from “dealing with” to “learning with” multilingual writers

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From “Dealing With” to “Learning with”

Multilingual Writers

English Educators - Professional Development Seminar

Thursday, November 10, 2016

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Facilitator

Jenny Staben

English Instructor and Faculty Coordinator of CLC’s Writing Center

Ph.D. in Composition & TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of

Other Languages)

Sabbatical in Spring 2015 – Exploring strategies to support the

language/literacy needs of multilingual students across the

curriculum

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 847-543-2594

mailto:[email protected]

+Supporting Multilingual Students

Overview

Walking in the “Shoes” of a Multilingual Student

Diversity

Some Core Principles

BICS / CALP

Some Insights from SLA (second language acquisition) -

Interaction, Scaffolding and Noticing

Assessment & Error Treatment

Questions

+Writing Task

Write for four (4) minutes on the following topic:

______________________ (Your institution) should raise the pay rate for

teachers/instructors.

In writing your answer, please follow these new rules for writing:

Put the letter “a” at the end of all nouns used as subjects.

Put the letter “b” at the end of all nouns used as objects.

Put all prepositional phrases in front of the verb.

Add a comma between two verbs with the same subject.

Do NOT use the words money, pay, salary, or earn in your sentences

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Discussion

How did you feel as you wrote?

What strategies did you use to get the writing

done?

What was the most difficult for you in your “new”

language?

How was the process of writing this different from

how you feel and proceed when you write in

English?

+Thinking About Diversity

+Supporting Multilingual Students

Some Core Principles

Difference, not deficit – “resource” model

Don’t confuse developing language skills or lack of academic

experience with intelligence or potential.

Academic English is no one’s native language and academic

culture is no one’s native culture.

“All faculty can and should assist multilingual students in

improving their academic English proficiency and their

knowledge of ‘how to’ be a scholar” (Hafernik & Wiant 4).

Inclusive classroom strategies and practices help ALL students.

+Some Helpful Insights from Second

Language Acquisition

Everyday language and academic language are very different.

BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills)

CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) – three

dimensions (linguistic, cognitive, sociocultural/psychological)

Multilingual students do not become “native” English speakers. A few courses

will not perfect students’ English.

Myth of Transience (Mike Rose)

“Throughout their academic careers, multilingual students, like native English speakers, continue to

improve their academic language proficiency and academic skills. We, as faculty, can help them in this

process but can’t assume that students will become native English speakers” (Hafernik & Wiant 31).

+Promoting Second Language/Literacy

Acquisition

Interaction

Scaffolding

Noticing

+Supporting Multilingual Writers’ Language/Literacy

Needs - Interaction

Authentic Tasks

Whole to Part

Rhetorical Approach - Audience, Purpose, & Genre

Systemic Functional Linguistics - Text(s),

Discourse(s) & Grammar(s) / Vocabulary

+Some Ways I Support Multilingual Writers

through Scaffolding

Provide models of product*

Model the process*

Provide templates*

Create clear (written)criteria and expectations*

Break a complex/difficult assignment up into stages or parts*

Backward Design**These strategies help all students!

+Supporting Multilingual Writers’

Language/Literacy Needs - Noticing

Metacognitive Processes - Writing and

Reading

Encourage Self-Reflection and Self-

Assessment

Minimal Marking


Language/Literacy Needs

Higher Order Concerns/ Later Order

Concerns

One of the best ways to support multilingual writers’ literacy

needs is to read like a writing tutor.

“Don’t get hung up on granite counter tops.”

Danger of missing weaknesses

Danger of missing strengths

Sample – “Miguel” Essay


Literacy/Language Needs

Some Ideas that Help Me Balance Higher

Order Issues with Sentence Level Issues

Fluency / Clarity / Accuracy

Rule of Three

Sequencing Feedback

+Supporting Multilingual Writers

Language Needs

Two Helpful Quotes from L2 Writing Scholar, Dana Ferris

While we should not neglect attention to student accuracy and

clarity in writing, we also should not give it MORE attention than it

deserves. Accuracy concerns should at all times be carefully

balanced with development of students’ ideas and rhetorical

strategies as well as consideration of the (in)effectiveness of their

own writing processes (Ferris 2002, 47).

Rather than envisioning ourselves and our courses as the final stop,

we need to perceive ourselves as part of a process that takes years . .

. as links in a much longer chain (Ferris 2008, 92-93).


Language Needs (Accuracy)

Some important ideas that were emphasized in Ferris (2002):

Many current L2 writing scholars believe that error feedback

can help if it is correct, consistent, and well-constructed.

Error feedback seems to work best if it connects to linguistic

knowledge students already have and/or is supported by

classroom activities (mini-lessons, strategy training, etc.).

The overall goal is to help L2 writers develop self-editing

strategies.



What To Focus On OR Pick Your Battles

Selective Error Feedback (Patterns) over Comprehensive

Error Feedback

Awareness of what is a Style Difference and what is an Error

Global / Local Errors (“I was frosty when I got home.”)

Frequency of Errors

Errors related to a specific assignment type (past tense verb

use in a memoir)

Treatable (verb tense) / Untreatable (preposition use/idioms)



When to provide error feedback?

First Draft/Early Draft – general (if at all)

Middle/Late Drafts- focused error feedback

Final Draft - providing error feedback on a final

draft is not a good use of your time unless it’s not

really a “final, final” draft or you’re doing some sort

of diagnostic assessment.



Conserving Energy and Avoiding Burnout

Five great suggestions for doing the above from Dana Ferris:

1. Do not feel that you must give written error feedback on every

single paper that students write.

2. Assess what your students know, find out what they want, and

design your feedback strategies accordingly.

3. Set realistic goals for error feedback.

4. Make most of your feedback indirect, focused on error location

rather than identification, and verbal (not tied to codes or

symbols).

5. As time goes on, mark fewer errors and require students to take

increasing responsibility for their own progress.

(Ferris 2002, 74)



Some final advice from me (or think like a writing tutor)

Keep your focus on the writer

Distinguish between mistakes and errors (mistakes are problems the writer

can fix if she notices them while errors are problems the writer isn’t sure how

to fix).

Errors are clues as to what the writer knows and doesn’t know (often there is logic

there)

Your goals should be student learning and empowerment (not the creation of a

perfect text or error-free prose)

You, as a teacher, should not be working harder on the text than the student writer.

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Questions

What questions do you have for me?

What concerns/issues haven’t I addressed?

from “dealing with” to “learning with” multilingual writers

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