By Emily Sok, Published May 2, 2024
Anna S. Habib is an Associate Director of Composition at George Mason University who serves as an English department liaison for a program called INTO Mason, which supports international and multilingual students. She also serves as an associate editor for a WAC Clearinghouse book series on the International Exchanges on the Study of Writing, and is a lead editor for Connecting Writing Centers Across Borders.
Much of Habib’s scholarship centers on translingual approaches to writing. Her book chapter, co-authored with Myers Zawacki, in WAC and Second-Language Writers: Linguistically and Culturally Inclusive Programs and Practices reminds us, as educators, that we cannot avoid taking a position on second-language writing errors. When asked about considerations of error in student writing, faculty voiced concerns over student comprehension, but also student abilities to in academic and workplace language expectations. In their conclusion, they caution against a philosophy of deficit that perceives multilingualism as a deficiency, and instead suggest that with patience and respect for language difference, we focus on how perceived error is open to negotiation.
Take a look at some of Anna Habib’s scholarship:
The Virginia Community Writing Collaborative 