CCCC Non-Native English-Speaking Writing Instructors (NNESWIs)

Standing Group

History and Past Activities of the NNESWIs Special Interest Group

After attending a CCCC 2014 panel presentation on non-native speakers teaching composition
in the US classroom with Tatjana Schell as one of the presenters, Judith Szerdahelyi came up
with the idea that a Special Interest Group should be created to represent this rapidly
expanding population of professionals. Tatjana Schell submitted the first SIG proposal for
teachers who are non-native speakers of English, identifying herself and Judith Szerdahelyi as
speakers. Since the 2015 meeting, the Non-Native English Speaking Writing Instructors
(NNESWIs) SIG has met every year to discuss issues of language and communication, culture
and identity, adjustments in pedagogy, educational expectations of native-speaking students
versus expectations of non-native-speaking instructors. The SIG has always offered a space for
NNESWIs to foster professional relationships and make plans to collaborate on scholarly
projects. Additionally, possibilities for strategic action have been explored, including working
towards specific rights for NNESWIs as a group by, for example, proposing a CCCC Position
Statement for increased visibility and representation. The group has also discussed the need for
support by writing program administrators, departments, higher education institutions, and
professional communities/organizations. Below is a summary and main outcomes of each
year’s SIG meeting:

 In 2015, 9 colleagues were present at the meeting. After the meeting, Judith Szerdahelyi
created a Facebook page, a listserv, and a twitter account (currently inactive).
 In 2016, four NNESWIs contributed to the SIG proposal: Tatjana Schell, Mariya
Tseptsura, Lami Fofana, and Judith Szerdahelyi. 11 colleagues were in attendance. One
of the outcomes of the meeting was that membership was slightly increased by
colleagues inviting colleagues to join the group.
 In 2017, three speakers conducted the SIG meeting: Tatjana Schell, Chen Chen, and
Judith Szerdahelyi. 10 colleagues were present at the meeting. We explored
opportunities to increase our visibility as a group both at the institutional and national
level. In preparation for Standing Group status, we started a conversation about various
roles and offices within the group that would need to be filled. We discussed the
possibility of an edited collection of essays based on NNESWI issues as well as the
launching of an open-access online journal focused on NNESWI matters.
 In 2018, three NNESWIs worked on the SIG proposal: Tatjana Schell, Chen Chen, and
Judith Szerdahelyi. The meeting was conducted by Chen Chen and Judith Szerdahelyi
since Tatjana Schell was unable to attend. 15 colleagues were in attendance. Discussion
were continued about applying for Standing Group status.
 In 2019, two NNESWIs worked on the SIG proposal: Chen Chen and Judith Szerdahelyi.
22 people were present at the meeting. An action plan was developed to begin drafting

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 an application for Standing Group status by assigning tasks to volunteers and setting a
timeline.
 Past conference panels born out of interactions of colleagues in the Special Interest
Group during and after the meetings:
o 4C16: Panel Presentation: “Negotiating Space and Identity: Non-Native English
Speaking Writing Instructors’ Strategies for Action,” by Mariya Tseptsura, Lilia
Joy, and Judith Szerdahelyi
o 4C18: Panel Presentation: “The Perceptions of Languaging, Laboring, and
Transforming with Non-Native English-Speaking Writing Instructors in the
USAmerican Composition Classroom,” by Lan Wang, Tong Zhang, Maria Tsakova,
and Judith Szerdahelyi
o 4C19: Panel Presentation: “Non-Native English-Speaking Writing Instructors’
(NNESWIs) Teaching Performance in the Limelight: Perspectives, Perceptions and
Pedagogical Practices,” by Lan Wang, Tong Zhang, Maria Tsakova, and Judith
Szerdahelyi

Mission Statement

Definition
The Non-Native English-Speaking Writing Instructors Standing Group (NNESWI SG) represents
individuals whose first language is not English and who teach college-level credit-bearing
writing courses in the United States. This group believes that cultural, linguistic, and rhetorical
diversity is an asset in the teaching of writing, and the value of this asset can be increased by
taking into account the voices and contributions of NNESWIs in the field of rhetoric and
composition.

