WORKING WITH

EAL WRITERS

EAL: English as an additional language

Conversation Partner appointments

driven by an Agenda

focus on learning and meaning

involve discussion and/or practice of specific discourses of conversation  

Rapport

“However, in a Conversation Partner appointment, extend the rapport building process and cultivate it throughout, because productive conversations that include explicit learning goals necessitate a strong interpersonal dynamic” (189)

Agenda

”Every Conversation Partner appointment needs to be guided by an agenda of 1, 2, or 3 goals” (190)

“Writing down the agenda and making use of visuals is an especially effective method for working with EAL writers” (192)

“Long term agendas, just like appointment-specific agendas, are flexible and may need regular revisiting” (193)

Going meta 

“Going meta creates space for you and the writer to identify the transferable takeaways from a particular experience by reflecting on the learning process and making explicit the tacit qualities, values, and characteristics of different linguistic, cultural, and spoken genre conventions“ (195-96)

Next Steps

At the end of a Conversation Partner appointment, suggest specific ways the EAL writer can continue working on their goals.

Activity

Collaborate with your partner(s) to discuss your scenario. Identify the following:
- how you would build Rapport
- the 1, 2, or 3 items you would suggest to the EAL writer to collaboratively set an Agenda
- specific questions based on the Agenda that you would ask the writer to Go Meta 
- Particular Next Steps you would suggest to the writer

INTERACTION HYPOTHESIS

When learners participate in interaction, they are able to tailor the input to their own level of proficiency by signaling their interlocutors about language they do not understand

INTERACTION HYPOTHESIS

negotiation can uncover positive evidence, that is, information about what is possible in the target language. 

negotiation can uncover negative evidence, or information about what is not possible in the target language

INTERACTION HYPOTHESIS

it is essential that negotiation be two-sided, that not only the tutor, but also the writer engage in the interaction. Numerous second language acquisition studies have found that it is not simply the outcome of negotiation, that is, modified and presumably more comprehensible input, but the actual participation in the negotiation, that facilitates acquisition

-Jessica Williams (2002)

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

the domain in which the learner is not yet capable of self-regulated activity, but can accomplish tasks under the guidance of experts or in collaboration with a peer. The zone of proximal development is not simply a predetermined next stage of readiness. Rather, it is mutually constructed and can only be determined dialogically, suggesting that knowledge creation is a socially mediated activity

-Williams (2002)

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

Other learners may need far more-and more explicit-assistance and continued reliance on an expert for scaffolding of new knowledge. Scaffolding is the support provided by the expert that allows the learner to perform the new task. 

-Williams (2002)

EAL WRITERS:  ISSUES & OPTIONS

Be wary of contrastive rhetoric

Treat every writer as an individual

Be careful when using minimalist question-asking strategies and mitigation techniques

Use praise to show when something is done correctly

Be aware of “unteachable” grammar constructs

PRACTICE

Read through the draft completely, once

​Go through and circle/underline every error you see

PRACTICE

In pairs, compare the errors you identified

​Come to consensus about the errors and categorize them using the following chart

Local vs. global errorS

In groups, determine three error types that you feel are impeding your ability to understand the text

Determine how you would approach providing feedback on these issues

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