Second Language Writing in Elementary Classrooms

Review 1 - Betsy Gililand, University of Hawaii Manoa General 1) In your own words, please provide a short outline of the project The book consists of chapters written by separate authors, each focused on an individual topic. The first section of 3 chapters covers 'Instructional Issues' that include an overview of the field of elementary L2 writing, a study of elementary students writing on digital platforms, and a discussion of co-teaching as an approach. The second section of 4 chapters addresses writing in the content areas, including 3 chapters about using systemic functional linguistics in science writing and one on storytelling in language arts. The final section of 3 chapters addresses issues of teacher preparation, including a vague description of teacher knowledge, a case study of one novice teacher's learning, and a survey study of in-service elementary teachers. 2) Of the different product categories outlined above, which do you feel this proposal best fits and why? Edited collection: It is definitely a collection of work by various authors, but more a collection of research studies, not a definitive handbook. It is too long to be a 'pivot' volume, and not geared to students. Proposal 3) Does this proposal offer a useful and/or original contribution to the field? Is it addressing any new/emerging areas? It does, as there are (to my knowledge) no academic/research-based books focused on second language writing in elementary schools. The field of second language writing has only in the last decade recognized that it needs to expand its scope to K12 contexts, given its previous focus mainly on college age learners. 4) Does it adequately engage with recent scholarship? Does it take existing scholarship forward? This is one place I feel like the editors' proposal does not do their subject justice. In discussing recent scholarship, they make the claim that the Journal of Second Language Writing has only published 3 articles in the last decade on elementary age learners in the US. They neglect to consider whether other journals have addressed this topic. A cursory search of the NCTE website shows quite a lot of journal articles that in some way address second language writing in elementary schools (perhaps these articles were not 100% focused on the topic, but it would still do to consider that writing may often be included in studies of reading and writing together, for example). There are quite a few other journals that the editors also did not mention where this kind of research may be more likely to appear-journals written with elementary school students, rather than second language writing, as the focus. The editors similarly do not mention research that has addressed elementary age students learning to write in other languages in other countries. Surely TESOL Quarterly and maybe even JSLW have published studies that could be useful to their argument for the book. 5) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal? You may wish to consider structure, organisation, coherence and presentation of material; scope, coverage and breadth of appeal or degree of specialisation; whether there are any obvious omissions; timeliness and likely shelf-life of the research; what proportion of the work, if any, will require substantial re-working? Are any suggested improvements fundamental to the project's success or discretionary matters which might be addressed after the project has been accepted? One thing I especially like about this book is that it considers both students and teacher practices. Given that there are relatively few studies on this topic as yet, it is helpful to pull together what is known about how young learners interact with writing and how their teachers learn to use writing with language learners. Most of the proposed chapters take a clear focus on one aspect of this topic in ways that complement the other chapters. (see my comments later in this section on chapters that do not fit as well) I also like that the book includes both chapters by established scholars and relatively unknown researchers as well as some teachers. The two complete chapters that are included with the proposal are of high quality. Several issues concern me with respect to this book. One is whether there is a need to make the focus entirely on the United States, or if it might be stronger (and more broadly marketable) if it were applicable to other countries with similar young L2 learners in the schools-the UK, Canada, and Australia come to mind. Broadening the scope would allow the editors to take into consideration research done in other countries, possibly that could demonstrate novel approaches that might benefit US teachers as well as others. As I noted above in (4), the editors don't consider much about the rest of the field. They state that there are no other books on their topic, but there are definitely books about ESL writing for elementary school; generally these are resource books for teachers, however, rather than books of research studies. The editors list a couple at the end (in the list of potential competing books). Some are about both reading and writing. It would be good to see that the editors have considered how those fit with their proposed book. Another concern is with Section II, on content area instruction. I wonder why there are three chapters that all address similar issues of using SFL in teaching science, and only one on another content area (storytelling in language arts). SFL is certainly a useful way to teach students the language of school writing, but I question whether it is helpful to readers of a general book on L2 writing in elementary schools to see three chapters on the same topic. I would highly suggest removing 1-2 of the science chapters and replacing them with either chapters that cover other content areas (math? Music? Social studies?) or at least take different approaches to teaching science writing. This seems to me like a major flaw in this proposal. With respect to the quality of individual chapters, I am baffled by ch. 8 (by Crosby). This paragraph is a vague statement of fact rather than a description of what the chapter will do. I can't even tell if it will be a research study, a literature review, or a recommendation for teacher education curriculum. If the editors have more information from their call for chapters, it would have helped for them to include it in this proposal. If not, I question their choice of this chapter. 6) Do you feel the author/editor is suitably qualified to produce a high quality book on this topic? Definitely, given the previous work both editors have done. 7) If you are aware that the book is being considered for inclusion in a specific series, please comment on its suitability for that series. N/A Market and Competition 8) Who would you anticipate the main readership of this book to be (in terms of field and level)? Teacher educators and researchers of second language writing in schooling contexts. Graduate students of education and second language writing. Maybe a few elementary school teachers and ESL coaches, although probably not as likely since they would want more focus on practical applications rather than research. 9) Would this title be suitable for the student market as a core text? If so, would you adopt/recommend this book for any courses you teach? It seems like it might be in a course on literacy in elementary school classrooms, although probably more for graduate students than for preservice teachers. 