In an opinion piece published by GothamSchools, Arthur Goldstein, an English-as-a-second-language teacher at Francis Lewis High School in New York City, explains how he was successful in teaching ELLs so they could pass the English Regents exam. But he thinks his writing lessons were meaningless for students for the long-term. "I showed them how to write highly formulaic four-paragraph essays that minimally met the requirements," he said.
By contrast, Goldstein believes his lessons to beginning ELLs on the basics of communication in English are very useful for students. He stresses that it's the communicative aspects of language that will best serve students in the long run.
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