Anthology Section 13

Overall, while reading through Anthology Section 13, I constructed a general idea of what the writing process is for teachers and students. I was able to relate with many of the writing issues as both a student and teacher. For me, it was interesting to read that there was not too much difference between ESL writing and ‘mainstream’ student writing. Teachers, in general, seem to have the same role, to model the writing process at every stage and to teach specific writing strategies. It seems that ‘mainstream’ writers and ESL writers go through some of the same writer development such as planning, drafting, responding, revising, editing, evaluating, and post writing. What both teachers and students alike seem to face is the motivating factors to get each done, and done well.

However, I think these chapters lacked a little on what ESL writers bring to the classroom, despite all the similarities that have with ESL writers. (This may have been mentioned in the article but for some reason I can’t find Ferris in the Digital Reserve!) One of the most interesting aspects of ESL writing for me is the actual writing culture they bring to the classroom. From experience, (my cousin is a sports writer in the UK and we have many pieces of her work) I know that published and successful writers from Britain, write so incredibly different than writers do here in the states. We also experienced this in our class, when one of the articles we read was written in a different format than we are used to- the author was from a different English speaking country- and it received a lot of criticism during our class. It’s not only the manner in which the author of any piece of works writes, but also the format, the topic matter, the procedures to find inspiration, and much more. I almost wonder if I could ever truly understand where a diverse community of learners has gotten their ideas and expressed them on paper? What sort of things will inspire someone who is so different than me? How can I motivate and ultimately making meaningful lessons for students whose background in writing is something so different? I start to consider that a student with no writing background might be easier to teach and understand, like a blank slate, whether it’s a new language or not.

In general, my mind was spinning (literally because I have the worst headache ever, take your vitamin C J) while reading this article because of the connections I made between an ESL writers challenges, thought expression, and how those aspect link with almost every other part of their daily life struggling to become English proficient.