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Teaching Writing to ESL/EFL Students: Tips and Activities for Any Level

• Linda D'Argenio
• August 19, 2022

Teaching writing to non-native speakers of a language presents a plethora of unique challenges and can feel overwhelming for new and seasoned teachers alike. However, teaching writing to ESL students can be dynamic and meaningful when approached with a bit of ingenuity.

If you’re new to teaching, you’ll want to get initial training and qualification with a TEFL certificate . You can explore our online TEFL courses to get started!

Why is it important to teach writing to ESL students?

In order to effectively participate as contributing members of society, individuals need to be able to communicate their thoughts in written form, whether they are using the English language as their vehicle or not.

Writing is an essential component of productive language, and ELs will need to demonstrate their ability to write in English if they hope to be competitive in a globalized world . Building competency in English-language writing supports reading comprehension, vocabulary expansion, and oral fluency , so there’s so much to be gained. And even if your students don’t plan to use the lingua franca on a regular basis, the skills gleaned from learning to write in another language transfer to all facets of life, making students more aware and more effective communicators in their native language(s) .

Teaching ESL writing aids in self-expression , which might be particularly meaningful for individuals who are hesitant to express themselves verbally. You might have the next Henry David Thoreau or Gabriel García Márquez in your class!

Why do ESL students struggle with writing?

Writing in another language is no easy feat, so it’s only natural that your ESL/ EFL students encounter difficulties when asked to do so.

First, it’s essential to recognize that writing conventions differ from one language group to another . Students from various linguistic backgrounds might declare that writing in English (particularly in an academic setting) is “boring,” something they perceive as formulaic. Often, these students come from backgrounds that value writing in a way that might seem “tangential” to native English readers.

In “Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education,” Robert B. Kaplan (1966) put forth a model for examining written discourse patterns, which illustrates how different thought patterns influence how speakers of other languages express themselves in written form.

You can observe that English is illustrated as being very straightforward, which aligns with the directness of spoken English. Kaplan poses here that other language groups tend to branch off in different directions in written form, pulling in supporting elements that might not be directly correlated to the main idea and that present as “off-topic” for native English speakers.

Secondly, it’s crucial to keep in mind that writing requires a vocabulary lexicon that can adequately support sharing . Often, even the most proficient English learners struggle to select the language they need to convey their point. When tackling writing instruction, make sure to consider how you’re supporting vocabulary development to support the conventions you’re teaching.

Lastly (and perhaps most importantly), writing is a form of self-expression, and self-expression through writing isn’t valued the same way in all cultures . There is a great deal of value placed on sharing one’s opinions in the U.S., for example, but this is not the reality all over the world. Some of your students might have been taught that they receive and process information, but that they are not in the position to make statements of their own or have the authority to teach others. Therefore, putting their thoughts down on paper might feel formal, high-stakes even, for your students.

What are some tips for teaching ESL writing?

Regardless of the age and proficiency level of your students, or whether you’re teaching writing in an ESL or EFL classroom, there is a myriad of strategies that you have at your disposal.

Don’t underestimate the value of conducting needs assessments

When it comes down to how to teach writing skills, even if you are teaching a group that is considered a certain proficiency level, recognize that there is always going to be a range of experience and ability present. Spend time getting to know what your students have been exposed to and in what ways before deciding on your approach. Teach to the middle to ensure no one is left behind.

Check out the following sample needs assessment to get started:

Think about how you can lower learners’ affective filters

A large portion of all successful teaching comes from relationship-building. In addition to getting a true sense of your learners’ experience and abilities, try to understand their attitudes towards writing as a process and any challenges that might be borne from those attitudes. How can you increase your students’ comfort level? How can you engage the individuals sitting in front of you?

Check out these 5 ways to build rapport with your students when teaching English.

Think about how the writing task can act as a building block for other assignments

Learning how to write in another language can be intimidating, and even more so if your students don’t enjoy writing in the first place. When wondering how to teach writing to ESL/EFL students, think about how you can integrate writing more often and more seamlessly into your lesson plans. Instead of approaching writing in isolation, teach writing skills alongside other “more engaging” activities that students tend to enjoy more. Have your students participate in role-playing and storytelling activities that require writing but don’t make writing the focus of the activity. This is your chance to be sneaky and get your students to build their writing skills without even knowing!

Present opportunities to examine authentic, written language

Providing students with examples of the target language is non-negotiable, but challenge yourself to move beyond the sample texts in your curriculum where possible. Students might feel bored by the selected works in their textbooks – they need to recognize that written language is all around them. Pull from authentic texts that cover an array of topics that you know matter to your students to keep them enticed.

Try incorporating pop culture into your ESL classroom to spice up writing activities!

Lead with function over form in instruction, and then alter your focus

Students can be discouraged to find their paper covered with red ink, highlighting their fallacies. While it is important to provide corrective feedback, consider the purpose of the assignment before marking up the composition. Was the output comprehensible? Did it touch upon everything that you asked for? Focusing on both function (the purpose of the assignment) and the accuracy in form simultaneously can feel overwhelming. Choose your objectives carefully, make them known to the learners, and provide corrective feedback accordingly .

Choose writing activities that pertain to your students’ learning goals. For example, the following clip, from a BridgeUniverse Expert Series webinar , covers how to teach Business English students to write an email in English:

Consider formative assessment and reflective strategies

Whenever possible, assess student work periodically, examining the process with various checkpoints and iterations throughout, instead of just evaluating the final product. Writing is an iterative process, and students benefit greatly when offered opportunities to reflect on their process. Create opportunities for students to participate in self- and peer-revision processes, which in turn will result in more conscientious and focused writers.

What are some ESL writing activities and lesson plans for beginners?

It can feel challenging to come up with writing activities for learners with beginner proficiency, but with proper scaffolding , writing can be inclusive and participatory.

Try group writing processes in class to get students comfortable

Writers with beginner proficiency might default to a deficit mindset, believing that writing is inaccessible for them due to a dearth of vocabulary or experience, so when you start to look at how to teach writing in the ESL/EFL classroom, your first job is to inspire confidence and get students into a growth mindset. To get them comfortable with the writing process, engage them in group writing activities.

• Choose a familiar topic (or have your students choose a topic together), and explain that you are going to “group-author” a paragraph.
• Have the students share what they know about the topic, and you, as the teacher, act as the scribe, jotting down their thoughts in a central location.
• Continue gathering their ideas until everyone has shared, remembering to emphasize that this is a process and that there is no wrong contribution.
• Examine the individual contributions and note overlap: How can a few thoughts be grouped together? In the process, ask students to elaborate on what they meant and provide examples.
• Organize these preliminary thoughts to the best of your ability, involving the students and getting them to notice organizational structures and decipher between the main idea and details.
• After celebrating what you can refer to as the “first draft,” provide specific and limited ways to improve the piece. Did they include everything they thought was relevant to the topic? Could the paragraph benefit from additional cohesive devices? Do the subjects and verbs agree? Provide ample support in the form of examples, formulas, and sentence frames alongside the piece. Invite students to examine the paragraph and seek out these common mistakes (in partners or individually).
• Create your “final draft” together, and ensure that it’s displayed prominently in the space.

By engaging them in the writing process in this way, you are instilling habits that will aid them in writing autonomously when the time comes.

Make the most of brainstorming – both individually and with others

Have you ever had students tell you that they don’t know what to write? Students, particularly those at the beginner level, need ample time to think about the content before diving into the actual writing process . Emphasize the importance of brainstorming as a way to collect their thoughts and aid them in their writing. Engage students in different kinds of brainstorming activities, going beyond “write down what comes to mind.”

Consider Think-Pair-Share as a framework for brainstorming, where students take time to think independently about the topic, share their ideas with their peers, and then share aloud to a larger group. Typically, the sharing is done orally, but you could also consider the independent writing portion of the activity as “sharing” with a larger audience, just in written form.

What are some ESL writing activities and lesson plans for intermediate and advanced students?

Facilitate a two-way journal experience with your students.

Create a way for individual students to exchange their ideas with you in an informal way with a two-way journal . Have the students maintain a writing journal that you periodically collect to write comments and ask questions. The objective of this exchange is not to formally evaluate your students’ writing, but to gather intel about your students’ progress and connect with them as individuals. Within these exchanges, not only are you building and sustaining rapport, but you are also augmenting critical thinking and meta-cognitive skills with strategies like noticing and annotation.

Cultivate peer revision routines

Learning to write in a non-native language is as much a social process as it is a cognitive process. Involving students in peer revision activities can be incredibly beneficial in that students can learn from their peers (potentially those who are stronger writers than themselves) and develop the ability to think more critically about their own writing. While getting students to effectively participate in peer revision activities requires a lot of frontloading and the establishing of routine, it is the gift that keeps on giving. If you’re interested in facilitating peer revision with your students, consider the following as general guidelines:

• Start by determining your focus for the activity. What are you asking the students to do? Make it clear to the students what you’re looking for, and provide supports that they can use in the process (e.g., a checklist or rubric).
• Demonstrate how students would use the rubric, and go through the revision process as a group.
• Provide sample pieces to examine, and engage the students in discussion around the samples.
• Make sure that students are aware of what is considered appropriate and useful feedback through modeling. Have them practice, and give them feedback on their feedback.
• Monitor the peer review sessions and jump in as needed, ensuring the quality of feedback for all involved parties.
• Reflect on the peer feedback activity in whole-group format, asking students to share what they got from reading their peers’ work, defining areas that they excelled in and areas for improvement.

