Writing for Publication

Rationale for Adaptations to Writing for Publication for NESB Students

We all want to optimise learning outcomes for our students and although few studies have been carried out in New Zealand into key variables that explain the variance in student scores, we know from international research that our classroom practice is a key influence on these outcomes (Alton-Lee 2003).

The challenge for mainstream teachers is to address the needs of students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, many of whom are at the lower end of the literacy statistics.

NESB students arrive with varied educational and life experiences. They need explicit support at every stage of their learning and especially as they are coming to terms with academic language demands. This cannot be left to incidental, inductive or implicit processes. It is important to note that NESB students progress along a different language development pathway. When new learners of English are assessed in a mainstream context they may be able to complete tasks but their language may include the following characteristics:

* typical second language errors which cannot be 'taught out' until the learners        have progressed to certain levels (Pienemann and Mackey, 1993); these errors may include inaccuracies at the sentence level and weakness in cohesion;
         * lower levels of vocabulary knowledge;
         * imprecision in expression and understanding of cultural references. 

To illustrate how to support NESB students in the mainstream we have adapted this Year 11 unit from English Online, Writing for Publication, identifying effective teaching and learning principles [Hattie 2002 (pdf), Alton-Lee 2003 & Walqui] that apply to this unit specifically and describing practical strategies that implement these principles.

The activities modeled in these adaptations are designed to build on the students' background knowledge, help scaffold the learning process and focus on language forms and structures. The emphasis is on preparing students for writing.

Characteristics of effective teachers relevant to the unit include:	Strategies for the classroom relevant to the unit include:	

Planning

Setting and communicating appropriate, specific and challenging goals	

    * Find out what the students know.
    * Be explicit about the learning outcomes with the students.	

Preparing for Learning

Relating the learning to the students’ own life experiences

Structuring the learning situation step by step so that students can reach the learning goals	
*  Activate and build on prior knowledge. (Introduce topic through reading; students share their journey experiences).
    * Pre teach key vocabulary.	

Scaffolding Learning

Providing learning sequences that give students a series of tasks that reinforce new learning.
Enabling learning groupings to work as caring, inclusive and cohesive communities.
Providing multiple opportunities to extend students’ understanding of the topic through talk before writing.
Promoting metacognitive strategies and developing critical thinking.
Encouraging students to understand learning processes and develop independent strategies for learning.	
* Set up a supportive leaning environment – make the text structures explicit. (Text survey; read text.)

    * Pair, group and collaborative work.

    * Recycle the language orally. (Word clusters; Say it; Matching exercise.)

    * Provide opportunities for students to process text deeply. (3 level guide.)

    * Teacher modelling and joint text construction. (Annotated exemplars; planning charts; joint construction before independent writing; self-checking scales.)

Effective Feedback

Providing reinforcement and corrective feedback.

 

    * Check the students’ understandings regularly.	
	
Effective Feedback

Providing reinforcement and corrective feedback.	
* Check the students’ understandings regularly.