ESL Writing Teaching Writing Skills

ESL Writing

Teaching Writing Skills to English as a Second Language

English as a second language (ESL) is a necessary subject in the United States because it is difficult for people entering the United States to succeed unless they have a basic understanding for the primary language. Therefore, ESL is taught in adult classes, certain businesses will help employees learn English, and elementary and high schools also teach a more in-depth version of the course. It is hoped that when a student leaves high school they will be proficient in the language, as are all of the native speakers, so that they can compete in the job market.

However, certain issues exist that can make it difficult to teach the language to people who have other traditions prior to trying to learn English. Most people who enter the United States and seek instruction in the language are either Hispanic or Asian. Spanish is structured differently than English (since one is a romantic language and the other Germanic) and Asian languages are tonal which is foreign to the English language. Therefore, English is already difficult being that it is a new system. Also, English has many rules that apply sometimes but not others. Learning the complexities of the language can take many years. However, those who learn English as a second language may never perfect their usage of English but they can become very proficient.

Another challenge that ESL teachers have is how can they structure their classrooms and there teaching style to best represent the language. Many different theories exist regarding the proper way to introduce a non-native speaking group to the English language, and some are better, and have more successes, than others. This essay is an attempt to look at some of the methods that have been tried and sift through them. Since extensive research has been conducted regarding teaching ESL, different studies will be analyzed with the goal of determining what has been more successful, and what facets of certain teaching methods can be mimicked by other ESL teachers. The examination begins with a brief synopsis of each of ten articles, followed by a comparison of the different methods, and concludes with a critique of the different methods regarding inconsistencies and a mention of areas for further study.

Article Synopsis

This section will detail what dimension of teaching ESL to high school students the particular article dealt with. Most of the articles selected for this research talk specifically about a technique that can be used to teach ESL. However, a couple of the articles discuss the experiences of teachers that have to teach ESL students outside of a formal English setting.

Article 1. Hammond.

This first article is a general statement about how ESL learners are taught. The author says "My concern in this paper is with implications of quality teaching initiatives for students for whom English is a second or subsequent language (henceforth ESL students)" (Hammond). The author makes this general statement because there have been so many different initiatives that have been tried and found only moderately successful. Since she is an ESL teacher by profession and not a professional researcher, she wants to understand best how to impact her students, which is the primary goal of this paper also. Hammond goes on to say that "In particular, my concern is with middle year 'second phase' ESL students who are beyond the initial stages of learning English, and, in Australian schools, are located within mainstream classes." She acknowledges that many of the students that she is teaching are Asian (whereas ESL students in the United States will typically be of Hispanic parentage), but she also quotes research which shows that the type of student is less important than the method of teaching.

The study was qualitative in nature and it was completed in two separate stages (Hammond). The first stage "investigated teachers' responses and experiences in working with quality teaching frameworks in schools with high proportions of ESL students" (Hammond). Researchers conducted interviews with the different ESL teachers who agreed to be interviewed for the study to make this determination. The next stage "consisted of a series of action research projects that built on outcomes from Stage 1, and were designed to implement programs with ESL students that were characterised by both high challenge and high support" (Hammond). With this method the instructors were given new tools to assist them in the classroom. The tools that they were given were specifically designed to help with the problems that the specific teacher had mentioned.

The research found that "What emerges from questionnaire responses, and what is supported in follow up case studies, is an overall positive picture of the impact of the quality teaching initiatives in both primary and secondary schools" (Hammond). The initiatives that they implemented for the different teachers (ones that would enhance the intellectual functioning of the students through rigorous coursework) included: "deep knowledge, deep understanding, knowledge as problematic, higher-order thinking, metalanguage, and substantive conversation" (Hammond). The success of these methods for teaching ESL students was not lost on the teachers who were targeted ofr the study. The "Teachers reported the impact as considerable, and they also reported its impact in encouraging them to talk about, and reflect on, their own teaching against specific criteria" (Hammond).

Article 2. Strever & Newman.

The research in this article was aimed at teaching both better reading comprehension and better writing. Thus engaged, the thought was that the students would better be able to learn spoken ESL also. As the article puts it "In recent years, dialogue journals have become a fixture in many English as a Second Language writing courses. Along with promoting written fluency, dialogue journals integrate reading and writing in the context of social interaction" (Strever & Newman). The journals have been accompanied in this new research by using available online technology (such as email) to allow the students to work in consort with a partner who is on the same level as they are in English proficiency. The teachers also asked that the "students not only send journal entries to an "E-partner," they must also make meaning by summarizing their E-partners' journal entries. The summary is sent to both E-partner and instructor" (Strever & Newman). The core of this research, by two ESL teachers who are relating their experiences, is to assist the students with increased reading and writing proficiency by giving them a safe medium. The researchers found that although the students began by just recounting events of their days, they eventually started to engage in longer, more complex conversations involving their "personal histories and dreams" (Strever & Newman). It was at this juncture that many of the students began showing an exponential growth in their independent abilities to use the English language outside the spoken form.

