ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 presents a rationale for CLA pedagogy as an approach to writing instruction at the secondary and postsecondary levels. I argue that CLA offers powerful insights in addressing a concern that has become prominent recently in discussions of language difference in the teaching of writing—namely, the need for a “both/and” approach that is both progressive and pragmatic in its orientation to linguistic diversity and its treatment of academic norms and linguistic standards. We review how U.S. writing/literacy studies scholars have called for such an approach for decades, as demonstrated in ongoing conversations about Students’ Rights to Their Own Languages (SRTOL), translingualism, and anti-racism, and I present three common teaching scenarios that illustrate the affordances and possibilities for CLA pedagogy in the current historical moment. The introduction concludes with an overview of the remaining chapters.
