Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Glossary of terms

I will try to continue to update this glossary to include terms and jargon that will help you read more technical or research-oriented articles, books, blogs, etc. Please post in the comments if you would like me to add a term!
  • L1: the language someone grows up speaking (“1st Language”)
  • L2: the language someone learns as an adult (“2nd Language” – at LETC we generally refer to English as the students’ L2, but keep in mind, someone may have already learned other languages!)
  • corrective feedback: feedback is how you respond to someone’s writing (or speaking), and corrective feedback is when you offer error corrections, e.g. correcting the use of past tense, offering a different word for a better fit, or suggesting that a student reorganize the sentences in a paragraph
  •  recast: a recast is a rephrasing of something a learner has written (or said), in order to make it sound more natural or more intelligible
  • SLA: Second Language Acquisition; the field of research which concerns itself with understanding the process by which someone learns another language
  • Instructed SLA: the field of research which investigates the connections between types of instruction and exposure to another language, and the process of language learning
  • TESL: Teaching English as a Second Language (in a second language setting, the target language to be learned is spoken all around)
  • TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language (in a foreign language setting, the target language to be learned is only spoken in the classroom, like in college foreign language classes)
  • TESOL: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (this refers to the learners, not the setting, and so it doesn't distinguish TESL from TEFL)
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Sunday, April 14, 2013

Teaching Writing at LETC



Karen Feagin has been volunteering at LETC for the past two terms and is currently finishing her master’s in Applied Linguistics at Georgetown University. She’s interested in applying current research to the classroom, and exploring questions from the classroom through research.

As a volunteer at LETC, I'm sure I'm not alone in having that moment of looking at the syllabus for class to start working on a lesson plan, and thinking, "Oh no, how do I teach that?" And that can be different for all of us, but one thing I've noticed many teachers ask about is how to teach writing. I have created this blog post to attempt to help teachers approach writing as something attainable for their students and approachable for teachers within the LETC context. This post is the culmination of a semester studying and reading research about writing in a second language, under Dr. Lourdes Ortega. I hope it's helpful to you, and please add your own thoughts, experiences, or questions in the comments below!  

1. Make time for writing!

It may seem like there are a lot of obstacles to overcome in teaching writing – I have found that the biggest one is finding enough time to do it! Leaving enough time for it requires coordination with your co-teacher and with your teaching team. Reserve the full two hours of a  class period for the writing lesson as your class makes its way through the syllabus. Below is a generic lesson plan for a day when you’re scheduled to teach a writing lesson. I’ll discuss the parts of it below.

  • Plan the writing lesson  (2)
  • Welcome, warm-up (5-10 min.)
  • Introduce, explain, model the assignment (30 min.) (3)
  • Plan (15 min.) (4)
  • Break (10 min.)
  • Write (40 min.) (5)
  • Share & debrief (15 min.) (6)


2. Plan the lesson:

Writing can be used for lots of different things (not just getting through the syllabus!) Think about your goals for the class; what do you want to help enable students to do, and what are their learning goals? Design the assignment based on these ideas. You can use and adapt the assignments in the textbook as needed, or design your own writing lesson if it will better help you to accomplish your goals. 

These are just a few things writing can be used for: writing to become a better writer; writing for self-expression & creativity; writing to practice topics learned in class; writing to promote reading comprehension; writing to make an argument; writing to address a particular audience (personal letter vs. cover letter vs. restaurant review); writing to serve a need (give directions, communicate a recipe, excuse a student from school, apply to a job); writing for academic purposes; and so on.

3. Introduce, explain, demonstrate:

Be sure to explain clearly to students the purpose of the assignment, and explicitly demonstrate for them how to approach it. 

For example, after completing a unit on “living green,” you want students to practice the vocabulary they learned, practice using the grammar from the unit, and apply their knowledge to their own lives, and so you create the prompt: “Write a paragraph about how you use green-living techniques in your own homes and routines, or what you can do in the future to live green. Try to use new vocabulary we learned this unit and the future (will/going to) where appropriate.” (This is appropriate for levels 3, 4, Adv.) Then go to the board and demonstrate for the class how to plan for writing (Step 4).

4. Plan for writing:
For the teacher: Different assignments can use different kinds of brainstorming techniques and organizational structures – make sure you demonstrate various options as appropriate for a given assignment. Some teachers and researchers disagree about the benefits of giving students these organizing structures, or “models,” upon which they can build their writing. Some people think it’s helpful for students to have this structure just given to them so that they can focus on creating and linking sentences, and completing the activity, whereas others think it constrains students’ self-expression by putting limits on what they’re permitted to do in their writing. It’s up to you to assess your students’ needs and abilities, and to determine what course you think is most beneficial to them. Just below is an example of what you can demonstrate for the students to do, to use their pre-writing time for the sample prompt.

