JJ Post 3

While reading about the possible transfer-based problems I began thinking about the "order of operations" that take place when an ESL student writes. Do students think of a sentence in their own language and translate it in their head to English or do they "think" in English when trying to write in English? I have a barely-passing capability to speak Spanish but I often have to start with English phrase I am trying to say in my head and then translate into Spanish. This sort of two-step process is time consuming but generally (I hope) results in accurate translation. What would be the pros/cons of having a student complete a writing assignment in their native language first then afterwards translate it into English? This may not be relevant or even helpful for more seasoned ESL students but may help novices.

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