Sunday, July 10, 2016

Blog 10.

It is one thing to learn the theories for correcting writing errors of the ESL students, and it is quite another to implement them. When given the choice of editing the student's writing errors in a comprehensive manner with the first draft vs. the selective error treatment, I initially thought that comprehensive error treatment was better, to avoid errors fossilizing in the student’s mind. (Ferris and Hedgcock, 2014, p. 286).  Having participated in the writing process with a ten-year-old ESL student, and noticing when his ideas seem to flow, I now feel that during the initial draft of a multi-draft process, I should encourage the free flow of ideas with no error correction. After all, during a timed exam, an initial draft may be all the student has time to produce. As I help to tutor this boy for the SSAT exam, I cannot help but think of it as a disservice, if I interrupted his idea flow.  

A complimentary focus during the initial drafting is the focus on identifying the main points, and supporting points, so that there is some logical flow to the first draft writing.  Even though I cannot guarantee the topic prompts for the SSAT, I am encouraging him to read about topics he is interested in and then to summarize that story in the main point, supporting points, conclusion framework.  Schuster (2003) suggests that students write often, after reading prose a little over their heads. I am testing this approach this summer with this student. He will have an opportunity to develop his confidence in producing a writing product so that shortly he can begin to reflect his emotions in the story.

Reference
Ferris, Dana R., Hedgcock, John. 2014. Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.

Edgar H Schuster, 2003. Breaking the Rules, Liberating Writers Through Innovative Grammar Instruction. Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Blog 9

1. Thinking about your own literacy development in the past and present, to what extent were (or are) you consciously aware of vocabulary, grammar, and usage (punctuation and other mechanics) when you read and write? 

My vocabulary and grammar and usage was absorbed over time, as I began reading more prolifically at 12 -15 years old.  In reading great literature, and noticing the emotion that this genre of writing stimulated, I tried to copy the writing style to evoke the same emotion in my readers.  When one reads prolifically, the mechanics seem to develop more naturally. Of course, there were English Language classes in high school, about which I remember very little. I must have learned a lot about composition, since answers to our exams questions were always written in the composition style, except for Math. Since I went to high school that valued composition style writing, I think this pattern of writing has stuck. 

2.  By what mechanisms or processes did you (or do you) acquire the language that you use in your academic or professional reading and writing? What about informal, everyday literacy activities that you regularly undertake? 

I am in the process of acquiring new language, attempting to use words like ‘pedagogy’, ‘lexical’, and ‘syntactic’ correctly. If I spent the time to re-read every word in the assigned text, Ferris and Hedgcock, (2014)  I am sure I could improve my language skills for teaching by 20% or more. Language is acquired from one’s environment, so the longer I spend in my teacher development environment, the more precision in language use I will acquire. Informally, I spend time mostly with professionals who are improving their work life, so I use project management and healthcare language genres.  I am not aware of much change in my language, unless I am speaking to persons who speak English as a second language. 

I encourage my students to read daily, as daily reading will have a positive influence on one’s language.  

3.  Considering especially L2 students who are advanced acquirers in academic settings, what is your perception of their need for ongoing language development in a writing or literacy course? How much specific attention do they need to language, and what kinds of attention? 

L2 students who are advanced acquirers in academic settings, still require ongoing language development in writing and literacy. L2 language needs to be woven into the fabric of their lives. The challenge for the adult post-graduate person is that their lives are consumed with family and their L1 community, so that L2 becomes an accessory worn on special occasions.  They have not yet fully mastered syntactic structures nor have they built their repertoire of word choices in Discourse community within which they operate.  Given their limited time, they are at more risk for isolating themselves in the country where English is predominantly spoken.

4. As a current or prospective teacher, how comfortable do you feel with the task of developing the linguistic knowledge of your writing students? What questions or concerns do you have?

The task of developing the linguistic knowledge of my writing students has become more crystallized with the following strategies learned from Ferris and Hedgcock (2014).