Timed writing

Once your students feel comfortable with the writing process and the structure at hand, consider different contexts that they’ll be writing in. Perhaps they are planning to take the TOEFL or the Pearson Test of English (PTE) and hope to study abroad, or maybe they’re about to enter the workforce and work collaboratively with others.

In either case, your students will need to demonstrate their ability to communicate their ideas in written form while adhering to time constraints . Plan timed writing activities for your students on a variety of topics and with different parameters. In a standardized test prep context, have students write under the same conditions as the test that they’re preparing to sit for.

Take a Micro-credential course in Teaching TOEFL Test Prep or Teaching PTE Test Prep to help students ace these high-stakes exams.

In a workforce development setting, illustrate a scenario in which an email from management warrants an urgent (and polished) response. In either context, examine the output and discuss strategies that the students used. Student output from timed activities provides fertile ground for examining accuracy in form. Walk students through noticing activities, and challenge them to remember their tendencies in subsequent timed writing tasks.

Teaching writing to ESL/EFL students requires commitment and perhaps a bit of innovation on the part of the teacher, but if done well, it can prove immensely useful in a globalized world, aiding individuals in self-expression and beyond.

In addition to writing, there’s another subject that can sometimes fill teachers with dread: grammar! Here are 7 simple strategies for teaching grammar to English language learners , so you can tackle this topic with confidence .

Linda D'Argenio

Linda D'Argenio is a native of Naples, Italy. She is a world language teacher (English, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese,) translator, and writer. She has studied and worked in Italy, Germany, China, and the U.S. In 2003, Linda earned her doctoral degree in Classical Chinese Literature from Columbia University. She has taught students at both the school and college levels. Linda lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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ESL Essay Writing: 7 Important Tips

“Every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end.”

This is true for a good essay, too.

An essay needs a coherent structure to successfully articulate its arguments. Strong preparation and planning is crucial to providing that structure.

Of course, essay writing can be challenging for ESL students. They must order their thoughts and construct their arguments—all in their second language.

So, here are seven ESL essay writing tips that will allow your students to weave together a coherent and persuasive essay, plus teacher resources for writing activities, prompts and lessons!

1. Build the Essay Around a Central Question

2. use the traditional 5-paragraph essay structure, 3. plan the essay carefully before writing, 4. encourage research and rewriting, 5. practice utilizing repetition, 6. aim to write a “full circle” essay, 7. edit the essay to the end, esl essay writing resources.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Encourage your students to build all their writing around one central question.

That central question is the engine of the writing—it should drive everything!

If a word or sentence is not assisting that forward motion toward the explication of that question and its possible answers, then it needs to be reworded, rephrased or just plain cut out and discarded.

Lean writing is merciless. Focusing on a central question throughout the prewriting, writing and rewriting stages helps develop the critical faculties required to discern what to keep and what to throw away.

Providing a clear structure for the student to approach essay writing can do a lot to build their confidence. The 5-paragraph essay, or “hamburger” essay, provides that clear structure for ESL writers.

Generally, this structure employs five separate paragraphs for the entire essay. Each paragraph serves a specific purpose, melding together to form a coherent whole:

• Paragraph 1: The introductory paragraph. This includes the thesis statement, orientating the reader to the purpose of the essay.
• Paragraphs 2 to 4: The body paragraphs. These make individual points that are further backed up by various forms of evidence.
• Paragraph 5:  The conclusion paragraph. This provides a summation of the arguments and a final statement of the thesis.

While students do not need to rigidly follow this format forever, the simple structure outlined above can serve as excellent training wheels for your writers.

Using the 5-paragraph structure as outlined above makes planning clear cut.

Once they have their theses and are planning their paragraphs, share with the students the ridiculously useful acronym P.E.E. This stands for Point, Explanation and Evidence.

Each body paragraph should make a point or argument in favor of the central thesis, followed by an explanation of this point and relevant evidence to back it up.

Students can make note of all their points, explanations and evidence before they start writing them in essay form. This helps take away some of the pressure ESL writers feel when faced with a blank page.

Extol the necessity for students to constantly refer to their planning. The mind-mapping techniques popularized by Tony Buzan can be useful at the planning stage and make for easy reference points to ensure focus is maintained throughout the essay.

Having a visual reference such as this can help ensure that your student-writers see each piece of the whole as well as that elusive “bigger picture,” so it becomes a case of seeing the forest and the trees!

Just as planning is crucial, so too is research.

Often ideas or connections do not occur until the writing process has begun. This is a good thing! Essay writing is a creative act, so students can have more ideas along the way and work them in as they go.

The key is to always be able to back up these ideas. Students who have done their research on their subject will be much more confident and articulate in expressing their arguments in their writing.

One way you can help students with context and research is to show relevant video content via FluentU . This language learning program uses authentic videos made by and for native speakers to help students learn English.

You can watch videos as a class or assign them directly to students for individual viewing. Videos come equipped with interactive bilingual subtitles and other learning tools such as multimedia flashcards and personalized quizzes so you can see how each student is doing.

No matter how your students do their research, the important thing is that they explore and understand their topic area before beginning the big task of writing their essay.

Even with thorough planning and research, writing oneself into a linguistic cul-de-sac is a common error. Especially with higher-level students, unforeseen currents can pull the student-writer off course.

Sometimes abandoning such a sentence helps. Going back to the drawing board and rewriting it is often best.

Students can be creative with their sentence structures   when expressing simpler ideas and arguments. However, when it comes to more complex concepts, help them learn to use shorter sentences to break their arguments into smaller, more digestible chunks.

Essay writing falls firmly in the camp of non-fiction. However, that doesn’t mean that essay writers can’t use some of the techniques more traditionally associated with fiction, poetry and drama .

One technique that’s particularly useful in essay writing is repetition. Just as poetry relies heavily on rhythm, so too does argument. Repetition can provide that sense of rhythm.

This is because written language has its origins in oral language. Think of the great orators and demagogues and their use of repetition. Speechwriters, too, are well aware of the power of repetition.

The writing principle of the “rule of 3” states that ideas expressed in these terms are more convincing and memorable. This is true of both spoken and written words and the ideas they express. Teach your students to use this method in their essay writing.

The very structure of the 5-paragraph essay lends itself to planning for this repetition, in fact. Each idea that is explored in a body paragraph should be outlined first in the introductory paragraph.

Then, the single body paragraph devoted to the idea will explore it at greater length, supported by evidence. And the third rap of the hammer occurs in the summation of the concluding paragraph, driving the point securely and convincingly home.

As mentioned at the start of this post, every good essay has a beginning, a middle and an end.

Each point made, explained and supported by evidence is a step toward what the writing teacher Roy Peter Clark calls “closing the circle of meaning.”

In planning for the conclusion of the essay, the students should take the opportunity to reaffirm their position. By referring to the points outlined in the introduction and driving them home one last time, the student-writer is bringing the essay to a satisfying full circle.

This may be accomplished by employing various strategies: an apt quotation, referring to future consequences or attempting to inspire and mobilize the reader.

Ending with a succinct quotation has the double benefit of lending some authoritative weight to the argument while also allowing the student to select a well-written, distilled expression of their central thesis. This can make for a strong ending, particularly for ESL students.

Often the essay thesis will suggest its own ending. If the essay is structured around a problem, it’s frequently appropriate to end the essay by offering solutions to the problem and outlining potential consequences if those solutions are not followed.

In the more polemical type of essay, the student may end with a call to arms, a plea for action on the part of the reader.

The strategy chosen by the student will depend largely on what fits the central thesis of their essay best.

For the ESL student, the final edit is especially important.

It offers a final chance to check form and meaning. For all writers, this process can be daunting, but more so for language students.

Often, ESL students will use the same words over and over again due to a limited vocabulary. Encourage your students to employ a thesaurus in the final draft before submission. This will freshen up their work, making it more readable, and will also increase their active vocabulary in the long run!

Another useful strategy at this stage is to encourage students to read their work aloud before handing it in.

This can be good pronunciation practice , but it also provides an opportunity to listen for grammatical errors. Further, it helps students hear where punctuation is required in the text, helping the overall rhythm and readability of the writing.

To really help your students become master essay writers, you’ll want to provide them with plenty of opportunities to test and flex their skills.

Writing prompts and exercises are a good place to start:

Descriptive writing activities encourage students to get creative and use their five senses, literary devices and diverse vocabulary. Read on for eight descriptive writing…

Giving good ESL writing prompts is important because inspiring prompts inspire students to write more and writing more is how they improve. Read this post to learn 50…

You’ll likely also want to teach them more about the mechanics of writing :

Are you looking for ESL writing skills to share with your ESL students? In this guide, you’ll find different ESL writing techniques, such as helping students understand…

Introducing ESL journal writing to your students is a great way to get them practicing their English skills. Here are nine essential tips to make this activity creative,…

Essays are a great way not only for students to learn how the language works, but also to learn about themselves.

Formulating thoughts and arguments about various subjects is good exercise for not only the students’ linguistic faculties, but also for understanding who they are and how they see the world.

Related posts:

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Best Practices for Teaching ESL: Speaking, Reading, and Writing

These days, ESL instruction comes in all shapes and forms, from social media mini-lessons to individualized intensives. Effective teaching practices vary widely, depending upon the context of the teaching. In the classroom, however, certain configurations prevail, and certain methods qualify as best practices for ESL teachers.

