Table of Contents
Foreword Thomas Newkirk xi
Preface: Breaking the Ice xiii
1 Who Are English Language Learners (ELLs)? Understanding Labels and Moving Beyond Them 1
Starting Points 1
Why This Book? ELLs in the English Language Arts Classroom 2
Who are ELL Students? A Range of Stories and Circumstances 4
Unpacking the Labels: Learning More About Our Students 6
Complicating Labels and Issues of Adolescent Identity 10
Meet the Students 11
Additional Resources 13
Note 13
Common Terms and Acronyms 14
2 Second Language Writing 16
Why Writing Matters 16
The Challenge of Writing in a Second Language 17
BICS, CALPS, and Academic English 19
"The Knowns" 21
Contemporary Research on L2 Writers in Secondary Schools 24
The Study of Contrastive Rhetoric 26
Conclusion 29
Additional Resources 30
Meet Ken-zhi 32
Meet Therese 34
3 Stumbling Blocks-What We See: Identity, Confidence, and Writing Practice 36
What We See: Erasers and Insecurities 37
What We Miss: Beneath the Eraser 38
Therese: Losing Her Voice in English Writing 40
Conquering Students' Waves of Doubt 46
Conclusion 50
Additional Resources 51
Meet Miguel 52
4 Overcoming the Myth of Sisyphus 54
The Writing Process 54
Miguel and the Four-step Writing Process 55
Miguel and Sisyphus: L2 Writing as a Rock 61
Helping Writers Move Beyond the Sisyphus Moment 61
Revisiting Revision: Opportunities to Teach ELLs to Engage as Writers 64
Conclusion 69
Additional Resources 70
Meet Paul 71
Meet Wisdom 73
Meet Vildana 76
5 Survival, Writing, and Cycles of Inopportunity 78
Survival Genres 80
At Odds: Concerns About Over-Scaffolding and Lowering Writing Expectations 82
"I Used to Be an Honors Student" 83
Cycles of Inopportunity 85
From High School to College: More Ramifications 86
What are Advanced and High-Status Genres? 87
Moving Beyond Survival: Some Ideas 90
Conclusion 92
Additional Resources 92
6 Identifying the Strengths and Resources of ELL Writers 93
A Multicultural View in the ELA Classroom 93
Identifying the Rhetorical and Literacy Strengths of ELL Writers 95
Learning from Wisdom 97
Learning from Ken-zhi 101
Learning from Therese 106
Bringing ELL Writers' Competencies into the Classroom 110
Conclusion 113
Additional Resources 113
7 Specific Teaching Strategies for Working with ELL Writers 114
Toward an Inclusive Writing Classroom: Three Important Qualities 114
Designing Inclusive Writing Assignments 116
Learning Objectives for Rhetorically Savvy Writing Instruction 117
Teaching Writing Explicitly: Functional and Sequenced Approaches 123
Conclusion 133
Additional Resources 133
8 Responding to ELL Writers and Their Texts: Issues of Response, Error Correction, and Grading 135
Voices From the Classroom 136
Distinguishing Between Teacher Response, Error Correction, and Evaluation 137
Establishing Approaches to Teacher Response 139
So What Do We Do About Error Correction? 143
Summarizing Suggestions for Response and Correction 144
ELL Writers and Peer Response 146
Evaluating ELL Writers and Their Texts 149
Additional Resources 156
9 Conclusion: Looking Beyond the ELA Classroom 158
School-wide Programs for Students and Faculty 159
Transforming Extracurricular Activities and Initiatives 161
The Impact of These Initiatives: Why It Matters 163
Final Thoughts 163
Additional Resources 164
Appendix A Activity-Play, Write, Revise 165
Appendix B Activity-Who Are My Readers? 169
Appendix C Activity-Mapping Our Literacies and Resources 171
Appendix D Sample Genre Tags for Genre Awareness Activity 173
Appendix E Building Rhetorical Fingerholds Into Our Assignments: Sample Questions 175
Appendix F A Discussion of L2 Writing, Assessment, and Computer Scoring 177
References 179
Index 189
About the Author 199
