Abstract:

While mother-tongue speakers of English might appear to some to be advantaged as teachers of Englishlanguage writing, it may also be the case that they are inherently disadvantaged if not experienced language learners themselves. Given limited prior research on second language (L2) writing teachers' awareness of  themselves as language learners, the purpose of this study is to explore how L2 writing teachers’ beliefs about  and practice of teaching L2 writing are influenced by their own language experiences. Two mother tongue  English language speaking (EL) teachers of L2 writing took part in this qualitative case study. During a 15-  week semester, their writing classes were periodically observed and audio-recorded. Additionally, each  teacher was interviewed using stimulated recall. Findings revealed not only that the teachers’ previous  language learning experience was an important contributor to their empathy with students as language  learners but that the teachers’ memories of their own language teachers influenced their beliefs about the  learning and teaching of L2 writing. Further research on the impact of language and literacy educators’  reflections on their own language learning is encouraged.

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