  • Categorize errors to prioritize treatment of error patterns.
  • Identify what students know or believe about the writing error.
  • Identify how students monitor their language use when writing or speaking, (a reflective activity,) using a survey chart to elicit answers, as suggested by Ferris and Hedgcock (2014, page 317)
  • Help students analyze texts which they read to look for examples of vocabulary, grammar, or style that exemplifies proper language use, being careful to distinguish between students who are more appreciative of an inductive evaluation, those who are able to figure out which language rules apply, vs. those are appreciative of a deductive evaluation, that is being told which rules are applied.
  • Identify frequently used lexical bundles of phrases, based on genre
  • Examine the student’s morphosyntactic choices with regard to suitability of length and complexity
  • Examine the student’s punctuation choices
  • Examine how the student develops interest in their writing, for the targeted audience 
  • Examine what the writing tasks require of the student, what linguistic structures are encouraged and whether students know the genre and style called for, or how to control their writing for formality or informality of the language (Ferris and Hedgcock 2014, page 320.)
  • Design an integrated series of mini-lessons that will focus on a specific group of students in a particular place and time, based on their needs, recommends Ferris and Hedgcock (2014, page 321.)


Reference 

Ferris, Dana R., Hedgcock, John. (2014) Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.

Blog 8

1. Think about your own writing processes. At what stage in your writing do you focus on the linguistic accuracy of your work? How and where did you acquire the grammatical knowledge that you use to edit your work?

I focus on linguistic accuracy after my initial writing is complete. That statement is probably 80% true. Because I am a native English speaker, I may intersperse developing content with linguistic and grammatical corrections, although I am aware that this latter process slows down the completion of the writing product. My grammatical knowledge has been acquired over years of learning English, since birth. My linguistic knowledge has been absorbed over many years of reading in my genre. As a result, my writing tends to be more formal, more academic, since that has been the bulk of my reading. I often find that I first produce written text for my students, then deliberately re-read and replace academic sounding words with more everyday words – which is quite time consuming.

 2. How effective is your approach to editing your own writing? If it is effective, why do you think so? If it does not always work, what might improve it?

My approach to writing, which is to “do a brain dump” first, then to go back and edit linguistically and re-position the content for a logical flow and style, works to get the written product completed, vs. constantly editing as one is writing. My final read through is for verb tenses, plurals and words that Microsoft Word left behind for me to identify. I think my writing style is effective if I have time. If I have no time, I read for comprehension, noun/verb agreement, and trust that the rest just flowed naturally. 

One area I will have to strengthen is my writing speed. I just must accelerate my rate of writing completion, from pen down to pen up (you know “wheels up to wheels down” in measuring time for a airplane flight.)  The steps I am taking to improve that speed is to read more and to write more often so as to increase turnover speed.

3.  If you have experience in teaching writing, what do you find most challenging about giving students feedback on their language errors (grammar, word choice, spelling, mechanics, and so on)?

When giving feedback to L2 students, I find it most challenging to ignore the desire for perfection, and accept any semblance of progress.  Lately, I have started to be selective in providing feedback. I focus on two areas during the formative feedback stage of writing, and that is just content – what are you saying, and not how you are saying it. The course in English 697 has taught me to take a process approach to writing, so that initially, there needs to be draft produced, which is later followed by revisions. There is a slight drawback with this method in that the students may get a sense of task completion prematurely, and another sense of “not again” when we return to the same writing task. Ferris and Hegcock (2014) noted that “some experts have observed that for real-world writing tasks, students must learn how to edit their texts comprehensively rather than selectively, and that marking only a few errors at a time may not help them to do so adequately” (page 285).  My experience is that all work is time limited, and students should get through phases of completion, with the first phase being complete documentation of thought about a topic, before editing for grammar. Given that many tests are time limited, this method may in the end yield higher marks on a test page if the student runs out of time.

4.  What ideas do you have about the best way( s) to help L2 students focus on editing their written work? Are these ideas congruent with your own editing process? Why or why not?

My approach in helping L2 students to focus on editing their written work will be to follow a process approach to writing,  that manages writing as a product which emerges with guidance in phases.  I will also be more intentional about looking for patterns in errors that the students make so that they can focus on correcting a few patterned, repetitive errors at time, e.g. use of articles.

Ferris, Dana R., Hedgcock, John. (2014) Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.
Blog 7.

1. From your own experiences as a student writer, what memories do you have of teacher responses to your texts? What types of feedback have you as a writer found most helpful? Most problematic?

Teacher’s responses to my written text were primarily through red-lining what I wrote – so far as I can remember. This closely resembles the correction tracking feature in Microsoft Word processing application. What I have found most helpful is someone asking me questions about what I wrote. These questions informed me that the writing was not as crystal clear as I had hoped. The most problematic feedback are comments such as: “This doesn’t make sense.”

2. Do you feel that the types of responses (in both content and form) that you have received would also be appropriate for L2 writers? Why or why not?

