transitioning out of ESL writing classes

One thing I'd like to examine is how ESL classes seem to prioritize writing "grammatically," but not writing itself. The person I tutored on 4/22/09 at 5pm has an interesting list of conference reports. I'd like to examine her case, and perhaps some others, as it seems to present evidence of just how important it is to incorporate critical thinking and argumentation skills into every level of writing course, no matter how "rudimentary." It's true this girl is only now enrolled in WRT 101; she had ESL 193 last semester and apparently she passed. Which is SCARY. I tutored her yesterday on a paper for HIS 380, which requires a demanding 7-10 page full-on academic paper...and her paper read like a 2nd-grader's. She had NO CONCEPT of thesis and argumentation, and she didn't understand the assignment sheet even a little bit. And she didn't seem to care. She thought her rudimentary "understanding" of the assignment was good enough, which leads me to believe that in her previous writing experiences, "good enough" has been. From reading her older conference reports, she's NEVER been able to critically analyze texts or develop ideas in her writing. This is problematic.