Teaching L2 Composition: 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.

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.