Working With ESL Writing Students

Below are some terms that are commonly employed by those who teach and who do research in ESL. Should you decide to follow up on ESL research yourself, you will, undoubtedly, encounter the following:

• NS (Native speaker [of English])

• NNS (Non-native speaker [of English])

• ESL (English as a Second Language)

• TESL (Teachers of English as a Second Language): This phrase was coined to correct the mistake in TEFL (see below). However, it was soon pointed out that the "second" language referred to in TESL might actually be a student's third or fourth language (Prator 20). This label is used in educational setting where English is a partial/primary language of instruction.

• EFL (English as a Foreign Language)

• TEFL (Teachers of English as a Foreign Language): This was the first designator to come into common use in this country. It was found deficient because it fails to account for speakers who use English extensively in their everyday life, but for whom English is not their mother tongue. That is, these speakers don't think of English as being something foreign to them (Prator 19). This label is used in educational settings where a language other than English is used for instruction.

• ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages)

• TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages): a more recent phrase that has yet to come under fire. This phrase is useful because it includes both TESL and TEFL communities (Prator 21).

• LEP (Limited English Proficiency): This term is (usually) only applied to primary and secondary school-aged children.

• ESP (English for Specific Purposes): A classroom-based movement, derived from applied linguistics, that focuses on teaching specific English skills to students or workers. One area within ESP, for example, is EAP (English for Academic Purposes). In large part, when you work with ESL students in the writing center, you will be working within the boundaries and concerns of EAP.

ESL writers are writers for whom English is their second (or third or fourth) language, and in its common use in the Writing Center, the term doesn't distinguish between English learned as a second or foreign language.1 This means that ESL writers are not necessarily international students, though they do make up the majority of the students who you will work with in the Writing Center.

Generally speaking, there are two types of language learners: what I am calling Gestalt and EFL. Gestalt learners have an ear for the language. Usually, these learners are children of immigrant families who come to the US when the kids are between 6-10 years of age. These children are commonly referred to as "Generation 1.5" Usually, the writing problems associated with Gestalt learners are not identifiable as ESL; they more typically resemble the writing problems of some native speakers who are first generation college students or who did not grow up in families that read a lot. EFL students, on the other hand, might know quite well the Ideal Grammar of a language, but they don't have an ear for actual practices like Gestalt learners do. Most ESL students that you will work with in the Writing Center will fall into this group, not because they visit the Writing Center more often than Gestalt learners, but because they make up the greater number of ESL students on this campus.

Keep in mind that it takes 5-8 years for a child studying a second language under the best possible conditions (immersion program, second language spoken at home, supportive parents) to perform on the same academic level as his native-speaking peers (Collier 1987). Most international students who come to the US for study don't learn English

in these circumstances. So, while we can expect them to be successful writers, we can't necessarily expect NS proficiency (see Ritter for a brief discussion of this issue). Also, we must consider "accent" in writing--specifically, just as with speaking English with an accent, we could consider some differences between NS and NNS writing to be

accents. The point here is that accent is part of who we are, part of our voice. Should we attempt to eradicate NNS writing accents? More importantly, should NNS writers want to?

The main difference between ESL students and native-writers is in the way that ESL students approach English and the ways in which you, as a consultant, should address English with ESL students. In short, you need to be able to take an outsider's view of the English language, you have to be able to look at English as a system, understand the way that it works, and explain that to someone who doesn't have an insider's "feel" for it.

One of biggest problems that students will have is with organizing their essays in a way that makes sense to an academic audience in American schools; the "tightly controlled English paragraph, with its topic sentence, controlling idea, and supporting ideas," is unfamiliar to NNS (Peck 367). Sometimes explaining the differences between English

academic writing and academic prose in their first language isn't enough. You might try, for example, visually representing the relationship among different paragraphs and sentences by using diagrams. The point is to find a way to work the student's main ideas around US academic prose structures. So, for some students, verbal negotiation will be enough. For example, if you've identified a claim in a paragraph, but can't find support for that claim (in that paragraph or the rest of the paper), you might ask the student why she is claiming what she is and on what grounds. Then, let her know that that justification needs to be in the essay, near the claim.

As with rhetorical organization, the key to helping with word choice is to get at the meaning of confusing or ambiguous language through negotiation with the student:

Consultant [reading paper]: My family is prepared to precaution...to precaution for earthquakes. To precaution?

Student: Is something wrong?

Consultant: This phrase just does not seem to work. My family is prepared to precaution. What do you think?

Student: I don't need precaution?

Consultant: Yeah, you just need to say my family is prepared.

Student: My family is prepared for earthquakes?

Consultant: Yep. It makes sense just to say my family is prepared for earthquakes (Ritter 107).

Sometimes it is helpful to suggest several alternatives to the word that the student has chosen. Try to explain the differences between the words, and the talk with the student about the one that would be best for the meaning they are trying to get at.

