Evans, N. W., Anderson, N. J., & Eggington, W. G. (Eds.). (2015). ESL Readers and Writers in Higher Education: Understanding challenges, providing support. Routledge.
ESL Readers and Writers in Higher Education: Understanding Challenges, Providing Support not only highlights the challenges ESL learners in higher education deal with regarding literacy skills but it also provides insights for how institutions, teachers, advisors and tutors might create a supportive environment that meets the reading and writing needs of ESL students in U.S. postsecondary institutions. The purpose of this volume is to describe the challenges ESL students face, what teachers are doing in the classroom, and offer suggestions aimed at helping ESL learners achieve optimal writing and reading proficiency. Another important feature of this book is its emphasis on the ESL profession as a whole including an institutional reaction to a language-related challenge based on the argument that language development support is a responsibility of all those who host ESL students on campuses; it is not an exclusive responsibility of language teachers.
This book is primarily addressed to ESL professionals and collaborators looking for advice on expanding the literacy skills of this very important student population in U.S. institutions. As an edited volume, the book is divided into fifteen chapters written by contributing authors who add different perspectives about the topic. Although each chapter is written by different authors, it is presented in a very reader-friendly format and all chapters follow a similar structure: a vignette, an introduction and overview of a particular challenge, an implication and application section, and a concluding summary of the chapter. The main authors of this book: Norman W. Evans, Neil J. Anderson and William G. Eggington have written extensively about cultural and linguistic issues, assessment, and higher education access and success. Additionally, the discussion questions in the end of each chapter offer readers the opportunity to think deeply, make connections and brainstorm possible solutions to the challenges discussed.
The volume is divided into two parts: Part I, “Understanding challenges” consists of seven chapters while Part II, “Providing support” has eight chapters that discuss different ways to develop the literacy skills of ESL students. In Part I, Chapter 1 provides a description of the challenges and a list of common assumptions regarding the linguistic abilities of non-native English speakers (NNES). The authors argue that several institutions assume that if non-native English learners meet the language proficiency requirements for admissions, they are equipped with the necessary language skills to succeed at the university. The authors conclude that one possible reason for this assumption is a lack of understanding of how languages are learned and acquired.
Chapter 2 addresses the perceptions and realities of ESL students in higher education by presenting the results of a national survey of institutional practices including strategies and suggestions for adequate methods to identify the needs of NNES. In this way, NNES can be properly identified and receive the appropriate language support needed to assure satisfactory linguistic development and employment opportunities following graduation. Chapter 3 builds on the concepts presented in Chapter 2 by providing an example case study on the development of a language plan that addresses the needs of ESL students. An institutional language planning approach generated from their sociolinguistic surveys must be created to provide ESL students with a greater sense of success and a more confident perspective of their academic institution.
In Chapter 4, the roles of writing centers in the United States and Canada along with their practices and basic philosophy are discussed. The main argument of this chapter is that a number of variables such as students’ background, language skills, and cultural knowledge strongly impact the types of assistance they require in writing centers. Chapters 5 and 6 offer insights from writing support programs at Purdue University. The last chapter in Part I reports on an academic study focusing on reading requirements, expectations, and challenges across different majors and concludes with suggestions for teaching ESL students in such courses.
After identifying the challenges, the book provides suggestions for ESL students to overcome challenges as they expand their literacy skills in Part II. Chapter 8 introduces the concept of self-regulated learning (SRL) and suggests ways to help students meet challenges. The main argument of this chapter is that those who become self-regulated learners achieve better results than learners who do not. In Chapter 9, readers are provided with research on second language reading and instruction with recommendations to bridge the gap between research and ESL instruction. Chapter 10 focuses specifically on second language academic writing and presents valuable principles for teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP).
The challenges NNESs experience in different reading genres in higher education are addressed in Chapter 11. The main argument of this chapter is the idea that the read-analyze and write approach provides ESL students with literacy tools that will help them achieve the disciplinary expectations to produce successful L2 writing. Chapter 12 offers specific examples of the various ways in which university students use Corpus of Contemporary American English to address the literacy needs of ESL students. Chapter 13 shifts the focus on cultural influences in the written discourse suggesting ways to overcome cross-cultural pragmatic issues in ESL students’ writings.
A discussion on what technology tools offers to overcome challenges of teaching ESL readers and writers is provided in Chapter 14. This chapter presents several recent technologies that can benefit the teaching and literacy practices. The final chapter reviews integrated reading and writing assessment issues and helps the readers better understand these assessments by addressing specifically the construct of reading-writing integrated assessment. The goal of this chapter is to provide useful guidance for curriculum designers who must make important decisions on best practices for assessing reading and writing for academic purposes.
Given its validity in reviewing challenges and providing advice on promoting literacy skills of ESL students in US institutions, my overall evaluation of this book is highly positive. The studies presented throughout the book highlight not only the challenges but also support that may provide readers with insights for future research focusing on the literacy needs of non-native English speakers in higher education. This volume fills a gap in the field by looking at the literacy challenges from different angles (students, teachers, tutors, institutions, etc.). For this reason, it is a valuable resource for those interested in promoting literacy skills of ESL students in higher education.
Fabiana Stalnaker is a Ph.D. student, majoring in Culture, Language & Literacy at The University of Texas at San Antonio. She has been teaching English as a Second Language for twelve years. She holds a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics & TESOL and has worked as an ESL/EFL teacher in the United States, Brazil and Japan. Fabiana is passionate and devoted to her students’ learning. |