I think that I would prefer to offer slightly different feedback to L2 writers. I am currently tutoring a 10-year old boy in China, whose L2 is intermediate to advanced – verbally. As I learn these theories of offering feedback I am careful to implement the strategies of offering sandwich feedback – Positive comment, ideas for improvement comment, positive comment.  There is something to be said for correcting an error as it happens, immediately, so that the context is not lost as it would be if the correction occurs later. Yet, there are definite times when I do not correct him, and prioritize the goal of having him express himself fully without interruption, as when he summarizes a physical science article. During the early stages of the writing process, I will prompt him with questions form him to produce more substantive content, not necessarily grammatically correct writing. I want him to understand that reading is a form of input, not to be copied word for word, but to be used as content to further inform and shape his feelings, his opinions and his attitudes. This is particularly effective in a one to one teaching situation, which is a luxury few parents can afford. Red-lining his written work as a final step in the refinement of the written piece allows him the opportunity to remember the grammatical changes we made.

3.  As you think about responding (or facilitating response) to student writing in your present or future teaching, what questions and concerns come to mind? What do you feel you need to know to give your students effective feedback?

As I provide feedback to student writing, one question that comes to mind is, what is the best time for a specific student to provide them feedback on writing so that I focus on content only during the early stages of their writing, without allowing other grammatical mistakes to be ingrained as being acceptable? I realize that I should not respond to every single flaw so as not to overwhelm the student. Many answers depends on the age and stage of mental development of the student. It also depends on the student’s immediate goals. If a student is facing an tests  such as IELTs, or TOEFL, I think the teacher may be provide a bit more feedback promoting accuracy in writing, than when dealing with a pre-teen child. No matter when feedback is given, it should be truthful, encouraging and constructive.

4. What are your own experiences with peer feedback? As a current or future teacher, what ideas or questions do you have about facilitating successful collaborative work, especially with L2 writers?

I preferred feedback from my mother who was a teacher, so that I will want to incorporate more writing conferences in my future teaching activities. The immediacy of feedback in writing conferences with 2 or 3 participants, will help the student understand the corrections and apply the changes quickly for follow on formative feedback.  I can see how this works effectively on a one-one tutoring situation, where the student initially follows directive, but over a short period of time, the student can identify their own errors, and demonstrate great strides in summarizing as opposed to copying from original texts.


Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Blog # 6

1. My instructors assessed and scored my writing performance based on whether I answered the questions asked. There were times when I thought I had answered the question, but I had not explicitly provided the answer. My memory of writing assessment was answering specific questions in academic courses such as geography or biology.  Feedback was provided with comments placed in the margins of the paper, along with a letter grade. These comments were adequate enough for me to study harder, or to correct the paper, until the teacher or instructor was satisfied. I was not exposed to writing rubrics in high school. Perhaps a writing rubric would have reduced the re-work since I would have had more clarity about what the requirements were for producing an acceptable writing task.

2.  My writing skills improved as a result of my personal motivation towards excellence. In my high school there was friendly competition related to all marks received, which motivated me to improve. The scores I received were tangible evidence of my progress, so that my parents could feel good about my progress. Not wanting to disappoint my parents, I increased my mastery of writing and reading. There came a time when I developed an earnest desire to learn more about the world around me, and developed a voracious appetite for journals and magazines such as the National Geographic magazine. The more I read, the better my writing became. At some point, my writing was less dependent on grades my teachers assigned, and became more of an outward expression of the many books I enjoyed reading.  In my early college years, I was very motivated to receive the highest score, and thus I motivated myself to read and study.

2. I am just emerging as a composition instructor. The greatest challenge that I have observed is the difference in the rhetoric styles of the students based on their native writing styles, and the rhetoric structure that I am guiding them towards.  Also, some students from countries outside the USA are led to believe that they are writing in a way that is acceptable by western university standards, but feel disappointment when I point out the changes they should make in their writing style. There are adult students who are pursuing post-graduate degrees, whose writings are difficult to understand because of the sentence structure. The great challenge is in remediating the basics, grammatical and sentence structure, and especially when the adult students do not adequately revise their corrected writing as advised. I am currently asking some adults to increase their noticing of the structure of English sentences by copying interesting stories in their own hand writing.

