WHAT WRITING TASKS DO TESOL PROFESSORS REQUIRE HYONSUK CHO

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What Writing Tasks Do TESOL
Professors Require?
HYONSUK CHO
State University of New York at Buffalo
Previous studies about writing assignments in higher education
have explained that the library research paper, report on experiment, summary, and article/book review were the most common writing assignment tasks assigned across disciplines. No
previous studies have explored writing tasks in the TESOL discipline at a national level. In this study information on 120 writing assignments, gathered directly from TESOL professors in
the United States, with 28 available online, were analyzed to (a)
explore the writing tasks frequently assigned to TESOL master’s
students; (b) examine the importance of the writing assignments
for course evaluation; and (c) compare TESOL assignments with
those in social sciences, humanities, and the arts. The study
results will help to interpret characteristics of writing assignments in TESOL programs and to infer skills required for the
writing assignments in the TESOL field. Also, the study will
help instructors of English for academic purposes in TESOL
programs guide and prepare nonnative-English-speaking
students.
doi: 10.1002/tesj.105

Writing assignments represent instructors’ objectives and
values as well as the goals and values of their discipline (Melzer,
2009). A number of researchers have examined the types of
writing tasks commonly assigned to college students across
disciplines (e.g., Cooper & Bikowski, 2007; Hale et al., 1996;
Horowitz, 1986; Leki & Carson, 1994, 1997) and those of a specific
discipline such as business (e.g., Canseco & Byrd, 1989; Zhu, 2004).
No previous studies have examined the types of writing tasks
assigned specifically to TESOL students. As Ramanathan and

Kaplan (1996) point out, English is used differently in each
discipline because each discipline has its particular culture. As
TESOL Journal 5.2, June 2014
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each discipline develops its own writing conventions, the nature
and characteristics of writing assignments across disciplines
can be different. The present study examines required writing
assignments given to TESOL master’s students in the United
States. To investigate the TESOL-specific writing assignments, I
conducted a survey study guided by the following research
questions:
1. What are common writing assignments in TESOL master’s programs in the
United States?
2. What is the weight of a writing assignment in the course evaluation?
3. How do TESOL writing assignments differ from those in social sciences,
humanities, and the arts?

The purposes of raising these questions are (a) to characterize
TESOL-specific writing tasks, (b) to infer skills needed for
completing TESOL writing assignments, (c) to enhance the
understanding of TESOL programs, and (d) to suggest how
English for academic purposes (EAP) in TESOL programs can
prepare students more effectively. Many TESOL programs offer an
EAP course to nonnative-English-speaking students who have not
had academic writing experiences. Such courses usually require
writing research papers, literature reviews, summaries, critiques,

and citations. The results of this study would be informative
for TESOL professors and students as well as for EAP course
instructors. TESOL professors and instructors who teach courses
or an EAP course can be informed of the types or genres of TESOL
writing assignments and the features that distinguish them from
other disciplines, as well as specific skills to be emphasized to
perform the writing assignments.

TESOL MASTER’S PROGRAMS
What features distinguish TESOL from other programs? To
identify TESOL-specific features, I examined descriptions of
TESOL programs on the websites of 14 universities in the United
States. These include state and private universities across the
nation. I read the program descriptions available on each school’s
website and assigned codes (e.g., prepare to teach, practicum,
materials/curriculum development, teaching methods, language
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teaching/learning theory, research, linguistic knowledge,
sociolinguistic knowledge, second language acquisition) and
merged the codes into three categories: teaching, research, and
knowledge. Table 1 summarizes the descriptions of each category
and frequency.
The descriptions of the 14 universities’ TESOL programs and
their aims are generally alike. Almost all schools emphasize the
three categories, though some schools add the understanding of
culture and literacy. It should be noted that the schools clearly

specify the integration of the three categories, rather than
emphasizing one of the categories independently. That is, most
schools aim that TESOL master’s students will be able to teach
English as a second language, incorporating research and
linguistic knowledge at the completion of their program.
Although incorporating teaching, research, and knowledge is a
major goal, in my survey preparing to teach was mentioned the
most. In their survey, Richards and Crookes (1988) found that a
practicum or practice of teaching was a compulsory course in 85%
of the 78 TESOL master’s degree programs in the United States.
TABLE 1. Descriptions of 14 TESOL Master’s Programs
Category