The researchers found that "Writing journal entries to E-mail partners seemed to be an exciting event for our students. We noticed right away that most students wanted an E-partner and became concerned if their E-partners did not respond or send an entry to them" (Strever & Newman). The engagement of the students was the important issue. The teachers were looking for ways to make the written word come alive for the students. They realized that these students sometimes had a greater overall proficiency than most people who grow up speaking English because they learned ESL structurally, however, they found it difficult to make themselves understood in their written assignments. "When an E-partner was paired with someone compatible in skills, the students challenged each other by sending longer and more sophisticated messages."

This also led to a change in behavior that was a greater outcome than the researchers could have hoped for. They wrote that "In addition, as the semester progressed, less skilled students began to try to correct their journal entries before they sent them; having a peer as an audience encouraged them to spend more time than usual in writing" (Strever & Newman). This meant that the students were not only learning to construct proper written English, but that they desired it to be more correct when interacting with a peer, than when they just sent it to a teacher. Peer pressure from a positive perspective.

Article 3. Kruger.

In this research article the author had very specific goals for the research to be conducted. They were: "to increase the overall reading proficiency of the ESL students; to improve the study skills of these students; to further their cultural integration into local society; and, to improve their general level of functioning in all academic subjects" (Kruger). This seems to be an ambitious set of goals which would incorporate most of the items that the previous researchers were trying to do. To accomplish this the researchers used both intensive and extensive reading plans for different levels of students to see what the effect would be. An intensive program entails choosing material selections of not more than 500 words, so that they can be completed within one class period. Brevity is also necessary because reading for content and for linguistic problem solving is the focus" (Kruger). In contrast to the brevity of the intensive program the extensive program "consists of longer selections, that are assigned to be read outside of class, like novels or short stories" (Kruger).

Of course a major goal of the program was English language knowledge and reading comprehension, but "Vocabulary building is an intrinsic part of all aspects of the program too," and "Increasing reading speed is an integral by-product of this program, and comes about naturally as a result of increasing facility in reading" (Kruger). Reading speed was not seen as essential, but, as the author said, it was a natural "by-product" of the program. Both of these last two features also were desired features of the programs. Reading comprehension truly comes with an increased vocabulary, and as students understand the material better they will naturally read it faster.

The author of the study also realized that there was another integral part of succeeding with this type of teaching plan. "Feedback via the testing of students is important at all stages of the program, to assure that objectives are being met. The testing should be diagnostic, for identifying student problems in reading, and should measure their general proficiency levels" (Kruger). The teacher needs to make sure that the students are getting the material and that they are not just coasting through. Many ESL students have difficulty communicating their need for help, and this type of feedback will give the teacher immediate knowledge of any deficient areas in each students work.

Article 4. Ernst-Slavit, Moore, & Maloney.

This particular study was conducted by three ESL teachers who began with the premise that "Literacy is part of language; thus, reading and writing develop alongside speaking and listening" (Ernst-Slavit, Moore & Maloney). They also saw the need, initially to "focus on what students have rather than on what they lack" (Ernst-Slavit, Moore & Maloney). This meant that the teaching regimen that they wanted to develop was much more student-focused than subject-focused.

One of the major findings of their research was that "second-language learners are capable of obtaining the everyday language used in conversation within a relatively quick period of time -- around two years" (Ernst-Slavit, Moore & Maloney). This had been proven time and again with both secondary school students and adults, but the problem was that ESL students were still failing at an alarming rate and not going on to higher education because they did not reach their highest learning capability in high school. This was because "the acquisition of the academic language and literacy needed for high school coursework takes anywhere from 5 to 11 years depending upon which research you base your numbers" (Ernst-Slavit, Moore & Maloney).

Thus, the researchers conducted a study that helped them understand where the deficiencies were. "The ability to determine the stage the student is passing through and what strategies are effective in a given stage can provide both teacher and student with a means of communicating effectively at any point in the language-acquisition process" (Ernst-Slavit, Moore & Maloney). The stage for each student is important to understand because the range is 5 to 11 years which means that not all will progress equally. Whereas this statement seems common sense, many were teaching as if all of the ESL students were at the same stage in their language development. The researchers also found that "Providing a stress-free environment with continued support and encouragement, where students are able to pass and not respond, is a requirement" (Ernst-Slavit, Moore & Maloney). This fact became more apparent as the data showed the stress that each student encountered as a part of their daily life.

