Helping ESL/LINC Learners Write With

Ease©

By: Shaheen Meraj

LINC Home Study- Ontario

Summit College – Academic and Career Studies

Some real life ESL writing examples

A candidate‘s application: "This has reference to your advertisement calling for a 'typist and an accountant - Male or Female'. As I am both for the past several years and I can handleboth, I am applying for the post".

An application to the head master of a college: "As I am studying in this school I am suffering from headache. I request you to leave me today“

******************

A letter written forapplication of leave:"My wife is sufferingfrom sickness and as Iam her only husbandat home I may begranted leave".

A leave letter writtento administration dept of a company: "As my mother-in-law has expired and I am “responsible for it, please grant me 10days leave”.

The presentation focuses on

Understanding ESL/LINC writing in the present day scenario

Challenges and difficulties faced by adult ESL/LINC students in writing – causes-suggested solutions

Techniques/activities developed by presenter to make writing in English an enjoyable, stress- free and fulfilling experience for both learners and teachers

Presenter will share

Her classroom observations, experiences related to teaching ESL/LINC writing

Some important findings from analysis of ESL/LINC students’ writing samples

Rationale behind her choice of material and activity type

Writing in the present timeCompared to the past, in the present time we:Write more Write for a more diverse

audienceWrite for a greater range of

purposesAre involved in ,and faced with a

multitude of writing formats- formal and informal- manual and electronic

What is Good Writing?

Clear, simple and directunderstandable, convincingInteresting and captivating ideasInformativeOf suitable lengthThe right Word choice

What is Good Writing?

Smooth sentence flow Well- organized ; coherentGrammatically correctAppropriate writing conventionsPersonal touch from the writerSincere, compassionate , imaginativeBeautiful ,impressive and

memorable

Problems identified in ESL/LINC student writing

Related to:ContentOrganizationConstructionWriting conventions

Problems identified in ESL/LINC student writing

Insufficient contentIrrelevant main/supporting

detailsRepetitionA wild-goose chase- jumping

from one to another idea

Problems identified in ESL/LINC student writing (continued)

Run-on sentences, fragments, incomplete thought.

  Not able to use inflection- a major

problem Missing sentence boundaries , going on

and on, no punctuation, no transition

“My wife she is a very important part in my life because she show up in my life and change every thing and my son he is the amazing beautiful kid.”

  (More examples on handouts)

What makes writing difficult and challenging for adult ESL/LINC

learners

Reluctance and inhibitionExcessive concern about accuracy-

getting it grammatically correctFrustration- “I may not be able to get

desired results”Apprehension- “my writing may not come

up to the expectation of teacher and other audience”.

What makes writing difficult and challenging for adult ESL/LINC

learners (continued)

AnxietyBoredomTeacher’s attitude towards

studentsPressures on new comers-

immigrants and international students

Difference between students’ first and second language writing cultures and conventions

What makes writing difficult and challenging for adult ESL/LINC

learners (continued)Fear of exposure- “my writing

with its errors and flaws will be seen by better writers,” (peers, native speaker, people proficient in English etc.

Self –esteemUncertainty_ what to write what

not to write.; what is proper and what is improper.

What makes writing difficult and challenging for adult

ESL/LINC learners (continued)

Limited lexical resources making it difficult to express ideas fully and effectively.

Insufficient command over language structures

What makes writing difficult and challenging for adult

ESL/LINC learners (continued)

For some, over confidence about their writing abilities, which leads to less or no effort to give due attention to writing.

Mixing speaking and writing styles - Some students write the way they speak. Their writing is marked with features of spoken language- repetition, unfinished sentences, informal language, jumping from idea to idea

What makes writing difficult and challenging for adult

ESL/LINC learners (continued

Some students are not comfortable with technology and instead of being a help, it tends to be an obstacle in their language development as it claims their attention and effort which they would otherwise focus on language learning.

What makes writing difficult and challenging for adult

ESL/LINC learners (continued

Some students get carried away by the fun part of media and technology and do not pay serious attention to using these resources for development of language skills

Translating from L1

 

Suggested ways to help adult ESL/LINC learners write with

EASEMake writing classes more

humanistic, more friendly, more relaxed and more fun.

Use powerful stimuli to generate writing

Do not turn writing classes into ‘grammar –horror’, please !

Help students activate , and further build their back ground knowledge and gather ideas

Suggested ways to help adult ESL/LINC learners write with

EASE(continued)

Facilitate, don’t control student writing.

Respect and value student writingShow you are genuinely interested

in their writingUse topics students can relate toBring variety in writing tasks .

Suggested ways to help adult ESL/LINC learners write with

EASE(continued)

Provide opportunities to manipulate language structures by incorporating your target structures in the design of your writing activity

Keep feedback simple in the early phases of writing- encourage smooth, clear expression of ideas

Be prepared to devote more time and effort to this good teaching purpose

My Plan

Motivation by powerful stimuli â

Instructionâ

Facilitationâ

Construction

My Tools

Authentic Visuals:

• Art ; pictures; photographs

• Posters

• Post cards

My Tools (continued)

• Real objects

• Music

• Themes which are universal, but have distinguishable cultural features

Why these tools ?

1. Visual stimuli appeal not only to visual learners, they facilitate learning for audio and kinesthetic learners as well

2. Authentic materials ( texts, music, video, real objects, universal themes/topics )help in

understanding attitudes, values , thought, reflected in these stimuli.

3. Activate schemata ; help in gathering ideas to write

4. Raise cross-cultural awareness

Some examples of my activities

Isn’t this beautifully said?

If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing.

oBenjamin Franklin

Thank you

Thank you vey much for joining hands with me in trying to make writing easy for adult ESL/LINC learners, which, is really not easy.meraj.shaheen@gmail.com