Descriptions

Count

Teaching

Professional/teacher development, pedagogy/teaching
methods, practicum, materials/curriculum/test
development (e.g., prepares students to teach,
understanding of a range of second language teaching
approaches, advanced professional preparation in the
teaching)
Theory of language teaching/learning, research (e.g.,
provides educators with a research knowledge base,
incorporating theoretical understanding)
Linguistic knowledge, sociolinguistic knowledge,
understanding of second language acquisition (e.g.,

solid foundation in the fields of linguistics; introduces
the study of linguistic structure—phonology,
morphology, syntax, and semantics; the study of
language use in social contexts; the study of second
language acquisition; gain knowledge of critical
linguistic and educational issues)

32

Research

Knowledge

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12

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If classroom teaching is considered direct teaching, materials
development is classified as indirect teaching in the sense that
teachers develop or modify the materials for their teaching.
According to Tomlinson (1998), materials include anything used
by teachers and learners to promote language teaching or learning.
Tomlinson states that teachers as materials developers provide
information as a way to facilitate language learning. Grosse’s
(1991) survey of TESOL methods courses demonstrates that lesson

plans, activity development, and curriculum development were
the major parts of course requirements.
In addition to these practical skills, many TESOL programs
offer courses that help students become well-balanced
professionals by teaching second language acquisition theory
and pedagogy, the structure of English, language assessment,
linguistics, sociolinguistics, and educational research. The brief
examination of the TESOL master’s program descriptions and
previous studies indicates that these programs place emphasis not
only on teaching but also on research and knowledge, engaging
students in diverse types of academic reading and writing
throughout the program.

COMMON TYPES OF WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
ACROSS DISCIPLINES
For most disciplines, a number of researchers have examined the
commonly assigned types of writing tasks (e.g., Cooper &
Bikowski, 2007; Hale et al., 1996; Horowitz, 1986; Leki & Carson,
1994, 1997). Although Hale et al. (1996) examined writing
assignments at undergraduate and graduate levels in eight
universities, the programs they studied did not include education
or linguistics. Horowitz (1986) and Cooper and Bikowski (2007)
share several findings, but several discrepancies also exist. As for
the methodology, Horowitz analyzed actual writing assignment
handouts and essay examinations used at a university. He
collected a total of 54 assignments from primarily undergraduate
courses in 17 departments. Cooper and Bikowski collected 77
syllabi from professors at a single university as well as 23 syllabi
from international students. They also collected 100 publicly
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available syllabi from the Internet to reduce the bias created by
choosing one university. Unlike Horowitz, Cooper and Bikowski
used only graduate-level courses, including master’s degree and
doctoral degree coursework.
Despite the different data collection methods, Cooper and
Bikowski (2007) and Horowitz (1986) found similar results. In
Horowitz’s study, common writing tasks assigned in the academic
content courses included synthesis of multiple sources (15 out of
54 assignments), connection of theory and data (10 out of 54),
summary of/reaction to a reading (9 out of 54), and reports on a
participatory experience (9 out of 54). Other less frequent types of
writing assignments included case studies, research projects, and
annotated bibliographies. The synthesis assignment refers to a
typical library research paper that requires a summary of multiple
articles or books. Connection of theory and data requires linking
specific theories with data obtained from multiple readings or
personal experiences. Summary of/reaction to a reading involves
writing a summary of an article and/or a response such as critique
or personal opinions. A report on a participatory experience is a
report on a survey or experiment, which was mainly used in
communication arts and sciences courses.
Some writing assignments found in Cooper and Bikowski’s
study (2007) were the same as those in Horowitz’s (1986), but they
were named differently: library research paper (similar to
synthesis of multiple sources), report on an experiment/project,
and article/book review (similar to summary, reaction, or

critique). Other assignments which were not included by Horowitz
were proposal/plan, journal article, essay, unstructured writing,
and short task. Library research paper (or synthesis of multiple
sources) and report on a project were the most common types of
writing assignments required in any discipline and at any level,
from undergraduate to doctoral. However, it is not clear whether
Cooper and Bikowski’s definition of a research paper refers to a
paper that is based on the original/primary data or only includes
a literature review. Although it is known that graduate students
are often asked to conduct research in addition to a review of
literature or synthesis of resources from the library, Cooper and
Bikowski did not make this distinction in their results. Also,
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251


because Cooper and Bikowski covered all graduate disciplines,
it is difficult to pinpoint assignment patterns in education and
TESOL areas.

