Generation 1.5 Students and College Writing. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, 4646 40th Street NW, Washington, DC 20016. Tel: 800-276-9834 (Toll Free). For full text: http://www.cal.org/ericcll/DIGEST.

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Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.

English (Second Language); High Schools; Higher Education; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Student Needs; Student Placement; Writing (Composition); Writing Instruction

An increasing number of U.S. high school graduates enter college while still in the process of learning English. Referred to as generation 1.5 students because they share characteristics of both first- and second-generation immigrants, they do not fit into any of the traditional categories of nonnative English speakers enrolled in college writing courses, nor have they been the focus of much research on students learning to write in English as a second language. Familiar with U.S. culture and schooling, generation 1.5 students have different learning needs from other English language learners, such as immigrants with limited English proficiency and international students who travel to the United States for the express purpose of earning an American college degree. This digest discusses some of the special needs of generation 1.5 students in the area of writing instruction and explores issues faced by English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and college writing programs in providing these students with appropriate writing instruction at the college level. (Author/VWL)

2004

ED482491