Academic

A sample:

“Cross, Mattie Ruth,” The Handbook of Texas Online

“While not a traditional text on ESOL methodology, this is nonetheless a collection of ESOL professionals’ best practices brought into focus through experiences outside the classroom rather than pedagogical principles. …

“Of particular importance to any ESOL professional teaching a writing class is Sylvia Whitman’s chapter from the perspective of a restaurant reviewer. Whitman likens the writing teacher’s power over a student’s work to a restaurant reviewer’s power to provoke the flourishing or closing of a reviewed restaurant. That is, language students can shut down after an overwhelming critique of their work but blossom when the teacher is thoughtful about the balance of praise and criticism. Whitman goes on to offer practical guidelines, in the form of a highly usable and adaptable table, for reviewing student writing that includes what the student may produce matched with what a teacher could critique at each stage in the writing process. After all, Whitman notes, a restaurant reviewer would be lucky to get more than just one sampling of the food—and at different stages in the cooking process—before writing a review. ESL/EFL writing teachers who aspire to a more process-oriented approach in their classrooms will find Whitman’s guiding metaphor of offering feedback during the “ingredients” stage, the “cooking” stage, and the “seasoning” stage (p. 72) helpful as they work to guide students successfully through these recursive steps.”

~review by Ashley Gatins