Date of Award
8-2009
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
English: Teaching English as a Second Language: M.A.
Department
English
College
College of Liberal Arts
First Advisor
James Robinson
Second Advisor
Matthew Barton
Third Advisor
David Heine
Keywords and Subject Headings
English language learners, writing instruction
Abstract
I have been an English teacher for 4 years and have devoted 4 of my 6 years of post-secondary education to teaching English in some capacity. Through my experience, I have found that I most love to help students become better writers. To that end, I am constantly exploring new ideas about teaching writing from both published works and fellow teachers. This project blends my interests in writing with teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) and investigates best practice based on theory and current classroom practices.
I surveyed a total of 19 pre-service and practicing ELL teachers about the types of writing assignments they assign, the types of feedback they provide, and the instructional practices they feel work best when teaching writing in an ELL classroom. I tabulated the results of these surveys and then further interviewed five teachers about their answers. I compared this information to current research about teaching ELL writing and composition theory.
The discussion of this research resulted in recommendations for teachers of both Language Arts and ELLs. Teachers should keep student motivation high by involving students' personal lives and social and political environments in writing assignments. Grammar instruction should be integrated into writing assignments and taught in the context of students' writing. Teacher feedback should never overwhelm students and whenever possible should allow students to correct their own mistakes. Last, though teachers should provide students many opportunities to write informally, they should also place some emphasis on producing a polished final draft. Though the teachers interviewed all specialize in teaching English Language Learners, their answers and insight into teaching writing are widely valuable to all English teachers.
Recommended Citation
Nelson, Jennifer R., "Writing Instruction for English Language Learners: Theoretical Underpinnings, Practical Happenings" (2009). Culminating Projects in TESL. 69.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/tesl_etds/69
