Writing Assignments for ESL Students

My teaching philosophy is thought for an adult ESL classroom.  Its core principles are supported by the principles I’ve learned so far in my teaching composition class, but also, by my ESL personal learning experience. I believe that language instructors should be aware of language sensitivity.  As points out by Lindemann in chapter thirteen, (Developing Writing Assignments), it is important to know students to anticipate possible problems that may arise in the process of developing a story/narrative.  In this sense, I expect to be working in the ESL classroom environment.  You cannot teach creative writing to ESL students, if I'm not wrong, but, I can teach them how to use inventiveness and their imagination to describe or narrate stories, through which they may reflect their own lives experiences.  When I think ESL, I think on individualizing topics.  For example, if Maria likes nature, well, she can write about going to a park experience.  Giving students the opportunity to decide what to write is a way of guiding them through the writing though process and promoting creativity, regardless of their academic level.  I just cannot hold it! I need to say it again, going back to my junior college experience, I wished I'd had a teacher to teach me and guide me.  She just assigned general topics, for example, about the "social and economic issues," that were going on at the time.  Well, the topic sounds very pretentious, but I was just a newly ESL learner, how in the world I could've been able to write, or even make comments on such a topic.  Lindemann suggests that assignments should assess what students can DO or what they KNOW.  Of course, my teacher probably assumed that all students in the classroom had the specialized knowledge regarding US social and economic issues to write a persuasive argument.  On the other hand, the assignment topic wasn't appealing at all, why, because I was completely unfamiliar with the cultural context and have no idea about what was going on in the US society.  I certainly believe that she should've presented a list of choices created through a class discussion, then, students could pick what best matches their interests.  I just don't even know why I’m writing about that experience, but, I do know that it left a strong mark, which it's still showing on my transcripts.  But, I cannot explain it to academic authorities that I was never offered a simple writing guideline.  I'm very positive that Lindemann was completely unfamiliar to her and that effective teaching may include integrating or adjusting school/college curricula to the needs of students was an unthinkable concept.  I understand that for some teachers doing so may be impossible, as I noticed, while I was working on one of my teaching methodology assignments.  It happened at an ESL program for adult learners at Torrance Unified School District.  I noticed that the teacher was using a textbook that was beyond of being the right book for the level he was teaching.  Anyway, I commented, that, to my perception the book was to advance for that level, then, he explained that he didn't have a voice to suggest changes to the course.  I don't want to work for a school like that, but, for a school that allows flexibility concerning students' learning needs.