Dong, Yu Ren. “The Need to Understand ESL Students’ Native Language Writing Experiences.”
TETYC. (1999): 277-285. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. Dong investigates ESL students’ native literacy-learning experiences through written learning autobiographies of 26 first year college students from eight different countries. He proposes that teachers need to understand each student’s unique needs and experiences in relation to writing. Because students that are native speakers of languages other than English may have vastly different writing experiences, she suggests teachers ask their ESL students to explain how they learned to write in their native languages. By understanding these experiences, Dong suggests that a teacher will be better able to …show more content…
(2000): 1-40. Web. Nov. 27 2015. Fillmore and Snow argue that educators need a thorough understanding of the role of language in learning in order to teach literacy skills to both native-speakers of English and English Language Learners. They distinguish five functional teaching roles in which educators need to know more about language than most teacher education programs provide: teacher as communicator, teacher as educator, teacher as evaluator, teacher as educated human being, and teacher as agent of socialization. The authors suggest that despite its importance for learning, many teachers know much less about oral language development than they need to know. Teachers should understand the basic units of language that are critical to understanding academic language — from phonemes and morphemes to larger units of language at the level of sentence and discourse structure. Additionally, instructors need to be aware of principles of word formation to help students acquire vocabulary and understand how dialect and vernacular varieties of English affect language learning and literacy. Fillmore and Snow stress that teachers need to be aware of the forms and structures of academic English and the skills students need to interpret academic texts and engage in academic discourse. In order to teach reading and writing, teachers must realize the complex relationship between sounds and symbols in English and know the rules of grammar and syntax to support the students’ writing development and to provide effective feedback. Lastly, the authors emphasize that teachers need to understand how language structures and style in written texts affect a student’s comprehension. While the target audience for this position paper is teacher education programs at the university level, the work of Fillmore and Snow is relevant and generative for everyone concerned about language learning and literacy in schools. Fillmore
TETYC. (1999): 277-285. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. Dong investigates ESL students’ native literacy-learning experiences through written learning autobiographies of 26 first year college students from eight different countries. He proposes that teachers need to understand each student’s unique needs and experiences in relation to writing. Because students that are native speakers of languages other than English may have vastly different writing experiences, she suggests teachers ask their ESL students to explain how they learned to write in their native languages. By understanding these experiences, Dong suggests that a teacher will be better able to …show more content…
(2000): 1-40. Web. Nov. 27 2015. Fillmore and Snow argue that educators need a thorough understanding of the role of language in learning in order to teach literacy skills to both native-speakers of English and English Language Learners. They distinguish five functional teaching roles in which educators need to know more about language than most teacher education programs provide: teacher as communicator, teacher as educator, teacher as evaluator, teacher as educated human being, and teacher as agent of socialization. The authors suggest that despite its importance for learning, many teachers know much less about oral language development than they need to know. Teachers should understand the basic units of language that are critical to understanding academic language — from phonemes and morphemes to larger units of language at the level of sentence and discourse structure. Additionally, instructors need to be aware of principles of word formation to help students acquire vocabulary and understand how dialect and vernacular varieties of English affect language learning and literacy. Fillmore and Snow stress that teachers need to be aware of the forms and structures of academic English and the skills students need to interpret academic texts and engage in academic discourse. In order to teach reading and writing, teachers must realize the complex relationship between sounds and symbols in English and know the rules of grammar and syntax to support the students’ writing development and to provide effective feedback. Lastly, the authors emphasize that teachers need to understand how language structures and style in written texts affect a student’s comprehension. While the target audience for this position paper is teacher education programs at the university level, the work of Fillmore and Snow is relevant and generative for everyone concerned about language learning and literacy in schools. Fillmore