Also, it is important to be explicit about the correct way to use idiomatic phrases; there's no "logical" way to figure them out. Similarly, if you encounter a phrase in a student's paper that should make use of a common collocation, tell them what it is and when we use it in English.

It is when dealing with grammar issues that tutoring ESL students often turns from non-directive to directive, from consultant to informant. However, by using negotiation tactics, consultants can maintain a non-directive stance while still attending to the needs of ESL students. As with NS, this negotiation will begin with larger rhetorical concerns,

the meaning of the paper, problems encountered, and so on. However, ESL students will probably raise the issue of grammar-help at some point, and consultants need negotiation strategies to deal with these situations (see examples of negotiation).

Grammar is best addressed in the final editing phase, after rhetorical organization and content have been dealt with. Some ESL experts even suggest that focusing on grammatical problems right away can exacerbate insecurities that some ESL writers have about their control of English stylisitcs. When grammatical errors are addressed, attention should be drawn to those errors which form a pattern or are more severe than

others (like sentence structure) (Kroll 260).

Grammar is best addressed within the context of the essay that you are working with. For example, let's take the following sentence that features a misuse of "the":

Because mastery of articles is a high level skill that comes late in language acquisition, the best way to deal with this isn't to directly address the rules of use (which the student more than likely already knows), but to deal with the error in the context of the paper. You might ask the student, "Is there more than one school in NYC? " (--which would get them to switch to a non-definite pronoun). Further questions might lead to changing "school" to something more specific, if that's what the writer wants. This question might not be just for the benefit of the student; quite often with graduate ESL writing, you won't know, necessarily, how specialized vocabulary can and can't be used (how plurals are formed, and so on). You'll need to ask the student to find out. When dealing with grammar and usage issues, it would help to keep a writing handbook handy. Ideally, this grammar book would have a special section for ESL issues. A good handbook that specifically targets ESL issues is Ann Raimes' Keys for Writers. When a specific question comes up, and you're not certain how to address, make reference to the grammar book. You shouldn't be embarrassed to do this in front of the student; consultant aren't expected to be Grammar Gods, and modeling behaviors like referencing writing handbooks can be useful for the student you're working with (Freidlander 210).

NNS speakers might have a difficult time revising sentences. The following methods can not only help the students during the session, but might give them tools that they can use once they leave.

Sentence combining is one way to teach students how to write more complex sentences from shorter sentences. While the students that you work with will probably be writing on topics more specialized than the one below, the example cited here illustrates one way to do sentence combining:

1. The boy wanted something.

2. He wanted to buy tickets.

3. The tickets were for a rock group.

4. The rock group was his favorite.

The boy wanted to buy tickets for his favorite rock group (Peregoy 216).

Of course, when you work in the writing center, you'll be working with items from the student's essay, which is more authentic and more interesting than the teacher-created exercise above.

Sometimes the problem isn't with short, choppy sentences, but with sentences that go on forever. Sentence shortening exercises can be used to help students learn how to revise

these too-long sentences.The object of sentence shortening should be to create the

shortest sentence possible without altering the meaning of the original sentence.

Original sentence: That man who I know invented something that was entirely new.

Revised: That man I know invented something.

Original: The store over there across the street is owned by three sisters who live in the apartment above the store across the street.

Revised: There is an apartment above the store across the street. Three sisters live above it (Peregoy 217).

Like sentence combining, sentence modeling can help to teach students how to create more complex sentences. You will probably find that modeling more complex sentences--such as those that that feature a dependent clause in a pair or series--will be most useful

for college level writing. The following models, for example, are especially useful as topic

sentences or as concluding sentences:

If...,(if..., if...), then Subject Verb.

If I had free time, I would read lots of poetry.

Because..., (because..., because...,) Subject Verb.

Because sentence modeling has been proven to help students write more complex sentences, I will use it in my consulting sessions..

When..., (when..., when...,) Subject Verb

When two planets collide, they obliterate each other (Peregoy 217-18).

With "flat" sentences, you might want to have students think about the distinction between "telling" and "showing" sentences. A "telling" sentence is a sentence that just makes a general statement like:

• The band was noisy.

A showing sentence, provides the same information as a telling sentence, but in an implicit manner:

• As the band played I felt the drummer was banging on my eardrums and the guitars yelled at me. I thought I would never hear right again (Peregoy 214-15).

Showing sentences help students use language in new and complex ways, encouraging them to find new ways to use vocabulary that they already know (or, perhaps to learn new vocabulary).

You'll want to find out what system the student is using and find a handbook that covers it; most handbooks provide details on at least CBE, APA and MLA. Alternatively, if you see a student regularly, have them bring the book that they use for documentation and citation purposes and use that instead of a generic handbook. If the problem is with the form of the citations, one of the best ways to work through the problem is to have the student find the proper form in the handbook you have at the session and correct her mistakes. If the problem is with deciding when to use documentation, you might find the guidelines in a handbook like Diana Hacker's A Writer's Reference to be quite useful.

