Responding to ESL Student Writing
by Rachel Dodge, WAC Fellow
- When responding to an ESL
(English as a Second Language) student's writing, or any student for
that matter, strive to make positive comments, either verbally or in
writing. For example, remark on a couple of good ideas the student
has presented, point to sections of the essay that are particularly
strong, or compliment the overall organization of the paper.
- Next, focus on the content
of the paper, giving constructive criticism regarding the clarity with
which ideas are presented, the organization of main ideas, and the
effectiveness of the student's argument.
- Finally, look closely at the sentence level errors, such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling, and choose a few common errors the student has made throughout the paper. Make notes in the margins about these errors and focus on helping the student take note of mistakes that are consistently being made. This strategy helps students (and teachers) sift through what might otherwise appear to be an overwhelming amount of errors.
The following excerpt (Fig. 1) from "Responding to Writing," by CSU Sacramento Professor Dana Ferris, provides a summary of research findings for the past two decades in the area of teacher response to L2 (second language) writing:
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1. Feedback is most effective when it is delivered at intermediate stages of the writing process. 2. Teachers should provide feedback on all aspects of student texts, including content, rhetorical structure, grammar, and mechanics. 3. Teacher feedback should be clear and concrete to assist students with revision. At the same time, teachers need to be careful not to appropriate (take over) student texts. 4. Teacher feedback must take individual and contextual variables into account. 5. ESL writers attend to teacher feedback and attempt to utilize it in their revisions. 6. Teacher-student writing conferences may be more complex with L2 (second language) writers. 7. There is a great deal of variation in what students talk about during peer feedback and how they interact with one another – which may be related to how the teacher models feedback and structures peer response sessions. 8. Research evidence is conflicting about the degree to which students utilize peer feedback in their revisions. 9. Students appear to enjoy peer feedback and find it helpful.
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Fig.1. Response to student writing: Generalization from previous research; Ferris, Dana. "Responding to Writing." Exploring the Dynamics of Second Language Writing. Ed. Barbara Kroll. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2003. 122.