A CONCERT OF VOICES: HELPING COLLEGE-LEVEL ESL STUDENTS LEARN TO WRITE RESEARCH PAPERS

students want and need explicit instruction in how to write in the genres expected by their particular discourse communities, but investigations into how to provide this instruction are scant. This qualitative study used case studies of three ESL student participants to investigate two basic research questions: a) What skills related to writing academic research essays do college-level ESL students have difficulty demonstrating? and b) What instructional techniques can writing teachers use to help ESL writers overcome these difficulties? Data were collected in the form of written teacher comments on student writing, transcripts of writing conferences, first and second drafts for three writing assignments, and teacher journal entries. The study provides insightful data that offers a view into the learning processes of ESL composition students as they attempt to apply their knowledge of English composition in real writing situations. The researcher identified themes emerging from the data that describe the areas of difficulty encountered by students. Findings indicate that ESL writers need support from instructors in performing a wide range of tasks associated with writing research essays; that ESL students appreciate explicit instruction in performing these tasks; and that individual conferencing is a key element in student-teacher communication throughout the learning process. The stud