The CATESOL Journal

This paper explores the ways ESOL writing instructors implement and assess participatory writing practices in the classroom using digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participatory writing practices are largely sociocultural in nature and thereby resist the notion of standardized and individualized practices to focus on co-creating a shared culture around writing (Jenkins et al., 2016). In other words, they require that students voluntarily enculturate themselves into broader, co-created discourse communities (Johns, 1997). Participatory writing practices and any subsequent assessment of them are complicated by inequitable access to and varying levels of comfort with educational and other digital technologies—a fact which is particularly salient considering that a substantial majority of ESOL courses in California shifted to remote instruction in early 2020. Using several remotely taught post-secondary ESOL writing courses in California as critical entry points for this work, we examine our collective understanding of participation in light of the shift to remote teaching and learning while also pushing back against traditional western notions of participatory writing implementation and assessment to offer a more expansive and inclusive model in which remote students are encouraged to go beyond “pseudotransactional” forms of collaboration (Wardle & Downs, 2020). With these remote ESOL writing courses as examples, we argue that there are innate challenges to supporting students in gaining a new language through participatory writing practices while simultaneously grappling with new technologies and remote learning, but we also suggest that it can be accomplished given appropriate training, tools, and attention to power dynamics.

The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly shifted the delivery of teaching and learning, particularly for adult English learners (ELs) and international students enrolled in US institutions. This study investigates EL perspectives of their English instructors during the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to remote learning in the spring of 2020 through a quantitative approach. Participants (N = 158) completed a perception questionnaire, and the results were analyzed through IBM SPSS Statistics 27.0.1. Results identify lower attendance and engagement tied to perceptions of limited instructor knowledge in online environments. In addition, they show perceptions of lower instructor effort, limited opportunities to connect with peers, and limited resources for students. These findings suggest the need for instructors with digital literacy skills and social and emotional skills in order to connect and strengthen class communities.

This reflective essay discusses my experience over one year during the COVID-19 global pandemic. I analyze my experiences teaching and my observations of students, concluding that the affordances of blended learning can be useful for engaging multilingual students, and that such engagement allows for more time for formative feedback for students. Specifically, a blended approach was used in a graduate ESL communications class for international students, most of whom took the class from their home countries. However, this approach may not necessarily fit with the teaching style of the instructor. Thus, the teaching and learning context adjusted by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a transformative teaching experience, wherein the instructor learned the value of more self-directed learning by the students. In this paper, course context will first be outlined, followed by detailed accounts of each course design approach, including cases in which students took the classes entirely asynchronously due to time zone conflicts. Specific assignments for synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning contexts will be described, and I include a critical analysis of my teaching style with each. I review the supports that allowed for experimentation with teaching approaches during this remote time and I describe overall pedagogical implications.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced educational practitioners, students (PreK–12), and families to adjust to synchronous and asynchronous online instruction. This study followed an online intervention involving a Spanish-English preschool special education teacher, a Spanish-speaking parent, and her bilingual preschool child with complex communication needs (CCN). Students with CCN frequently require an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system to compensate for severe developmental language disorders. Over a six-week period, the parent and teacher collectively introduced the preschooler to a low-technology AAC option: a picture exchange communication system in English and Spanish. Overall, the parent developed an increased understanding of her child’s communicative intent and reported high levels of satisfaction with utilizing AAC to meet her child’s bilingual language needs. Even though the pandemic caused many learning challenges, this single-subject study highlights the effectiveness of a parent-centered and culturally relevant instructional approach for a bilingual preschooler with CCN.

The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the field of education, shifting instruction from in-person classrooms to virtual learning environments on a global scale. To understand how language teachers engaged in online pedagogy during the pandemic, the current study examines how one expert English Language Development (ELD) teacher, Ms. Anya Mendoza, adapted her instruction to deliver lessons that met the content and linguistic needs of her students. Findings demonstrate how, using a two-stage research design with a semi-structured interview and critical reflection journal entry, Anya performed both instructional and affective moves to support students in their content and language learning. Prioritizing student engagement, she also created space to humanize and empower her language learners in her virtual classroom. As we venture into a post-COVID-19 “new normal” that considers in-person, online, and hybrid instruction, findings from this study demonstrate the importance of anchoring instructional decisions on the needs of students to meaningfully support content and language teaching.