METHODOLOGY
Data Collection
This study is a quantitative survey study using nonprobability
sampling. Universities where TESOL master’s degree programs
are offered were selected from the school list on the TESOL
organization website. Among the schools listed, those that
provided professors’ email addresses on their websites were
selected. The convenience sample was used due to the availability
of contact information, so the sample does not represent all TESOL

professors in the United States. A total of 112 professors from 29
universities across the nation were contacted. Selected professors
included full professors, associate professors, assistant professors,
and lecturers. Whether their affiliation was with the graduate
school of education or linguistics/applied linguistics, if they were
instructors of a TESOL master’s degree program they were
selected as potential respondents. The invitation letter with an
attached questionnaire was emailed to them.
Out of 112 professors, 23 professors from 14 universities
completed the questionnaire or sent syllabi, and 24 professors
replied “no” with various reasons (e.g., currently not teaching
TESOL students, teaching another program, travel, retirement). A
total of 120 assignments for 44 courses from 14 universities were
collected directly from the 23 professors. In addition to the data
directly collected from professors, 28 assignments in 11 syllabi
available online from 7 schools used between 2006 and 2009 were
added. Thus, a total of 55 courses and 148 assignments from 21
universities, including private and public schools located in the
West, East, and Midwest of the United States, were examined for
the current study. The course information was obtained through
either the syllabus of a course or the questionnaire. Most of the
professors sent a copy of their syllabus or syllabi to me, but the
questionnaire was designed to offer an option to professors who
were reluctant to make their syllabi open for research. The
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professors could copy and paste parts of their syllabi or write the

information in the questionnaire: course name, descriptions of
writing assignment, and its weight of the course evaluation.
Categories of Writing Assignments
The writing assignments were categorized according to the names
of writing tasks used by Cooper and Bikowski (2007). However,
when an assignment did not fit into any category, new categories
were created (e.g., materials development, materials review,
reflective paper, online discussion), and some categories were
defined differently (e.g., essay; see Table 2). Table 2 provides the
definitions and example instructions of each type of writing
assignment used in the current study. Assignments that occurred
only once were not included.
To determine the type of assignment, I used the description of
an assignment rather than the title of the writing task. When the
descriptions were missing, those assignments were not included
in the analysis (e.g., midterm or homework without a description).
Also, a collection of several writing assignments (e.g., portfolio,
which occurred twice) was not included. To investigate the
frequency of the task, the number of assignments was calculated,
and the percentage allotted to the assignment in the course
evaluation was recorded.

RESULTS
The first and second research questions concerned the types of
writing assignments in the TESOL programs and their portion of
the course evaluation. Table 3 shows the TESOL writing
assignments along with the number of assignments found among
148 assignments, the frequency of these assignments among 55
courses, and the mean and standard deviation of the percentage of
each assignment in the course evaluation. Table 4 compares

frequently assigned writing tasks found in the present study as
well as in Cooper and Bikowski’s (2007), and Horowitz’s (1986)
studies.
The most commonly assigned task in the TESOL programs
was the research paper, as found in other studies (e.g., Cooper &
Bikowski, 2007; Horowitz, 1986). For the research paper in the
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Definition

Examples

Research
paper

A paper that synthesizes multiple sources and/or
describes a student’s original study. (Without data
collection and analysis, a literature review is still
considered a research paper.)

Choose a topic to investigate. Your research
should concern some aspect of social variation
in language and include original data collected

through observation, elicited speech, interview,
and use of library sources.
Read, evaluate, and synthesize a number of
secondary sources to understand a particular
TESOL topic in depth.
Write a reflective paper in which you, as a
Reflective
A paper or journal that expresses the writer’s
paper
reflections on a reading, course, teaching practicum, student teacher, explore your own teaching
or language class observation
and teaching issues.
Materials
An assignment in which the student develops
Write a lesson plan that incorporates best
development teaching materials, such as lesson plans, curriculum
practices for teaching reading and writing to
development, and test development
English language learners.
Construct a test, developing an appropriate test
answer key or scoring rubric.
Essay
A problem-based take-home exam that often requires The exam will be in essay format. Students will
bibliographic information
be expected to demonstrate an understanding of
and the ability to apply key concepts from class
discussions in their responses. You may quote
the text while taking this exam.
Report
A report based on teaching practicum, class

Classroom observation report should include
observation, or conference attendance
descriptions, interpretations, and evaluations of
what you observe in language classrooms.

Writing task

TABLE 2. Types of Writing Assignments in TESOL Master’s Programs


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Definition

Examples

Online
discussion

An online posting for discussion, including questions Weekly reading responses should not be a simple
and reflections usually based on class readings.
summary of the readings; instead, they should
reflect active engagement with the concepts and
(The format is informal and relatively short, and
theaudience is a specified group or a whole class.)
information found in the readings.
Proposal
A paper that describes future research

Write a proposal for the action research project.
The proposal should include the research topic,
purpose, research questions, and possible
methods for data collection as well as a list of
four references that are relevant to the chosen
topic.
Materials
A review of teaching/learning materials, including
Select a grammatical feature and a grammar
review
textbooks and tests. (Reviews of article or books are
textbook. Evaluate the examples and
not included in the materials review, but in the
explanations and suggest how you might
research paper category.)
change the explanations to meet the needs of
learners.
Quiz
Short answers to questions, usually assigned in
There is an in-class quiz on phonetic
courses related to teaching of grammar
transcription and features.
Annotated
A list of references that includes a brief summary of Produce an annotated bibliography in a
bibliography
each article or book
particular research area—approximately two
books and 20 research articles.
Summary
A piece of writing that reduces the original article/

Summarize the articles or book chapters that are
book to a set of main ideas and major details
relevant to the topic of your choice. Provide an
accurate, coherent, well-organized summary.

Writing task

TABLE 2. (Continued)


TABLE 3. Number and Frequency of Writing Assignments and the
Weight of Course Evaluation in the 55 TESOL Classes

N = 148
Research paper
Reflective paper
Materials development
Essay
Report
Online discussion
Proposal
Materials review
Quiz
Annotated bibliography
Summary

Writing
assignments

Frequency

in the
courses (%)

Weight of
course
evaluation
(mean%)

Weight of
course
evaluation
(SD%)

37
21
19
16
13
12
11
7
6
4
2

67
38
35
29
24

22
20
13
11
7
4

28.5
20.5
27.9
25.6
23.5
19.6
22.7
20.7
22.5
18.8
17.5

12.4
10.1
10.7
8.1
14.3
6.6
12.1
4.5
16.1
15.5
3.5

present study, some professors asked students to critique and
synthesize scholarly sources for a research topic (e.g., literature
review, critical review), whereas others asked students to conduct
a research study by collecting and analyzing data in addition to a
literature review. Sixty-seven percent of 55 courses assigned the
research paper. Also, the weight of research paper in the course
evaluation was the highest among assignments—the mean was
28.5% and the maximum was 60%.
The reflective paper, materials development, essay, and report
were the most assigned tasks following the research paper. The
reflective paper, as an unstructured and less formal paper, asked
students to reflect on their experiences related to teaching and
learning English and reading course materials. Materials
development (e.g., developing lesson plans, teaching materials or
tests, curriculum development), unique in the TESOL program,
was a requirement in 35% of the courses. The essay was in the
form of a take-home exam in most cases, and its weight in the
course evaluation was high (25.6%). The report was found in 24%
of the courses and included 23.5% of the course evaluation. The
report was usually based on the teaching practicum and class
observation.
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TABLE 4. Comparison of Frequently Assigned Writing Tasks
Cooper & Bikowski
(2007): 100 syllabi and

Current study: 148 100 additional syllabi
Frequency assignments, TESOL
from the Internet,
(most to
graduate courses,
graduate courses,
least)
21 universities
1 university
1

Research paper

2

Reflective paper

Library research
paper
Article/book review

3
4

Materials
development
Essay

Report on an
experiment/project

Plan/proposal

5
6
7

Report
Online discussion
Proposal

Case study
Summary
Essay

8
9
10

Materials review
Quiz
Annotated
bibliography
Summary

Journal article
Unstructured writing
Annotated
bibliography

11

Horowitz (1986): 54
assignments,
undergraduate
courses, 17
departments,
1 university
Synthesis of multiple
sources
Connection of theory
and data
Summary of/reaction
to a reading
Report on
participatory
experience
Research project
Case studies
Annotated
bibliography

The online discussion (22%) was found as frequently as the
proposal (20%) in the courses. Materials review, quiz, annotated
bibliography, and summary occurred in 13%, 11%, 7%, and 4% of
the courses, respectively. Whereas the reflective paper (38%) and
the online discussion (22%) were frequently assigned, the
percentage of these assignments in determining course evaluation
was only 20.5% and 19.6%, respectively, lower than research
paper, materials review, essay, report, proposal, and quiz. When
an assignment was used as an exam to evaluate student learning

and knowledge, the percentage of the course grade for the
assignment was relatively high (e.g., essay and quiz, 25.6% and
22.5%, respectively).
The third research question concerned similarities and
differences in writing assignments between the TESOL discipline
and the social sciences, humanities, and arts (SSHA). Although
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TESOL is usually affiliated with the SSHA, the comparison would
identify whether TESOL writing assignments are distinguished
from those in other graduate programs in SSHA. The result of
the current study was compared to the findings of the SSHA
departments in Cooper and Bikowski’s (2007) study. Table 5
shows the percentage of classes that assigned specific writing
assignments in the TESOL master’s programs and those assigned
in graduate programs in the SSHA at a university. The most
frequently assigned task in the TESOL discipline was consistent
with that in the SSHA departments. Although Cooper and
Bikowski’s description for library research paper did not specify
whether it included both conducting an original study (from data
collection to analysis) and library research, the current study
included both the literature review and the research paper. Only
one task was statistically significantly different in the two groups:
unstructured writing. Unstructured writing includes the reflective
paper, online discussion, and quiz. The TESOL professors assigned
unstructured writing tasks more than professors in the SSHA.
Discussion about unstructured writing will be further elaborated

in the Discussion section. Although materials development and
materials review were popular tasks in the TESOL programs, the
comparison was not feasible since those assignments did not occur
in the SSHA.
TABLE 5. Percentage of Classes Assigning Specified Writing Tasks in
TESOL and Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts (SSHA)
Assignment
Research paper
Unstructured writing
Essay
Report
Plan/Proposal
Annotated bibliography

TESOL
(55 courses)

SSHA
(103 courses)

Chi-square
value

67%
71%
29%
24%
20%
4%

53%
13%
13%
20%
20%
7%

0.11
0.00*
0.40
0.25
0.09
0.07

Note. SSHA data collected in Cooper and Bikowski (2007, p. 216). Unstructured writing includes the
reflective paper, online discussion, and quiz. Materials development in TESOL was not included
because no appropriate comparison was available with tasks in SSHA.
*p < .01.

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DISCUSSION
In brief, the research paper, the reflective paper, and materials
development are the three writing tasks most frequently assigned
to TESOL master’s students in the United States. Except for
the materials development task (e.g., lesson plan, curriculum
development, test development), which is unique in the TESOL

programs, unstructured writing was significantly different from
assignments in the SSHA.
What do the results mean to TESOL graduate students and
instructors who teach them? I group assignments according to the
specific skills needed for them, rather than discussing each type of
assignment. In this way, the findings are more meaningful to
TESOL instructors and students. Although it is helpful to know
how much the writing tasks affect the course grade, it is more
important to know what skills are actually required to complete
the tasks. First, TESOL students need to integrate reading and
writing skills. Reading is a prerequisite for several assignments,
such as research paper, literature review, reflective paper, online
discussion, essay, annotated bibliography, and summary. The
major skills needed for the research paper and the literature
review include synthesizing multiple sources on a topic. The
annotated bibliography and the summary require summarizing a
source. Depending on the purpose, the reflective paper and the
online discussion can often be based on course readings.
Summarizing is “clearly crucial for education” (Seidlhofer, 1995, p.
2) and is an essential skill for several writing tasks in the TESOL
programs. As listed in Table 4, however, summary was not
frequently assigned in the TESOL programs, which contrasts with
previous studies (Cooper & Bikowski, 2007; Horowitz, 1986). It
does not necessarily mean that TESOL professors do not value
summarizing. Rather, they assign summarizing as part of a writing
assignment, instead of summary as an independent task. For
example, summaries of sources should be synthesized for a
research paper; and for a reflective paper, a summary is presented
before the reflections and discussion. Because many writing tasks
require integrated reading and writing skills, it is suggested that

TESOL instructors provide detailed guidance on their expectations
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to students when assigning writing assignments that involve
reading, because writing assignments are learning tools in
addition to assessment tools.
Second, TESOL students also need to be able to integrate
their teaching-related experience and knowledge with their
writing. Some of the writing assignments (e.g., report, materials
development, reflective paper) are based on a student’s direct
teaching, class observations, or knowledge about language
teaching. These assignments can be completed with a
combination of diverse skills, such as hands-on experience,
previous knowledge, and reading skills. Students need to
develop effective ways to utilize their practicum field notes
when writing a reflective paper and report, but more important,
they need a creative and critical way to integrate their
observations, experience, and knowledge. Students may have
difficulty formatting writing assignments that are based on
teaching, such as reports of practicum or class observations,
materials development, and reflective paper, because the genres
of those writing tasks are unique in TESOL programs, and
students may not have access to templates or examples.
Instructing specific guidelines of structure, organization, and
tone of writing would be helpful for students.
Third, TESOL students should develop effective
communication skills for learning. The only writing assignment

that was significantly different from other disciplines in the SSHA
was unstructured writing. The weight of unstructured writing in
the course evaluation was not as high as its frequency. This
may indicate that professors frequently assign unstructured
writing to promote learning, rather than for evaluating students’
performance. The common forms of unstructured writing include
posting questions about the weekly readings online and writing
reflections on readings in connection with the actual language
classroom environment. To maximize the learning of not only each
individual student but the whole group or class, the instructors
should help students understand the rationale for the assignments.
It is widely encouraged at the graduate level that students should
cooperate and contribute to the course by sharing their intellectual
and practical experiences and understandings.
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The skills described here should be practiced in EAP courses to
prepare nonnative-English-speaking students to perform
successfully in the program. EAP teachers should teach writing
along with reading (e.g., how to read for writing). The importance
of integrating reading and writing is clearly stated by Hirvela
(2004): “We must view reading as an integral part of the writing
process” (p. 44). EAP course instructors should also consider
including informal writing or unstructured writing in their
curriculum. EAP courses often focus on formal academic writing,
but nonnative-English-speaking students may not have
experienced unstructured writing for academic purposes. Students

need to realize that it is important to learn how to write
reflections, to pose thought-provoking discussion questions, and to
respond to others’ comments.

CONCLUSION
This study analyzed syllabi and information, collected directly
from professors and online, about writing assignments recently
used in TESOL graduate programs in the United States. The
results inform TESOL master’s students and instructors of TESOL
programs and TESOL EAP courses with respect to writing tasks
assigned in TESOL graduate courses. Among 148 writing
assignments, the research paper was most frequently assigned,
followed by the reflective paper and materials development.
Unstructured writing of reflections on course readings, language
teaching, and class observation (e.g., reflective paper, online
discussion, quiz) was assigned to TESOL students significantly
more than to students of other graduate programs in the SSHA.
The problem-based essay, report, online discussion, research
proposal, materials review, quiz, annotated bibliography, and
summary were also assigned. The writing assignments found in
this study represent the three crucial goals of the program as
promoted by many TESOL master’s programs: research (doing
research or incorporating theoretical knowledge), teaching
(preparing to teach), and knowledge (obtaining linguistic
knowledge and understanding of second language learning).
Although the current study was conducted nationwide, the
number of professors who participated was 33, from 21
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261

universities among more than 200 universities that offer TESOL
programs in the United States. Thus, the findings should be
understood with caution. There may be writing assignments that
do not belong to any of the categories, or some assignments
may be more frequently assigned depending on the goals of
the course and the program. Another limitation is that the
categories of assignments and the weight of the assignment in
the course evaluation may not explain all the variations. For
example, one of the professors in this study did not separate
the grade for oral (presentation) and written work (paper) for
an assignment; however, the percentage of the assignment for
the course evaluation was treated as a writing assignment in the
current study. In addition, different professors assign different
values for each assignment when determining the course
evaluation. For example, one professor assigned 80% of a course
evaluation for a research paper (mean is 28.5%), whereas
another professor assigned 0% for a reflective paper (mean is
20.5%).
Despite these limitations, this first nationwide survey study
about writing tasks assigned to TESOL master’s students is a
meaningful small step for understanding the TESOL discipline
and a practical tool to help TESOL students with their academic
life. The results of the study suggest that TESOL students, whether
native or nonnative English speakers, need a complex set of skills
to perform the requirements in their coursework: (a) integrating
reading and writing skills; (b) integrating teaching experience,
knowledge, and writing skills; and c) developing effective written
communication skills for learning. Because each discipline has its

own specific writing assignments and conventions, instructors in
TESOL programs, including EAP course instructors, should clearly
provide guidelines for writing assignments and discuss important
skills needed for the assignments, in addition to emphasizing the
values and purposes of the writing tasks.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I express my gratitude to the participating professors who shared
their course information and answered my questions. Without
their help and support, this project would have been impossible.
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TESOL Journal


I also thank Professor Brutt-Griffler and three anonymous
reviewers for their constructive comments.

THE AUTHOR
Hyonsuk Cho is a PhD candidate in the program of foreign and
second language education at the State University of New York at
Buffalo. She graduated from the TESOL master’s program of the
University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include second
language reading and writing, bilingualism, and language
socialization.

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