The writing sample used in this analysis is from a young English Language Learner’s journal. The topic of the student wrote about is a current news event—bombings that occurred in New York and New Jersey in September of 2016. There is no verbal speech involved in this analysis, so I will be focusing solely the student’s writing. In order to understand the student’s comprehension of the English language through writing, I will have to look closely at the sample to see their recognition of their L2, English. The goal of this analysis is to develop a plan of strategies based on the analyzed sample for the student to improve their use and communication of the English language.
Phonological Development
As I am analyzing a piece of writing, not oral language, I am able to see the graphemes, the smallest unit of written language, rather than hear phonemes in verbal language. In the sample, the student makes some spelling, or orthographic errors. Although it is only speculation, the student may have sounded out these words to create the spelling. In the sample, the the student writes the word “exploted” rather than the correct spelling of the word, “exploded.” The student is hearing the IPA sound of /t/ rather than the alveolar /d/ sound. This discrepancy would be …show more content…
The first step in this student’s phonological development has to do with the teacher’s mentality, “Understanding the complexities of English orthography can help teachers take sensible approaches to teaching it…Teachers of writing are sometimes reluctant to correct students’ writing, students may not be receiving the kind of corrective feedback that will help them be better writers” (Fillmore & Snow 2). Part of this Teacher’s plan of action would be to mindfully correct this student’s work so they can differentiate the sounds of /t/ and