BiblioVault - Books about English as a Second Language

What Error Correction Can(not) Accomplish for Second Language Writers

DIspelling Myths, Discussing Options

Dana R. Ferris

University of Michigan Press, 2018

This book looks at aspects of L2 research that influence error correction, finding that second language acquisition takes time and that second language writers' texts differ from those written by native English speakers. Using this research, Dana R. Ferris dispels the myth that diligent teacher correction and student editing can lead to perfect, error-free texts. In clear and simple terms, Ferris makes six suggestions for things teachers can do in the classroom regarding error correction and provides samples. Other issues regarding the expectations of students and others—such as in timed (high-stakes) situations—as it relates to "perfect" papers are examined. The book closes by addressing the basic principles of developing students' language skills in second language/ESL writing classes.

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What Every ESL Student Should Know

A Guide to College and University Academic Success

Kathy Ochoa Flores

University of Michigan Press, 2008

This book teaches English language learners about language learning and classroom expectations. It is a compilation of advice, experiences, suggestions, strategies, and learning theories collected over many years of teaching this population.

What Every ESL Student Should Know was written to help English language learners be successful in community college and college classrooms—specifically, how to prepare students for expectations and behavior within the classroom and how to help them to be good students, how to participate in class, what to expect from the class, and what to do to learn English. Learning strategies and language theories are presented in brief.

This text is ideal for orientations or pre-college workshops for international or

immigrant students.

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When Tutor Meets Student

Martha Maxwell, Editor

University of Michigan Press, 1994

Creates a concrete approach to peer tutoring and collaborative learning

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Why Is English Like That?

Historical Answers to Hard ELT Questions

Norbert Schmitt and Richard Marsden

University of Michigan Press, 2006

Why is "night" spelled with "gh"? Why can't sentences end with prepositions? Why does English have so many words that express the same ideas? Questions like these can be difficult for teachers to answer when they do not know the historical background of the English language. Why Is English Like That? gives teachers a brief and accessible history of the English without assuming any prior knowledge of the subject.

The book outlines the historical events that shaped English; describes how its grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation developed over time; and highlights the "quirks" and "exceptions" in English that can be explained on a historical basis. By understanding how the English of today evolved from the English of past times, both teachers and students will be more comfortable with the many conventions of the English language.

Why Is English Like That? also contains reproducible grammar and vocabulary exercises that will help teachers incorporate some of this historical knowledge into classroom activities. This book was written with English language teachers in mind, and the exercises are designed for ESL/EFL students, but it may also be used by teachers in training (L1 and L2).

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Words for Students of English, Vol. 1

A Vocabulary Series for ESL

Holly Deemer Rogerson, Betsy Davis, Suzanne T. Hershelman, and Carol Jasnow

University of Michigan Press, 1992

Words for Students of English, Vol. 2

A Vocabulary Series for ESL

Holly Deemer Rogerson, Gary Esarey, Linda M. Schmandt, and Dorolyn A. Smith

University of Michigan Press, 1992

Words for Students of English, Vol. 3

A Vocabulary Series for ESL

Holly Deemer Rogerson, Suzanne T. Hershelman, Carol Jasnow, and Carol Moltz

University of Michigan Press, 1992

Words for Students of English, Vol. 4

A Vocabulary Series for ESL

Holly Deemer Rogerson, Gary Esarey, Suzanne T. Hershelman, Carol Jasnow, Carol Moltz, Linda M. Schmandt, and Dorolyn A. Smith

University of Michigan Press, 1992

Words for Students of English, Vol. 5

A Vocabulary Series for ESL

Holly Deemer Rogerson, Suzanne T. Hershelman, and Carol Jasnow

University of Michigan Press, 1992

Volume 5 consists of 25 units that present basewords with definitions, usage examples, and exercises. Each unit focuses on a specific topic, carefully selected for its relevance to students' lives, so that students can practice new words in meaningful contexts. The exercises are flexible and easy to use, taking students from simple, fairly controlled practice to a final phase of communicative exercise. A list of words covered in previous volumes in included.

SKILL LEVEL: High-Intermediate

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Words for Students of English, Vol. 6

A Vocabulary Series for ESL

Holly Deemer Rogerson, Gary Esarey, Suzanne T. Hershelman, Carol Jasnow, Linda M. Schmandt, Dorolyn A. Smith, and Courtenay Meade Snellings

University of Michigan Press, 1992

Words for Students of English, Vol. 7

A Vocabulary Series for ESL

Holly Deemer Rogerson

University of Michigan Press, 1992

Words for Students of English, Volume 8

A Vocabulary Series for ESL

Dawn E. McCormick, Lionel Menasche, Marilyn Smith Slaathaug, and Judith L. Yogman

University of Michigan Press, 2004

Volume 8 consists of 14 units that present basewords with definitions, usage examples, and exercises. Each unit focuses on a specific topic, carefully selected for its relevance to academic study, so that students can practice new words in meaningful contexts. The exercises are flexible and easy to use, taking students from simple, faily controlled practice to a final phase of communicative exercise. New to Volume 8 are collocation practice and crossword puzzles.