For the student: What does this assignment ask you to do? Restate the assignment to make sure you understand it. Think about what words and phrases you know that relate to this assignment (e.g., assignment: “write a paragraph about how to live green” relevant vocabulary: “recycle, energy efficient, carpool, global warming”); plan how you want to structure your paragraph (1. what is living green? 2. things I do to live green. 3. things I want to start to do to live green).

5. Write:

After you come back from the break, have the students start writing, based on the planning they did before the break. Give them the full time you allotted for writing. This can be a great time for you to observe your students and gauge different aspects of their writing -- who consults a dictionary every couple minutes? Who writes quickly and confidently, filling the page in the time given? Who writes slowly and seems to consider every word? Who erases frequently? Noticing things like this can clue you in to your students abilities and comfort with writing. You can also take the time to do some writing yourself, modeling the expected behavior. And of course, you and your co-teacher can also go around the room to check in with students, making sure they understand the assignment and what it entails, helping as needed.

6. Debrief and share:

What was the goal of this activity? Restate it and why it’s important, and have students share their paragraphs. One way to do this is to have students swap papers with a partner, read the other’s paragraph, and then talk together about what they’ve written. It could also include having a couple students go to the board and write their paragraph to share with the entire class.

(7. Follow up:

This section is in parentheses, because we all know the difficulties with following up on student assignments when you might only teach once a week. However, I want to mention it anyway, because it is best to follow up on writing activities with students, so that these activities don’t get lost in the shuffle of an entire semester, and so that students have the opportunity to practice the entire writing process, including revising. Following up on activities isn’t just restricted to finding errors for students to correct in subsequent drafts, but also connecting activities and building skills across lessons. It’s important to keep this in mind in your other teaching contexts, and if possible at LETC!)

Students may also be intimidated by writing, and there are ways to overcome that, too! If you include “low-stakes” writing throughout the semester, it will help them get accustomed to writing, and hopefully lower their anxiety about writing. Try using freewriting as a warm-up activity – tell them it’s not for a grade and it’s just for them; tell them to try to use English as much as they can, but to feel free to put something in another language if they feel like it. Encourage them to keep a journal; this can be done on their own time at home, or can be part of the classroom routine: have them write in class for 10 minutes on a given prompt or on a topic they choose. Also encourage students to keep track of their writing: completed writing assignments can be kept in a portfolio, to show them what they’ve accomplished over the course of a semester. Beyond just observing their progress, students can also reflect on their progress in writing over the course of a semester, possibly through a reflective writing activity, or orally with you or other students.

Resources for teachers: 

Be sure to check out the resources we have at LETC for teaching writing and literacy (thanks to our program coordinator, Ashley Lipps!) to see what could be useful for you and your students.

You can learn about the organization for the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at tesol.org, where you can read their blog for free or look into subscriptions to TESOL Quarterly or TESOL Journal. These are also available through most university library systems, as is the Journal of Second Language Writing. And although it’s not specifically geared toward teaching ESL, the National Council of Teachers of English also offers journals and other resources for teachers. And don’t forget about ELL-U (The National Adult English Language Learning Professional Development Network) which offers lots of ways to learn about teaching English and interact with others in the field. 

Don’t be afraid of diving into research articles or books which might seem too technical! Get acquainted with some of the common terms used in the field of teaching ESL by checking out the glossary of terms which I will continue to update. (And please post in the comments if you don't see a term that you would like defined!)

Many organizations for teachers have Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts which offer tips and insights for teaching, notifications about upcoming conferences or training sessions, discussion boards or forums for posting questions, and ways to connect with other teachers and organizations. Be sure to check out these resources, too!
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Literacy Resources at LETC



 Resources for teaching literacy:

(You can find these on the bookshelves in the volunteers' room at LETC! Links to the books on Amazon.com are provided so that you can see what the book looks like and read reviews, where available. I've tried to use links for the correct editions, but they weren't always available, and not all books were available on Amazon. -KCF)
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Writing Resources at LETC


Resources for teaching writing:

(You can find these on the bookshelves in the volunteers' room at LETC! Links to the books on Amazon.com are provided so that you can see what the book looks like and read reviews, where available. I've tried to use links for the correct editions, but they weren't always available. -KCF)
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