3. Ferris and Hedgcock (2014) advises that formal assessment “should provide information about writing achievement, proficiency, and progress (page 228). However, since formal assessments are often accompanied by high levels of anxiety, teachers should consider careful placements of more formative assessments to gently guide progress in situations that are less anxiety provoking.  Formal assessments have their place for yielding quantitative scores used by the institution, and funding authorities. Ferris and Hedgcock (2014) recommends an approach to summing the formative assessments which could convert qualitative information gathered during formative assessment into quantitative data as needed by the learning institution. A conversion table is a suggested tool for this purpose.

4.  I am familiar with alternative assessment options such as students writing in portfolios, since as a student myself, my portfolio is being evaluated. Validated rubrics are effective as an alternative assessment tool, since the descriptive text can also educate the student as to the details included in an acceptable writing product. Teachers may not always have the most robust rubric to describe the written product generated from alternative activities which can produce assessable writing.  I look forward to learning more about the alternate assessment methods and the reliable rubrics developed for use.


Ferris, Dana R.; Hedgcock, John. Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice (p. 228). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.

Friday, June 17, 2016

Blog 4.

1.   How have your reading experiences and skills influenced your development as an L1 (and L2) writer? Why might reading skill be an especially important factor in how multilingual students become proficient writers?

I have always been aware that reading improves my ability to write in my L1. Reading introduces me to new ideas and new vocabulary with which those ideas are expressed. As I pursue my Masters in TESOL, I realize that this new field of knowledge requires new ways of expressing oneself. I will pursue reading within this professional field to increase my rate of absorbing new information and my comprehension. Reading widely within this specialty also builds familiarity with the acceptable style of writing in this field.

In the past, found that when I read for pleasure, I read for longer periods of time, and I am working on converting the need to read into a desire to read.

2. What genres do you encounter as an academic and nonacademic reader? What features typify these genres? What have you learned from them? 


Let me clarify my interpretation of genre, as  the “recurring or characteristic textual (oral or written) responses to the requirements of the social context” (p. 111).

As an L1 reader and writer,  as an adult, my non-academic and academic reading covered many genres, primarily business management, project management and healthcare management. In my earlier years, my focused genres were classical English literature, geography, plant and soil sciences. My reading was and is interactive with the text, summarizing what is read, and developing different opinions to the ones expressed in the text I read.  I have read professional texts to achieve various degrees and certifications, or to develop professional presentations for clients.  Academically, I read to complete a Master’s degree in Education, and now I am reading in pursuit of a second Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.  Specific genres in business are: user manuals, tutorials, project management, healthcare presentations, literature reviews, proposals, business conversation, interviewing and negotiation guidance, just to name a few.

What typifies these genres is that written English requires that the writer supply the complete context, which makes sentences more complex. In spoken English, sentences are shorter because the context is understood by the speech participants. I have learned to re-read and repair written English before final production, so that information written is clear to the asynchronous reader. It is also important that written English be understood to be a dance between the reader and writer, hence the importance of socially correct and nuanced language for the intended discourse community. Each discourse community has its cultural norms and patterned dance steps, which needs to be learned through participation in communities of practice in order to efficiently communicate.

3. If you have teaching experience, what features do you seek in instructional materials (e.g., print and digital texts, software, and so on)? What distinguishes a good textbook or software application from a poor one? 

I look for instructional material which is authentic to the integrated conversation task I teach. Currently, I teach business English conversation, which is a minefield filled with opportunities for participants to self-destruct. What works for my students from all over the world, is a selection of instructional material from written texts to online resources, combined with in-class situational practice which simulates their real-life encounters and conversational dances on their jobs. This requires that each lesson defines the situation the students are likely to encounter, engages the student in real-life re-enactments, supported by specially selected online or printed texts, based on the median of the class' ability to comprehend its rhetorical arrangement, complexity and vocabulary, as suggested by Ferris and Hegcock (2014, page 121).

It takes the collective experience of the writers of the text, as well as the exhaustive experience of the instructor to develop instruction of immediate benefit in each student's western business workplace, while maintaining the appropriate balance of social and cultural correctness. Adult students working in the west often find themselves working in businesses with unwritten codes of conduct, implicit social and cultural expectations which are different than the ones which prevail in the student's home country. Unless mastered, lack of knowledge can lead to self-isolation, resentment and poor job performance. 

4. In what respects might criteria for an L2 literacy or composition textbook differ from those that we might apply to other types of textbook? Why?

