Supporting International Students Through The First-Year Seminar On English Writing
The writing of international students, mostly but not exclusively - English language learners (usually labeled L3 students by experts), can be an important source of stress for teachers. Stress about teaching English as a foreign language (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) has been documented as a common cause of classroom problems and frustration. A common theme in the complaints of ESL teachers is the "lexical stuffing" that goes on seemingly innocently by many of their students, who may not understand English language concepts.
The teaching of English as a foreign language can be a challenge because, in practice, it is rarely the teacher who initiates contact between students and native speakers of the language. In most schools, there is a limited focus on the spoken language, especially among ESL students who often speak more than one language. Because these learners often lack a connection to the spoken word, English is usually viewed as a second language. There are some exceptions, such as the United States, where the majority of college and university students are L3 students. But, for the most part, English writing is not a high priority in the classroom.
Some teachers have learned to adapt by supplementing their teaching with reading materials designed for international students. The most popular books for ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching are those written in German, French, Russian, and Spanish. Some high school teachers have taken reading texts, such as Harry Potter, and assigned them to students in order to provide practice for later lessons. Other teachers have turned to works by authors such as Maya Angelou, read aloud by native speakers. And, of course, there are those who have chosen to use examples of everyday language--oral stories, conversation starters, even jokes--to supplement their teaching of English as a Second Language.
在大多数情况下，任何英语论文 论文代写 作中心的学生都想成为“发自内心”的声音的作家。 他们想要认同教科书上描述的人和地方。 他们还希望使用他们每天看到和听到的词，并在情感上与它们联系起来。 这就是为什么在学生制定身份形成策略时，通过他们的个人和团队发展过程全力支持学生是很重要的。
When teachers take time to consider these aspects of the students' writing, they can make their classrooms a rich environment that engages students in meaningful ways. It is critical that teachers take steps to ensure the quality of this first-hand experience. Teachers can start by making sure that there is adequate space in the classroom for the students to interact and form relationships with their teachers and fellow students. In large classrooms, individual teaching stations have been used to great success to encourage interaction within a group of students. These teaching stations can be used to encourage group discussions and to further the students' identification with their teachers.
Teachers can also take steps to ensure that they fully support students when they engage in writing projects outside of the classroom. Teachers often provide the students with access to specialized software that will help them to write and to research. Without the availability of this
software, however, it has been common for teachers to provide materials related to books or magazines within the class to students on a weekly basis. While this may seem counterproductive to encouraging international students to focus on writing skills, these are effective methods of building language proficiency. After all, the very foundation of writing is associated with reading and comprehension of written content. By taking steps to support students in creating and utilizing quality texts related to the English language, teachers can make their students understand the importance of the written word and its ability to facilitate communication.
Teachers can also take steps to ensure that they give students meaningful feedback on their writing. In a majority of English teaching environments, there is no opportunity to revise or to challenge students on their writing. Instructors instead provide canned written feedback that lack substance or that fail to actually address the student's concerns. As a result, students face difficulties understanding why they scored poorly on a particular assignment or why they did not receive high grades on an essay or book because they received little or no feedback on their writing. Instructors should encourage their students to provide them with honest, thoughtful written feedback that helps them to evaluate their academic performances and also to determine whether they need to make any changes to their teaching practices.
Finally, it is important for teachers to realize that many international students seek the assistance of a writing tutor. With this in mind, many organizations that work with ESL students make use of writing tutors or writing assistants during the first-year seminars to help students build vocabulary, develop writing styles and to learn English. These professionals can provide students with the assistance they need to succeed in their courses. The development of language skills can only occur, however, if students receive genuine feedback and constructive criticism as well as opportunities to apply what they have learned in the course.