Article 5. Emmenecker.

This researcher is affiliated with the corrections system in Michigan and conducted research regarding the need for ESL training in the prisons there. The reason for the study is that there is an increasing number of inmates who either do not speak English, or they are severely below proficiency levels. Thus, since a GED or high school diploma was a condition of every parole hearing by state law (Emmenecker), these prisoners were at a severe disadvantage when trying to gain these documents. Thus, the reason for including this study was its relevance to the high school population.

The state of Michigan, "In 1999, due to the increasing number of non-native speakers of English in the prison school population, [made a decision] to more specifically address the language learning needs of LEP students by implementing a video-based ESL program and the accompanying text series" (Emmenecker). The purpose of this study was to determine how effective that program had been with the population. One of their more interesting findings was that the usual model of learning conducted in that atmosphere would not work for ESL students. "ESL instruction would not likely be successful in an independent study program model. Language learners need concrete direction, modeling, interaction, and feedback in order to succeed" (Emmenecker). The prisoners were normally given a study program which they would do on their own, and just send in the results when they were finished with it. Most programs did not occur in a classroom setting depending on the level of institution. Of course, this presented problems that ESL teachers did not normally have to face. The researcher realized that "ESL instruction would not likely be successful in an independent study program model. Language learners need concrete direction, modeling, interaction, and feedback in order to succeed" (Emmenecker). Therefore, it does not matter what the restrictions are there remains a need for all of the elements that have been found to succeed in other ESL settings.

Article 6: Cahyono.

It is difficult to say what the most important part of learning ESL is, but it could be the environment the learner is placed in. Whether it is reading, writing or speaking proficiency, English language learners who come from a different culture must have an atmosphere in which they can learn quickly and efficiently. One of the best possible methods is to put the students, or students, into a mainstream classroom and allow them to learn while they are doing regular schoolwork. This was the method that Cahyono observed with an Indonesian student who was immersed in an Australian classroom for three years.

This article was actually a follow up article in which the researcher, an ESL teacher from the same school who wrote the article as a requirement for a doctorate in education, concluded a study that had begun previously. The main focus of the education for the young girl who was the focus of the immersion was to teach her using;

"Reading activities, which included classroom reading, home reading which involved parents' supports, and summarizing from reading materials encouraged her to read various stories, fairy tales, fables and other children's literature and to write summaries of books she had read. Writing activities which included handwriting, spelling exercises, diary writing, and story writing enabled her to hand-write clearly, write most of the words correctly, describe her weekly activities, and produce her own creative stories" (Cahyono).

Of specific interest here are the writing activities which were many and varied to help the student become more proficient in writing in the English language. The article made especial mention of the ability of the different writing activities to help the student learn the basics of the English language.

The specific intervention her to help the student learn how to write proficiently in the English language was immersion in a mainstream classroom. Basically the student was required to complete the same types of activities that the rest of the students in the classroom were doing. There was some special assistance to help her understand the language, but very little was given. The student was "highly motivated" (Cahyono) as can be seen from the success she was able to produce. The conclusion of the study found that this method of teaching ESL to students can be very successful. The subject of this study scored above grade level in reading after being in an English language classroom for only three years.

Article 7: Clachar

The researcher, a professor of English at the University of Miami, wanted to find out if the writing interventions used to help United States children who spoke Creole-English were able to help ESL students with their writing difficulties. The specific intervention here was with clause-structuring in writing. Clause structuring is one of the foundational tools that writers first learn when they are learning to understand how sentences are fit together. Also, it is a device for proper grammatical writing in any language. Previous research had found that Creole students wrote as they spoke, which was an issue because the clause structuring in the writing was not to grammatical norm. The solution was to place these students into ESL classrooms to help them form proper English phrases.

To begin it must be understood exactly what the researcher was hoping to accomplish. She said;

"In order to produce a well-written task, students need to have a clear notion of the textual form that this written task will assume and they need to master the lexical and grammatical resources that reflect the textual form. These requirements are captured by the concept register. Register refers to the configuration of lexical and grammatical resources that define particular uses of languages" (Clachar).

This means that the student first has to understand what they want from the writing that they are asked to do. Whether it is simple sentences or a more complex work, the concept of the writing has to be understood before the student can perform the task. The issue here was that these students were not able to translate the instructions successfully into the writing that they were to do. This was not because of what they heard, but the way that they had been taught to write previously. The grammatical structure of the English that they had already learned was too much different from what they were being asked to accomplish.

