Teaching L2 Composition (3^rd Ed.) Purpose, Process, and Practice

This popular, comprehensive theory-to-practice text is designed to help teachers understand the task of writing, L2 writers, the different pedagogical models used in current composition teaching, and reading?writing connections. Moving from general themes to specific pedagogical concerns, it includes practice-oriented chapters on the role of genre, task construction, course and lesson design, writing assessment, feedback, error treatment, and classroom language (grammar, vocabulary, style) instruction.

Although all topics are firmly grounded in relevant research, a distinguishing feature of the text is the array of hands-on, practical examples, materials, and tasks that pre- and in-service teachers can use to develop the complex skills involved in teaching second language writing. Each chapter includes Questions for Reflection, Further Reading and Resources, Reflection and Review, and Application Activities. An ideal text for L2 teacher preparation courses, courses that include both L1 and L2 students, and workshops for instructors of L2 writers in academic (secondary and postsecondary) settings, the accessible synthesis of theory and research enables readers to see the relevance of the field?s knowledge base to their own present or future classroom settings and student writers.

Brief Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments

1. Concepts in Writing and Learning to Write in a Second Language
2. Understanding Student Populations and Instructional Contexts
3. Composition Pedagogies: Theory, Principle, and Practice
4. Reading, Genre Awareness, and Task Design in the L2 Composition Course
5. Course Design and Instructional Planning for the L2 Writing Course
6. Classroom Assessment of L2 Writing
7. Response to Student Writing: Issues and Options for Giving and Facilitating Feedback
8. Improving Accuracy in Student Writing: Error Treatment in the Composition Class
9. Developing Language Skills in the Writing Class: Why, What, How, and Who

References
Index

Dana R. Ferris is professor in the University Writing Program at the University of California, Davis, United States.

John S. Hedgcock is professor of Applied Linguistics at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, California, United States.