The Writing Center as a Globalized Pedagogy: A Case Study of an Internationalized University in Japan
Due to increased pressures of internationalization, universities around the world are compelled to implement language education models and frameworks with global recognition (Byram & Parmenter, 2012; Doiz, Lasagabaster, & Sierra, 2012; Imoto & Horiguchi, 2015). Given this trend, I examine how policy borrowing (Steiner-Khamsi, 2010) affects university language policy, planning, and practice. Focusing on a Japanese university that recently implemented a writing center (a common writing support service in North American universities), this multi-layered case study investigates how the educational philosophy, pedagogical rationale, and concepts of a writing center are interpreted by administrators and enacted in pedagogical practice. This study hopes to shed light on discourses of legitimate pedagogical practices of a “world-class university” (Deen, Mok, & Lucas, 2008) and the local literacy realities that challenge (or, are challenged by) them.
Bio:
Tomoyo Okuda is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Language and Literacy Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