ESL Program Models

General program models for teaching English language learners (ELLs) include content-based integrated, content-based self-contained, and dual-immersion approaches, leading to a variety of classroom configurations. The Clark County School District English Language Learner Program website outlines the typical configurations of ELL classrooms in public schools in the United States:

• Self-Contained ESL Classrooms : This approach is often used by districts and schools with large influxes of immigrants every year and with many beginning ELLs. Students first do academic work in their core subjects with other ESL students. Afterward, they are mainstreamed for non-academic subjects and noninstructional parts of the day, such as physical education, art, assemblies, study hall, library, computer lab, lunch, and recess. Classes usually contain students at mixed levels of English proficiency, meaning that the instructor must level instruction and plan small-group and whole-group lessons accordingly.
• Integrated 50/50 ESL Classrooms: Similar to the dual-immersion model’s emphasis on classrooms evenly split between use of home languages and English, the integrated ESL model contains 50 percent native English speakers and 50 percent ELLs, who might have a variety of home languages and varying levels of literacy in them. The instructor often combines native English speakers with ELLs in classroom activities, so that ELLs have the opportunity to work with fluent speakers.
• Integrated Group Classrooms: When schools have only a small number of ELLs, or if the number fluctuates from year to year, administrators sometimes integrate students into the general classroom. ELLs enter their grade levels, and instructors use specially designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE) techniques to ensure they have comprehensible input.
• Dual-Language Programs: The dual-immersion model has broader goals than simply helping students master English skills while learning core content. The highly structured program combines native English speakers and English Language Learners, sometimes in a 50/50 ratio. Students work in English for a designated percentage of the school day and in another target language (often Spanish) for a further percentage of the school day. The percentage of time devoted to each language shifts from year to year, with students ultimately spending half the day working in one language and half the day working in another language. Students typically have two teachers, who complement each other’s instruction without repeating content.
• Sheltered Content ESL Instruction: When ELLs enter the secondary classroom, they face many academic challenges. They must gain fluency in English while also learning grade-level content in several academic areas. For this reason, many schools offer a sheltered-content model that integrates core academic courses with SDAIE strategies and an intense focus on language development. Sheltered-content instructors must assess students frequently to determine gaps in knowledge and target language needs. Because of this diversity of needs, many teachers in this context use group activities, cooperative learning, graphic organizers, multimodal forms of input, and hands-on activities to offer ample opportunities for building vocabulary and increasing interaction.

Techniques for Teaching Speaking

In 1979, language acquisition theorist and professor Dr. Jim Cummins developed the terms BICS and CALP. These terms refer to Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency. For beginning ELLs, the focus is on the first set of skills, or BICS. This entails ELLs developing enough fluency in English to comprehend what is being said so that they can respond. Comprehension comes before the ability to produce language, which is why ESL teachers of newcomers might pose a question only to see a complete lack of response among their students. Stephen Krashen referred to this time as “ the silent period .” Also known as pre-production, this silent period might last anywhere from several weeks to a year. During this time, instructors must immerse their students in diverse language experiences and provide many cues to support comprehension.

In Hayriye Kayi’s “Teaching Speaking: Activities to Promote Speaking in a Second Language,” from the Internet TESL Journal , the author states that interaction, even at this beginning level, is the key to learning. The question is, how does interaction look in a classroom in which people are in their silent periods, unable to produce language?

Typical strategies include listening to fluent English, building receptive vocabulary through repetition and schema building, using gestures to show comprehension, and choral reading. Students might read structured dialogues or practice short phrases or sentences repeatedly for fluency. As they build listening comprehension and vocabulary, students can move onto lessons that demand slightly higher levels of interaction, centered on skills such as:

• using common social greetings
• engaging in community-building activities such as describing schedules and pastimes
• discussing current events or pop culture
• expressing an opinion
• explaining why they did something

Incorporating English Vocabulary in Speaking

ESL teachers can build the vocabulary of ELLs through motivating activities. Direct vocabulary instruction has its place – particularly when students must master grade-level content – but authentic instruction is more meaningful to students. Some best practices for building listening and speaking vocabulary include:

• having short, targeted discussions about interesting themes
• sharing images or objects that spark conversation
• watching short videos on art, music, dance, science or other relevant themes
• reciting rhymes, jokes, and poetry
• using music, rhythm, songs, tongue twisters, or a mnemonic device that reinforces the meanings of challenging words
• playing games such as charades that pair an action or gesture with a vocabulary word

Incorporating English Grammar in Speaking

The most powerful tool ESL teachers have for teaching correct grammar during speaking activities is their own English fluency. Modeling correct sentence structure and grammar gives students ample opportunity to hear and rehearse the target language. If more advanced speakers or native speakers are integrated into the classroom, instructors should use their language abilities as models as well.

An issue arises when ELLs and even fluent speakers have grammatical errors in their spoken language. Educators debate the value of corrective feedback in the context of speaking English, particularly for beginning ELLs. This issue has been discussed extensively by linguist Stephen Krashen , who opines, “Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language – natural communication – in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding.”

In essence, by over-correcting students’ pronunciation, vocabulary, or grammar during speaking, teachers increase students’ affective filters. Krashen uses this term to describe how students under pressure to produce correct language cannot fully engage in conversation.

One method ESL teachers employ in situations such as these is to note repeated errors and design mini-lessons around them after the discussion has ended. Rather than single out which student made what error, ESL instructors model and reinforce correct usage.

Incorporating English Pronunciation in Speaking

Listening to fluent English in a variety of contexts (teacher presentation, native English speaker presentation, recorded dialogues, songs, comprehensible video clips) is one of the best tools for teaching pronunciation. Kate Dobson, writing in TESOL Connections , points out that accent reduction is a separate issue from pronunciation. She argues that instructors and students should focus on intelligibility. Rather than isolating sounds, students need interaction and practice so that they can make themselves understood.

In writing for the TESOL Blog , bilingual educator Sandra Rogers outlines best practices for increasing intelligibility:

• Clap out syllables in longer words.
• Practice stressing the correct syllable when speaking.
• Use visual aids such as phonetic spelling, accents over stressed syllables, and color-coding of vowels sounds

Techniques for Teaching Reading

Reading takes many forms in the ESL program, which is why modeling how to read for different purposes is key. Beginning ELLs read words from the board, graphic organizers, simple instructions, and beginning or pattern books. More advanced ELLs read their own and other students’ writing, as well as textbooks, reference books, online information, and fiction and nonfiction of different genres.

The multiple uses of reading mean that ELLs should receive structured lessons that build their literacy skills while concurrently getting support for their English language development.

Building English Vocabulary Through Reading

Suzanne Irujo summarizes the findings of the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority and Youth and determines that ESL teachers must target different vocabulary for ELLs than for native English speakers. Among the areas of focus are:

• words critical for comprehending the text
• terms students will see in other areas of the curriculum
• high-frequency words that feature common prefixes, suffixes, and root words
• multiple-meaning words
• figurative language
• abstract terms

Building English Grammar Through Reading

ELLs benefit from hearing and reading grammar in meaningful, comprehensible contexts. Teaching grammar without practicing or using it in context is too abstract a method for ELLs. Instead, use reading selections to highlight and practice correct English grammar.

Rod Ellis, author of “ Current Issues in the Teaching of Grammar: An SLA Perspective ,” describes in other articles an approach to teaching grammar in the context of reading by taking students through several levels:

• Listen to Comprehend: The instructor reads aloud a text containing a repeated grammatical structure, and students listen for it.
• Listen to Notice: The instructor reads aloud a text. Students listen for the grammatical structure and then do a gap-fill exercise in which they write down the grammatical form as they heard it read.
• Understand the Grammar Form: Students read sentences or excerpts from the text, all of which contain the target grammatical structure. They use the examples to determine the grammar rule that applies to them.
• Correct the Grammar Form: Teacher give ELLs a written passage with errors in grammar. Students must identify and correct the errors.
• Apply the Grammar Form: Students use what they have learned about a target grammatical structure to produce writing or oral examples that integrate it.

Developing Reading Fluency in ELLs

ELLs must first have speaking fluency before they can have reading fluency. Then, ESL teachers can employ a variety of methods to build students’ skills.

The Language Experience Approach calls for the student to dictate a story or observation. The teacher writes down the work in the student’s exact words. The teacher then reads the work aloud, and afterward gives it to the student to practice reading aloud. This technique is powerful because it puts the focus on the student’s experiences rather than on the teacher’s. The text relies purely on the schemas and vocabulary of the student.

The simple technique of Repeated Reading builds both fluency and comprehension. “Repeated Reading Works,” published in Language Magazine, describes this process with a few variations. The simplest involves a student selecting a text at his or her own reading level, or slightly above it. The student reads the text and times how long it takes. Repeating this exercise several times, the student notes how both the time and the reading improve.

In another version of Repeated Reading, a teacher reads a short text, typically selected by the student. Several stages follow:

• The teacher tracks the print with a finger while reading aloud.
• The teacher reads the text aloud, while the student follows along, tracking the print with a finger.
• Both read the text aloud together, while the teacher tracks the print.
• Both read the text aloud together again, and this time the student tracks the print.
• Finally, the student alone reads the text aloud and also tracks the print.

It is important to note that, while the text selected for repeated reading should be stimulating and challenging, it should not include more than five words that are unfamiliar. No amount of repeated reading will illuminate the meaning of unfamiliar words. Developing reading fluency is about the students increasing their reading speed and their smoothness of delivery.

Increasing Reading Comprehension in ELLs

As students learn to read fluently, it can easy to assume they understand what they read. However, ESL teachers must use specific strategies to build reading comprehension.

Background knowledge is the crux of listening and reading comprehension. For this reason, teachers of ELLs should devote extra time and materials to building students’ schemas. Nigel Stott, in “ Helping ESL Students Become Better Readers: Schema Theory Applications and Limitations ,” describes pre-reading strategies such as naming the genre, describing special features of that genre, noting the text’s structure, and examining any accompanying illustrations or graphics. If the text is nonfiction, particularly from a textbook, then further points for discussion arise, including textual cues such as subtitles, bullet points, photographs, captions, timelines, and charts.