Justification
There are several reasons why we believe it is crucial to create Non-Native English-Speaking
Writing Instructors (NNESWIs) Standing Group within the Conference on College Composition
and Communication. First, there is a growing number of Non-native English Speaking writing
instructors around the country, which can be seen from our increasing SIG attendance over the
years (from 9 in 2015 to 22 in 2019). Second, since this group is a minority, more support could
be provided for some of the issues these educators face. For example, members of the group
often experience microaggressions, negative bias, prejudice, or even discrimination by
students, colleagues, and administrators. Their professional and intellectual abilities are
questioned often despite their qualifications. More scholarship would be necessary to raise
awareness about these issues. Third, many NNESWI bring language heterogeneity into the
classroom, but this language variety is often ignored. While some scholars have addressed
linguistic homogeneity in relation to students’ work, many composition classrooms continue to
promote the myth of linguistic homogeneity, completely disregarding Non-native English-
speaking instructors. Taking all of the above into consideration, creating a Standing Group that
will serve as a forum for the discussion of the above-mentioned ideas, is a necessity. This group

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will not only support the issues that NNESWIs are facing, but will also serve as a vehicle to
generate ideas that could be implemented into action in both local institutional contexts and
larger professional and disciplinary arenas.

Our Goals
 Enhance the agency of NNESWIs within CCCC by developing a shared understanding of
the distinctive contributions made by NNESWIs to writing classrooms and programs,
institutions, and professional organizations
 Increase awareness of the benefits of incorporating international perspectives into
teaching composition and the challenges NNESWIs face in writing programs and
graduate programs
 Facilitate and promote the exchange of ideas and research of members in order to
provide evidence-based practice support for all writing teachers
 Advocate for NNESWIs’ rights in institutions and professional organizations and provide
support for pedagogical and professional challenges
 Advocate for teachers, students, programs, and policies to support cultural, linguistic,
and rhetorical diversity

Future Plans
 Continue to provide a space for NNESWIs to share their experience, discuss issues of
language, culture, and pedagogy, and receive support in reaching their professional
goals
 Increase NNESWIs’ visibility through various platforms such as a website, social media
presence, and collaboration with an open-access online journal
 Devise group activities at annual business meetings at CCCC to further our mission
 Develop scholarly and educational resources for both instructors and students reflecting
the values of NNESWIs as a group and addressing the issues of negative bias,
microaggressions, and discrimination based on monolingualism, accentism, nationality,
and skin color
 Initiate collaborative projects involving native speakers and NNESWIs to promote
NNESWIs’ values and enhance the benefits of language and rhetorical diversity in the
field of rhetoric and composition

Proposed Bylaws

Article I. Officers’ Terms of Service & Rotation

1. The CCCC NNESWI Standing Group Executive Committee will consist of the following
positions: Chair, Vice Chair, Immediate Past Chair, Membership Coordinator, Online
Coordinator, Liaison to CCCC Caucuses, and Graduate Student Representative.

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2. The Chair and Vice Chair will serve for a two-year term in each office. The offices of Chair and
Vice Chair will rotate every two years. The entire rotation from Vice Chair to Chair will take four
years (two years as Vice Chair, two years as Chair).

3. The Immediate Past Chair, Membership Coordinator, Online Coordinator, Liaison to CCCC
Caucuses, and Graduate Student Representative will serve for a two-year non-rotational term.

Article II. Elections

1. Once the CCCC NNEWSIs Special Interest Group has been approved as a Standing Group, the
current SIG Coordinators will solicit nominations via e-mail for Executive Committee positions.
Interested SG members can self-nominate for officer positions. Elections will be held via a
secure online survey platform (e.g., SurveyMonkey) and officers will begin their duties
beginning June 1st of the year in which the Standing Group is approved. This timeline only
applies to the year in which the Standing Group is approved.

2. During the last year of office for EC officers, nominations for the positions of Chair, Vice
Chair, Membership Coordinator, Online coordinator, Liaison to CCCC Caucuses, and Graduate
Student Representative shall be opened in January.

3. The Chair will contact nominees to confirm that they are willing to run and inform them of
the responsibilities of the duties of the office.

4. Elections shall be taken via a secure online survey platform before the CCCC NNESWIs
Business Meetings in the years in which terms are set to expire and the results will be
announced via email.

5. The duties of offices will be appointed to individuals receiving the majority votes for each
office. In the case of more than two candidates per office, instant runoff voting a two-round
voting system, shall be used to elect a single winner.

6. Officers will begin their positions May 1st of the year in which they are elected.

Article III. Officers’ Duties

1. Departing officers are expected to train their replacements for at least one interim month
between elections and instatement of new officers.

