Supporting Students’ Own Languages in the Writing Classroom: Adaptable Writing Assignments for Enacting Linguistic Justice in Local Contexts
by Keli Tucker, Kelsey Hawkins, Sasha Poma Mansure, and Sophia Minnillo | Xchanges 19.2, Fall 2025
Contents
Instructional Context and Assignment Descriptions
Assignment Goals and Learning Outcomes
Reflections on Implementing Our Assignments
Imagining Expansive Pedagogical Futures Towards Linguistic Justice
About the Authors
Keli Tucker (she/her) holds a PhD in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research uses narrative and participatory methods to understand how collaboration and community can deepen faculty engagement with justice-oriented teaching and strengthen equitable practices and policies in writing programs. Keli is Assistant Director of the University Writing Center at Texas A&M University.
Kelsey Hawkins (she/her) is an Associate Instructor in Indiana University Indianapolis' first-year writing program. She holds an MA in English with a concentration in writing and rhetorics. Kelsey is the Chair of the Accessibility Committee for the Writing Program Administrators - Graduate Organization and has an upcoming publication in the Journal of Writing Assessment's special issue on neurodivergence and disability in alternative approaches to writing assessment. In addition to disability -informed pedagogies, Kelsey's research interests include post-carceral rhetorics, representations of girlhood in digital DIY media, and the intersection of generative AI literacy and critical language awareness. Her publications can be read at The Peer Review, ECWCA Journal, Writing Spaces Assignment and Activities Archive, and Peitho.
Sasha Poma Mansure (she/her) graduated in 2024 with a Masters in English from California Polytechnic State University. During her program and post-grad, she taught first-year composition and encouraged students to explore their unique multilingual roots in their writing. Fueled by current events and her own background as a child of immigrants, Sasha now works at a gospel-centered non-profit, Immigrant Hope, which helps people find pathways to legal residency and citizenship.
Sophia Minnillo (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the University Writing Program at University of California, Davis. Her research investigates multilingual writing, linguistic justice, writing and technology, and international education. Her work can be found in venues including Computers and Composition, Foreign Language Annals, and International Journal of Learner Corpus Research.
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