In addition, veteran educator Dr. Monica Bomengen, in her article “ ESL Teaching Strategies: Improving Vocabulary Improves Reading Fluency ,” highlights the importance of using images, realia, diagrams, and graphic organizers to build background vocabulary. Teaching vocabulary specific to the text also builds students’ schemas.

General Strategies for ESL Reading Instruction

Some teaching strategies for ELLs address all the reading areas of vocabulary, grammar, fluency, and comprehension. Some best practices include repeated reading of words, sentences, and stories; using cognates and synonyms to explain unfamiliar words and concepts; and summarizing text.

Techniques for Teaching Writing

Just as ELLs read for multiple purposes, they also write for multiple purposes. Beginning ESL student might mostly copy text or fill in blanks with words from a word bank. However, they quickly build their skills enough to write definitions of vocabulary words, write examples that support a grammatical structure, create short passages, record information on graphic organizers, answer test questions, and compose text to read aloud to the class.

Building English Vocabulary Through Writing

Several writing activities promote the development of English vocabulary. Firstly, there is the act of copying a list of words learned in a lesson, or of unfamiliar words for which to find meanings. Students can slowly compile lists of words that they organize alphabetically and keep in a personal dictionary. Beginning ELLs might add pictures, color-coding or other cues to remind them of the meaning of vocabulary words.

ESL Teacher and coach Raeann Pugliano suggests that ESL teachers:

• expand students’ verbal vocabulary
• choose writing themes with vocabulary and concepts that reflect their students’ diverse backgrounds
• give students the opportunity to copy a genre they have read
• use teacher-made and student-made word banks for their writing

Teaching English Grammar Through Writing

Because context aids in the learning and reinforcement of new grammatical structures, writing projects provide an ideal avenue for practicing grammar. Students can write sentences or whole passages that incorporate assigned grammatical structures. However, ESL instructors should confirm that students have a solid understanding of each form.

One way to keep grammar instruction varied and challenging is to vary students’ purposes for writing and the genres of their writing projects. Poetry assignments might require certain patterns of words, syllabication, or sounds. A lesson involving the writing of a narrative might include a focus on how to write in the past tense or how to create and punctuate dialogue. An assignment to compose a brief nonfiction piece can incorporate academic terms and structures.

Integrating Speaking, Reading, Writing in the ESL Classroom

Language development is most profound when instruction combines the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students witness the possibilities of expression in language, and have the opportunity to practice new skills. The practices and projects listed in this section use an integrated method to impart ESL skills.

Readers Theater

Students practice receptive, written, and oral language skills in this simple series of lessons. First, the class reads a story, utilizing whatever comprehension techniques are necessary to master the content. Then, the teacher leads students in a cooperative activity in which they write a script based on the story. This process can happen as a whole group, in small groups with each group responsible for a section, or in two-member groups with partners. The class compiles one or more scripts and practices repeated reading of their lines. During the final presentation, students hold their scripts and read their lines to the rest of the class. More elaborate versions can feature sound effects, costumes, or other theatrical elements. In “ The Impact of Readers Theater (RT) in the EFL Classroom ,” Ng Chin Leong Patrick notes that this type of group storytelling gives ELLs practice with vocabulary, grammatical structure, pronunciation, and reading fluency.

The Writing Process

One of the more powerful language learning tools is to engage in all stages of the writing process , though not every piece of writing must go through this multi-step, multi-lesson process. For example, students might keep daily journals or do brief homework assignments that do not require intensive editing. Meanwhile, instructors can guide students in identifying written work that could benefit from further exploration or refinement. For a more directed approach, teachers may choose to guide students through every step.

The writing process has many forms and permutations. A solid approach for ESL students entails spending more time in the pre-writing stage. Students brainstorm ideas for writing, referring to their portfolios, journals, or teacher-provided prompts. During brainstorming, they might fill in graphic organizers such as K-W-L Charts, word webs, mind maps, or basic outlines. This process helps students organize their thinking and also gives teachers a chance to review gaps in schemas, vocabulary, or grammatical patterns the student might need to fill in to complete a first draft.

In writing a first draft, students use information from their graphic organizers, supplemented by their own experiences as well as by guided research done in class. Students then read through their work alone, with a partner, in a small group, and/or with the teacher in order to learn ways to revise their work. In revising, beginning writers can focus on smaller issues, such as writing complete sentences, varying sentence structure, or organizing ideas into paragraphs. More advanced writers can do additional research or work with more complex ideas and sentence forms.

Assessing the Progress of ELLs

In “ Assessing English Language Proficiency: Using Valid Results to Optimize Instruction ,” the authors point out that the notion of English proficiency is an abstract one. There is no single point at which a student can be deemed proficient in English, as skills come at different times, vary in complexity, and may peak and plateau. To stay current with students’ needs, instructors must employ a variety of assessments. In order for these assessments to effectively reflect student learning and competence, they should arise naturally from lessons taught in class. For this reason, standardized tests are not typically the most effective measure of skills mastery.

Teacher-made tests that integrate skills from lessons are a common assessment method. Many instructors complement these types of tests with forms of authentic assessment, such as creating student portfolios. In this approach, teachers guide students through assembling portfolios of their work, often having students choose examples of their best work to demonstrate their progress.

Instructors also perform quick assessments during lessons, independent practice, and group work. Among these types of assessments are:

• doing short interviews with students and jotting down their responses
• listening to students read aloud and noting their reading speed or common errors
• using rubrics for longer papers or projects
• maintaining observation logs

Employing best practices in teaching ESL means that students have the opportunity to interact, participate in authentic tasks, and have ample practice in the basic skills required to master verbal and written English. No single technique or approach works for every student, but ELLs tend to succeed when they are invested in the process and motivated to participate. They will make progress when lessons are interesting and varied, and when students are encouraged to learn more about each other and the world through the medium of a new language.

Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

Four Strategies for Effective Writing Instruction

• Share article

(This is the first post in a two-part series.)

The new question-of-the-week is:

What is the single most effective instructional strategy you have used to teach writing?

Teaching and learning good writing can be a challenge to educators and students alike.

The topic is no stranger to this column—you can see many previous related posts at Writing Instruction .

But I don’t think any of us can get too much good instructional advice in this area.

Today, Jenny Vo, Michele Morgan, and Joy Hamm share wisdom gained from their teaching experience.

Before I turn over the column to them, though, I’d like to share my favorite tool(s).

Graphic organizers, including writing frames (which are basically more expansive sentence starters) and writing structures (which function more as guides and less as “fill-in-the-blanks”) are critical elements of my writing instruction.

You can see an example of how I incorporate them in my seven-week story-writing unit and in the adaptations I made in it for concurrent teaching.

You might also be interested in The Best Scaffolded Writing Frames For Students .

Now, to today’s guests:

‘Shared Writing’

Jenny Vo earned her B.A. in English from Rice University and her M.Ed. in educational leadership from Lamar University. She has worked with English-learners during all of her 24 years in education and is currently an ESL ISST in Katy ISD in Katy, Texas. Jenny is the president-elect of TexTESOL IV and works to advocate for all ELs:

The single most effective instructional strategy that I have used to teach writing is shared writing. Shared writing is when the teacher and students write collaboratively. In shared writing, the teacher is the primary holder of the pen, even though the process is a collaborative one. The teacher serves as the scribe, while also questioning and prompting the students.

The students engage in discussions with the teacher and their peers on what should be included in the text. Shared writing can be done with the whole class or as a small-group activity.

There are two reasons why I love using shared writing. One, it is a great opportunity for the teacher to model the structures and functions of different types of writing while also weaving in lessons on spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

It is a perfect activity to do at the beginning of the unit for a new genre. Use shared writing to introduce the students to the purpose of the genre. Model the writing process from beginning to end, taking the students from idea generation to planning to drafting to revising to publishing. As you are writing, make sure you refrain from making errors, as you want your finished product to serve as a high-quality model for the students to refer back to as they write independently.

Another reason why I love using shared writing is that it connects the writing process with oral language. As the students co-construct the writing piece with the teacher, they are orally expressing their ideas and listening to the ideas of their classmates. It gives them the opportunity to practice rehearsing what they are going to say before it is written down on paper. Shared writing gives the teacher many opportunities to encourage their quieter or more reluctant students to engage in the discussion with the types of questions the teacher asks.

Writing well is a skill that is developed over time with much practice. Shared writing allows students to engage in the writing process while observing the construction of a high-quality sample. It is a very effective instructional strategy used to teach writing.

‘Four Square’

Michele Morgan has been writing IEPs and behavior plans to help students be more successful for 17 years. She is a national-board-certified teacher, Utah Teacher Fellow with Hope Street Group, and a special education elementary new-teacher specialist with the Granite school district. Follow her @MicheleTMorgan1:

For many students, writing is the most dreaded part of the school day. Writing involves many complex processes that students have to engage in before they produce a product—they must determine what they will write about, they must organize their thoughts into a logical sequence, and they must do the actual writing, whether on a computer or by hand. Still they are not done—they must edit their writing and revise mistakes. With all of that, it’s no wonder that students struggle with writing assignments.

In my years working with elementary special education students, I have found that writing is the most difficult subject to teach. Not only do my students struggle with the writing process, but they often have the added difficulties of not knowing how to spell words and not understanding how to use punctuation correctly. That is why the single most effective strategy I use when teaching writing is the Four Square graphic organizer.

