Content-Based ESL Writing Curriculum A Language So

Content-BasedESLWritingCurriculum:ALanguageSocializationModelGulbaharH.BeckettandVirginiaGonzalezUniversityofCincinnatiHeatherSchwartzDePaulUniversityAbstractInthispaper,weproposeacontent-based,advancedleveladjunctEnglishasaSecondLanguage(ESL)instructionalapproachforwritingfromalanguagesocializationtheoreticalframeworkusingbasicprinciplesofsystemicfunctionallinguistics(Halliday,1994)andsocioculturaltheoryoflearning(Vygotsky,1986).WeemphasizeanESLcurriculumthatstimulatesESLstudentstolearndomainspecificknowledge,todevelopcognitiveandmeta-cognitivelearningandthinkingprocesses,andtolearnrhetoricallyandlexico-pragmaticallyappropriatewriting(Raimes,1983).Weprovideacompletereviewofthetheoreticalprinciplesderivedfromresearchbasedonintegrativecurriculumforsecondlanguage(L2)students.Weexplainhowanadjunctcoursemodel(Adamson,1993;Mohan,1986)canbeusedtodesignthespecificsofthecourse.Content-BasedESLWritingCurriculum:ALanguageSocializationModelThousandsofinternationalnon-nativespeakersofEnglishstudyinAmericanpostsecondaryinstitutionseachyear.ManyofthesestudentsenrollinEnglishasaSecondLanguage(ESL)orIntensiveEnglishprograms(IEPs)toimprovetheirEnglishingeneralandacademicwritinginparticular.Suchknowledgeisimportantbecauseacademicwritingisasevereproblemformanyinternationalstudentsasmanyofthemarenottaughthowtowriteacademicallyevenintheirfirstlanguages(Shi&Beckett,2002).ThosewhocomewithpriorknowledgeaboutwritingareoftentrainedtowritedifferentlythanwhatisrequiredinNorthAmericanuniversities(NationalResearchCouncil[NRC],1999a).Furthermore,theexistingwritingcurriculaaredesignedtoteachESLwritingasaseparatesubjecttypicallyfocusingonfixingsentencelevelgrammarproblems.Theyneglecttolinkwritinginstructionwithauthenticcontentareawritingassignmentsthatnon-nativeEnglishspeakerstudentsencounterintheirrealstudies.Suchneglectignorescallsforintegratedteachingoflanguage,subjectmattercontent,andhigherorderthinkingskillsbytheNationalResearchCouncil(NRC)(1999a,1999b),leavingESLstudentsincapableofaccomplishingwritingtasksrequiredbytheirrespectiveBeeckett,Gonzalez,Schwartz/ContentBasedESLWritingCurriculum161disciplines,evenaftertakingseveralwritingcoursesinESLprograms.SuchphenomenanotonlycausefrustrationsanddespairamongESLstudents,theirESLteachers,andcontentareaprofessors,butalsojeopardizetheeducationalagenda.ThispaperaddressestheseissuesthroughacurriculumdesignedforanadvancedlevelIEPtoteachsubject-mattercontentandtolanguagesocializeESLstudentsincontext(Ochs,1989).Thatis,thecurriculumteachesESL,ESLwriting,andsubject-mattercontentsimultaneouslyinanauthenticcontext.Thespecificpurposeofthiseducationallyappliedpaperistoshareamuchneededwritingcurriculumdesignedfromsoundsocio-cultural(Vygotsy,1971)andSystemicFunctionalLinguistics(SFL)(Halliday,1994)perspectives.ThisESLinstructionalapproachhastheobjectiveofusingacurriculumfollowingalanguagesocializationmodelthatintegratescognitiveprocessesandlearningstrategieswithsubjectmatteracrosscontentareas.Throughimmersioninthisactiveandproblem-solvingbasedapproach,ESLlearnerscandevelopauthenticcommunicativeskillsinEnglishthroughusingcognitiveandemotionaloraffectivestrategiesinasocioculturallyappropriatemannerandlearnrhetoricallyandlexico-pragmaticallyappropriatewritingskills(Raimes,1983).ThisintegrativecurriculumalsostimulatesESLstudentstodevelophigherlevelcriticalthinkingskillsbybecomingbilingual,bicognitive(i.e.,thinkinginbothlanguagesusingbothlanguagesasmethodsofinstruction),andbicultural(i.e.,developingculturalidentitiesthatidentifywithbothculturalbackgrounds).Assuch,thispaperrespondstoanationalneedforhighqualitycurriculabasedontheoryandresearchknowledge.ThispapercontributestobridgingagapintheESLwritingcurriculaliterature,itrespondstotheNRC’scallforaresponsiblecurriculumthataimstocorrectpriormisconceptions,andempowersstudentswithnewknowledgetosucceedintheirnewenvironment.AccordingtotheNRC(1999a),weneedtoteachstudentstheexpectedwaysoforganizingknowledge,cognitiveandmeta-cognitivestrategies,whichcanfacilitateretrievalofinformationandtransferorganizationalandproblem-solvingskills.Weneedtodesigncurriculathatintegratethreecriticalelementsforbeingasuccessfullearner:(1)indepthknowledgeofcontentandtopicknowledge(subjectmatter),(2)conceptualunderstandinginordertogainawarenessofknowledgestructuresinvariousdisciples,and(3)criticalthinkingskillstobeabletoengageinmeta-cognitivestrategiestoself-monitorlearning(i.e.,learninghowtolearn,howtothink,andhowtosolveproblems).AspointedoutbytheNRC(ibid),“Helpingstudentstorecognizeandbuildonknowledgestructuresisacrucialgoalofteaching”(p.26).AccordingtotheNRC,studentsshouldbetaughttolearnthroughmultipleexamples,practiceapplicationofconceptstomultiplereal-lifeproblemsconnectedtosubjectmatter,andmakeconnectionsbetweenpriorandnewknowledge.Italsopointsoutthatallstudentslearn“processesofcomparison,evaluatingsame/differentdistinctions,categorizingthenewproblemintermsofwhatseemsfamiliarorunfamiliarandevaluatingfeedback”(NationalResearchCouncil,1999a,p.27).Extensiveresearchfromthe1980sand1990s(Bru