The criteria for L2 literacy or composition textbook differ from those of other types of textbooks in that the textbook needs to provide the student with authentic and wide range of scaffolding exposure to socioculturally appropriate texts and composition tasks. The tasks need to "real world", goal oriented,  and designed to build genre and cultural awareness. These criteria suggest tasks which engage the cognitive abilities to search for, discover, synthesize and summarize genre specific information (Ferris and Hegcock (2014, page 127).

5. Under what conditions should a composition teacher augment a textbook with supplemental materials, tasks, and assignments? Justify your response. 

A text book can supply the teachers with time-saving tools of quizzes, tests, assignments and projects as approved by the learning institution. However, each class of students will have special and specific needs not addressed by the textbook, which may be written years before it is used in a classroom. Depending on the unique needs of the students supplemental material may be required to emphasize a particular cultural point, or to provide rehearsal of real-world situations as explained by the students in their problem solving needs.

As Ferris and Hegcock (2014, page 123) points out, the sequence of activities in the text book may not suit the current student audience's needs, or the students may require more in-depth,  examples and practice with culturally specific scenarios of composition. The textbook may be simply inadequate in its breadth of coverage in one specific topic area or another. I have found it necessary to augment my instruction with digital media which clarifies themes and topics to increase the authenticity and applicability of ideas presented in text books to the evolving student situations, over the years.

6. What types of in-class and out-of-class activities and exercises are most productive for inexperienced writers? For experienced writers? Why?

In-class activities to help students write include having them speak while the teacher writes. They can tell a story or articulate a situation with which they are familiar.

The teacher can help the student understand that writing is a process, a sequence of steps which requires first identifying an idea, then focusing on a thesis or position related to that idea. It involves identifying opinions which may be in conflict with one's personal position, or in agreement, providing the rationale for why the idea is important or why the debate is essential. The student can be guided to find evidence to support both the personal position held or the positions stated that are in disagreement with the central thesis.  Out-of-class activities may include further research on the topic, real life examples of the thesis and peer review before final presentation.

If the student understands that writing is an iterative process, yielding drafts before the final copy, they may be less reluctant to get started.

Reference

Ferris, Dana R., Hedgcock, John. (2014) Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice.  Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.

Thursday, June 9, 2016


Blog 1.

1. Consider your experiences as a student writer and as a teacher of writing, if applicable. Whether you are an experienced or inexperienced teacher, what skills and competencies do you most want your students to develop? Why?

I most want my students to development the ability to understand the English sentence structure norms. Despite the variations in the English language within the inner circle and outer circle of English speaking countries, the concept of sentence structures which include a subject, a verb and a direct object remains particularly consistent and important in written communication, as the reader and the writer are separated by distances of time.


A frequent error in writing English sentences that I have noticed among English language L2s, is the tendency for the English language L2 writer to omit the direct object. Additionally, I want the students to recognize the function of each word, or group of words in a sentence. For example, some students may recognize a noun, and the function of a noun, e.g. a place, a thing, or a person.  Yet they may be unfamiliar with the function of a noun phrase – a group of words that function as a noun, or a gerund - a verb that behaves like a noun. Many of these errors may be rooted, not only in the rhetorical differences in language organization systems between different cultures, but also in the omission, during the initial phases of learning the English language, of a solid grounding in the basics of English language sentence structure in order to build communicative competence. If I were able to help a student recognize when a sentence is grammatically correct and why the sentence is grammatically correct, I would feel that I am helping my students to become more autonomous in making progress towards improving their written English, with less reliance on a teacher’s corrections.


2. Where do you think writing comes from, and why have writing skills become so essential in modern societies? 

Writing developed as a method of representing in a visible way the “units of language” which would consistently lead the persons interpreting the visible symbols to the same conclusion or interpretation. Overtime the initial symbols morphed from representations of nature, such as a fish, or a camel to markings that conveyed meaning and information when positioned in relation to the preceding and succeeding markings (Ferris and Hedgcock, 2014, p. 5). Because these markings emerged independently in different parts of the world, we ended up with differences in markings, symbols, and related elements of meaning (Ferris and Hedgcock, 2014, p. 8).

The textbook introduces the concept of the ‘rebus principle’ which established an alignment between human sound and symbol. This developed the constancy of interpretation, which could support commercial meanings, transactions and expectations (Ferris and Hedgcock, 2014, p. 9). Additionally, this led to the development of various forms of an alphabet, recognized in different countries as writing (Ferris and Hedgcock, 2014, p. 10).

Reference

Ferris, Dana R.; Hedgcock, John. 2014. Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice.  Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.


