In these instructional notes, I share practical strategies for using ESL students’ first language as a resource for English language and literacy acquisition. These strategies emerged from a bilingual writing program that linked ESL and Spanish writing instruction at Bronx Community College (CUNY). After discussing how I was able to circumvent the monolingual orientations of my institution and set up this program as a learning community cluster, I illustrate ways in which translanguaging can help ESL students take ownership of English for academic purposes.

This article shares findings from a semester-long study about the use of literacy narratives to increase ESL students’ understanding of reading and writing relationships within the developmental writing classroom.

This article uses quantitative and qualitative means to assess the impact of an Accelerated Learning Program on the performance and satisfaction of students designated ESL and developmental at a large, urban community college.

In this essay, two poets who have taught language learners in the United States and abroad argue for the use of personal writing, preferably poetry from students’ home cultures, as a bridge to writing in academic genres.

The authors argue for a critically reflective model of service-learning by detailing the features of a project in which an ESL reading and developmental writing class interviewed Holocaust survivors for the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives.

What English Language Teachers Need to Know, Vol. 1: Understanding Learning; Vol. 2: Facilitating Learning, by Denise E. Murray and MaryAnn Christison,Reviewed by Mary Lynn Navarro, Nonnative Speaker English Teachers: Research, Pedagogy, and Professional Growth, by George Braine, Reviewed by Monika Ekiert, In the Heart of Another: Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories, by Susan Philips, Reviewed by Frances Bracken Mejia

This article describes the design and implementation of a cross-cultural composition coursewhich was designed to provide opportunities for ESL students and native English-speaking students to learn about cross-cultural literacy practices from each other in a first-year writing context at a community college in the Southwest.

A program in which prisoners teach ESL classes, supported by volunteer teacher-trainers, is a learning community with immense and sometimes unforeseen value.

This hands-on article advocates teaching form to ESL students through the use of contrastive rhetoric, demonstrates how students apply L1 and L2 forms, and offers suggestions for the classroom.

This article chronicles an English for Academic Purposes curriculum development experience of a grant-funded project to create an Accelerated Content-Based English curriculum for intermediate- and advanced-level English Language Learners.

The guest editors introduce the issue.

This essay reflects on how one writing teacher incorporates photography in her practice to engage students of different backgrounds and experiences.

This essay describes one ESL instructor’s motivation for and experience with implementing a class wiki.

This article describes a study on the types of writing tasks that ESL students commonly encounter in introductory academic courses at a two-year college and discusseshow the results of the study may have an impact on instruction.

Reviewed are: Teaching Writing Online: How and Why by Scott Warnock, Reviewed by David J. Cranmer Teaching Writing Online: How and Why by Scott Warnock, Reviewed by Amy Cummins Generation 1.5 in College Composition: Teaching Academic Writing to U.S.-Educated Learners of ESL , edited by Mark Roberge, Meryl Siegal, and Linda Harklau, Reviewed by Todd Ruecker Learning from Language: Symmetry, Asymmetry, and Literary Humanism by Walter H. Beale, Reviewed by Eric Bateman

Although accelerated summer and winter intersession courses may appeal to developmental ESL students who are required to take several ESL/English courses before placing into first-year composition, the abbreviated time period may actually be detrimental for weaker ESL students. Two case studies are presented here that chronicle two students’ struggles in such a course.

“When Readers Disagree”, Kip Strasma, Review Editor; “Teaching Writing with Latino/a Students: Lessons Learned at Hispanic-Serving Institutions” by Cristina Kirklighter, Diana Cardenas, and Susan Wolff Murphy, Reviewed by Kip Strasma; “Engaging Grammar: Practical Advice for Real Classrooms” by Amy Benjamin with Tom Oliva, Reviewed by Kimme Nuckles; “Educating English Language Learners: A Synthesis of Research Evidence” by Fred Genesee, Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, William M. Saunders, and Donna Christian, Reviewed by Mercè Pujol.

In this article, we offer practical suggestions for teaching writing to diverse groups of students who represent the fields of composition studies, basic writing, and ESL.

The authors report on three case studies of ESL students who are taking courses to enter professional programs. Their experiences suggest learning strategies that may help students in professional programs and may offer ways for teachers of composition to support and prepare these students.

C. D. Albin is professor of English at Missouri State University–West Plains and has contributed poems to several journals, including Big Muddy, Limestone, and Teaching English in the Two-Year College.

TETYC publishes articles for two-year college teachers and those teaching the first two years of English in four-year institutions. We seek articles in all areas of composition (basic, first-year, and advanced); business, technical, and creative writing; and the teaching of literature in the first two college years. We also publish articles on topics such as staffing, assessment, technology, writing program administration, speech, journalism, reading, ESL, and other areas of interest.

