and addressed envelopes. Postage for two 8x11 sheets is 45 cents and I had plenty of stamps, and nickels to make change. I collected the letters and mailed them that day.
In grading photocopies of their letters I looked for the characteristics we had agreed on. Did the letter invite a friendly response; reveal interest in the other's life and personality; show awareness of language and acceptance of cultural diversity; respond to the original letter? Had the student participated in discussing, drafting, conferring, revising and mailing? As the excerpts above show, I did not grade on writing mechanics since we work on content and revision in the first six weeks of the semester before concerning ourselves with mechanics.
While we waited for our answers, I asked them to write journal entries about the assignment. I had been nervous about how much "evil-empire" vision might exist. From looks and a comment or two I knew there was some, but decided to be discreet instead of valorous. I braced myself for the objections that hadn't surfaced in class but that I was afraid some students might be harboring.
To my delight, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Lisa:
At first I wasn't too excited about this assignment. I don't know why. I wasn't in the mood then. It's easier for me to write impersonal papers.
As I started working on it, it became interesting.
I liked the idea of knowing someone so far away. .... I liked playing with the Cyrillic alphabet. Donnie taught it to me once, but I had forgotten. Made me want to study Russian.
Tony:
This was a fun paper to write. It wasn't like I was writing it because I had to. I actually wanted to write. I have never talked with anyone overseas before, so I'm looking forward to hearing from him. It will be nice to find out what it is really like over there. I just hope he writes back. I plan to write him again, if he does write me. I have already started to think of things to write.
Some students objected to the criteria I had imposed for revision, research, and exercises in language, but not a large number. The arguments about revision, I knew, would continue to the end of the semester.
I found far less Slavophobia than I had expected, but some. Two students worried about endangering security clearances, one for a future job, another because of a relative's job. I let them decide whether to mail their letters, and one decided not to. But he seemed regretful and impatient with the vague governmental pressure he felt. For students like this one, and also to broaden our scope, I'd like to get letters from Africa and South America as well as from USSR next year.
We mailed our letters at the end of September and now in November we are impatient for answers. The exchange takes six weeks, and most of my students are nervously asking, "Should I write again and see what's happened?"
The early responses are greeted with proud, shy smiles. "I got a letter from Ivana, Dr. Kilmer." The students cheer and applaud each answer as if it were a trophy and listen enviously as letters are read aloud. They hear personal contacts, the beginning of friendships.
Olga:
It'd be much appreciated if you helped me to learn some of modern American English. Just the way you yourself and your friends speak, not the way papers do, as it's rather boring in my opinion. ....
Do you have a boy-friend? Don't take offence, I'm really good at asking questions and besides I think it's good sometime to share thoughts and feeling with someone.
Andrei:
As for the Ukraine you're quite right--only few people speaking Russian the most of us speak Ukrainian. But I should say that present days there's a growing tendency to speak only Ukrainian. It connected with events which take place here now. What concerns decorations on women skirts & blouses there are a lot of them in our shops but to my great sorrow I can't sent you them because they prohibited for sending in other countries.
.... Patricia, could you explain what it means "a day care center". It has connection with cars, hasn't it?
I had first thought that "internationalizing the curriculum" would mean that I would be spending more time lecturing, conveying information, facing glazed stares and trying to convince doubting students of the global nature of their lives. I was afraid I'd have to become an "international expert." Instead, I'm learning that international education can be surprisingly effective and interesting; students can be involved in an active way, participants in an international conversation rather than only passive receivers of information. Thus, "Dear Andrei"--"Dear Patricia" reinforces skills I teach already instead of adding burdensome content. Students practice writing to an audience; they write for a purpose attainable only by writing; they increase their international awareness; and they increase their awareness of their own culture.
Sources of pen friends:
Robert Kilmer is a professor of English at the Woodbridge Campus of Northern Virginia Community College in Woodbridge where he has taught since 1976. He teaches world literature, mythology, creative writing, and freshman composition. He has been a supporter of the campus honors program and was one of the Woodbridge representatives to Project International Emphasis.