Supporting Students’ Own Languages in the Writing Classroom: Adaptable Writing Assignments for Enacting Linguistic Justice in Local Contexts

Reflections on Implementing Our Assignments

In this section, we share insights into the key approaches that help us feel more confident in actively supporting our students’ languaging and discussing linguistic justice in our classrooms.

At the same time, we want to acknowledge the often-complex dimensions of enacting linguistic justice through our teaching, and the increasingly daunting task of doing so in the current political landscape. In the classroom itself, we have sometimes struggled to keep students—especially white students, whose standard English practices are often powerfully rewarded by mainstream academia—interested in lessons and assignments related to linguistic diversity and inclusion. We have also experienced pushback from colleagues who feel our efforts hold little relevance to students. Moreover, recent legislation restricting discussion of diversity, equity, and inclusion on college campuses has instilled fear in many writing instructors about potential retribution for prioritizing linguistic diversity. Our positionality as graduate instructors—and our limited job security and power within our departments and institutions—can make teaching topics that our university community considers controversial feel even more precarious.

However, we believe that supporting our students’ languaging has become more necessary than ever as our classrooms diversify and dominant political rhetoric becomes increasingly hostile toward people with minoritized identities, and we will continue applying pedagogical practices grounded in the literature, our teaching experiences, and our core values because we know they help our students learn and feel welcome in our classrooms. Thus, in sharing our instructional experiences below, we have identified strategies that help us continue to successfully implement linguistic justice pedagogy despite these challenges.

Introducing Linguistic Justice

First, to ensure that students feel equipped to fulfill assignment expectations, we introduce linguistic justice concepts by fostering our students’ CLA as well as their knowledge of code-meshing and translanguaging. When Kelsey assigns her Linguistic Observation and Analysis, she asks students to read and discuss articles pertaining to standard language ideology, monolingualism, and language difference (Bailey et al., 2023; Sánchez-Martín, 2021) before investigating how language, power, and community intersect in their observations. To prepare students for composing their Language and Literacy Narrative, Keli assigns Alvarez, Wan, and Lee’s (2021) “Workin’ Languages: Who We Are Matters in Our Writing” to introduce students to concepts of standard language ideology, raciolinguistic ideologies, linguistic diversity, and translingualism. Laying this theoretical groundwork can provide students with the framework to understand how language shapes—and is shaped by—identity, power, and culture, and in their submissions, many students demonstrate insight into their own linguistic practices by reflecting on and implementing course concepts (Minnillo, 2025).

Assigning Model Texts

Additionally, we intentionally assign readings that showcase a diverse range of voices and that employ code-meshing and translanguaging. For example, before asking students to compose their literacy narrative, Keli provides students with example narratives in which authors draw from multiple languages, like Anzaldúa’s (1987) “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Sophia similarly introduces students to both written and multimodal texts, such as Karen Leung’s (2018) TED Talk, that demonstrate multilingual and translingual practices. Sasha assigns readings from previous first-year students to show how linguistic diversity manifests in writing, and she and Kelsey also assigns academic articles, such as Vershawn Ashanti Young’s (2010) “Should Writers Use They Own English?,” which demonstrates how scholars, in addition to students, code-mesh in academic contexts.

Sample texts like Anzaldúa’s chapter, Leung’s video, and Young’s article demonstrate how code-meshing and translanguaging work, enhancing students’ understanding of how they might implement these practices in their own writing. Having students analyze the effectiveness of these model texts and the rhetorical moves their authors make can also help students better conceptualize their own writing tasks. Moreover, through experiencing a spectrum of linguistic diversity, students often begin to rethink their definition of “appropriate” academic English and consider incorporating their language(s) into academic writing.

Scaffolding Assignments for CLA

Through trial and error, we have also discovered the importance of intentionally scaffolding our assignments to continuously emphasize concepts of linguistic diversity. In the past, Keli implemented her assignment early in the semester, after she had introduced topics related to identity and writing but before she had discussed them in more depth, so students sometimes struggled to synthesize their linguistic and literacy experiences in more substantive or purposeful ways. Similarly, in past semesters, Sasha discussed multilingualism and had students reflect on their literacies very early in the term. However, she did not design the assignments that followed to reflect these values, leaving students confused about whether they could code-mesh in their later work. In both cases, increased intentional scaffolding in subsequent iterations of these courses helped students to engage more deeply with their linguistic experiences and to continue practicing translanguaging in their future work.

Scaffolding assignments also requires making space for metacognition, allowing students to reflect more meaningfully on concepts surrounding linguistic justice (Lee & Mak, 2018). Opportunities for metacognitive thinking might include lower-stakes writing assignments, in-class activities, or other reflective exercises. For example, Keli’s Language and Literacy Narrative assignment is followed by a reflection later in the semester asking students to share what they have learned about writing and identity, and how their perspectives on their own and others’ languaging practices have evolved. In this way, the sequence of assignments not only encourages deeper self-awareness but also fosters connections between students’ personal experiences and broader classroom discussions about linguistic justice.

Considering Context and Student Agency

Finally, we want to emphasize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to enacting linguistic diversity in the classroom (Özer, 2024). As instructors who teach in a variety of contexts, we recognize that our pedagogical approaches must be responsive to the various backgrounds and identities present in our classrooms. Instructors interested in forwarding linguistic justice should consider the different experiences and knowledges that their students bring to the work of cultivating CLA when designing activities and assignments. For example, students speaking and writing from a dominant positionality might be encouraged to reflect on their linguistic privileges. In contrast, students who occupy minoritized linguistic identities might be provided with opportunities to affirm and employ their linguistic resources in agentic and empowered ways. Instructors must recognize that every classroom—and the contexts, circumstances, and communities of each student composing that classroom—will be different. Cultivating meaningful and transformative CLA requires tailoring our assignments, activities, and lectures around the unique needs of our students.

In the same spirit, we must also recognize that not all of our students—whether they are multilingual or monolingual—will be receptive to or willing to practice code-meshing or use nonstandardized linguistic practices in their work and must ultimately make their own choice whether or not to separate from hegemonic linguistic standards (Kynard, 2005). Approaching each student with sensitivity and respect will help foster their confidence in using their own languages and help them feel supported in making informed decisions about when and if they choose to deviate from standardized English.