Sample Essay On How To Improve English For Esl Learners

The Principal

Berkeley College
12 East 41 St., 14th Floor

New York 10017

Dear Sir
I hope you are doing well. My name is James Medlene, a research educator. I am writing to share my findings from my recent research on how to improve writing for ESL learners.
Thirdly, the use of computer-aided composition (WebCT) enhances writing skills. As an online platform, WebCT allowed the learners to practice peer response and as such, they could review their early drafts (Waleed, 2011). This gave the learners a chance to practice grammar as well as checking their essay organization. In addition, the learners are not only able to go online and explore different styles in writing on different topics, but also find that computers faster, efficient and convenient compared to ‘pen and paper'. This enhances their writing skills.
Lastly, research shows that positive perception enhances development of writing skills and reinforces grammatical structures, vocabulary, and idioms. Teachers should also note that first languages had a significant influence on the acquisition of the second language and should, for this reason, take into consideration the first language influence on L2. In addition, they should consider everything that might affect the learning abilities such as the culture of L1education.
I hope that the above findings will go a long way in helping your educators formulate educational materials and teaching strategies that will enhance the college’s ESL learners. Do not hesitate to contact me in case you need more information or assistance regarding this topic. Thank you.
Sincerely,

James Medlene

1050 Northgate St,

Riverside, CA 92507

Enclosed: detailed research findings.
Diane, D. R. (2002). Scaffolding Writing Skills for ESL Students in an Education Class at a Community College. The WAC journal, 79-89.
The writer is an Education Program faculty member and a fellow a CUNY Writing Fellow at Bronx Community College. The journal article is a qualitative research paper that explores the use BCC's WAC program that involves the use of scaffolding writing skills for ESL students in a small education class at the City University of New York. The general objective of the program was to improve student writing by encouraging the incorporation of more writing assignments into the classroom (Diane, 2002). Involving 98% of ESL students, the initiative was largely successful and involved scaffolding assignments such as low-stakes writing (Diane, 2002). Twenty-four out of the twenty-six learners in the educational class under study spoke Spanish as their first language though their relative articulacy in English varied profoundly (Diane, 2002).
The WAC plan involved the formulation of writing intensive courses in the disciplines and were administered by writing fellows and doctoral students in the college. The student was engaged in diverse scaffolding activities with positive outcomes. For instance, they were asked to write reflective journals about weekly sessions, respond in writing, to structured questions, or write freely about content covered earlier in the course (Diane, 2002). Through the use of scaffolding activities, students were able to write about higher order questions and would then even create a literacy lesson plan (Diane, 2002).
The use of several language skills in scaffolding activities further assisted the students. Overall, this initiative improved the ESL students’ writing skills and enhanced their comprehension of subject matter as reflected in their performances on midterm and final examinations. Students’ verbal responses on being asked to comment on the writing assignments were universally positive, showing that the program was effective (Diane, 2002).
Gadera, D. (2011). Integration of weblogs in developing language skills of ESL learners. International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 124-135.
Written by Dilani Gedera of the University of Waikato, New Zealand, this journal article studies, among other topics, the pedagogical potentials of using weblogs as a tool in developing the language skills of pre-university ESL students in Malaysia (Gadera, 2011). In addition, it explores the impact weblogging activities has on students' motivation to write in English. The article notes that students find writing in English a daunting task and for this reason, there is a need to to devise new ways of teaching and learning writing skills (Gadera, 2011). The article observes that Information Communication Technology and Computer-Mediated Communication goes a long way in teaching and learning writing skills (Gadera, 2011). This involves the use of weblogs, wikis, and online forums.
The study is a meta-analysis that explores different studies on the teaching and acquisition of writing skills for ESL learners. Traditional studies of writing regarded writing as a linear and fragmented procedure and were product-oriented (Gadera, 2011). However, .emphirical studies treat writing as a process where writers can make modifications to the original draft (Gadera, 2011). In this process, the study finds the use of blogs instrumental in helping ESL learners acquire writing skills. Different studies have fronted the use of technology in language learning for ESL classes, but pedagogical studies have shown weblog as an essential pedagogical tool in learning (Gadera, 2011). In weblog, learners have a personalized web page that they constantly update in the writing process, that is prewriting, drafting, feedback, revising, editing, and publishing (Gadera, 2011). Besides learners being able to monitor their own progress, the weblogs enables teachers to systematically monitor the learners’ writing skills and engage them actively (Gadera, 2011).
Waleed, A. (2011). A Qualitative Study of ESL College Students’Attitudes about Computer-Assisted Writing Classes. English Language Teaching, 57-63.
Authored by Waleed A. Ghandoura, this is a quantitative article whose objective is to examine the attitude of 13 ESL learners about a computer-aided class. It involved enrolling the learners in an introductory writing course and facilitating their acquisition of writing skills through computer-aided composition (WebCT). The study enlisted observations as well as interviews to generate students’ attitude towards how computers aided them in their acquisition of writing skills. As an online platform, WebCT allowed the learners to practice peer response and as such, they could review their early drafts (Waleed, 2011). This gave the learners a chance to practice grammar as well as checking their essay organization (Waleed, 2011). In addition, the learners were able to go online and explore different styles in writing on different topics.
The study also finds that computers were not only faster and easier, but were also efficient and convenient compared to ‘pen and paper' (Waleed, 2011). In addition, the various features of word processing made the learners drafts more organized and accurate (Waleed, 2011). The teacher can also give specialized attention to learners, give detailed responses to organized examples, a task not possible in class (Waleed, 2011). The study concludes that the use of WebCT in learning writing skills was positive as it generates the necessary attitude and excitement that accompanies the ease and convenience of using a computer as a learning tool. However, this research is limited as it enlisted only one researcher that denies an opportunity for comparison. In addition, the research wasn't carried in a systematic way.
Abdulwahed, S. (2010). Exploring Students’ Perceptions of ESL Writing. English Language Teaching, 73-80.
This is a mixed-methods research study, encompassing a combination of qualitative and quantitative procedures of data analysis using 64 female ESL learners. The study explores ESL perceptions to writing, and how those perceptions define their competence in writing skills. The study concluded that there was a positive perception towards development of writing skills, an essential component of learning English as a Second Language (Abdulwahed, 2010). According to the study, a positive perception reinforces grammatical structures, vocabulary and idioms (Abdulwahed, 2010). The study finds that learners’ writing skills can be enhanced if the interests of the learners are recognized, and making sure that they are exposed to situations that prompt them to produce authentic pieces of writings (Abdulwahed, 2010). The overall means in this research showed that learners possessed high perceptions of the relevance of writing skills in their future career and this helped them enhance their writing skill (Abdulwahed, 2010).
The study also established that first languages had a significant influence on the acquisition of the second language (Abdulwahed, 2010). As such, the study makes the suggestion that teachers and educators should take into consideration the first language influence on L2. In addition, when making decisions on writing programs, teachers and educators should consider everything that might affect the learning abilities such as the culture of L1education (Abdulwahed, 2010).

References

Abdulwahed, S. (2010). Exploring Students’ Perceptions of ESL Writing. English Language Teaching, 73-80.
Diane, D. R. (2002). Scaffolding Writing Skills for ESL Students in an Education Class at a Community College. The WAC journal, 79-89.
Gadera, D. (2011). Integration of weblogs in developing language skills of ESL learners. International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 124-135.
Waleed, A. (2011). A Qualitative Study of ESL College Students’Attitudes about Computer-Assisted Writing Classes. English Language Teaching, 57-63.