The Writing of Language Minority Students: A Literature Review on Its Relation to Oral Proficiency

We reviewed literature on the school-related writing of students in English-dominant settings whose native languages were other than English to identify 2 kinds of difference: (a) among language minority (LM) students differing in oral English proficiency and (b) between LM and native English-speaking students. Sixteen studies met selection criteria. Despite a wide variety of dependent variables and outcomes, the trend was toward basic differences in the writing of native and non-native English speakers. However, findings were mixed for a large and growing population in U.S. schools: LM students who spoke fluent English and had been educated in English-dominant schools for at least 3 years (Generation 1.5). In some ways, their writing resembled that of English language learners, but in others it was highly similar to that of native English speakers. The review concludes that the field is currently at the beginning stages of understanding the writing of LM students and suggests hypotheses for testing in future research.