This study examined the differences and similarities among the writing of three types of developmental English and advanced ESL United States community college students, comparing the writing of resident English learners (RL2), whose home language was not English but who attended United States public schools for five years or more, to that of monolingual native English speakers (L1), and international English learners (IL2), primarily educated in their home countries. A systemic functional linguistics framework (SFL) was employed to analyze 90 essays, RL2 (n = 30), L1 (n = 30), and IL2 (n = 30) for linguistic features present under the three metafunctions of SFL: ideational, interpersonal, and textual, through both a quantitative and a qualitative investigation. Key findings displayed a great number of similarities among the three types of writers in most features of SFL, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Areas of major difference for RL2 writers included limited use of embedded clauses and nominalizations, and strong use of the mood adjunct of intensity, with particularly strong use of very informal words. In the reflective narrative genre employed in this study, all writer tended toward writing as they spoke, rather than using academic writing. In the reflective narrative genre employed in this study, all writer tended toward writing as they spoke, rather than using academic writing. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]