Teacher Written Commentary in Second Language Writing Classrooms

Although second language writing instructors know that providing effective written feedback is essential to any good composition course, beginning and seasoned teachers alike struggle with this challenging task. In Teacher Written Commentary in Second Language Writing Classrooms, Lynn M. Goldstein uses ample research and experiential evidence to explain both how and why teachers should comment on their students' writing assignments. Among the problems that Goldstein addresses are how to attend to the product without slighting the process, how to intervene in process without appropriating product, how to facilitate student comprehension and use of teacher feedback while promoting student independence, and how to respond efficiently while remaining attentive to individual student needs. While it may not necessarily reduce the time spent on commenting, the book will enable teachers and teachers-in-training to provide written commentary that will help their students to become stronger and more independent writers in English. This volume is the only source that contains such in-depth consideration of the issues and the range of practices within teacher written commentary and the only resource that focuses solely on issues of rhetoric and content in multilingual writing students' texts. Teachers and teacher educators will appreciate the Goldstein's thorough and well-grounded analysis. Lynn M. Goldstein is Professor, TESOL and Applied Linguistics, Monterey Institute of International Studies (CA).