The outcome of the study was that the Creole learners, who already had some knowledge of English, were not the same as other ESL students. The traditional ESL student had an easier time with the tasks than did the Creole learners because they already had a conception of what the language was to look like. The final conclusion was that ESL learners have different needs across the board. This means that every student needs to be assessed for their understanding, ability and motivation. It is not enough to have a pat learning program, the student has to come first. Teaching the Creole students to restructure their grammatical understanding was more successful than any other type of intervention.

Article 8: Waters

There are many interventions that can be attempted in an effort to make sure that students are learning English when they are place in an ESL classroom. However, there are only a very few which can be considered universally successful. Since the advent of computer technology, students around the world have been fascinated by what the machines can do, and teachers have tried to incorporate the superior ability to teach a computer gives. The researcher, a computer professional who specializes in educational software and interactive processes, was concerned that the technology available was not being used to its best possible effect with students who are not native English speakers. His thought was that if students had access to the latest in educational software to teach them writing proficiency in the English language then they would learn more faster and retain it better.

The author introduced several different technologies in the article but focused on the success that certain programs are having in the lower elementary grades. It has been proven in previous literature that students can learn a second language much easier the younger they are. Since the individuals brain is already geared to learning a language at a very young age, the earlier the ESL interventions begin the better it is for the student. The primary success that educators were having then with any of these computer-based writing programs was with children from K-5. "A popular application for mainstream K-5 students, the program utilizes visual components called Picture View and Writing View, according to the company, "to brainstorm ideas with pictures and words, organize and categorize information visually, create stories and descriptions, and explore new ideas with thought webs and visual mapping" (Waters). The creation of stories with the program and the ability to increase the difficulty level of the learning were the most important features of the program. This method of teaching writing was found to be very successful with the young ESL learners.

Article 9: Kuntjara

The author, a professor of English at Petra Christian University, wanted to continue previous research that had been done regarding how culture affected the writing abilities of ESL students. She found that "L2 students writings, especially their paragraph organization, exhibited the students' L1 cultural thought patterns" (Kuntjara). This means that the student's second language writing skills are influenced by the first language cultural knowledge. The goal that the researcher set out for herself was from "the notion that the rhetorical structure of languages differs" (Kuntjara). Where a student comes from is as important as what previous knowledge they have of the language that they intend to learn. It has already been stated that culture has a significant bearing on the way that a person conducts themselves in society, but it need also be understood that the parent culture will always greatly influence the writing ability of a student.

The patterns with which the students organized their thoughts was a primary concern of this study (Kuntjara). These rhetorical patterns were deeply engrained in the students and had to be understood by the instructor before they could be used to assist the student in their understanding of the new language and how to write it. The basic intervention in this context was not for the student, but for the teacher. ESL teachers who do not understand the basics of the languages that the students originally spoke, have a more difficult task ahead of them. The author of the study found that when she studied Indonesian and understood the written structure of the language, she was better able to give the students assistance. This study proves the need for teachers to do some research themselves into the cultures and languages of the students that are learning to write under their tutelage.

Article 10: Peng, Fitzgerald & Park.

The authors first state that their objective is "based on the use of technology to help second-language learning children express their culturally-diverse backgrounds and perspectives" (Peng, Fitzgerald & Park). Since it is common knowledge that a student's culture is as important as any other aspect of learning a second language, the authors, engineering professors and students of educational technology design, wanted to see how technology could best be designed to assist the learners in their objective. "The children [who participated in the study] successfully participated as design partners by writing and illustrating their stories and by sharing decisions about multimedia features in the stories" (Peng, Fitzgerald & Park). Thus, the ESL students were integral in the design of the new interactive multimedia product.

Of course, the success of the project could only be known if the students themselves were successful in increasing their English language proficiency with the program. "Regardless of the challenges, the intercultural collaborative story-writing project was judged to be very successful" (Peng, Fitzgerald & Park). The students were able to use the stories they told to increase their own writing proficiency and help the researcher perfect their program.

Similarities and Differences

The ten studies can be broken down into four groups. The first article talks about ESL and its teachers in a general sense. The teachers and the students come into play in this research. The second through tenth articles talk about specific programs that are offered to ESL students. They have varying degrees of success and failure. These articles present a wide range of programs that can be used with students that have difficulty learning English because it is their second language. The most successful programs were either computed-based or complete immersion in a mainstream classroom.