ABSTRACT
Students and language teachers are increasingly confronted by tensions between cultural identities and shifting language practice, and by questions on whether it is possible to live between or cross national, racial, or ethnic boundaries. Historically, the notion of nation, enforced in and through language, has structured social experiences and permeated educational systems. This volume explores conceptual frames, literacy practices, and classroom instructions that challenge, negotiate with, and transcend nationalism. This chapter starts by defining transnational writing education as efforts made to enable students to recognize, negotiate with, deconstruct, and transcend national, ethnic, and racial boundaries in the teaching of writing, ultimately cultivating flexible and responsible global citizens. After reviewing the formation of nationalism and its relationship to writing instruction, the chapter then sketches out three key constructs—translingualism, transculturalism, and cosmopolitanism—in the hope of establishing a transnational framework for writing education. Next, published studies are reviewed to identify pedagogical projects and strategies that have clearly advanced the transnational agenda. Finally, new areas of research and teaching are proposed and the contributions of this volume in moving writing education towards a transnational turn are highlighted.