The Four Square instructional strategy was developed in 1999 by Judith S. Gould and Evan Jay Gould. When I first started teaching, a colleague allowed me to borrow the Goulds’ book about using the Four Square method, and I have used it ever since. The Four Square is a graphic organizer that students can make themselves when given a blank sheet of paper. They fold it into four squares and draw a box in the middle of the page. The genius of this instructional strategy is that it can be used by any student, in any grade level, for any writing assignment. These are some of the ways I have used this strategy successfully with my students:

* Writing sentences: Students can write the topic for the sentence in the middle box, and in each square, they can draw pictures of details they want to add to their writing.

* Writing paragraphs: Students write the topic sentence in the middle box. They write a sentence containing a supporting detail in three of the squares and they write a concluding sentence in the last square.

* Writing short essays: Students write what information goes in the topic paragraph in the middle box, then list details to include in supporting paragraphs in the squares.

When I gave students writing assignments, the first thing I had them do was create a Four Square. We did this so often that it became automatic. After filling in the Four Square, they wrote rough drafts by copying their work off of the graphic organizer and into the correct format, either on lined paper or in a Word document. This worked for all of my special education students!

I was able to modify tasks using the Four Square so that all of my students could participate, regardless of their disabilities. Even if they did not know what to write about, they knew how to start the assignment (which is often the hardest part of getting it done!) and they grew to be more confident in their writing abilities.

In addition, when it was time to take the high-stakes state writing tests at the end of the year, this was a strategy my students could use to help them do well on the tests. I was able to give them a sheet of blank paper, and they knew what to do with it. I have used many different curriculum materials and programs to teach writing in the last 16 years, but the Four Square is the one strategy that I have used with every writing assignment, no matter the grade level, because it is so effective.

‘Swift Structures’

Joy Hamm has taught 11 years in a variety of English-language settings, ranging from kindergarten to adult learners. The last few years working with middle and high school Newcomers and completing her M.Ed in TESOL have fostered stronger advocacy in her district and beyond:

A majority of secondary content assessments include open-ended essay questions. Many students falter (not just ELs) because they are unaware of how to quickly organize their thoughts into a cohesive argument. In fact, the WIDA CAN DO Descriptors list level 5 writing proficiency as “organizing details logically and cohesively.” Thus, the most effective cross-curricular secondary writing strategy I use with my intermediate LTELs (long-term English-learners) is what I call “Swift Structures.” This term simply means reading a prompt across any content area and quickly jotting down an outline to organize a strong response.

To implement Swift Structures, begin by displaying a prompt and modeling how to swiftly create a bubble map or outline beginning with a thesis/opinion, then connecting the three main topics, which are each supported by at least three details. Emphasize this is NOT the time for complete sentences, just bulleted words or phrases.

Once the outline is completed, show your ELs how easy it is to plug in transitions, expand the bullets into detailed sentences, and add a brief introduction and conclusion. After modeling and guided practice, set a 5-10 minute timer and have students practice independently. Swift Structures is one of my weekly bell ringers, so students build confidence and skill over time. It is best to start with easy prompts where students have preformed opinions and knowledge in order to focus their attention on the thesis-topics-supporting-details outline, not struggling with the rigor of a content prompt.

Here is one easy prompt example: “Should students be allowed to use their cellphones in class?”

Swift Structure outline:

Thesis - Students should be allowed to use cellphones because (1) higher engagement (2) learning tools/apps (3) gain 21st-century skills

Topic 1. Cellphones create higher engagement in students...

Details A. interactive (Flipgrid, Kahoot)

B. less tempted by distractions

C. teaches responsibility

Topic 2. Furthermore,...access to learning tools...

A. Google Translate description

B. language practice (Duolingo)

C. content tutorials (Kahn Academy)

Topic 3. In addition,...practice 21st-century skills…

Details A. prep for workforce

B. access to information

C. time-management support

This bare-bones outline is like the frame of a house. Get the structure right, and it’s easier to fill in the interior decorating (style, grammar), roof (introduction) and driveway (conclusion). Without the frame, the roof and walls will fall apart, and the reader is left confused by circuitous rubble.

Once LTELs have mastered creating simple Swift Structures in less than 10 minutes, it is time to introduce complex questions similar to prompts found on content assessments or essays. Students need to gain assurance that they can quickly and logically explain and justify their opinions on multiple content essays without freezing under pressure.

Thanks to Jenny, Michele, and Joy for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

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Writing Across the Curriculum

Supporting writing in and across the disciplines at City Tech

Thoughts on Teaching English as a Second Language

By Labanya Unni

In more than half a decade of my teaching English, one of the most profound challenges I have faced is the question of English as a second language. I encountered this problem in a more limited sense in India, when I first began teaching, where degrees of fluency varied on the basis of class-position and cultural capital. While this issue was definitely something that I navigated, the student body had enough cultural and contextual homogeneity to convey modes of critical thinking in the minds of students. In the US, this problem takes on more complex proportions, since much of the student body is composed of international exchange students, migrants, first- or second-generation English speakers, and even students whose English are infused with specific dialects.

As a teacher, I find it difficult to see students struggling not just with ideas but also with the medium in which these ideas are expressed. From classroom interactions, it is clear that non-native English students sometimes feel inhibited and isolated, often without the space to express unique cultural and linguistic perspectives that they could bring to the table. It is difficult not to dwell on the profoundly hegemonic structure of English as a global language and the onerousness of teaching it to a non-native speaker, this thought process could potentially lead to defeatist modes of thinking or a tendency to shift or deny responsibility (the “abolitionist move” as David R. Russell puts it in his essay “Writing Across the Curriculum”).

These are strategies I have learned in my last few years as a teacher:

Modifying the rubric : The single-point rubric is not just a grading tool, but also a useful checklist for students to have while writing their essays. With English as second language students, teachers need to have awareness of the lexical and grammatical specifics that they bring to the table. This requires a careful perusal of student essays, as their textual analyses, evidence and thesis presentation might not be in a customary academic style. It might also be helpful to go over the rubric in class and carefully break down its contents, with detailed examples and illustrations.

Mindset : As someone teaching in the medium of the English language, it is perhaps useful to understand how English came to be historically constituted as a global language (David Crystal’s English as a Global Language is a good resource for that). A lot of what we understand as critical discourse/thinking reflects a majoritarian Western conception of knowledge, and it might be pertinent to communicate some of these ideas in class. Understanding some of this might help lessen the anxiety of a second language speaker who comes to class with the notion that English fluency represents the height of cultural and linguistic achievement.

WAC principles : The great thing about WAC is that it emphasizes thinking as well as writing. Ideas such as minimal marking, multiple drafting, scaffolding, low stakes writing, editing oriented towards revision rather than grammar correction, are very useful to keep in mind while dealing with second language speakers. John Bean in Engaging Ideas thoughtfully advises teachers to be forgiving of ‘accent errors’ – errors that come from not having naturally inhabited English speaking milieus.

Affective measures : It is clear that the question of English as a second language cannot just be tackled with a handful of linguistic and academic guidelines. There is, without a doubt, an affective component to this process, in which it is important for the teacher to make the student feel comfortable. This can be done by pairing them with peer study-partners (ideally with kind and thoughtful native speakers); encouraging creative and inclusive learning activities that are idea-based; taking the time to interact with them during office hours to try and gauge their cultural and rhetorical contexts and encouraging personal writing that lead up to academic writing/thinking

Utilizing writing centers : Writing centers have activities that professors might not be able to conduct in class due to limited time. Exercises likes conversation classes, dictionary-use, listening or audio-based learning can be useful supplements to WAC. According to Stephen Krashen in his Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning, the most effective way to teach a language is to mimic as much as possible the natural methods of acquiring said language, which is through conversation, low-anxiety settings, and “comprehensible inputs” – the writing center, which is just an aid without the worry of grades might be a good place to implement these principles. Teachers across disciplines would do well to work closely with writing centers to provide extra support to second language speakers.

Works cited

John, Bean C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom , Jossey-Bass; 2nd Edition, 2011

Krashen, Stephen D.  Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.  Prentice-Hall International, 1988.

Russel, David R. “Writing Across the Curriculum in Historical Perspective: Toward a Social Interpretation”, College English , vol. 52. 1990, pp. 52-73, JSTOR

One Reply to “Thoughts on Teaching English as a Second Language”

I was immediately drawn to Labanya Unni’s reflections and suggestions for teaching Standard English learners the conventions of academic writing. She states that, “a lot of what we understand as critical discourse/thinking reflects a majoritarian Western conception of knowledge”, this being, of course, tied to imperial histories and the position of English as a global language within contemporary capitalism. While I do not mean to “shift or deny responsibility” for teaching Standard Written English, I believe the WAC emphasis on “writing to learn” allows us the reconceptualize writing less as a space for performing hegemonic language ideologies and more of an experimental practice of thinking with and through other modes of complex expression.

Admittedly, many students pursue higher education precisely to acquire and successfully use Standard Written English, and as educators who have adequately and successfully used this dialect in our careers, we share in the responsibility of helping students reach their goals. However, from my perspective as someone teaching introductory courses in anthropology, college level instructors also should strive to engage with and legitimize “the dynamic linguistic practices of language-minoritized students while simultaneously raising awareness about issues of language and power” (Flores & Rosa 2015, 167).

