While teaching writing is my passion, I've acknowledged in prior blogs that writing can be difficult to teach. Writing must be explicitly taught and strategically practiced, as it is essential for communication in our personal lives, academic lives, and professional lives.
Teaching writing to English learners can be especially challenging, but it can also be rewarding for teachers and students. I receive a lot of questions about how to teach writing to English learners. In this blog post, I will share some effective strategies for teaching writing to English learners.
#1 Start with the Basics
When teaching writing to English learners, it is important to start with the basics. This means teaching students how to form words, then sentences, then paragraphs, and then compose multi-paragraph essays. Students need to learn and understand how to structure their writing. They also need to learn and understand how to apply grammar and punctuation correctly. Using examples and writing exemplars can help students understand the basics of writing in English.
#2 Use Models and Examples
Another effective strategy for teaching English learners to write, is to use models and examples. Provide students with well-written sentences, paragraphs, and essays. Teach and model how to analyze writing structure, vocabulary, and grammar. Allow students opportunities to practice this skill with support and guidance. For English learners, I would caution the use of Daily Oral Language type tasks before they understand the basics. For these types of tasks, students are often asked to find what's incorrect and/or missing. They need to know what is correct before they can find what is incorrect. Teaching with correct models and examples first, can support them when they are asked to find what is incorrect. Providing students will models and examples can support their understanding of how to write effectively.
#3 Encourage Brainstorming and Outlining
Brainstorming and outlining are essential steps in the prewriting stage of the writing process. After introducing students to mentor texts, engage students in discussions about what they will write. Allow students to brainstorm independently, with the whole group, and with partners. Brainstorming can come in the form of pictures and/or words. After providing ample time and opportunities for brainstorming, teach students how to outline and organize their writing. If you use a graphic organizer to teach outlining, take the time to teach the elements of the organizer and how to fill it out. English learners may benefit from sentence starters in outlines. Brainstorming alleviates the stress of what to write, while outlining supports students in organizing their thoughts while staying on topic.
#4 Provide Feedback
Feedback can support the writing process, as it can help students stay focused on what to write next. Systematic and explicit feedback supports students as they improve their writing skills. Specific feedback tells the student what he/she is doing well, includes one skill the student can work on next, and one strategy that supports how to implement the skill into the writing piece.
#5 Use Tech Tools
When used strategically and purposefully, technology can be valuable for English learners as they learn to write. Tech tools like Google Translate and TalkingPoints support students at the preproduction stage of language acquisition. Text to speech, Read&Write for Chrome, and Quizlet support students at the early production and speech emergence stages of language acquisition. Tools like Quizzez, Kahoot, and e-books support students at the speech emergence and intermediate fluency stages of language acquisition. Google Docs and Microsoft Word, which can be used in conjunction with any previously mentioned tools, supports students as they learn to organize their writing and make corrections.
#6 Writing for a Variety of Purposes
There are different skills required to understand different genres of texts. It's important for English learners to be taught how to read texts in all genres - informative, narrative nonfiction, fictional narrative, poetry, personal narrative, etc. It is also important for students to learn how to write in different genres, for a variety of purposes and tasks. English learners need to be taught explicitly how to write essays, reports, emails, stories, poetry, and more. Practicing writing in different genres helps students become more comfortable with using English in a variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes.
#7 Peer Review
Students should be taught how to review the writing of others. This requires students to learn both how to give feedback and how to receive feedback. Depending on the stages of your English learners, they may need scaffolds to support the peer review process. They may need 1 or 2 things to focus on at one time. For example, students may focus on adding details (with examples), or adding transitions (with examples) for one peer review session. Implementing a full rubric throughout the writing process for peer review will most likely be overwhelming. Be mindful of how you pair students up for peer review. We do not want our English learners to be ridiculed or discouraged by their efforts.
Effective Strategies and Patience
Effective strategies will work when implemented by a knowledgeable teacher. These strategies can support developing confident and competent writers, but first you need to know your students. Learn their names, how to say their names, where they are from, what their native language is, how many languages they speak/read/write, what they like, what they don't like, how they feel about school, what they do outside of school, who they live with, what they love in life, and who they love in life. Knowing your English learners and developing relationships with them will help them become more confident and fluent in speaking and writing in English. Look at their language assessments and learn where their academic strengths lie. Support their strengths to develop their language skills. English language learners, like any of your native English speakers, can learn to write. They deserve the opportunity to have their voices heard and their stories told.
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