On the Ethical Treatment of ESL Writers

Abstract

E As ever-increasing numbers of nonnative speakers of English enroll in Ist-year writing classes in colleges and universities in North America, questions about how to deal with these students have become more frequent, important, and urgent. In an attempt to address some of these questions, researchers who focus on L2 writing have generated a fairly large body of scholarship and commentary on a great number of relevant theoretical and practical issues. However, I believe that one area that needs further exploration is the matter of the ethics (that is, a system or code of conduct) employed in the treatment of ESL writers. Therefore, I would like to present my thinking on this issue, which is based on the notion of respect, for it is my belief that an instructional program that does not respect its students is primed for failure and almost certain to engender resentment. In this article, I draw on my understanding of the existing L2 writing research as well as my own experience in teaching ESL writers and administering ESL writing programs. My aim is not to preach or to attempt to reveal any transcendent truths but to provoke thought and discussion.1 In my view, there are four basic ways in which ESL writers need to be respected: they need to be (a) understood, (b) placed in suitable learning contexts, (c) provided with appropriate instruction, and (d) evaluated fairly.