Language U

Peter Wayne Moe is an Associate Professor of English and Writing at Seattle Pacific University and author of the book Touching This Leviathan, a book about whales (and language, and writing, and much more)*. In this interview, we discuss Peter's article "A Sequence for Teaching the Sentence," published in Teaching English in the Two-Year College in 2018 and what teaching sentences can do in the composition classroom. (*We also, incredibly, played together in the rhythm section of a jazz band in high school.) Here is the list of sentences we discuss at the end of the episode: As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once. (John Green, The Fault in Our Stars) If the use of a computer is a new idea, then a newer idea is not to use one. (Wendell Berry, “Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer”) You believe that I believe what I believe because of the way I was brought up because of the way you were brought up. (Fredrick Temple, quoted in Beliefs and Values in Science Education by Michael Poole) Jesus wept. (John 11:35, King James Version of the Bible)

Language U is rebooting in 2022! Contact me at the email address here if you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode! https://www.sfu.ca/education/faculty-profiles/jhenghartse.html

Language U talks to Julia Williams, Director of English Language Studies and Coordinator of Applied Language Studies at the University of Waterloo, about the nuts and bolts of creating for-credit English- language courses and programs at the university level, and the reasons more universities are choosing to do so. Originally published in 2018.

Language U talks to Erika Thorkleson, a freelance writer and writing tutor and instructor at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, about the connections between creative and academic writing and her work teaching writing at a uniquely art-focused university. Originally published in 2017.

Language U talks to Ryan Skinnell, professor at San Jose State University and author of Conceding Composition: A Crooked History of Composition's Institutional Fortunes. We learn about his research on the history of a composition program at Arizona State University and how this perennial first-year writing course functions within higher education institutions. This is Episode 2 of Season 1, originally published in 2017.

Language U talks to Roma Ilnyckyj, an editor at the science communications company Talk Science to Me, about her work as an editor of scientific and other academic language, the ethics of editing student work and the complicated relationship between editing and writing, especially with work by multilingual writers. Originally published in 2016, this is episode 1 of season 1.

Language U talks to Julia Williams, Director of English Language Studies and Coordinator of Applied Language Studies at the University of Waterloo, about the nuts and bolts of creating for-credit English-language courses and programs at the university level, and the reasons more universities are choosing to do so.

Language U talks to Erika Thorkleson, a freelance writer and writing tutor and instructor at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, about the connections between creative and academic writing and her work teaching writing at a uniquely art-focused university.

Language U talks to Ryan Skinnell, professor at San Jose State University and author of Conceding Composition: A Crooked History of Composition’s Institutional Fortunes. We learn about his research on the history of a composition program at Arizona State University and how this perennial first-year writing course functions within higher education institutions.

Language U talks to Roma Ilnyckyj, an editor at the science communications company Talk Science to Me, about her work as an editor of scientific and other academic language, the ethics of editing student work and the complicated relationship between editing and writing, especially with work by multilingual writers.

We talk to Dr. Anthony Paré about how academic writing is taught at universities in Canada, how that differs from the way it is done in the United States, and why the belief that the writing centre is a place to “send the broken students” persists.

In the first episode of Language U, we ask Dr. Saskia Stille what exactly the “multilingual university” is, and listen to an excerpt of a talk she gave about multilingualism and English learning in CELLTR earlier this year.