This reflective writing identified components that contribute to increased participation of international ESL in one online graduate course. All the factors identified in the analysis as conducive to greater engagement and elevated participation naturally fell into the three presences of Community of Inquiry (CoI). As such, a new theoretical framework titled CoIParticipation Model was created to reveal the underlying connection between CoI and participation. Findings drawn from the critical analysis indicate that online courses maintaining a good CoI can effectively promote ESL class participation, especially oral participation, by eliminating linguistic barriers, building a sense of group commitment, and creating a connected community of learners. Instructional implications and practical teaching tips for TESOL professionals incorporating the CoI-Participation Model in online teaching are discussed.

All over the United States, adult ESL programs enroll students who are undocumented immigrants, often unbeknownst to the instructors who teach them. During the COVID-19 crisis, adult ESL enrollments decreased overall, but most especially for the undocumented immigrants who were most disadvantaged during the crisis. In order for program administrators and instructors to better understand the situation, this article explores who those with undocumented status are, why they have come to the US, and how well they are being served by public and private institutions and organizations. It details the nationality and settlement patterns of the undocumented immigrants as well as reasons for their departure from their homes around the world and their journeys to the United States. This article also discusses solutions for issues undocumented students face, including pedagogical approaches addressing the needs of undocumented learners given their migration experiences, funding to expand classrooms and hire teachers qualified to meet the needs of these students, and better collaboration between public schools and nonprofit organizations.

Giving effective writing feedback can be a challenge for any English instructor. Teaching students how to provide peer feedback can be problematic as well. Both these challenges may seem even more apparent when teaching online during a pandemic. Using Google Docs for collaborative writing feedback is one effective method for addressing both these concerns in a university-based Intensive English Program (IEP). This critical perspective examines how to scaffold collaborative writing feedback remotely using free and widely available platform Google Docs and looks at future use, post-pandemic. In particular, it will share how the authors used Google Docs to track feedback and corrections from instructors to students, set up interactive writing exercises in synchronous courses, and engage in peer-to-peer editing during a pandemic.

During traditional, in-person writing instruction, teachers can quickly model tasks for students, students have clear directions for following lesson sequences step-by-step, and partner or group collaboration can begin by simply asking students to turn to whomever is sitting next to them. Online instruction poses challenges to these typical classroom dynamics, especially for teaching writing. This article highlights some tools (HyperDocs, GIFs, and collaboration boards, including Jamboard and Padlet) that I have integrated into the National Writing Project’s “College, Career, and Community Writer’s Program” (C3WP), an argument writing curriculum. In addition to making the units of instruction generally effective for online instruction, these specific adaptations are also designed to support English learners (ELs) as they learn writing skills in an online setting. In each section, I discuss the given tool, provide a rationale for why the tool fits the task originally outlined in the writing program, and explain the effectiveness of the tool for ELs.

One essential part of teaching multilingual learners is leveraging their funds of knowledge, or students’ dynamic knowledge and practices developed in their households and communities. However, it can be challenging to identify funds of knowledge, especially in a virtual environment. This case study examines a virtual internship experience where preservice teachers (PSTs) completed a Community Exploration project designed to enhance their knowledge of students’ lives outside of school. PSTs identified important locations in the surrounding community, (virtually) visited these locations, and explored how to integrate possible funds of knowledge from these sites into their curriculum. Upon analyzing the Community Exploration projects, recordings of PSTs presenting their projects, and interviews with PSTs, we found that PSTs purposefully planned opportunities to discover students’ viewpoints, which allowed them to identify concrete examples of funds of knowledge and make connections to curriculum. We also discuss various challenges and implications for teacher education.

The purpose of this study is to empower preservice teachers (PSTs) to leverage relevant technology-based practices and be equipped with various tools and strategies appropriate for English Language Learners (ELLs) in PreK–12 grade settings. Now, more than ever, teacher candidates need to be prepared to understand the challenges faced by ELLs and provide various pedagogies for online platforms. This qualitative investigation explored 57 educators’ perspectives from PreK–12 schools, districts, and preparation programs in higher education in an effort to obtain relevant approaches in technology strategies and pedagogical frameworks that support ELLs’ remote learning. The study also draws on the knowledge needed to implement Social and Emotional Learning. Based on the findings, the study revealed (a) there are gaps between what teachers gain from the districts and what they have previously learned from their teacher preparation programs; (b) some teachers were not completely aware of the Social and Emotional Learning approach; (c) participants identified three pedagogical frameworks as most commonly used and they interchangeably used frameworks, programs, some online platforms, and resources in one section; and (d) educators’ insights highlighted what teachers should take into consideration (e.g., scaffolding/differentiated strategies) when planning, creating, and delivering instruction for ELLs in an online platform. Overall, participants emphasized the much-needed dedication to explore technology tools for various pedagogical approaches in hybrid/virtual learning spaces.