Rationale and Hypotheses for the Study of Writing Development from the RF Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 276-290
Author(s):  
Douglas Biber ◽  
Bethany Gray ◽  
Shelley Staples ◽  
Jesse Egbert
Keyword(s):  
Writing Development

scholarly journals Influence of Writing Instruction on Spanish Heritage Learners in Heritage-Only and Mixed Courses: A Longitudinal Study

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Irati Hurtado ◽  
Kacie Gastañaga
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Developmental Differences ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Composition Course ◽  
Lexical Density ◽  
Final Essay

University Spanish courses designed specifically for heritage language learners (HLLs) are becoming more common, and researchers have indicated that empirical research is needed to evaluate their effectiveness. This longitudinal study investigates the writing development of 24 HLLs as a result of instruction over the course of the semester. Nine were enrolled in a heritage-only section of a Spanish composition course, and the remainder were from mixed HL/L2 sections of the same course. Both section types were taught online. The major assignments the students produced were two 500-word essays, and students also completed bi-weekly forum posts. We examined the development of lexical density, sophistication, and diversity as well as syntactic complexity and accuracy by comparing each student’s first and final essay and forum posts. Findings indicate that there were significant differences between the scores received on the forum posts in comparison to the essays. However, there were no significant developmental differences in terms of group. Implications, avenues for future research, and pedagogical suggestions are discussed.

scholarly journals Genre Knowledge and Writing Development: Results From the Writing Transfer Project

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Lynn Driscoll ◽  
Joseph Paszek ◽  
Gwen Gorzelsky ◽  
Carol L. Hayes ◽  
Edmund Jones
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Genre Knowledge ◽  
Audience Awareness

Using a mixed-methods, multi-institutional design of general education writing courses at four institutions, this study examined genre as a key factor for understanding and promoting writing development. It thus aims to provide empirical validation of decades of theoretical work on and qualitative studies of genre and the nature of genre knowledge. While showing that both simplistic and nuanced genre knowledge promote writing development, our findings suggest that nuanced genre knowledge correlates with writing development over the course of a semester. Based on these findings, we propose an expanded view of Tardy’s four genre knowledge components and argue for their explanatory power. We recognize these genre components can be cultivated by using three particular strategies: writing for nonclassroom audiences, using source texts explicitly to join existing disciplinary conversations, and cultivating two types of metacognitive awareness (awareness of the writing strategies used to complete specific tasks and awareness of one’s levels of proficiency in particular types of writing knowledge). Findings can be used to enrich first-year or upper-division writing curricula in the areas of genre knowledge, audience awareness, and source use.

L2 Theme development in Discursive and Experimental undergraduate student writing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Chen ◽  
Sheena Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Experimental Writing ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Report Writing ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Successful Student ◽  
Lexical Density

Abstract To complement earlier studies of writing development in the BAWE corpus of successful student writing (Nesi & Gardner 2012; Staples et al. 2016), we examine the Systemic Functional Linguistics notion of Theme as used by L2 writers across first- and third-year and in two distinctive discourse types: persuasive/argumentative Discursive writing of assignments in the soft disciplines and Experimental report writing of assignments in the hard sciences. Theme analysis reveals more substantial differences across the two discourse types than between first- and third-year L2 undergraduate writing. Textual Themes are consistently more frequent than interpersonal Themes, and some variance is found within subcategories of each. Significant differences in lexical density occur across third-year discourse types and between first- and third-year Experimental writing where a predominance of N+N topical Themes is also found. These findings are important as previous research has tended to focus on L1 Discursive writing.

scholarly journals Preparing Ell Writers for Becoming Multilingual Writers: Challenges and Strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-140
Author(s):  
Lee Jin Choi
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
Multilingual Writers ◽  
English Speaking

Summary The increasing number of international students enrolled in higher education in English-speaking countries has presented the growing need to support their academic writing development. It, however, has often led to the hasty assumption that English language learner (ELL) writers need to quickly adopt the dominant academic writing conventions in order to succeed in an English-speaking academic community. Even though the growing number of scholars have started to pay attention to ELL writers’ diverse writing styles and multiple identities, little research and discussion have taken place on how language practitioners could engage ELL writers in developing their voices as multilingual and multicultural writers. By analyzing a qualitative interview with ten experienced writing consultants and instructors, this paper explores major challenges that ELL writers experience and different strategies that could effectively help them develop their voices as writers in the academic context where English is dominantly used as the medium of instruction. Findings show that while many colleges and universities in English-speaking countries still adopt a monolithic view and label ELL writers as ‘a troubled non-native writer’, it is crucial for writing consultants and instructors to acknowledge ELL writers’ multilingual background and help them to develop their unique voices and achieve sustainable development and progress.

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