Centering Language and Communicative Purpose in Writing Instruction for Bi/Multilingual Learners

Abstract

AbstractThis article illustrates how two fourth‐grade bilingual teachers transformed their writing instruction for bi/multilingual learners by integrating a functional approach to language and literacy teaching and learning. The authors use a systemic functional linguistics genre pedagogy to explore and elucidate the teachers’ innovative instructional practices, revealing how the teachers supported bi/multilingual students in (1) preparing to write about a topic, (2) engaging with texts to understand the purpose, organizational structure, and linguistic features of a genre, and (3) making language choices to develop a topic. Through clear and explicit instruction that centers language and meaning, these pedagogical innovations support bi/multilingual students’ systematic engagement with and production of multiple text types for authentic and varied audiences across a range of communicative purposes and contexts.