Task-Based Writing Instruction
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of task-based writing instruction, a communicative language-teaching method, on second language acquisition and differentiation of instruction for English language learners during the independent work time instructional component of the Open Court Reading program. Through student-teacher interaction that incorporated prompts, recasts, and constructivist pedagogy, the students’ rough drafts (written interlanguage) were transformed into standard English at the conclusion of 1-to-1 writing conferences. One teacher and 10 3rd-grade students participated in this mixed-methods study. The study took place after school for 1 month (20 sessions of 20-45 minutes each). The data consisted of 35 transcribed writing conferences, writing samples, and interviews. Results indicate that it can be a useful vehicle for differentiated instruction, constructivist pedagogy, and second language acquisition to address the diverse needs of second language learners.