Academic Writing for Graduate-Level English as a Second Language Students - Experiences in Education

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS

Curriculum development for an Academic Writing Seminar addresses writing-support needs of linguistically diverse graduate-level ESL students in Education. The study examines student backgrounds, writing experiences, writing self-efficacy, and preferred instructional feedback, finding generally low writing self-efficacy alongside strong interest in detailed feedback on grammar and mechanics. It identifies common college-writing problems while noting participants’ willingness to share work for peer editing and conferences. The work argues for further research to mobilize strengths and provide targeted writing support within the California educational context.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Background and Significance

California’s Diverse Population From K-12 to Higher Education

Lack of Programs to Support Graduate-Level ESL

Academic Writing for Graduate-Level English as a Second Language Students: Experiences in Education Graduate-level ESL students in Education are future multicultural educators and promising role models for our diverse K-12 students. However, many of these students struggle with academic English and, in particular, writing. Yet little research or program development addresses the specific writing-support needs of this group. This article shares curriculum development for an Academic Writing Seminar serving linguistically diverse graduate students in Education. It reports on a study of the student backgrounds, writing experiences, writing selfefficacy, and instructional feedback preferences. Most participants had low writing self-efficacy and an eagerness to receive detailed feedback on grammar and mechanics in their writing. Problems in their writing were similar to common issues in college writing, but the participants expressed a distinct willingness to share their work for peer editing and conferences. Further research is needed on ways to mobilize such strengthsand provide targeted writing support for ESL graduate students in Education. Graduate-level English as a second language (ESL) students in Education are an understudied but increasingly impor tant population in our California educational system. These students are future educators and important diverse role models for our K-12 students, many of whom are underrepresented minorities (URM) and English learners. It is essential that, as future teachers for our K-12 students, these graduate students possess strong English language skills. However, many of them struggle with academic English and writing in particular. Few programs exist to address the writing issues of ESL graduate students in Education, and little research has been conducted in this area. The CATESOL Journal 27.1 • 2015 • 27 Background and Significance California’s Diverse Population From K-12 to Higher Education Schools in the state of California serve a student population of significant demographic and linguistic diversity. More than 43.1% of California’s K-12 students speak a primary language other than English (representing 60 different primary languages), and 22.7% of these students are classified as English learners (ELs) (California Department of Education, 2014) . Our universities are equally diverse. Culturally and/or linguistically diverse students constitute half of the student population in the California State Universities (CSU, 2008), presenting both special opportunities for teaching and learning and challenges. One challenge is that of pursuing a higher education in a second language and, in particular, of performing well on academic writing in a second language. According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education (2010), almost 60% of students entering college in the US and 68% of students entering the California State University (CSU) system are required to take remedial English courses. Historically, a large percentage of these students have been nonnative speakers of English (Howell, 2011; Scarcella, 2003) . Given the linguistic diversity in our CSU system, it is logical that a number of students who enroll in CSU professional preparation programs in the field of education are also English as a second language speakers (hereafter referred to as ESLS), and many of these ESLS struggle with academic writing. Because the CSU system does not include ESL status in demographic information collected on students in the College of Education (hereafter referred to as COE), it is difficult to estimate exactly how many ESLS enroll in professional education programs overall in the state of California. However, results from a faculty survey suggested that ESLS comprise anywhere from 15%-25% of students enrolled in COE courses at the location in this study (Karathanos & Mena, 2009) . In our COE, graduate-level ESL students represent a range of backgrounds. T

FAQs

What writing challenges do graduate-level ESL students in Education face?

Many struggle with academic English, especially writing, and often encounter grammatical, semantic, syntactical, and pragmatic issues. Limited existing programs further contribute to unmet writing-support needs.

How does the Academic Writing Seminar curriculum address these needs?

The article describes curriculum development for an Academic Writing Seminar that supports linguistically diverse graduate students. It reports on student backgrounds, writing experiences, self-efficacy, and instructional feedback preferences.

What feedback do participants prefer and how willing are they to engage in peer support?

Most participants show low writing self-efficacy and want detailed feedback on grammar and mechanics. They also express a distinct willingness to share work for peer editing and conferences.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS