In my previous post I talked about the ESL newcomer curriculum and even earlier – topics to cover when you have and absolute beginner ESL student. But I just realized that none of those tips covered writing in greater detail!
So let’s not waste any more time – here are some ideas on how to teach writing to ESL beginners.
Here is what you will learn in this blog post:
The basics
Alphabet
Sentence structure
Parts of speech
Punctuation and capitalization
Writing practice activities
Start with the basics
Imagine yourself in a situation when you are just starting out to learn a new language. You literally know nothing – words make no sense, reading is all jumbled, writing is strange. With this knowledge in mind, you can begin planning your writing instruction for ESL beginners.
Alphabet
In order for someone to be able to produce writing, they need to know the alphabet and how those letters and sounds form words, which later turn into sentences.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when teaching the alphabet:
In English, the vowel has the power. It is important to teach ESL beginners (yes, even older ones. Actually, especially older ones!) the alphabet and the variations in the sounds that the letters make. Some languages do not place as huge a significance on vowels or the words are pronounced pretty much as they are written.
Others have an entirely different alphabet (Asian languages such as Chinese, Japanese; Middle Eastern – Arabic, Hebrew; Cyrillic – Russian, Greek). Therefore, in order to begin writing your ESL beginners will need to pay extra special attention to the alphabet.
If the students are very young or have never gone to school (and are older), knowing what sounds are represented by letters, which are then combined into words and later sentences is crucial.
Note:
Writing direction matters. Keep in mind that even when students advance in their English learning journey, expect that they may revert to what comes naturally to them.
Teach sentence structure for good writing
The basic sentence structure of the English language is a subject + a verb.
For example:
I read.
You run.
They speak.
The next step is the subject + verb + object format. For example, I read a book. This sentence type has many varieties but beginning with simple sentences allows the students to internalize the rhythm of the language.
When teaching ESL beginners, keep in mind that other languages may follow a different pattern than translates into English, at least in the beginning.
Here is a great sentence structure activity that can be practiced with students of all ages and grade levels.
Parts of speech
Since English follows a strict word order, it is important for us to teach the students parts of speech and where to place them in a sentence when writing.
When teaching beginners – whether it be writing or speaking – we always start with the words that carry the most important information. These are nouns (who?) and verbs (what are they doing/do/did/have done/will do?)
We then move into the descriptions about how things look, taste, smell or feel. These are the adjectives, which add the flavor to both speaking and writing. Adverbs, words that describe a quality of a verb, come later.
That said, practicing parts of speech does not have to be complicated. Every time your students learn new words, you can have a running table that looks like this:
| Person, place, thing, idea | Action | Description (how does it look, feel, taste, smell?) |
The students can place the words in each of the categories and then use those words in writing their own sentences.
Punctuation and capitalization
Those students whose language backgrounds are similar to English usually grasp the concept of punctuation and capitalization fairly quickly.
For others, starting writing with a capital letter and placing a period, question mark or an exclamation point at the end might be a novel idea. They may have never learned it, never internalized it or their language has different rules (such as symbols instead of letters).
In any case, explaining the basic rule that a sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark such as a period, etc. will go a long way.
You can then keep the students accountable for that and also build on it. For example, capitalizing proper nouns, doing reported speech using quotation marks and commas. But the basics will already be there.
Practice writing
Beginner ESL students are learning new words all day, every day. Even when they are not presented by you in a list. Utilize their newly gained knowledge by practicing writing!
It is easy for us to get carried away with writing a persuasive paragraph or a 5 paragraph essay.
Writing is a productive skill and takes time. Build students’ confidence little by little, but consistently.
Tip:
If you are at a loss of where to start with the ESL beginner, check out WIDA CAN DO descriptors for levels 1 and 2. You will see that ESL beginners/newcomers in most grades are able to label, list, communicate through drawings and reproduce content area words.
Writing activities for ESL beginners
Writing about self
This type of writing is the most relatable topic they can write about almost immediately.
You can:
Provide sentence frames so they can only plug in single words and phrases (which is where they are at right now)
Provide word banks with nouns and simple verbs (remember the table I mentioned earlier? That should come in really handy now!)
Think about what they like and places they have been to or would like to visit
Here are a few writing topics to consider:
Sports (soccer, tennis, basketball,etc.)
Food/drink (coffee/tea, cookies, water, etc.)
Places (school, home, office, home country, etc.)
Check out this activity that can be used for both speaking and writing!
Writing about another person
This activity allows your students to practice writing using pronouns and adjectives as well as the simple verb “to be”.
Students can do the following:
Draw a person and label
Fill-in-the blank utilizing a word bank
Students have the basic sentence starters and use the word banks.
Describe an object
This activity builds on adjective use and expand the vocabulary into shapes, colors and textures.
Like with nouns and verbs, you can have a similar table displayed that they can refer to while writing.
Other writing activities for ESL beginners
The next couple of activities utilize writing a paragraph because the students have already acquired the basics of writing.
Before you embark on writing a paragraph, make sure your students know the paragraph writing format. Here is a full teacher presentation and practice for students to get you going.
A simple paragraph can be about anything, really.
First of all, we need to teach the basic paragraph structure (which is a whole other topic for another blog post).
Topics can vary from favorite time of year to any other theme that the students can connect with.
Note: your students’ age will dictate the topic choices (from favorite teddy bear to my dream car)
Postcard
Have you ever received a postcard from a friend? I love them! My sister always sends me one whenever she travels and I have them displayed where I can see.
Whenever I travel, I get requests from friends and family for a card from that place.
This is a wonderful opportunity for all age groups to bring their culture and life into the lesson.
You can try a penpal system to allow students to experience real-life writing. It is wonderful to receive a postcard from a place that they think is so distant and unreachable.
Writing an email
Email has taken over many other forms of writing. However, you will be surprised how many people still do not know how to write it properly.
It is important to teach your students that there is a structure to an email, just like to any other form of writing. It does not have to be fancy, but it must convey what the writer wants the reader to know.
I encourage my older students to email me and other teachers with any questions or ideas. It is a fantasti real-life practice.
Thank you note
In America, a thank-you note is something that is expected. In other cultures, not so much. For example, it may be that the students’ culture places higher importance on thanking someone in person right there and then.
However, it is nice to receive a thank you note and as I mentioned earlier, in certain situations in America, it is expected that you will write one.
This is another great real-life writing practice as well as very practical.
I am including a video with even more tips on how you can teach writing to beginners.
Still have more questions than answers? Check out The ESL Teaching Roadmap – from curriculum guides and ready-made lessons to engaged community and personalized coaching => The ESL Teaching Roadmap
How do you teach writing to your ESL students? Share in the comments below!