Reflections on Teaching Writing

​As an English Language Arts teacher, writing tutor and ESL instructor, I have taught writing to a variety of students in a variety of contexts: in public and private schools; in Lithuania, Honduras, Costa Rica, Argentina, and the United States; for test preparation, workplace communication, and high school and college credit. I have some firm ideas about what makes for effective writing instruction: I am a firm believer in teaching the writing process, conducting student/teacher writing conferences,and allowing for revision opportunities.  I think it’s important to provide realistic contexts for writing assignments and to offerforums for students to share and publish their writing.  I tell my students that good writers must be avid readers. While mypracticum experience this semester has not changed thesebeliefs, it has broadened my perspective of writing instruction toaccommodate for the needs of pre-literate, adult learners.

​What I have experienced this semester is writing instruction on its most basic level— teaching students how to correctly hold a pencil, write within the lines, and form the letters of the alphabet.  I don’t think that this can be appropriately termedcomposition; but for this group of adult refugees, it was where we needed to start.  In many ways, I felt completely unprepared to meet the needs of these students. I had never been trained to teach reading or penmanship.  Should I take the phonics or whole language approach? (And what did those terms reallymean anyway?  I had never really needed to know them as a high school teacher.) Perhaps even more importantly, to what extent should I focus on teaching literacy when such basic needs for communication were at stake?  

I eventually concluded that I would focus first on listening and speaking skills and introduce literacy instruction gradually through the topics of personal information and jobs. The students would needs to be able to fill out forms and applications within their first few weeks in the United States, and I had to prepare them to recognize key vocabulary and write their names, addresses, birthdates, etc. So this is where I began, with the alphabet, and from there we worked our way up to words and short sentences.

​Many adult refugees find themselves in a difficult situation: short on formal educational experiences but long on needs and expectations. Despite recent traumatic experiences and the fact that many of them have never been to school, they are expected to acquire and maintain a job, which will allow them to be self-sufficient within six months of arrival in the United States. When a first grade student learns how to write his name and read a simple picture book, we applaud his efforts!  We don’t expect him to write an essay or fill out an application.  When an adult learns how to write her name, we have a tendency to questionwhy the letters look so crooked and wonder how soon she will be able to write a professional email. What I have seen my students accomplish in a span of a few months is amazing; however, the term writing process has taken on new meaning. I see that writing certainly is a process for all students—and not just the steps from pre-writing to publication.  Writing instruction has to expand to meet the needs of all students, of all ages, of all levels of literacy whether this means starting with how to hold a pencil or how to construct a thesis statement.