Invited lecture for Salem State University's Writing Intensive Curriculum Program.

1. Responding to Errors in ESL Writing
WIC Brown Bag Lunch, February 24, 2014
Melanie Gonzalez, English/LCLD Department, mgonzalez@salemstate.edu
Who are our ESL college writers?
Eye learners
 International studentswhoare highlyliterate
intheirL1
 Have had some L2 learningexperiencesin
home countries
 AcquiredL2 throughtheir“eyes” – book
study,grammar focus,etc.
 Knowgrammatical terms,meta-cognitive
knowledge of language
Ear learners
 Early- or late-arrivingresidentimmigrants;
Generation1.5 studentswhose L1literacy has
beeninterruptedorneverdeveloped
 AcquiredL2 throughtheir“ears”– what
“soundsright”, interactionswithnative
speakers
(Reid,2000; 2006)
What are the differences between L1 and L2 writing?
In the L1, writerscreate ideasandthenfindthe wordstoexpressthem;the oppositeoccurswhencomposingin
the L2
Similarities:processof writing,bothhave structure,brainstorming,editing
Differences:lessplanning,smallerlexicon,backgroundknowledge,organizationalpatterns
Researchhasshownthat literacyskillshave ahightransferfromL1 to L2 (Cummins,1979)
Positive transfer:reading+writingskillslearnedinthe L1 translate well tothe L2
Negative transfer:reading+writingskillslearnedinL1oppose/differfromthe L2
Global errors
Content/ideas/style
Rhetorical structure
Sentencestructure
Word choice*
Local errors
Verb tense
Noun endings(plural/singular)
Spelling*
Punctuation
Options for providing feedback on ESL writing differences
 Selectivevs.comprehensive
 Directvs. indirect
 Explicitvs.implicit
Best practices for working with ESL writers in the WICclassroom
 Provide explicit,clearwrittenassignmentsandinstructions (provide examplesif possible)
 Selectivefeedbackearlyinwritingprocess;comprehensivefeedbackonfinal drafts(for student’s future
reference)
 Reduce amountof teacherfeedbackastermprogresses;require more studentinvolvement
 Use peer- andself-editingworkshopsinclasstobuildstudentautonomy
 Combine direct/indirectfeedback(e.g.,direct/explicitfeedbackforglobal errors,indirect/implicitfeedback
for local errorsstudentsshouldbe able tocorrect)

2. The following essay is the first draft of an essay composed by an international student in their
sophomore year. The student’s L1 is Mandarin and has studied English in China for almost 10 years.
Read the essay and discuss some options for providing feedback with a colleague.
Technology can make life easier and happier
With the development of science,education and technology, individuals nowadays become more
irrational and they desire to find out the disadvantages of one thing, so as to technology products. Would not it be
better not to know the negative effects of one thing and just know how it would benefit us? As we all know, most
of the technology products might be used to make our life easier and delightful. In my perspective, the advantages
of technology should outweigh the disadvantages. In particular, most of the technology products have positive
effects on my daily life because it offers many helps in my daily life such as study, cooking, and personal care
while also gives me more options of entertainment and relax.
Technology provides such a great many of advantages that I am able to lead a convenient and easy life.
Nearly 90 percent of young adults from across the world agreed technological innovations help make life easier
(Suciu, 2013). I have microwave, oven, shaver,hairs clipper, hairs drier and portable power in my life and they
was like a part of my body that they have their roles to function my life. For instance, I would use microwave and
oven at lease an hour a day to cook by myself. Are there any disadvantages of it? Not many. This technology
product, on the contrary, makes my life easier and I do not have to bake the stuff on the fire. And I have shaver
nowadays instead of razor with blade. Moreover, I am able go to sleep immediately after shower because I have a
hairs drier and I do not have to wait for the hair to dry naturally. As for the hairs clipper, I am capable of cutting
the hairs personally without going to the salon. What I am trying to say is that technology, to some degree,
changed our life style into a convenience one and there is no denying the fact that its advantages outweigh the
disadvantages.
As for the disadvantages of technology, I suppose it was abruptly create by those negative people. It is
obvious that technological advancement has failed at its mission of making everybody's life easier,as many
people are reacting negatively to it (Beliak, 2013). This kind of people would say computer or phone game made
people addicted and became lack of social connection. They might say telescreen is harmful to our eyesight and
In-ear headphone is not benefit for our audition. But how many disadvantages they could find? The fact is that
most of the technology product is beneficial and the over-concerned of personal health and life quality made
people think more of the disadvantages. As human begins, we have no idea how long can we live in this world
and would not it be better to live happily and optimistic? If so, we should not always think of those disadvantages
but care more about how the technology can make us happy and lead a better life. And remember that those
disadvantages are not a big deal which compare to the advantages of technology, was really a tiny part.
In conclusion, technologies were used to improve the quality of our life and make it easier and happier for
us. However, each coin has two sides and technologies have no exception. Therefore,what we should do is to
know how to use it in a proper way so as to gain more knowledge and lead a cheerful and healthy life.
Issues:
Options for providing feedback:

3. The following essay is the first draft of an essay composed by an early-arriving resident of the U.S. The
student’s L1 is Spanish and has studied English in some form since starting 6th grade in the U.S. Read
the essay and discuss some options for providing feedback with a colleague.
Technology Drives the World
Technology is a word that has multiple implications and touches at the same time. When we talk about
technology that means we are talking about everything we use regular starting with our cellphones and ends with
laptops. Technology has entered our lives without permission if we look over our lives we can notice how much.
Hence, like me today I woke up on my phone alarm raining loudly, to be honest without that alarm I
would not weak up. after that I start checking my Email and what is new, so I found a message from my boss
telling me I have extra work today so I went to work I start working using calculators, computers witch safes
time and make my work tranquil. When I came back home I started playing video games on my smart TV,
during my game I was listening music on my digital speakers after a long day I was starving so I opened the
fridge and microwaved my food honestly I love it. And because I am indolent student I just remembered that I
have an assignment to wright so I went to my canvas to make sure about my homework’s and what I have to do
which it was so supportive for me.
When I am using technology as a device or a backing for communicating with others, textbook, students
are actively making option about how to create,obtain, operate, or display information. “Technology use allows
many more students to be actively thinking about information, making choices, and effecting skills than is classic
in teacher-led lessons, when technology is used as a tool to support students in performing authentic tasks, the
students are in the position of defining their goals, making decisions, and assessing their progress” (Ganguly,
2013).
For me as an computer scientist all my work depending on all deferent kinds of technology having all
these programs gave us unlimited opportunities to apply our imagination about designing and how we can make
it, the technology advanced in this generation in a big way. It helps us a lot, instead of that now we can make
ether a phone calls or a video calls where ever and any time we want. Communication recently start to be essayer
we can reach our families and friends more, in other words we cannot manage our lives without using technology.
“The advancement in technology is even in everyday medicine. Because of technology we can more accurately
diagnose and treat certain forms of cancer and more easily narrow down diseases while improving a person’s
health with tailored forms of drugs and treatments” (McCoy,2010).
After all that I do agree that technology has some bad effects in our social live. However,everything
comes with a price if we over use it, but if people use internet in a conservative way there will be no bad effects
for people to worry about, any ways in my opinion we have not seen anything yet from technology and there is a
lot more to come this is just the beginning, and what we see now from technology is only a little portion of what
is coming next in this world.
Issues:
Options for providing feedback: