Facilitating L2 Writers' Interpretation of Source Texts

Student success in higher education often involves the effective integration of source texts into students' writing; therefore, advanced second language (L2) students are particularly well served by effective reading-to-write instruction. Teaching L2 students to write from sources is challenging because of several issues, including limited practice with reading-to-write tasks and limited knowledge about the organizational structure (at many levels) of the texts they are reading and those they are expected to write. In this pedagogical article the researchers present key reading-to-write instructional interventions that have been refined over eight semesters of university-level L2 writing instruction. The interventions promote reading-to-write development by moving from comprehension of source materials to a focus on students' capacities to interpret (i.e., summarize and paraphrase) source texts. To provide an overview of the interventions, the authors first describe the curricular sequencing. Next, three lessons targeting specific focal skills are presented to provide instructors with readily adaptable activities and materials. Finally, general tips for successful summary and paraphrasing instruction are discussed. Appendices include samples of assignments and student work.