2. Officers’ Duties

Chair:

 Serves as a member of the CCCC NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee

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  Facilitates the NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee informal get-together at
the annual CCCC
 Creates and circulates an agenda for the Business Meeting
 Leads the Business Meeting
 Serves as the point person/spokesperson for the NNESWIs Standing Group
 Serves as the primary liaison to CCCC
 Facilitates the nomination process and checks with nominees for Chair, Vice Chair,
Membership Coordinator, Online coordinator, Liaison to CCCC Caucuses, and Graduate
Student Representative to determine their willingness to have their name placed on the
ballot
 Organizes elections and voting process and announces results
 Works with the Vice Chair and Immediate Past Chair to decide on the annual CCCC SG
panel or workshop
 In collaboration with the Vice Chair, prepares business report to submit to CCCC within
30 days of the SG meeting

Vice Chair:

 Serves as a member of the CCCC NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee

 Serves as the secretary of the NNESWIs Standing Group, taking minutes during the
Business Meeting, organizes records, and distributes them to members
 Posts announcements of the NNESWIs Standing Group Business Meeting and other
conference activities related to NNESWIs on listserv
 Facilitates nomination process and checks with nominees for Vice Chair, Membership
Coordinator, Online coordinator, Liaison to CCCC Caucuses, and Graduate Student
Representative to determine their willingness to have their name placed on the ballot
 Works with Chair to organize elections and voting process and to announce results
 In collaboration with Chair, prepares business report to submit to CCCC within 30 days
of the SG meeting
 Organizes a voting process to approve proposed bylaw changes

Immediate Past Chair:

 Serves as a member of the CCCC NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee

 Provides advice and leadership to the NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee
regarding past practices
 Supports the Chair and the Vice Chair on an as-needed basis
 Performs the duties of the Chair in the absence or disability of the Chair

Membership Coordinator:

 Serves as a member of the CCCC NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee

 Maintains membership lists. Once the NNESWIs website has been created, the listserv
will be migrated from WKU (currently hosting the listserv) to the NNESWIs website for

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 more accurate record-keeping. The current listserv does not have the capability to keep
track of members’ names, institutions, etc. Until then, the Membership Coordinator
works with Judith Szerdahelyi to update the NNEWSIs listserv
 Helps organize the NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee informal get-
together at the annual CCCC
 Works with Chair and Vice Chair to facilitate Officers’ elections

Online Coordinator:

 Serves as a member of the CCCC NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee

 Manages and maintains the group’s website
 Updates and coordinates social media accounts
 Maintains and enhances the CCCC NNESWIs Standing Group social media presence

Liaison to CCCC Caucuses:

 Serves as a member of the CCCC NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee

 Connects with other Caucuses of CCCC and promotes the work of NNESWIs and builds
relationships
 Serves as coordinator for any cross-caucus events that the NNESWIs Standing Group
partakes

Graduate Student Representative:

 Serves as a member of the CCCC NNESWIs Standing Group Executive Committee

 Represents the graduate student membership of the group
 Connects with graduate programs and NNESWI graduate students to learn their unique
experiences and bring their values and concerns to the Standing Group

3. As the Standing Group expands, sub-committees may be created to serve specific goals and
tasks for the benefits of the group and its membership as aligned with the group’s missions.

Article IV. Meetings

1. A quorum of ten NNESWIs Standing Group members must be present to conduct a Business
Meeting.

2. There shall be a Business Meeting at the annual CCCC at a decided date and location.

3. In relevant years, Group election results will be announced before the meeting via email as
well as at the meeting.

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4. Regular Business Meetings shall be restricted to 60 minutes. Any official business requiring
additional attention beyond the allotted time shall be designated to the appropriate officer for
further discussion through e-mails.

Article V. Membership

1. Individuals are eligible for membership in the NNESWIs Standing Group if their first language
is not English while they are currently teaching college-level credit-bearing writing courses in
the United States. This includes graduate teaching assistants, instructors, tenure-track/non-
tenure track faculty, part-time/full-time faculty. NNESWIs SG members should also be members
of the CCCC. Later, the membership may open up to any members of the CCCC organization as
long as they are committed to the mission of this group and to serving as allies to NNEWSIs in
institutional, professional, and disciplinary contexts.

2. Non-members are welcome to attend the business meetings but may not vote in the affairs
of NNESWIs Standing Group.

3. Members shall have voting rights for as long as they maintain their membership per the
Article V-1.

Article VI. Anti-Harassment and Safer Spaces Policies

1. The NNESWIs Standing Group is committed to language diversity and advocating for
NNESWIs in institutional, professional, and disciplinary contexts. We are a diverse group and
recognize that oppression is many-layered. As such, we strive to keep our commonplaces free
from oppressive action, behavior, and language.

