A method is described for teaching writing to students for whom English is nearly a "first" language by virtue of the nature and circumstances of their use of it. The basic tenet of the approach is that the student can only learn to write well if he has a belief in himself and in the value of his own responses. To write well, the student must grapple with aspects of the language in direct relation to what he has to say. The writer is directed to express feeling and thought on a level of actual experience, not an abstract one. The teacher can help by: (1) suggesting ways to select and order the experiences of the student, and (2) discussing his use of the language in relation to his content. Traditional prescriptive models of writing are concerned with the initial set of rules of the language and with the end product. However, this approach is concerned with the personal and social functions of language as well as with the selection, ordering, and extension of experience and language. Samples and analyses of student writing illustrate the point. (PMJ)