In an ESL first-year composition classroom, cooperative learning assists English language learners in developing their ideas, voice, organization, and sense of writing conventions, while simultaneously enhancing their production and comprehension of English.

ESL students in their first year of college discuss their feelings about the use of literature in composition courses and offer qualified support for its inclusion.

This study follows the progress of 238,032 students who enrolled in either an ESL composition, a developmental composition, or a college composition course at one of nine community colleges for a minimum of three and a maximum of eleven years.

Interclass collaboration in the context of an in-depth interdisciplinary discussion and analysis of global problems yields significant benefits in the development of ESL students’ sense of efficacy, their literacy, and their critical thinking skills.

This article discusses the time needed for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students to acquire proficiency in academic English and offers suggestions for helping instructors elicit the best possible performance from their ESL students until they have had sufficient time to achieve fluency.

While most service-learning courses at the college level establish a hierarchical connection between mentor and student, the service-learning program at Los Angeles City College encourages a reciprocal relationship in which mentor and mentee benefit from each other. First-year composition students are paired with intermediate ESL composition students in a semester-long program.

Based on qualitative teacher research, this study examines one student’s immigrant story in the light of identity and second-language learning and writing theories.

This article describes the development and implementation of an online writing course for advanced ESL students.

A curriculum of technology-enhanced and sustained content study helps ESL students develop literacy skills necessary for college work.

Composition teachers can obtain a better understanding of the challenges facing ESL students by writing in their own second language and reflecting on the experience.

English Teachers’ the Unofficial Guide: Researching the Philosophies of English Teachers; B. Marshall. Attending to the Margins: Writing, Researching, and Teaching on the Front Lines; M. H. Kells & V. Balester. Mutuality in the Rhetoric and Composition Classroom; D. L. Wallace & H. R. Ewald. Talkin’ That Talk: Language, Culture and Education in African America; G. Smitherman. Writing Simple Poems: Pattern Poetry for Language Acquisition; V. L. Holmes & M. R. Moulton.

Research has shown that contemporary popular films are a valuable resource in the ESL classroom. However, the short, silent film has been overlooked. Using D.W. Griffith’s The Painted Lady, Kaspar and Singer demonstrate how to use silent films to facilitate the development of ESL students’ critical thinking and writing skills.

Describes three reading/writing lessons on the topics of linguistics, environmental science, and anthropology used in a discipline-based college-level English as a second language course to illustrate how to use film to teach academic writing skills. Discusses how students analyze a film to help articulate the content of an essay or a book.

Suggests that beginning writers can improve skills when they exchange letters with peers, teachers, and others. Offers a brief historical perspective on the use of letters as a pedagogical device. Outlines current applications of letter writing and exchanges in: English as a second language; technical and business writing; composition and literature classes; and portfolio reflection letters.

Describes a study unit for ESL (English Second Language) students on language and identity. Explores the dichotomy of attitudes and behavior occurring when a nonnative speaker tries to embrace a new language and culture. Concludes that reading and writing about multicultural literature in the ESL classroom helps students gain language skills and better perspectives on the diversity of American culture.

Reviews five books: Grading in the Post-Process Classroom: From Theory to Practice, ed. by Libby Allison, Lizbeth Bryant, and Maureen Hourigan; Alternatives to Grading Student Writing, ed. by Stephen Tchudi; The Theory and Practice of Grading Writing: Problems and Possibilities, ed. by Frances Zak and Christopher C. Weaver; Teaching ESL Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice, by Dana Ferris and John S. Hedgcock; “M” Word, by Jane Isenberg.

Reviews five books: Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing, by Mina Shaughnessy; Telling Writing, by Ken Macrorie; Writing without Teachers, by Peter Elbow; Structured Reading, by Lynn Quitman Troyka and Joseph W. Thweatt; Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning, by Stephen D. Krashen.

Describes an instructional model that develops English-as-a-Second-Language students’ linguistic and academic skills through extended study of discipline-based content presented through multimedia. Illustrates the approach via a sample lesson from a unit on environmental science. Discusses the use of focus-discipline groups that research class topics. Notes positive student achievement and feedback.

Investigates English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students’ native literacy-learning experiences, via written learning autobiographies of 26 students from at least eight different countries. Discusses writing instruction in students’ native languages; most satisfying writing assessment in their native languages; and differences between writing in their native language and English. Draws five conclusions for ESL instruction.

Argues that a process-oriented nonjudgmental instructional approach can help English-as-a-Second-Language community college students become better writers. Discusses the principle of nonjudgmental awareness and its rationale, and describes five pedagogical techniques used in a nonjudgmental writing class.

Describes an English-as-a-Second-Language class writing and discussion project in which students retold and explained their favorite folk stories, eventually publishing them in a booklet.

A discussion of the effect of writing on ESL students’ reading performance provides data to demonstrate that “formal,” analytical written response to text helps ESL students become more proficient readers of English.