I’m somewhat ashamed to write that before actually becoming a college instructor, my approach to how I imagined teaching writing when encountering non-standard varieties of English or multilingual forms of linguistic expression was heavily influenced by David Foster Wallace’s 2001 essay, “Tense Present: Democracy, English, and Wars over Usage”. There is section in the essay where Wallace discusses lecturing a group of Black students on what he calls Standard White English (“…it was developed by white people and is used by white people, especially educated, powerful white people.”) He acknowledges that the students’ minoritized linguistic practices are legitimate, but the reality of US American society is that Standard White English is the prestige variety of English whether or not he, you, or we like it (“This is How It Is”). Therefore, in his class, Standard White English rules the day. He means to be the sympathetic to the students and frames his lecture as pragmatic advice for succeeding in US American society, and potentially, after having mastered Standard White English, challenging its linguistic hegemonies (54). Nevertheless, as an instructor I could never bring myself to actually take that approach. The hurt it causes students learning to express complex ideas in writing is far too palpable; as Labanya points out, the affective dimensions to teaching writing are crucial. Furthermore, such an approach is completely out of sync with what my courses generally try to convey about the relationships between society, culture, and power.

Wallace’s approach to minorized linguistic practices is a particularly acerbic form of what Flores & Rosa (2015) call an “appropriateness” model to standardized forms of English i.e., pedagogical approaches that recognize the value of non-standard linguistic forms, while at the same time insisting that standard varieties are appropriate for academic contexts. Flores & Rosa assert that the flaw with “appropriateness” models is that often, despite the minorized language speakers’ best efforts to master Standard English, their language practices continue to be perceived in racialized ways by the white listening subject (149).

Franz Boas’s canonical “On Alternating Sounds” (1889) is not referenced by Rosa & Flores, but both texts’ arguments share a deep affinity. In a nutshell, Boas’ article refutes racist arguments that the indigenous languages of the North American Pacific Northwest are messy and illogical (i.e., their sounds alternated haphazardly) by showing that the problem was not in the languages themselves, but in the (white) listening subjects’ inability to hear certain unfamiliar phonemes. Importantly, Boas relates his own experience learning some of these languages and gradually apperceiving different phonemes he was previously unable to distinguish. As an educator constantly confronting non-standard varieties of English, what interests me about Boas short article is the implication that I may be the problem. What I take from this intellectual challenge is an openness to having students teach me and their peers alternative ways of thinking critically through writing that might push against the standard. Labanya offers excellent strategies for successfully addressing students’, often urgent, need and desire to improve their mastery of Standard Written English, but in highlighting the problem of “mindset”, her reflections prompted me to revisit the texts cited above and consider how I might differently position myself as an educator.

References Boas, Franz. 1889 “On alternating sounds.” American Anthropologist 2, no. 1: 47-54.

Flores, Nelson, & Jonathan Rosa. 2015. “Undoing appropriateness: Raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education.” Harvard Educational Review 85, no. 2: 149-171.

Wallace, David Foster. 2001 “Tense present: Democracy, English, and the wars over usage.” Harper’s Magazine 302, no. 1811: 39-58.

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Teaching English as a Second Language, Essay Example

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Phonology is an important part of teaching English for foreign students. While cultural differences and language structure variations need to be taken into consideration, the first task learners need to complete, according to Freeman & Freeman (2004, p. 83) is to “develop the ability to comprehend and produce sounds of English”.

The authors (Freeman & Freeman, 2004) describe the logical classroom approach of teaching English as follows: teaching phonemic awareness skills, phonic rules, structural analysis, letter names and sounds, and phonics rules. However, the authors also conclude that phonemic awareness “is a key to word recognition” (p. 78).

There are currently two views of phonemic awareness: word recognition view, and the sociopsycholinguistic view. The word recognition view looks at phonemic awareness as the ability to “read” : translate written language to speech. The sociopsycholinguistic view promotes the use of graphophonic cues to acquire the skill.

Phonological awareness is an important aspect of learning a language, as it allows students to break down and segment words, sentences, while assigning a meaning to each segment. It also allows learners to differentiate between meanings of words, based on phonological differences.

There are certain exercises developed to improve phonemic awareness of students. However, the authors (Freeman & Freeman, 2004) state that communicating with native language users is improving the learning outcomes. Likewise, memorizing and reciting dialogues does help learners understand the correct intonation and helps them learn to manipulate phonemes.

Freeman & Freeman (2004, p. 82) also confirm that phonemic awareness has a great impact on learning to read. The authors state that the level of phonemic awareness proficiency does help achieving stronger written language skills (p. 85).

The authors (Freeman & Freeman, 2004) determine three linguistic factors: allophones (phonemes that are perceived as the same sound: c, k), dialect differences (added difficulty), and phonological differences among various languages. The above factors making language acquisition more challenging should be tackled and minimized.

There are several teaching methods that are currently being used by schools where English is taught as a second language: grammar translation, audiolingual, the natural approach, and sustained content language teaching approaches.

The chapter has revealed the importance of phonology in teaching reading for ESL students. While the author has listed several teaching methods, the chapter provides no indication regarding the effectiveness of these approaches. It is likely that some classroom methods are more effective for some learners, while those who come from a culture where the structure and phonemic design is very different from English’s would find others more beneficial. In order to set up a phonology-related teaching plan in ESL schools, it is important – as the authors noted – that the linguistic, cognitive, and cultural background of the learners is considered. It would be very interesting to research and learn from studies that relate to the application of different phonemic awareness teaching methods in Asian and Hispanic classrooms.

Reading the chapter has created a question, though. Do the authors suggest that phonemic awareness competency should be introduced in classroom teaching before texts are presented for students for interpretation? Would reading simple words interfere with the development of this skill? Further, it would be extremely useful to study some of the sample teaching plans of ESL schools in order to understand their approach towards phonemic awareness competency building.

Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach reading, ESL, spelling, phonics, grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Scaffolding Writing Instruction for English-Language Learners

Step by step!

In recent years, many schools have raised the bar on writing instruction. We now expect middle and high school students to do the kind of written analysis and critique that was once limited to the college classroom.

When you teach English-language learners (ELLs), the concern is that this kind of increased expectation can lead to an even wider achievement gap. That’s why we recently asked educators in our WeAreTeachers Helpline group to share their best tips for scaffolding writing instruction for ELLs at the secondary level. Here’s what they had to say:

• Consider writing in their native languages: If your students are at “entering” or “beginning” WIDA levels, you might consider allowing them to write in their native languages and then to use a translator app or tool to interpret their work. Be sure to spend some time comparing the two versions side by side so that students can begin to see what their ideas and thought processes look like in English.
• Use dictation: “I have students use Dragon Dictation to dictate their responses out loud,” says teacher Erin M. “Then I work with the students to teach them to group topics together into paragraphs and to use a dictionary and thesaurus to add detail words.”
• Review writing prompts: “I give ELL students the same writing assignments as the rest of the kids, but I make sure to define any unfamiliar words in the prompt itself,” says Emily B. Do a verbal check for understanding before students start writing to avoid confusion and frustration down the road.
• Give students sentence stems: It’s a good idea to give students sentence stems and phrases for the different types of writing you will be doing all year long. So provide a narrative-writing word bank, an argumentative word bank and an informational word bank, for example.
• Encourage outlining: If writing full sentences is a challenge, encourage outlining as a first step. “I had a student who couldn’t write a paragraph in 11th grade,” says Lauren P. “So I gave him the same assignments but had him bullet-point his ideas. We then worked one-on-one to form sentences. We started with just one well-developed paragraph, but as the year progressed, he’d write a little more.”
• Provide models from literature: “For example,” says Erin. M., “if we were writing a reflective piece, I would show them paragraphs or selections from favorite books or articles that were reflective to use as examples for structure and even word use.”
• Try the four-square writing method: In this model, students simply divide a piece of paper into four sections to use as a graphic organizer for persuasive or informational writing. They write their topic/argument at the center and then one reason or claim with supporting details in each of the four boxes. As students progress, you can encourage them to add more details and evidence to their graphic organizers.
• Grade selectively: Choose one or two skills that you want to target for each writing assignment, and focus the majority of your grading and commentary on those skills. For English-language learners, sometimes those skills might be about language acquisition (e.g., vocabulary, syntax), and other times, you might want to focus on a deeper understanding of writing (e.g., argument building).

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Helping English Language Learners Decipher Tough Texts

Teachers can help ELL students read at higher levels by emphasizing sentence structure and meaning making.

Helping newcomer students who have interrupted educational backgrounds read high-level English texts is an enormous challenge for classroom teachers. How do you create meaning from a huge block of text when students are struggling with basic phonics? How do you engender understanding of an English text when students are emerging English language learners (ELLs)? 

This school year I taught a class of all emerging English high school learners (generally level 1 ELLs), and I noticed that their strategy of dealing with an English text was to take out their cellphones and use Google Lens to automatically translate text in the picture. Although I didn’t want to fully discourage student use of this tool, from a teaching perspective, I didn’t want them to rely on this as their only tool. As a language learner myself, I know that simply translating a block of text is not how I learn a new language. The process of figuring out meaning helps cement new information into my brain.

The challenge is how to encourage students to engage with text in a way that maintains student engagement throughout the lesson, while making the information comprehensible. This is the routine I used.

Partner Reading Routine

I created a collaborative protocol that enabled students to work together to make meaning of the new language they were encountering. After building background, introducing key vocabulary, and chunking the text into manageable parts for pairs of students, we would begin with the partner reading routine. This is the five-step process: 

1. Teacher reads, students listen. Students are able to hear fluency from an English speaker.

2. Students read. Students work in pairs and switch off reading, following along as their partner reads. 

3. Students read again. Students read their chunk of text a second time because the repeated reading allows for increased fluency and comprehension. 

4. Students determine what it means. Students comb the text for at least three subject and verb pairs, marking them with our annotation technique. 

Then, they speak to each other about what it means. I provide sentence frames, and we spend time modeling how to have an academic discussion in English. If possible, I strategically pair students who can speak to each other in their home language, since allowing students time to process in their home language increases both comprehension and English fluency.

In this step, students translate single words or short phrases with an online or physical word-to-word dictionary. This is an opportunity for students to develop dictionary skills, as long as the bulk of the time is not spent searching for the word. At first I observed students using their phones to translate large blocks of text, but as they gained more experience with the routine, students began to trust the process and only translated words they really did not know. 

5. Write what it means. The last step is taking what they understood it to mean in their home language and putting it into English. Students are expected to write a short sentence with a “who or what,” a “do,” and a short object phrase that describes what, where, when, or how. At the beginning of the year, I found students going right to Google Translate, but as they established trust in the process, they saw what they could do without relying on translation. Later on or the following day, I might use the sentences that students generated as a lesson in grammar or as the prompt for a class discussion on meaning. 

breaking the code of the english language

After a few months of using this strategy, students were constructing meaning from complex texts orally and in writing. The basis of the protocol is a strong foundation in basic English sentence structure. Throughout the year I explicitly, routinely, and systematically teach that every sentence has a subject and a verb. We combined the word subject with who or what . And a verb is what the who or what does. We started with simple, bare-bones sentences (e.g., “The tools lean” or “The dogs bark”).

Following the structure of the now-out-of-print curriculum Framing Your Thoughts and the work of William Van Cleave , I add on more pieces of the sentence—pronouns, adverbs, prepositions (which is the order laid out in most curricula). Slowly we begin moving into more complex sentence patterns, such as sentences that start with dependent clauses. Although teaching grammar in a vacuum is generally not considered to be best practice, I believe that when taught in the context of language learning and deciphering text, it gives students the tools they need to construct meaning. 

This strategy showcases the amazing things that newcomers to English are capable of, and it enabled them to access much higher level text. The routine can be adapted in many different ways. For example, for classes that need more support, student pairs could wait for teacher direction after each step. Occasionally, I had certain students use a list and check off each task as they went.

In classrooms where there is such a gap between the content and what students are able to access on their own, it can be hard to find ways for students to take on the majority of academic tasks. The routine and the foundation in sentence structure enabled students to take on significant intellectual work while also hitting all four language domains. Following strong routines, separating tasks into manageable parts, and breaking down the code of the English language are all useful tools to help students succeed.

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Writing Instruction for ELLs

What does it take to help English language learners (ELLs) become successful writers?  This section offers a number of ideas and resources from veteran educators and researchers for students of all ages and proficiency levels.  For examples of student writing projects, see our Student Voices section.

Featured Articles

• Using Graphic Organizers with ELLs
• Writing Poetry with English Language Learners
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• Supporting the Common Core Writing Standards
• Writing with the Common Core: Considerations for ELLs (Part 1)
• Writing "Just Right" Research Questions: Strategies for ELLs
• Instructional Suggestions for ELLs: PARCC Assessment Task (Part 2)
• An Innovative High School CCSS Lesson for ELLs: Letters from John Smith
• Creating a Planning Process that Meets ELLs' Needs: A Staff Development Teacher's Perspective (Part 2)

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Research and Reports

• Approaches to Writing Instruction for Adolescent English Language Learners: A Discussion of Recent Research and Practice Literature in Relation to Nationwide Standards on Writing
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Getting Started

These articles offer some tips on writing considerations and basic questions of handwriting and spelling.

• Facilitating Writing Fluency (Susan Lenski and Frances Verbruggen)
• Writing Considerations for ELLs (The Education Alliance, Brown University)

ELLs and the Writing Process

These articles offer a number of step-by-step approaches for writing with ELLs.

• Tips for Teaching ELLs to Write (Judie Haynes)
• Giants Steps with Nonfiction Writing for ELLs (Judie Haynes)
• Writing and English as a Second Language (Learn NC, University of North Carolina)
• Recommended Writing Websites (Colorín Colorado)

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Teaching English Language: Pedagogical Strategies Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

The Impact of Strategies

An additional strategy for kristina and samantha.

The approach of Kristina’s teacher was based on the use of books with pictures facilitating the understanding of materials and sign language. Both methods were beneficial for a girl with limited English proficiency (Post University, n.d.). Thus, the first technique allowed her to study while gradually learning the language. The second way of helping the student improved her communication with the teacher at the initial stages. As for Samantha, the educators supported her by providing visual support in the form of a schedule and pictures of other children with their names (Earlyinclusion, 2010). They also allowed her to develop motor skills at her own pace and thereby contributed to her progress.

The strategies selected for Kristina were useful because they did not distract her peers from the learning process. For example, the sign language allowed to reduce the time required for explanations, and the additional reading with the teacher helped ensure her improvement in English to keep up with others. In the case of Samantha, the adopted methods served the same purpose. Meanwhile, they were also advantageous for her peers since they did not have to wait for her to complete the tasks and started to help instead.

An additional uniform strategy for Kristina and Samantha can be breaking down learning tasks into smaller steps so that they could acquire skills together with other children. For Kristina, it will be helpful in terms of language acquisition since using signs is only a temporary measure and, sooner or later, she will have to speak (Connecticut Office of Early Education, 2016). For Samantha, this approach will allow her to interact more with others while relying on their assistance. In this way, the rationale for this suggestion is the need to expand the girls’ abilities so that they could be valued members of their class.

Connecticut Office of Early Education. (2016). Supporting all children using the Connecticut early learning and development standards: Meeting the needs of diverse learners. Web.

Earlyinclusion. (2010). Preschool inclusion: Samantha . YouTube. Web.

Post University. (n.d.). Kristina: Modifications for a culturally and linguistically diverse student in an inclusive elementary classroom .

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IvyPanda. (2022, October 22). Teaching English Language: Pedagogical Strategies. https://ivypanda.com/essays/teaching-english-language-pedagogical-strategies/

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IvyPanda . (2022) 'Teaching English Language: Pedagogical Strategies'. 22 October.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Teaching English Language: Pedagogical Strategies." October 22, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/teaching-english-language-pedagogical-strategies/.

1. IvyPanda . "Teaching English Language: Pedagogical Strategies." October 22, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/teaching-english-language-pedagogical-strategies/.

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KEEPING ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFESSIONALS CONNECTED

Using AI Tools to Teach Paraphrasing in English Language Classrooms

It seems like artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days, and it can be a bit overwhelming. If you are like us, maybe you are seeing invitations to webinars and workshops about using AI tools in your inbox on almost a daily basis. Maybe you have attended some of these workshops, but you are still struggling to get started. 

Something that helped us begin to experiment with AI was to focus on a particular skill that our students need to develop: paraphrasing. This approach also helped us to connect the use of technology to achieving learning objectives. In this article, we share a sample activity designed to harness the strengths of AI in support of academic language development.

Why Start With Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is inarguably an important skill for multilingual learners of English (MLEs) across educational contexts. Paraphrasing, or rephrasing a sentence or excerpt from a text using different words while maintaining the original meaning, is used throughout academic coursework. Furthermore, paraphrasing is an integral part of media literacy. To use information ethically and responsibly, students need to be able to represent it accurately through effective paraphrasing.  

Many would also agree that paraphrasing is a particularly challenging skill for all learners, and especially for MLEs. Although these learners may realize that they need to restate the ideas in their own words, they are often limited by their lexical and grammatical knowledge (Chen et al., 2013). That is, MLEs may recognize what they need to do when we ask them to paraphrase something they have read or listened to, but they may not have the vocabulary and grammar skills to paraphrase effectively.

Using AI Tools for Paraphrasing

This is where AI tools can help. Our MLEs can use AI tools to generate synonyms, find different grammatical structures, and even compose full paraphrases. They can study the full paraphrases as models; then, they can use the synonyms and grammatical structures to help them create their own paraphrases. In this way, the AI tools scaffold the task and help learners to overcome their limitations with grammar and vocabulary.

Sample Activity

The following activity is one example of how AI tools can be used to teach paraphrasing. This activity is designed for upper-intermediate to advanced students (CEFR B2-C1); however, it could be adapted for lower levels. In this activity, students work with a group or partner to complete our Using AI Tools for Paraphrasing Worksheet . The worksheet guides students through the steps of using ChatGPT to paraphrase an assigned quote, evaluating the AI-generated paraphrase with a provided checklist, and revising the paraphrase based on their evaluation (see Figure 1). Lastly, for our academic context, we added the step of writing an in-text citation with the revised paraphrase.

Figure 1. Students’ checklist for evaluating AI-generated paraphrases.

Here are suggested steps for implementing this activity in your own classroom:

Before the Activity

• Pre-teach how to use ChatGPT (or another AI tool).
• Decide how many groups or pairs you will have.
• Prepare the worksheets. Create one worksheet per group or pair.
• Add a different quote or excerpt to each worksheet, drawing from an assigned reading that your students are familiar with.
• Create a sample completed worksheet.
• Plan how you will share the worksheets with your students (i.e., provide links in your online learning management system or make handouts).

During the Activity

• Review the instructions. Go over the checklist and the sample.
• Share the worksheets with students.
• Create groups or pairs.
• Give students a set amount of time to complete the worksheet.
• Monitor completion of the worksheet.

After the Activity

• Ask students to share their paraphrases.
• Discuss strengths and weaknesses of the paraphrases.
• Provide instructions for using the paraphrase in a follow-up task, such as paragraph or essay writing.

