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The approach is developed collaboratively by a community college ESOL instructor and university faculty to strengthen reading and writing through authentic English texts while also modeling agency and voice. The article frames “bridging” as linking prior learning and lived experiences so students can critically reflect, navigate course demands, and express intended meanings in an academic and broader social context.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mentor-texts-squared-helping-students-explore-voice-through-readings-that-promote-critical-consciousness/597867/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/mentor-texts-squared-helping-students-explore-voice-through-readings-that-promote-critical-consciousness/597867.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"SANS","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the “Mentor Texts Squared” approach?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Mentor Text Squared uses leveled, culturally responsive readings to mentor students on two levels: improving reading and writing and supporting them in developing agency and voice.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why do precollege or “basic skills” ESOL students often struggle in community college courses?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"They may be underprepared for credit-bearing coursework and can feel powerless when they do not know how to navigate or “bridge” the institutional expectations and course demands.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the article connect mentor texts to the idea of “bridging”?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Bridging links students’ prior learning and background experiences to the texts, using mentor texts both as writing models and as prompts for critical connections to students’ personal journeys.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},597867,1792209849,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962090760505,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Mentor Texts Squared: Helping Students Explore Voice Through Readings That Promote Critical Consciousness  \nMuch research has been conducted documenting the reading and writing challenges students in precollege courses face (Crosby, 2007; Masterson, 2007). Some colleges label these courses “developmental,” “remedial,” or “basic skills” courses. These “developmental” students comprise both US-born and immigrant pupils from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds (Roberge, Siegal, & Harklau, 2009) and are often institutionally marginalized (Blumenthal, 2002), leaving them often underprepared when matriculating into credit-bearing college-level courses (Roberge, 2009). In this article, wereport on a case study where a community college ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) instructor and three faculty members at a local university worked collaboratively on developing resources to support his struggling readers through leveled, culturally responsive texts. We share a unique approach to mentor texts, employing them both as exemplars for developing reading and writing skills, and also as a means to support avenues for finding “voice.”  \nIntroduction  \nPrecollege, or students often labeled as “basic skills,” in Califor  \nnia community colleges represent students from a variety of  \ndifferent linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and they often struggle in finding success in their community college course work (Blumenthal, 2002; Cox, 2009; Rose, 2012) . This can be a result of community college instructors’ misunderstanding the depth of their students’ academic abilities, and/or the students misunderstanding what is expected of them in a collegiate setting (Cox, 2009) . Addition  \nThe CATESOL Journal 27.2 • 2015 • 281  \nally, the varied backgrounds of these precollege students often render them powerless, not knowing how to navigate or “bridge” the courses in the community college system. We find that even in the initial stages of the community college experience, introducing students to mentor texts that not only model the English skills they wish to hone, but also speak to their experiences, may be an important step to support them in crafting their own voices as they navigate the academic system.  \nRose (2005, 2012) believes that when one becomes cognizant of the power of employing voice, and is able to speak for oneself, the potential for success in academia and society is much more likely. Unfortunately, finding voice in a culture and language that they may still be mastering can be challenging for many ESOL students. Consequently, basic skills instructors appear to not only “need to help students establish their own voices, but to coach those voices to be heard clearly [emphasis added] in the larger society”(Delpit, 1988, p. 296) . In our case, this would mean providing explicit instruction on oral and written communication, but at the same time, helping them share their voices so that their intended meanings can be heard and understood.  \nIn this vein, we piloted a process we called Mentor Text Squared (Mentor Text2). We used leveled readings from blogs posted by Mike Rose, a renowned proponent of student equity and student voice, where the readings served as mentorship on two levels. On one level, the readings provided access to an authentic text in English that could help these ESL students improve their reading and writing abilities. On another level, these mentor texts also provided examples of agency and voice we hoped could in turn support student self-efficacy. To provide students with readings that they can connect to through the process of bridging has been long supported by the literature on English language teaching in the content areas. Bridging includes both the connections to previous learning but also to background experiences. This twofold purpose of bridging also supports the implementation of the mentor texts, which served both in the capacity of providing models of writing stu","cbCaipLWSisvwbqB","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipLWSisvwbqB","pdf",623548,21,"English","# Introduction\n# Literature Review\n## The “Nontraditional” Student Within the Community College System","[{\"question\":\"What is the “Mentor Texts Squared” approach?\",\"answer\":\"Mentor Text Squared uses leveled, culturally responsive readings to mentor students on two levels: improving reading and writing and supporting them in developing agency and voice.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do precollege or “basic skills” ESOL students often struggle in community college courses?\",\"answer\":\"They may be underprepared for credit-bearing coursework and can feel powerless when they do not know how to navigate or “bridge” the institutional expectations and course demands.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article connect mentor texts to the idea of “bridging”?\",\"answer\":\"Bridging links students’ prior learning and background experiences to the texts, using mentor texts both as writing models and as prompts for critical connections to students’ personal journeys.\"}]","Mentor Texts Squared - Helping Students Explore Voice Through Readings That Promote Critical Consciousness | PDF",1792085853,53]