10) Is this book likely to have interdisciplinary and/or international appeal? Yes: teacher education, writing studies, and educational linguistics 11) Would this title be suitable/essential reading for a practitioner or policymakers market? If so, please let us know if there are any organisations, institutions or professional networks that would be interested in the work. Probably not so much, unless there were policymakers who were really interested in knowing the research behind issues of English learner instruction. 12) How does this proposal compare to the main competing titles in this area in terms of quality of writing and content? As the editors point out, there really isn't any exact competition. Recommendation 13) Would you recommend: b) revising the proposal and resubmitting Review 2 - Todd Ruecker, The University of New Mexico The proposed collection has a strong and sufficiently narrow focus: enriching teacher educator and researcher understandings of the experiences of L2 writers in elementary schools in order to better serve these students' needs. The choice of an edited collection is appropriate because this allows them to bring in voices from diverse contributors, thus enhancing the collection's appeal to a wider audience. The proposal provides a clear overview of the collection and its need, with the attention to the JSLW publication trends providing clear indication of the importance of this collection. I would have liked to see more of a sense of what scholarship exists in the prospectus; however, Palgrave does ask for a brief description of the need, so this limits more expansive reporting. Having read the editors' previous collection, other work they've completed, and their impressive CVs, I am confident in their ability to undertake this project. A glance at their TOC reveals a number of known experts in this area (e.g., Meg Gebhard, Maria Estela Brisk, Cate Crosby, and Ditlev Larsen) alongside some more emerging scholars. There are also some co-authors from public school districts, which gives me confidence that these chapters are well connected to what is happening in the schools, making it more relevant to teachers-in-training. I am particularly excited about Scott's overview of previous research and it is good to see a chapter detailing an innovative way to integrate technology in the classroom (Brown). The authors accurately identify the likely market for this book: 'graduate students and faculty in education and ESL.' As they note, this collection could be a useful addition as programs and scholars push for more L2 writing-focused courses in teacher education programs, the need of which was established quite well by Larsen in their last collection. This being said, they could have thought through the marketing section a bit more as the first three books on their list are well known but generic examples of L2 writing-focused collections, collections that are not likely on the list of many teacher educators. The latter three items are more directly relevant to this collection and their target audience, but I would have liked to see a more robust listing and engagement with the existing market. For instance, a quick look at the Teachers College Press catalogue turned up a relatively recent book relevant to the topic of this collection: Lori Helman's Literacy Instruction in Multilingual Classrooms: Engaging English Language Learners in Elementary School. The editors did do a nice job of specifying relevant organizations like AERA, TESOL, and AAAL that would be good venues to market this collection. Also, I can attest to the fact that they are well connected in these organizations, giving regular presentations and active in various interest sections. I believe they are also both members of the TESOL Board of Directors. The two sample chapters provided a sense of both the promises and potential limitations of this collection. First, both chapters did a nice job situating their work within existing research and their detailing of their methodology was adequate. The description of their findings, which included images in one case and extended quotes in the other, gave us a rich picture of the contexts in which the work was conducted. However, they both left me wanting a bit more in terms of implications. The Brisk et al. chapter was quite brief (coming in at a bit over 4000 words with references) and neither had an overly robust discussion or conclusion. However, I understand the challenge of getting fully developed chapters to submit with the prospectus as I am in the midst of co-editing a collection myself. This brings me to my primary concern with this proposed collection. Having read their last collection, L2 Writers in Secondary Schools, I felt it included a strong selection of chapters and authors and did a nice job opening up a dialogue in this understudied area, which this collection proposes to do. However, it was rather short and the lack of a developed introduction by the editors left me wanting more. The editors have a wealth of knowledge and I would like to see a stronger imprint of them on this collection than in their previous one, something that is currently a bit lacking in the prospectus. For instance, I was surprised not to see an introductory chapter with the prospectus nor one mentioned in the brief TOC, making me think that it might again be an afterthought (admittedly, the first chapter by Scott may serve some of the functions that a strong introduction would). These reservations aside, it is clear the editors have already assembled an interesting and useful set of chapters and will be able to make sure everything gets assembled, edited, and published in a timely manner. While I certainly think Palgrave should move forward with this project, I have two primary recommendations. First, make sure the editors of the collection push for more development among the chapters, especially in terms of implications for teachers and teacher educators. This will help ensure that their primary target audience finds the work useful. Second, encourage them to provide a strong introductory chapter and perhaps some kind of afterward and/or introductions to each section. This would help the editors be a stronger presence in this collection than in their last one. In terms of a recommendation for Palgrave, I lean towards accept with revision, with the primary request being that the authors provide an introductory chapter. Response to Reviews Response to Reviews 1 and 2 Review 1 Concern: Several issues concern me with respect to this book. One is whether there is a need to make the focus entirely on the United States, or if it might be stronger (and more broadly marketable) if it were applicable to other countries with similar young L2 learners in the schools-the UK, Canada, and Australia come to mind. Broadening the scope would allow the editors to take into consideration research done in other countries, possibly that could demonstrate novel approaches that might benefit US teachers as well as others. Response: We have focused on the United States for this project because it follows our other book project, L2 writing in secondary classrooms (Routledge, 2013) which also focused on the U.S. context. However, we will make sure to describe the issues in our introduction (see response to review 2 below) that more broadly apply to L2 writers in other English-speaking contexts such as the UK, Canada, and Austr...