Although a number of studies examined the use of social networking sites (SNSs) in academic writing instruction, these studies mainly revolve around social media centered on microblogging features. Despite living in a visually dominated world, the potential of visual social media such as Instagram whereby the textual, the visual and the social can…

The construct of cognitive discourse functions (CDFs) has been proposed as a bridge between linguists and educationalists, linking 'subject specific cognitive learning goals with the linguistic representations they receive in classroom interaction' (Dalton-Puffer 2013. "A Construct of Cognitive Discourse Functions for Conceptualising…

The vast majority of EFL learners found reading and writing quite challenging learning activities to engage in. This has also been the case in our EFL class. As a result, many of them feel discouraged to read and to write. These barriers also led to poor achievement in these language skills. To deal with such an issue, EFL teachers need to design…

This paper focuses on written corrective feedback and its challenges for teachers working with adult learners in the English language classroom. The teachers introduced in this paper teach in dedicated language centres, specifically a private college specialising in journalism courses and a university English language centre. Both teachers teach…

This article describes a three-step pedagogy aimed at developing college ESL students' ability to assess and evaluate their own writing through intentional learner training. The three pedagogical steps are teacher modeling, guided peer assessment, and independent self-assessment. To illustrate, a set of scaffolded instructional procedures are…

This article reports results of a corpus-based evaluation of 14 syntactic complexity measures as objective indices of college-level English as a second language (ESL) writers' language development. I analyzed large-scale ESL writing data from the Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners (Wen, Wang, & Liang, 2005) using a computational system…

This article describes the writing of one third-grade English-language learner (ELL) to illustrate how generous reading can provide a bridge for ELLs when their writing is not yet ready for a more judgmental reading. It presents a formalized approach that builds upon students' linguistic strengths and traces their written words to sources in the…

Many English language learners (ELLs) require extra support to become successful writers. This book helps teachers understand the unique needs of ELLs and promote their achievement by adapting the effective instructional methods they already know. Engaging and accessible, the book features standards-based lesson planning ideas, examples of student…

Assessment for learning (AfL) is a relatively new concept in ESL/EFL writing. In AfL, learning is a goal in its own right, and assessment is the means to achieving the goal. Despite an emphasis on assessment the concept AfL appears to suggest, in implementing AfL teachers need to integrate teaching, learning and assessment rather than focus…

Presents techniques from Writing Across the Curriculum adapted to the foreign language classroom. Strategies for encouraging students to write more effectively in the foreign language are described. The strategies include assigning relevant topics, treating writing as a process, and responding to and evaluating student writing in a more…

This guide to Alberta's French 30 standardized test describes the testing program and administration, the test parts, and test scoring for both teachers and students anticipating taking the test. Dates and times of test administration and scoring dates in 1990 are charted. The two parts of the test are described in some detail, including their…

In a study of peer response activities in second-language writing, two questions were investigated: whether students give good advice to their peers and what differences exist between student and teacher comments. Examination of 30 papers from 3 writing classes suggests that teacher and peer responses serve important and complementary functions.…

Weaving together the latest knowledge and best practices for teaching children to read, this indispensable text and professional resource provides a complete guide to differentiated instruction for diverse learners. Uniquely integrative, the book places the needs of English language learners and students with disabilities front and center instead…

This guidebook gives educators an exciting new approach to improving language and writing skills for all students. Developed through a decade of work with elementary and middle school children, the Writing Lab Approach uses computer-supported activities to encourage student progress in each stage of the writing process, from organizing to editing.…

This book is addressed to those about to embark on the teaching of second language writing as well as to those already engaged in the field. Teachers are dedicated to postering growth in writing; researchers want to investigate the questions that shed the greatest light on the problem in the field. The concerns of both these groups are addressed…