ABSTRACT
Students who do not speak English fluently can be found in all classrooms, not just in bilingual or ESL classrooms. In English-only classrooms, students who are not fluent in English are often given few opportunities to write because teachers harbor the false notion that the students first need to learn “the basics” before they can engage in meaningful writing. It is true that students need to be familiar with some conventions of writing, but young people eager to write may become reluctant to do so if teachers base their approach on the misguided idea that students cannot begin to write until they have reached a high level of English literacy. All students, except those who know absolutely no English, can use what English they do know to write about topics that are relevant to their lives.