2. These oppressive actions and words include but are not limited to: racism, linguistic racism,
sexism, xenophobia, heterosexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ageism, ableism, and
any expressions of disrespect and/or intolerance of size, gender identity, sexual
identity/expression, (dis)ability, age, educational level, class, linguistic and cultural background.

3. Because we want to learn from and educate each other, we will each be responsible for
addressing these issues in ourselves and others.

4. This policy is not about censorship, but rather opening a dialog in a respectful way that can
result in all members feeling safe and free to fully participate in the group.

Article VII. Bylaw Changes

Once the Standing Group status is approved and officers are elected, this bylaw will be
adopted. Later, changes to the bylaw can be proposed by members and must be approved by
majority votes via an online form. The Vice Chair will organize the change process.

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Appendix: Membership List and Supporting Documents

Current coordinators of the Special Interest Group: Judith Szerdahelyi, Tatjana Schell, Chen
Chen

Most Recent Meeting Minutes from the SIG meeting at CCCC in Pittsburgh:

 Quick introduction around the tables (22 in attendance)

 Lots of new members this year and we talked about how to get the process started to
apply for standing group status for next year, application due April 3
 We formed volunteer groups to begin draft different parts of the application document:
mission statement; history and past activities; by-laws
 Brainstormed purposes of the group:
o Bring visible the issues/concerns of NNESWIs to the broader institutional and
professional contexts
o Define the issues/concerns that NNESWIs face (e.g., accent-based discrimination;
microaggressions, having to justify what we do, what we teach)
o Facilitate the exchanges of research by faculty and students on NNESWIs
o Provide support for NNESWIs
o Advocate for the presence and rights of this population in our institutional,
professional, and disciplinary contexts
 How are we situated in relation to other caucuses?---We don’t conform to the notion of
“native:” we are problematizing the notion?
 Membership:
o Liaison with other caucuses and groups
o website/social media coordinator
o Liaisons with other groups/organizations
o Graduate student representative
 Application process tip: don’t confuse the “what” with the “how”

Current List of Members:

Alikhani, Maryam msa2149@gmail.com

Andrievskikh, Natalia nandrie1@binghamton.edu
Baruca, Petra pbaruca@tamusa.edu
Bassiri, Anahita bassiri@rowan.edu
Belomoina, Lyudmila lbelomo@ilstu.edu
Bhusal, Ashok abhusal@miners.utep.edu
Canagarajah, Suresh asc16@psu.edu
Chen, Chen chenchen328@gmail.com
Dorpenyo, Isidore ikdorpen@mtu.edu
Fofana, Lami lamifofana@gmail.com
Gautam, Devi devigautam2006@gmail.com

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Gierczyk, Marta mdg@miami.edu
Goodroad, Ekaterina egoodroad@madisoncollege.edu
Hebbard, Marcela marcela.hebbard01@utrgv.edu
Hung, Jui-Hsin Renee juihung@in.edu
Jin, Daewoo d.jin2@iup.edu
Joy, Lilia lilia.joy@kctcs.edu
Kang, Stephie smjkang@unm.edu
Laverick, Erin knoche@findlay.edu
Lee, Soyeon slee87@uh.edu
Lenny, Lee xqli@msu.edu
Li, Yan liy304@miamioh.edu
Lian, Yu raintian624@email.arizon.edu
Longkumer, Senti slongkumer@zanestate.edu
Matsuda, Paul Kei pmatsuda@asu.edu
Michal, Reznizki michal.reznizki@gmail.com
Moore, Marta mmoore@collin.edu
Morais, Kátia katiamorais@unipampa.edu.br
Pellegrini, Mason masonpel@unm.edu
Pellicer, Regine regine.pellicer@utrgv.edu
Petersen, Kerstin kpeters7@binghamton.edu
Petty, Alesya alesya.petty@sjsu.edu
Reed , Zsuzsanna reedzs@ceu.edu
Sanchez-Martin, Cristina csanchez@iup.edu
Schell, Tatjana tatjana.schell@ndsu.edu
Shehi, Monika mshehi@uscupstate.edu
Szerdahelyi, Judith judith.szerdahelyi@wku.edu
Teplova, Maryna mteplov@ilstu.edu
Tsakova, Maria mtsakova@ivytech.edu
Tseptsura , Mariya mtseptsura@unm.edu
Verzalle, Massimo massimo.verzella@ndsu.edu
Wang, Xiaobo (Belle) bellewangjingjing@gmail.com
Wang-Hiles, Lan lwang@wvstateu.edu
Xing, Jiawei gsqw@iup.edu
Zhang, Tong t.zhang4@iup.edu
Zhao, Yebing zhaoy15@miamioh.edu

NNESWIs 9