In my endeavours to deepen my understanding and focus on the ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ to teach writing to my English language learners, I came across these perspectives about teaching writing in both EFL and ESL classrooms. These perspectives came from classroom teachers, teachers’ trainers, researchers, and experts in the field of teaching writing to ESOL students or ELLs (English language learners). I feel it may be worthwhile sharing their perspectives at this point, and more importantly on how their perspectives help and equip me to understand and appreciate the fact that teaching writing to ELLs is no doubt challenging yet achievable.
Gilmore (2009) states that “Writing in the mother tongue is painful for many students, but when it comes to writing in the second language the students’ hardship and pain are worsened." I am sure this reference can be both applicable to the ELLs and the teachers of ELLs. I myself can identify with it as both a once upon a time ESOL student in an EFL context and now a teacher of writing of ELLs in an English speaking context. It was really hard, very tough, and sometimes painful to learn how to write in English as an ESOL student in an EFL classroom many years back. I started from basic English through to academic English and my successes took me to university. Now as a teacher of writing to ELLs in an English speaking classroom, it’s still awfully challenging but of a different nature. The challenge now focuses on how to teach writing to ELLs and to make sure they are successful. Being an ESOL student myself before somehow helps me understand and appreciate the challenges and hardship that my ELLs are going through.
Rhalmi Mohammed (2018) echoes a similar vein of thinking about the teaching of writing to learners of English as an additional language, “One of the headaches that the teachers of English in EFL and ESL classrooms face is how to teach writing. It is one of the skills that require from the students not only to be equipped with the necessary skills but also to be motivated. For most people writing is a painful process. It necessitates training and patience.” Again this perspective convinces me that teaching writing to ELLs is a great challenge - but it is a needed human activity which requires motivation, training, and patience.
Beare (2019) adds on by saying, “Writing competence in a foreign language tends to be one of the most difficult skills to acquire. This is true for English as well. The key to successful writing classes is that they are pragmatic in nature targeting the skills required or desired by students." Beare endorses the difficult nature of teaching writing skills in any language, yet at the same time points out a pathway for its success. The key there is to be pragmatic in its teaching and specific in the skills required and desired by certain learners. As a teacher to my ELLs, Beare’s viewpoint is comforting knowing that there’s still a pathway forward for success despite the difficult nature of teaching writing skills.
Croke (2018) raises another dimension to teaching of writing skills, “Of all the language skills that are taught in the ESL classroom, teaching writing skills is often seen as one of the least popular. Some teachers consider these lessons to be a bit boring, hard to evaluate and somewhat limited in what you can incorporate into them. However, this doesn’t have to be the case as teaching writing skills to your ESL students can actually be interesting, fun and productive.” One can understand that learning any new skill, including writing skill, is already difficult, but when it is boring and not popular, it is at a different level of intensity. The only remedy, as Croke suggests, is to make teaching of writing skills fun and productive. I feel that the ideas of fun and productive are ones I need to reckon with.
Bonkowski (2019) first refers to the importance of teaching academic language as well as academic writing in today’s English language classroom. It has become an important part of the curriculum. To that, I quite agree with it as an English language teacher in today’s classroom. However, he goes on to say, “Research shows that academic English is a necessity for English language learners at any level for achieving success both inside and outside the classroom. However, attaining language proficiency is a long process. It takes three to five years to become orally proficient in English, and four to seven years to become proficient in academic English.” To that, I also acknowledge that teaching writing to English language learners takes time, and therefore for me as a teacher I need patience and resilience.
After reading and learning about the perspectives of these experts, I feel well supported on the way I feel about the heaviness of teaching English writing skills to my ELLs. They make me realise that the questions I grapple with are common to teachers of ESL and EFL classrooms across the world. I somehow feel encouraged to be reminded that teaching writing is a needed human activity that needs motivation, training, and patience; it needs pragmatism and specific identification of skills required and desired by certain learners; it needs to be fun and productive; and above all it will definitely take time for English language learners to be proficient in their writing skills.
References:
Beare K. (2019): ‘Strategies for Teaching Writing’. https://www.thoughtco.com/strategies-for-teaching-writing-1209076
Bonkowski F: How to teach writing to ESOL students.
https://www.off2class.com/how-to-teach-writing-to-esl-students/
Crocke M. (2018): Great Ideas for Teaching Writing Skills in the ESL Classroom. https://www.teflcourse.net/blog/great-ideas-for-teaching-writing-skills-in-the-esl-classroom-ittt-tefl-blog/
Mohammed R. (2018): How to teach writing skills to ESL and EFL students. https://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/how-to-teach-writing/).
Crocke M. (2018): Great Ideas for Teaching Writing Skills in the ESL Classroom.
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