Adapting This Activity

You could adapt this activity and worksheet in a variety of ways according to your teaching context. First, think about your students’ level and how the activity might need to be modified. For example, if you have lower level students, you may want to assign only a short quote or single sentence for the text that students paraphrase. In contrast, if you have advanced students, you may want to assign a longer excerpt with multiple sentences. Also, for lower level students, you could simplify the worksheet to make it more accessible for their level. For example, you could generate the paraphrases and just have students analyze their assigned paraphrase with a checklist.

Next, think about how the activity might need to be modified to meet your lesson and course objectives. For example, if in-text citation is not part of the curriculum, you may decide to change or remove the citation step. Additionally, you can incorporate a specific grammar or vocabulary focus that aligns with your objectives. For example, the worksheet could ask students to practice changing a sentence from active to passive voice, or vice versa.

What Are the Benefits?

Integrating ChatGPT in an activity like our example trains learners to use AI as a tool that can help them overcome challenges faced particularly by MLEs. In the activity, using ChatGPT does not replace the skill of paraphrasing, but rather it scaffolds the task and supports learners in developing their own paraphrasing skills. Through the specific steps of evaluating paraphrases with the provided checklist during the activity as well as discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the paraphrases after the activity, MLEs notice the linguistic characteristics of an effective paraphrase and as a result improve their academic writing skills. 

More broadly, integrating AI tools in classroom activities has numerous benefits for both teachers and students:

• increasing learner engagement and motivation,
• helping students develop an understanding of appropriate AI use,
• creating opportunities for discussion of how students can use AI while still following principles of academic integrity, and
• leveraging AI to lessen teachers' own workload. 

That is, when creating examples for an activity like this, you can save a lot of time by using an AI tool to help generate the examples. 

In the face of an overwhelming amount of AI-related content these days, we hope that this activity offers a practical approach to incorporating AI with your students. Furthermore, the activity models how AI can be used not as a shortcut, but as a support. In this activity, MLEs are developing critical thinking and writing skills with the help of ChatGPT. Through the process of engaging with AI, analyzing the language, and making decisions each step of the way, students are empowered and gain confidence in their learning.

• Using AI Tools for Paraphrasing Blank Worksheet
• Using AI Tools for Paraphrasing Sample Worksheet

Chen, M.H., Huang, S.T., Chang, J.S., & H.C. Liou. (2013). Developing a corpus-based paraphrase tool to improve EFL learners' writing skills. Computer Assisted Language Learning 28 (1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2013.783873

Also In This Issue

‣ Why a Foundation in Linguistics Supports Instruction of Multilingual Learners of English

‣ TESOL Deepens Commitment to DEIA With New Professional Council

‣  PD Corner: Leveraging AI for Receptive and Productive Skill Building

‣  Classroom Practice:  Using WhatsApp to Teach Writing

‣ TESOL Awards: Your Path to PD, Recognition, and Funding

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15 Sep 2024

• September 2024 (Volume 2-9)

About the author

Kaitlin Decker

Kaitlin Decker is a senior global educator at Arizona State University’s Global Launch. Her recent presentations focus on considering culture in online course design and delivery, using AI in the classroom, and developing courses aligned with the Universal Design for Learning guidelines. She enjoys cooking and running, and loves playing board games inside and outside the classroom.

Dilafruz Vosieva

Dilafruz Vosieva has worked as an international educator for more than two decades. A native of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, she currently manages the Intensive English Program for degree-seeking international students at Arizona State University's Global Launch. Dilafruz received her master's degree in TESOL from the University of Central Missouri in 2013. As a career educator, Dilafruz has lived and worked in several countries, including Uzbekistan, China, and Mongolia, where she was dedicated to fostering a supportive and inclusive learning environment for all her learners, whether they attended her classes online or in person.

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OPINION: English language arts instruction needs to change immediately. Here are some ways that can work

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• Proof Points

In many middle and high schools, students spend hundreds of hours a year on English language arts (ELA) assignments that don’t ask enough of them. Too many students are working on below-grade-level tasks using below-grade-level texts. 

That approach, while well-intentioned, is not closing gaps or preparing students for life after high school. Is it any wonder that reading scores haven’t improved in 30 years?

Students from low-income families, multilingual learners and those with disabilities are even less likely to receive tasks appropriate for their grade level. Yet research shows that grade-level tasks and texts should be the start — not the finish — to strong instruction . 

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data indicates that only 37 percent of 12th graders are academically prepared for college in reading, and employers say that young people haven’t learned the reading, writing and verbal communication skills most important to workplace success. 

Related: Become a lifelong learner. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to receive our comprehensive reporting directly in your inbox. 

Reading classic texts and learning to write the five-paragraph essay are both important, but students need much more. Teachers need training and help to understand grade-level standards and how to assign authentic writing tasks without leveling down content — something many New York City and Los Angeles public school teachers had a chance to learn recently via an intensive literacy project.

In the project, students were given focused grade-level tasks and were asked to read related grade-level complex texts and write in response to those texts. An independent evaluation that followed the project found that those students gained an additional four to nine months of learning compared to their peers. This happened with just two to 12 weeks of grade-level instruction. 

Those and other results, from a decade of research with 100,000 educators and 2.4 million students , continue to show that this standards-first approach to curriculum, instruction and professional development can help students effectively double their growth each school year.

So, why aren’t more schools doing this? There are many reasons. Here are a few:

• There is a culture of low expectations. While 82 percent of teachers support their state’s standards, only 44 percent expect their students to have success with them, one study found. Even when students earned A’s and B’s, most were not demonstrating grade-level work on their assignments. 
• Teachers are not assigning grade-level tasks and texts. The Common Core State Standards were released in 2010, and ELA teachers still often assign tasks and texts based on independent reading levels rather than on a student’s grade level. Research shows that since Covid this practice has actually been increasing .
• Teacher training is inadequate. Despite the fact that $18 billion is spent annually on professional development, most teachers don’t believe it’s helping — and they’re right. One study found that teachers were spending approximately 19 days a year on such training, but it did not appear to substantially improve their instruction and student outcomes weren’t improving. 
• Many ELA curriculum programs are weak. Teachers spend too much time sifting through resources that claim to be “standards-aligned” or “standards-compliant.” To become truly standards-driven, teachers need materials that are intentionally designed from specific standards, allowing students to build the cognitive skills and engage in the practice needed to successfully respond to grade-level tasks. 

Related: Should teachers customize their lessons or just stick to the ‘script’? 

To turn things around, students and teachers must be supported with pathways to meet grade-level standards and develop a better sense of what high-quality teaching looks like . Here are a few ways to help:

• Start with grade-level tasks on day 1, not by day 180. Grade-level thinking is not a destination; it requires daily practice. Teachers (and curricula) need to assume that every student can read, think and write about rich and complex ideas using complex texts. Teachers and curriculum programs can target instruction to meet individual needs while engaging all learners in the same rigorous grade-level texts and tasks. 
• Shift the focus from what students consume to what they produce. In a standards-driven curriculum, the focus isn’t on the text; it’s on how students demonstrate grade-level thinking through the speaking and writing they do in response to text-based ideas. This changes the classroom focus from what students consume (specific texts) to what they create (specific oral and written products). In addition, when students are given opportunities to create different authentic writing products for different audiences and purposes, it helps them build skills they can transfer to real-world settings.
• Build teachers’ knowledge and skills. Teachers need training that is easily accessible and useful in their daily work. Professional development should be embedded in curriculum programs so that teachers can deepen their understanding of the standards and be able to recognize students’ demonstrations of specific standards. Curricula can and must intentionally build teacher knowledge and expertise so teachers learn while they teach.

Any ELA classroom can be transformed into a highly effective learning environment. Research demonstrates that when a student is given grade-level tasks driven from grade-level standards, and their teacher is trained to teach those standards, both will rise to the challenge. The time to insist on demonstrable learning outcomes is now. Teachers and students are ready to do the work.

Suzanne Simons is the chief literacy and languages officer for Carnegie Learning . She is also a senior advisor with the nonprofit Literacy Design Collaborative and was its founding chief academic officer. 

This story about ELA instruction was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s weekly newsletter .

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GCSE/IGCSE English Language: "Write an article for a newspaper" Sample Answer

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Other

Last updated

2 September 2024

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This digital file provides a compelling sample answer for a GCSE/IGCSE English Language question. It offers a well-crafted newspaper article that discusses the importance of hobbies and interests in our busy twenty-first-century lives. The sample answer is engaging, descriptive and tailored for students aged 14-16, making it an excellent resource for exam preparation.

“In our busy twenty-first century lives, hobbies and interests are more important than ever.” Write an article for a newspaper expressing your views on this statement.

Language Techniques Included in the Sample Answer:

• Descriptive Language: Vivid imagery and sensory details create an engaging and relatable narrative.
• Rhetorical Questions: Used to provoke thought and engage the reader’s interest.
• Emotive Language: Words that appeal to emotions, encouraging readers to connect with the argument.
• Direct Address: Speaking directly to the reader to make the article more engaging and persuasive.

Why This File is Fantastic for Exam Preparation:

By studying this sample answer, students can observe how to effectively structure their own responses for exams. The inclusion of various language techniques demonstrates how to craft excellent and engaging content, helping students develop their writing skills. This resource not only provides a model answer but also equips students with the tools to create their own compelling pieces, making it a valuable asset for anyone preparing for GCSE/IGCSE English Language exams.

This digital file is more than just a model; it’s a tool for success. It’s crafted to meet the highest standards of the IGCSE English Language exam criteria, ensuring that you’re learning from a top-quality example. By analyzing and practicing with this model answer, you can improve your skills, enhance your understanding and boost your exam performance.

Click the download button to have the full file at your fingertips!

CONTAINS: 10 PAGES

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