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Workbook for Keys to Teaching Grammar to English Language Learners, Second Ed.

Keith S. Folse and Ekaterina V. Goussakova

University of Michigan Press, 2017

This workbook accompanies the Second Edition of Keys to Teaching Grammar to English Language Learners: A Practical Handbook by Keith S. Folse (ISBN: 978-0-472-03667-7).

The Workbook has been updated to reflect new content in the Second Edition of the Handbook and once again features exercises that carefully follow the sequence of material in the Handbook. To facilitate use of the Workbook with the Handbook, each exercise is coded with the corresponding pages for the material in the Handbook. Reflecting the different learning styles in any given class, the exercises practice identifying grammatical features in a variety of different ways, including many charts, matching activities, and short answer questions. In addition, the Workbook has a variety of exercises consisting of sentences typical of English language learners so that teachers can become familiar with specific types of errors that ESL students make with certain grammar points.

The Workbook also features some action research projects to guide teachers in collecting small samples of data from their target student populations.

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Workbook for The ESL Writer's Handbook, 2nd Edition

Janine Carlock, Maeve Eberhardt, Jaime Horst, and Lionel Menasche

University of Michigan Press, 2018

This workbook accompanies the 2nd Edition of The ESL Writer’s Handbook (ISBN: 978-0-472-03707-0). The Workbook extends the topics covered in the Handbook to enable a teacher to use the books as the core texts in an advanced ESL writing or first-year undergraduate composition course. The teacher may wish to assign Workbook exercises as homework or use them in class with the exercises in the Handbook.

The new edition of the Workbook includes 85 exercises to facilitate students’ understanding of some of the most complex or troublesome writing areas discussed in the Handbook. Exercises have been revised, and new exercises have been added to Sections 4 (Research Paper) and 5 (Grammar and Style).

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Writing Myths

Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching

Joy Reid with Keith S. Folse, Cynthia M. Schuemann, Pat Byrd and John Bunting, Ken Hyland, Dana Ferris, Susan Conrad, Sharon Cavusgil, Paul Kei Matsuda

University of Michigan Press, 2008

This volume was conceived as a "best practices" resource for writing teachers in the way that Vocabulary Myths by Keith S. Folse is one for reading and vocabulary teachers. It was written to help ensure that writing teachers are not perpetuating the myths of teaching writing.

Each author is a practicing teacher who selected his or her "myth" based on classroom experience and expertise. Both the research and pedagogy in this book are based on the newest research in, for example, teacher preparation, EAP and ESP, and corpus linguistics. The myths discussed in this book are:

§ Teaching vocabulary is not the writing teacher's job. (Keith S. Folse)

§ Teaching citation is someone else's job. (Cynthia M. Schuemann)

§ Where grammar is concerned, one size fits all. (Pat Byrd and John Bunting)

§ Academic writing should be assertive and certain. (Ken Hyland)

§ Students must learn to correct all their writing errors. (Dana Ferris)

§ Corpus-based research is too complicated to be useful for writing teachers. (Susan Conrad)

§ Academic writing courses should focus on paragraph and essay development. (Sharon Cavausgil)

§ International and U.S. resident ESL writers cannot be taught in the same class. (Paul Kei Matsuda)

The book concludes with a discussion of students' myths about academic writing and teaching written by Joy Reid.

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Writing on the Wall

Writing Education and Resistance to Isolationism

edited by David S. Martins, Brooke R. Schreiber & Xiaoye You

Utah State University Press, 2022

The first concerted effort of writing studies scholars to interrogate isolationism in the United States, Writing on the Wall reveals how writing teachers—often working directly with students who are immigrants, undocumented, first-generation, international, and students of color—embody ideas that counter isolationism.

The collection extends existing scholarship and research about the ways racist and colonial rhetorics impact writing education; the impact of translingual, transnational, and cosmopolitan ideologies on student learning and student writing; and the role international educational partnerships play in pushing back against isolationist ideologies. Established and early-career scholars who work in a broad range of institutional contexts highlight the historical connections among monolingualism, racism, and white nationalism and introduce community- and classroom-based practices that writing teachers use to resist isolationist beliefs and tendencies.

“Writing on the wall” serves as a metaphor for the creative, direct action writing education can provide and invokes border spaces as sites of identity expression, belonging, and resistance. The book connects transnational writing education with the fight for racial justice in the US and around the world and will be of significance to secondary and postsecondary writing teachers and graduate students in English, linguistics, composition, and literacy studies.

Contributors: Olga Aksakalova, Sara P. Alvarez, Brody Bluemel, Tuli Chatterji, Keith Gilyard, Joleen Hanson, Florianne Jimenez Perzan, Rebecca Lorimer Leonard, Layli Maria Miron, Tony D. Scott, Kate Vieira, Amy J. Wan

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