Students often become very good at choosing key phrases from readings and stringing them together to make new sentences, paragraphs, or essays. If you see this occurring in a student's paper, you'll want to use paraphrasing strategies-- like having them put the paper aside and talk about the passage that they quoted, then modifying their essay so that it reflects the student's own language. Or, show students how to take notes on note cards (that is, to read a text, put the text aside, and then summarize the passage that they've read on the note card, including a proper citation). The "note card method" not only discourages plagiarism, it also leaves students with good notes on readings they've done.

If you are reading the student's paper aloud, you might suggest to the student that she listen for you to stress or pause over certain phrases or passages to signal that these places in the text are confusing. After reading (and, perhaps rereading) a confusing part of the essay, you can talk with the student about her intended meaning and attempt to get at a solution:

[These samples are taken from Ritter, Jennifer. "Recent Developments in Assisting ESL Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One. Ed. Ben Raforth. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2000. 102-110].

Consultant [reading paper]: My family is prepared to precaution...to precaution for earthquakes. To precaution?

Student: Is something wrong?

Consultant: This phrase just does not seem to work. My family is prepared to precaution. What do you think?

Student: I don't need precaution?

Consultant: Yeah, you just need to say my family is prepared.

Student: My family is prepared for earthquakes?

Consultant: Yep. It makes sense just to say my family is prepared for earthquakes (Ritter 107).

If the student feels comfortable reading her paper out loud, you can work out with the student a way to signal a confusing phrase or passage. For example, you could repeat it to the student or point to the error in the text with your pencil eraser, or raise your hand.

Student (reading her paper): I always do when an Earthquake strikes. First, I turn off the gas if I am using because of fire.

Consultant [using negotiation]: Hmmmm, if I am using because of fire?

Student: Yes, the gas may cause fire.

Consultant: Oh, so you turn off the gas to prevent a fire?

Student: Is that how to say it? Prevent?

Consultant: Yeah. If you want to keep something from happening, we use the verb prevent.

Student: How should I write it? First I turn off the gas...um...prevent fire?

Consultant: That's close. I turn off the gas to prevent a fire.

Student: Okay. I turn off the gas to prevent fire.

In the Writing Center, we have several goals: to act as consultants to students rather than as error detectors; to help students identify errors in their writing that might lead to confusion on the part of the reader; to help students systematically correct their own writing; and, depending on the relationship that we have with a particular student, to set long range goals for improvement (Frodesen 274).

The kinds of errors that students come into the writing center needing help with can be divided into two categories: global and local. Global errors, which can include things like word choice, relative clauses, word order, organization of paragraphs and so on, do affect reading comprehension. Local errors, like those with articles, prepositions, and pronoun agreement, usually do not affect reading comprehension. Local issues should be taken up last, after global concerns are addressed.

You've just sat down with a student, and they've put their paper in front of you. What do you do now? First, you should ask the student what their essay is about. This allows you to orient yourself to their essay and to look for that main point in the essay. You might also ask the student what problems she had with the essay.

Consultant: So, can you tell me what your paper is about?

Student: This paper is about earthquakes in Japan. I talk about evacuating drill in school.

Consultant: I am not sure what you mean. Are you talking about an evacuation drill where the students and teachers practice for an earthquake?

Student: Yes, I talk about evacu... evacuation, is that right?

Consultant: Yeah.

Student: Okay, it is about evacuation drill. Does it make sense to you?

Consultant: Yes, it does (Ritter 104).

After this groundwork is laid, you need to negotiate some response strategies with the student. For example, who will read the essay aloud? A lot of times, NNS are uncomfortable reading their essays aloud. Because NNS don't have a "natural ear" for the language, reading the essay aloud probably won't help them pick up on errors (Instead, reading the essay aloud becomes an exercise in pronunciation, which is not the main reason for the coming to the writing center). Next, choose a method of signaling that a portion of the student's essay needs to be revised. For example, if you are reading the student's paper aloud, you might suggest to the student that she listen for you to stress or pause over certain phrases or passages to signal that these places in the text are confusing. After reading (and, perhaps rereading) a confusing part of the essay, you can talk with the student about her intended meaning and attempt to get at a solution. If the students feels comfortable reading her paper out loud, you can work out with the student a way to signal a confusing phrase or passage. For example, you could repeat it to the student or point to the error in the text with your pencil eraser, or raise your hand (see examples of negotiation).

If it's possible, you'll probably want to read the essay quickly to yourself before anyone reads it out loud, so that you can get a sense of the error patterns in the essay. Keep in mind that when you work with an essay, you should address global concerns like rhetorical organization first, and local issues, like article use, last. That is, you need to create a hierarchy of things to be worked on.

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