#3. What sorts of knowledge about writing, writing processes, and writing pedagogy would you like to develop? Why?
As a teacher of writing in English, I like to help guide students towards feeling as capable in composing informative discourse in English as they are able to do, using their first language (L1). This is because I find intense personal fulfillment and enrichment in helping others achieve their goals in life.
Writing in a student’s first language is naturally easier for advanced level ESL students than in their second language(L2). Their approach to thought generation, organization and composition may be a learned skill in their L1 which does not translate easily to the L2. If students read widely in their native language, and if that reading informed their thinking, colored their experiences and stimulated their creative ideas, limitations in reading in the L2 will retard their exposure to diverse discourses about relevant topics, and thus will limit their ability to achieve the same facility of thought production through to writing composition.
One pathway to building that teaching skill will be for me to develop the ability to assess what the predominant and historical patterns in writing is for each student’s L1, which are hindering or likely to help the L2 writing. That ability would help the teacher to surgically target causative influences on L2 writing and design the best intervention to prescribe the adjustment needed. Another path could be to identify a reliable framework for constructing and composing writing which could be referenced when producing various genres of writing, as well as assessing the work produced for communicative adequacy and social appropriateness.
No matter which path I select, the most important skill is for me to assist the student in decoding writing tasks and constructing a widely applicable writing strategy as they face “increasingly difficult academic [and business] literacy demands” (Ferris and Hedgcock, 2014, page 30). This is especially important as the exposure to English in a student’s previous life occurs within different domains, and therefore their interpretation of tasks presented to them will be filtered based on their mental construct and understanding of English up to this point. I think of adult students whom I have helped to prepare for the IELTS and TOEFL exams, especially those who were taught English in primary and secondary schools in their home countries. It appears that some students were led to believe that their command of the English language was quite accurate and acceptable. Yet, their ability to structure complex 0sentences as needed for their academic and business journeys are severely challenged.  Without laying blame, it quickly becomes clear that the foundational underpinnings of their English sentence construction are often porous and unstable.
Students who come from affluent circumstances may actually resent the realization that foundational remediation is required before forward progress can be achieved. It is understandable that such realization may be tinged with frustration when one considers the investment of time in learning English that previously was made. However, as Ferris and Hedgcock (2014) emphasize, classes of primary or secondary education in their country of birth may have been unfairly influenced by large class sizes, impractical textbooks, or teachers who were themselves non-native English language speakers, and were unable to detect and correct specific inadequate constructs or ungrammatical sentence productions (p. 32).
Reference
Ferris, Dana R., Hedgcock, John. 2014. Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.  


4. What do you think accounts for the diversity of writing systems? How do you think people best learn to use a writing system? 

Given the variation in geographic locations where different symbols were developed, referred to in section #2, we have evidence of different writing systems. I think writing systems are learned best by the L2 student, through investing time learning at formal, educational institutions and developing skills through practice, away from the learning institutions. A student must invest in personal observation and discovery of writing, imitation of writing and questioning what has been written. This will be more difficult for the adult student, as compared to the child of about 5 or 6 years. However, when the adult student recognizes that the greater challenges can be matched with greater focus and effort, over many years, a mastery of the L2 writing can emerge. (Ferris and Hedgcock 2014, p. 16). The ongoing challenge for the adult L2 learner is to absorb not just the theoretical constructs of writing, but also the social contexts for each style and occurrence, to fully comprehend meaning. For the L2 learner whose L1 language skills are limited, the mental demands of learning and adjusting may be quite daunting. 

Reference
Ferris, Dana R., Hedgcock, John. 2014.Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.  

5. In what ways is writing in an additional language (that is, a language other than one’s maternal language or languages) similar to— and different from— writing in one’s mother tongue? Why? How might being literate in one language help (or hinder) developing literacy in another language?


Writing in an additional language calls for a different system of logically organizing units of language. For example, some languages as expressed within specific social contexts, forces the writer to identify the main point of the discourse at the beginning of the writing. In other languages, or in the writer’s mother tongue, this may not be the case.  Students who have developed the skill of noticing language constructs in their first language, may find it easier to use this skill in their second language. The skill of literacy related to noticing, analyzing and understanding the construction of language is often developed  during secondary school learning activities within the student’s native country. A student who has limited secondary school education in his native country and is an adult, may find the effort to develop an ability to notice, and build awareness of text structure and organization, extremely demanding.