Strategies for ESOL Writers WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM (WAC) PROGRAM MELANIE LOREK JUSTINA OLIVEIRA

Roadmap  Challenges ESOL students face  Strategies to help ESOL students 1. Create a positive learning environment 2. Create assignments that help (ESOL) students succeed 3. Use effective teaching strategies and approaches 4. Reduce the language load 5. Potentially allow use of native language in some contexts

Issues You May Have Encountered: Limited lecture comprehension Limited class participation Reluctance to use office hours Saying they understand something when it’s clear they don’t Writing that doesn’t meet expectations (strangely organized, lacking expected elements, etc.) Odd vocabulary usage Grammatical errors (either minor or serious) Potential plagiarism Poor test performance

Exercise  Write a paragraph or two explaining what your profession does(e.g., Architecture, Law) following these three rules:  All adjectives have to be followed by a verb.  All prepositions must be placed at the beginning of the sentence.  All pronouns must be placed at the end of the sentence.

Traditional Writing Assignments Ask Students to: “Do the Discipline” Write in finished prose Develop and demonstrate critical thinking skills Comprehend an academic text and concepts

Challenges Students are Faced with When Entering College  Students are not the intended audience of a professional article  Students’ cultural context differs from cultural context the text was written in

Challenges Students are Faced with When Entering College Stuck between 2 differing teaching philosophies (Moussu, 2013)  1. Instructor feedback often focuses on grammar (lower order concerns)  Told to go to Writing Center to “fix” this  2. Writing Centers often have philosophy to focus on global understanding and critical thinking of texts

Strategies to Help ESOL Students: 1. Create a positive learning environment 2. Create assignments that help (ESOL) students succeed 3. Use effective teaching strategies and approaches 4. Reduce the language load 5. Potentially allow use of native language in some contexts

Strategy#1: Create a positive learning environment  Express interest in their homes and communities, their primary languages and cultures  Pronounce students’ names correctly  Gather information about your students that aids in understanding their point of view/experiences

Strategy#1: Create a positive learning environment  Provide support outside of classroom  Discussion about cultural norms in learning, teaching environments, etc.  Acknowledge students are experts in their own language

Strategy #2: Creating assignments that help (ESOL) students succeed  Provide detailed assignments - clear expectations  Provide examples (models of good student work)  Allow for discussion of students’ ideas (one- on-one or with students)  Scaffold & require a draft

Strategy #2: Creating assignments that help (ESOL) students succeed  Respond thoughtfully and respectfully  Activities/assignments that allow students to draw on their prior knowledge & life experience  Microthemes, Exploratory Essays, Reflection Papers  Expect and accept written accents  Correct serious patterns of errors, but not all errors  Teach citation very carefully

Strategy#3: Use effective teaching strategies/approaches  Communicate with students individually  Avoid limiting student efforts solely to verbal performance  Allow students to record lectures  Provide an outline of your lecture  Post lecture notes

Strategy#3: Use effective teaching strategies/approaches Consider varying teaching styles:  Implement self- (journal writing), peer, & teacher assessment regarding feedback to writing (Birjandi & Tamjid, 2012)  Reciprocal teaching: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting strategies during reading improve students’ writing (Ghorbani, Gangeraj, & Alavi, 2013)

Strategy#4: Reduce the language load  Break up complex sentences into smaller sentences  Point out difficult words and define them  Offer various sources on one topic with varying levels of linguistic difficulty  Consider using visuals along with your lecture or readings

Strategy#5: Allowing use of native language  Using native language during idea generation, initial phases of assignments, critical thinking stages (Huh, Lee, & Lee, 2013)  These stages are cognitively demanding & stressful  Unrealistic to ask ESL students to solely use & think in English (Cohen, 1998)  Allow students to use readings in their native language for initial stages of brainstorming

Activity 2 – last section of handout

References  Birjandi, P., & Tamjid, N.H. (2012). The role of self-, peer and teacher assessment in promoting Iranian EFL learners’ writing performance. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 37,  Cohen, A.D. (1998). Strategies in learning and using a second language. New York: Longman.  Ghorbani, M.R., Gangeraj, A.A., & Alavi, S.Z. (2013). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension strategies improves EFL learners’ writing ability. Current Issues in Education, 16,  Huh, M-H., Lee, Y-S., Lee, N. (2013). Mediation through the first language during the second language writing: A sociocultural approach. English Teaching, 68,  Moussu, L. (2013). Let’s talk! ESL students’ needs and writing centre philosophy. TESL Canada Journal, 30,  students/tips-on-teaching-esl-students/ students/tips-on-teaching-esl-students/  pdf pdf