Embracing Global Varieties of English in a Writing Safe Space - Exploring the Use of Comic Books in a College Writing Class with Second Language Learners

Oct 15, 2026

Guided by concerns about “standard English” in academic writing, the paper argues that ESL classrooms should provide guidance that supports students’ comfort and pride in the Englishes they use beyond school. It reviews research on World/Global Englishes, linguistic hegemony, and practices such as code-meshing and code-switching, noting that U.S. college writing often remains normatively homogeneous. A Comic Book Project is presented as a writing-safe-space approach for first-year theme-based instruction.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background

The Comic Book Project

Embracing Global Varieties of English in a Writing Safe Space—Exploring the Use of Comic Books in a College Writing Class with Second Language Learners Shaofei Lu Case Western Reserve University Introduction Over the years that I’ve been teaching second language writers and preaching the importance of“standard” language use in academic English writing, I somehow secretly feel guilty when I grade papers that fall out of “standard” academic English writing, papers that nevertheless exhibit clear features of good writing in other languages/cultures. Such guilt comes partly from my sympathy for those who use English as a second language as I do, but mostly comes from my doubt as to what a claim of “standard English” implies in a world that is becoming increasingly built upon frequent contact of varieties of English around the globe. For example, when a Chinese student writes a long introduction that seems far-fetched from the topic of her essay and we tell her that she needs to “get to the point,” what does that imply to the student? Does it mean that being straightforward is always the golden rule in any type of writing in any culture? In a world that is fraught with a troubling political climate, I believe it is especially important that we provide guidance in our teaching to students not only for their academic endeavors but also for their understanding of the complexities in language and the social implications of language varieties. With such belief in mind, I ask: How can we create safe spaces in our ESL writing classrooms to make students feel not only comfortable but also proud to use the Englishes that they use in their everyday interactions outside of school? In this paper, I examine the Comic Book Project that I designed for a first-year theme-based writing course that I taught at Case Western Reserve University and explore the potential of the project in creating a safe space for students to use global varieties of English in ESL writing classes. Background Since Phillipson’s publication of Linguistic Imperialism in 1992, a plethora of research has been done on interrogating the hegemony of the English language and its effect on local and indigenous languages and cultures (Canagarajah 57; Pennycook 5). To combat the hegemony of the English language in the global linguistic domain, many scholars have been promoting concepts that embrace local varieties of English, such as World Englishes (Matsuda and Matsuda 369) and Global Englishes (Galloway and Rose 11) . In his book “English as a Global Language,” Crystal discusses the linguistic distinctiveness of the Englishes used around the world from aspects of grammar, vocabulary, pragmatics, discourses, and phonology (147-172) . He predicts that varieties of English in the local contexts (i.e.“he be running;” “furnitures”) may eventually appear in writing as English continues to be influenced by users around the globe (173) . With recent development in educational studies suggesting the benefits of embracing students’ home languages and cultures in our classrooms (Darder 103), code-meshing (the blending of dialects and languages with standard English) and code-switching (the act of shifting between dialects or languages in different settings) have been advocated in teaching ESL classes as ways to embrace students’ local varieties of English (Young and Martinez xxiv) and many college instructors have begun to allow code-meshing and code-switching in the informal speaking activities in their ESL classrooms. Despite this progress, college writing classes in the US still remain linguistically homogenous spaces where standard American English is celebrated as the norm while global and local varieties of English are treated as errors to be eliminated (Lee 312) . It seems that though code-meshing and code-switching can now find their places in oral communications in classrooms, it is difficult to find room for local/global varieties of English in academic wri

FAQs

Why does the paper question the idea of “standard English” in academic writing?

It highlights the mismatch between “standard” expectations and the real diversity of English varieties shaped by global contact, cultures, and learners’ backgrounds.

What does the paper suggest about classroom practices toward local/global English varieties?

Instead of treating deviations as errors to eliminate, it advocates discussing effective language use across contexts and reducing shame caused by constant correction.

What is the Comic Book Project intended to achieve in ESL writing classes?

It is designed for a first-year theme-based writing course to help create a safe space where students can use global varieties of English in their academic writing.

Oct 15, 2026

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