Publication Date
2-1-1998
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to report on our examination of books written by children who are ESL learners, and compare the books with criteria for meritorious literature (Norton, 1995), and to discuss the implications of the results relevant to process writing instruction with second language learners. The books examined were written by students in grades K through 5 in a rural elementary school. They had been in the United States for a short period of time. Their familiarization with process writing was due to its being a part of their daily curriculum. The school's writing program embraces those contexts purported to promote writing development, specifically, that feedback be focused primarily on content and secondarily on writing conventions and language form. The results of our inspection indicate an unexpected adherence to criteria for literary genres. Because each author's book was written in English and translated into his native language, there was a validation of the primary language as fundamental to achievement, and the links between languages and cultures were maintained. Also noteworthy, in subsequent written and oral communications by the children, a growing facility with the English language was observed. Implications of these findings would serve teachers of ESL students looking for ways to better prepare themselves for in structing a population of diverse learners. Research on second language acquisition.
Recommended Citation
Rudden, J. F., & Nedeff, A. R. (1998). ESL learners: Process writing and publishing good literature. Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts, 38 (3). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol38/iss3/3
