This article revisits the role of cognitive individual differences in creating synergies between second language (L2) writing and second language acquisition research that were proposed by Kormos (2012). It takes stock of the advances in research findings, in the past decade, on the role of working memory and language learning aptitude in L2…

The role of grammar instruction within second-language writing instruction has been a subject of debate for several decades. Researchers have debated the necessity of grammar instruction, different methodologies of grammar instruction, and grammar instruction's effectiveness for second-language writing development. Despite research indicating the…

Strict outcome-bound approaches and text-books-based instructional practices, prevalent in the pedagogy of most of the colleges and universities in English as an International Language (EIL) contexts, involve language activities, tasks, and tests that predominantly require one right answer or response. Pedagogical practices and related quality…

Critical-thinking skills help to prepare adult education students for a successful transition to college degree programs and for job advancement. Yet fostering critical thinking poses a challenge to ESL instructors. Brookfield (2012) provides a way forward for adult educators when he explains that the crux of critical thinking is to discover one's…

This article is an introduction to two other articles in this issue, Catherine Maxwell's "Teaching 19th-century aesthetic prose" and Kirsteen Anderson's "The whole learner: the role of imagination in developing disciplinary learning". It highlights the significance of the courses described in Maxwell's and Anderson's accounts…

This article discusses how the ESL program at an ethnically/linguistically diverse community college (between San Diego and the Mexican border) moved from a general, grammar-based ESL curriculum to a content-based instruction (CBI) curriculum. The move was designed to better prepare 1st- and 2nd-generation immigrant students for freshman…

This article presents an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) task developed for teaching aeronautical engineering students. The task Design-Build-Write rests on the assumption that engineering students are skilled at mathematical reasoning, problem solving, drawing and constructing. In Gardner's 1983 Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory, these…

While practicing freehand writing activities in an EFL class, some learners feel uncomfortable because they cannot simplify the subject matter or organize a good beginning. In elementary classes, if the learners are studying something that is related to the in-class task, their work becomes easier. Other than modeling the activity to the learners,…

One of the author's main goals as a teacher is to impart the skills necessary for students to be successful in science, and that means teaching them how to think and write like scientists. At times, though, it seemed as though the author had exhausted all avenues without ever reaching this goal. At the beginning of each year, she starts her…

Organizing and designing Learning Center activities requires planning so that students are engaged in meaningful learning tasks and the tasks are differentiated for varied learning levels. In this article, suggestions for designing and managing Learning Centers, including a Center for small group instruction, are described. Finally, ideas for…

In order to study two aspects of the composing process, goal-setting and risk-taking, English and reading graduate students were given a set of readings on the topic of introspection and asked to write weekly papers in response. The papers were summaries, reaction statements, synthesis essays, and position papers, and students kept ongoing…

Argues that understanding assignments is the first step toward successful college writing. Urges instructors to support students by helping them to decode assignments. Breaks down instructions into individual tasks including (1) writing an essay, (2) examining an issue, (3) reviewing articles and books, and (4) focusing on some texts. Defines each…

An approach to writing in a college-level English as a second language (ESL) course is based on recent emphasis in research on the processes involved and strategies used in the various areas of human endeavor. Recent research in writing has indicated that effective and unfrustrated writers carry out the writing task in ways that are very different…