The 11th Symposium on Second Language Writing
Graduate Study in Second Language Writing

September 6-8, 2012
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Introduction

The focus of the 2012 Symposium grows, in part, out of a concern that was voiced a decade ago about whether the field of second language writing could produce enough Ph.D.s to remain viable, to sustain itself. It would appear that this concern, at least for the present time, has been largely alleviated. Since 2000, more than four hundred second language focused dissertations have been completed. However, what is less clear is how this has happened; that is, what institutional and personal forces have helped bring about this situation.

The theme of the 2012 Symposium will be Graduate Study in Second Language Writing. Specifically, it will address the process of earning a Ph.D. (from admission to graduation and beyond) with a focus on second language writing from the perspectives of both doctoral advisors and doctoral students working in a number of distinct institutional contexts. This theme will be addressed in plenary sessions via the personal stories of second language writing scholars who regularly chair second language writing focused dissertation committees and of their former doctoral advisees.

For more information about the Symposium on Second Language Writing—including past symposia and related publications—please visit The Symposium on Second Language Writing homepage.

Photos from the 2012 Symposium is now available on Flickr.

If you have any questions about the 2012 Symposium, please contact Tony Silva at tony@purdue.edu.

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About the Symposium

The Symposium on Second Language Writing is an annual international conference dedicated to the development of the field of second language writing--an interdisciplinary field of specialization that draws from and contributes to various related fields, including applied linguistics, composition studies, education, foreign language studies, litearcy studies, rhetoric, and TESOL.

Founded in 1998 by Tony Silva and Paul Kei Matsuda, the Symposium has been bringing together second language writing specialists to discuss key issues and concerns in the field.

From the beginning, the Symposium has been attracting second language writing researchers and teachers from all over the world. In 2007, the Symposium was held at Nagoya Gakuin University, Japan. The 2007 meeting also made the Symposium an annual event.

In recent years, the Symposium has been held at Purdue University, USA (2008), Arizona State University, USA (2009), the University of Murcia, Spain (2010), and National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan (2011).

For more information about the Symposium on Second Language Writing, please visit the website at: http://sslw.asu.edu/.