On Second Language Writing brings together internationally recognized scholars in a collection of original articles that, collectively, delineate and explore central issues with regard to theory, research, instruction, assessment, politics, articulation with other disciplines, and standards. In recent years, there has been a dramatic growth of interest in second-language writing and writing instruction in many parts of the world. Although an increasing number of researchers and teachers in both second-language studies and composition studies have come to identify themselves as specialists in second-language writing, research and teaching practices have been dispersed into several different disciplinary and institutional contexts because of the interdisciplinary nature of the field. This volume is the first to bring together prominent second-language writing specialists to systematically address basic issues in the field and to consider the state of the art at the end of the century (and the millennium).

Second Language Writing Systems looks at how people learn and use a second language writing system, arguing that they are affected by characteristics of the first and second writing systems, to a certain extent independently of the languages involved. This book for the first time presents the effects of writing systems on second language reading and writing and on second language awareness, and provides a new platform for discussing bilingualism, biliteracy and writing systems.

Offers an up-to-date analysis of issues related to providing, using and researching feedback, including new developments in technology.

Presents results of large-scale study of university-level text produced by writers who are not native speakers of English, to determine the specific syntactic, lexical, & rhetorical features that differ from those in texts written by native speakers.

Academic writing often requires students to incorporate material from outside sources (like statistics, ideas, quotations, paraphrases) into their own written texts-a particular obstacle for students who lack strong reading skills. In Connecting Reading and Writing in Second Language Instruction, Alan Hirvela contends that second language writing students should be considered as readers first and advocates the integration of reading and writing instruction with a survey of theory, research, and pedagogy in the subject area. Although the integrated reading-writing model has gained popularity in recent years, many teachers have little more than an intuitive sense of the connections between these skills. As part of the popular Michigan Series on Teaching Multilingual Writers, Connecting Reading and Writing in Second Language Instruction will provide invaluable background knowledge on this issue to ESL teachers in training, as well as teachers who are already practicing.

Table of contents

A collection of 13 original articles, this book is intended to provide a series of discussions about multiple aspects of second language writing, presenting chapters that collectively address a range of issues that are important to new teachers at the post-secondary level. The chapters provide scholarly visions, insight, and interpretation oriented toward explaining the field of teaching academic writing to non-native speakers. The book is designed to provide foundational content-knowledge in this area, each chapter authored by recognized experts in the field. Throughout the chapters, presentation and review of scholarship is presented primarily in the interest of understanding how such knowledge directly or potentially impart teaching, making this a pedagogically relevant book. In addition to helping train new teachers, the book will serve as an updated reference book for practicing teachers and scholars to consult.