Aural/oral second language learning occurs more or less naturally, much as it does for infants learning their first language. Reading and writing is a different story; people spend 12 or 13 years in school learning to read and write. Therefore, many of the communicative language learning techniques designed for the acquisition of speaking and listening skills may be of little help in adapting writing for ESL students.

Pre-teach the vocabulary involved in the writing assignment. If the assignment deals with the Great Depression, write the key vocabulary on the board and discuss the meaning and use of each word. Give students time to look these words up in their dictionaries.

Model the writing assignment by providing an outline or even an outstanding example of past work on a similar topic. Modeling is especially important because the five-paragraph expository essay that is so popular in the United States is not a universally accepted standard of academic writing throughout the world.

Use the buddy system by pairing English learners with native English speakers in your class. Have these buddy pairs peer review and edit each other's essays. The English learners benefit from reading examples of age- and grade-level appropriate writing, while the native speakers benefit from having to consider their native language from the point of view of a non-native learner.

Write essays in drafts. Give all students the opportunity to revise their first drafts after they have seen examples of other students' work. Remind students that it is okay to borrow ideas from other students' work, but it is never okay to steal other people's words.

Avoid plagiarism by assigning creative writing topics early in the year, and then moving on to more traditional expository topics. If the topic is slavery, invite the students to write a letter to President Lincoln from the point of view of a freed slave; save the five-paragraph essay on the social, political, and economic implications of the emancipation proclamation for later in the term.