For Thursday, Feb 9 (instead of the prompt in the syllabus):
After you read Hyland, Chapter 4, please formulate 2 questions you have about second language writing that we can try to turn into
research questions and tentative study designs on Thursday. Explain the background and impetus for each
of your questions (e.g. did it come from your teaching experience, from
something you studied in another course, from something you read in Hyland?). What kinds of research methods that Hyland
discusses might you use to answer each question? Tell us about any previous research experience you've had using these methods.
Hints: Questions about tasks, classroom contexts, teacher feedback, peer feedback, error, error treatment, genre features, intertextuality, discourse communities, writing on social media, community literacies, writing processes, writing development, second language proficiency, writing expertise, etc.
I don’t have specific questions, but when it comes to SL writing I have a lot of interests. Too many, actually. Some of them are:
ReplyDelete Sociolinguistic transfer: and the relationship between L1 and L2 and how that relationship is shown (if) on L2 (ESL, FL) writing.
Intercultural communicative competence: should it be addressed by discipline? (EAP?)
I am also interested in bilingual writers: and whether there is a “dominant” writing language.
Effective revisions strategies. Are they similar or different in L1 and the L2? (This question appears on Hyland’s book -p.90-, I don’t know If I should be happy or worried about this).
I think it would also be interesting to study if the L2 affects writing in L1 in students who are highly proficient in the L2.
I have also been interested in whether reading literature (fiction: novels, poetry, plays) helps improve writing skills, but I don’t know how I could do that as a study that is not quantitative.
I worry that what I am interested in is not really interesting, or it has been already researched ad nauseam and there is nothing relevant to say about it anymore. Hyland says that the study has to be Valuable, and I obviously agree. I, however, find it hard to come up with topics that are.
I wonder if it is possible to do original research anymore. I feel there are so many researchers, and/or graduate students and so limited/ possible topics.
How much do I have to read until I can say “this topic has not been researched from the point of view/ lens I have”
I have also been thinking about a quote by Bourdieu Amanda told me some months ago: "Academic language… is no one's mother tongue" (Bourdieu et al, 1994). This resonates a lot with me, because I feel that learning to write in an academic voice implies learning a new language. I believe that those who can write English AND academic English are bilinguals. Therefore, when asking non-native speakers of English to write academic English we are basically asking them to write in a third language. When teaching ESL (with) writing, are we teaching two different things?
After doing the reading and thinking about what Kye brought up in class, I find that I am now more concerned with what kind of corrective feedback is actually beneficial in regards to learning the process of writing and understanding/revising drafts. As a student I always appreciated feedback and was under the impression that drawing awareness to my mistakes gave me the opportunity to learn to write better. I think that I simply applied this belief to teaching without truly considering the implications of why this might, or might not, be effective. My concerns with feedback were further enhanced by this week’s reading. Under the experimental design section on page 84, Hyland discusses an empirical study by Truscott and Hsu (2008) focusing on corrective feedback. The test group received feedback in the form of underlined mistakes and told to revise the text for the next class, where the control group received no feedback but simply revised. Initially, those with feedback were “more successful” but the “improvements” were not lasting, or at least directly after the experiment. I guess I would like to know if continued application of this type of feedback would have an influence further down the road.
ReplyDeleteThe other question that I might want to explore is how international students implement their unique voice into their university writing assignments, maybe focusing on online class discussions. Recently, I became interested in this through reading different online posts from different classes from both U.S. and international students. I noticed that while reading some posts I felt as though I could “hear” the writer, their styles of communicating, and their opinions and beliefs. In some cases, I think I could read a post without a name and still be able to tell who wrote it. I am not entirely sure what method I would use for this because I am not entirely sure how one examines the use of voice in writing. Perhaps I could do a case study where I use observations and interviews, or maybe I could compare a writing sample to a speaking sample to see if there are moments that match.
[On a side note, I am also curious if people are even aware of their voice and how they utilize it in their writing.].
Research Questions:
ReplyDelete1. What literacy practices do graduate students engage in during their writing center appointments?
2. What factors and variables contribute to ah ha moments during writing center tutorials? (ah ha = achieving intended meaning)
Methods
I’m more interested in writing process than the products writers produce, and I’m attracted to action research grounded in real world problems in real world, naturalistic settings. For my dissertation, I’m planning to use observations and transcripts from interviews and interactions to develop case studies that draw attention to “the complexity and interactions in a context” (p. 85). While I’m more interested in particularizing than generalizing, I recognize that this is a weakness of my approach.
As writing researchers, it is our responsibility to point out implicit biases about writing. Language reflects and refracts culture, so a critical understanding of power dynamics can help us better understand the context that learning takes place in and, in response, design and implement services that address socio-cultural barriers. I’m especially interested in challenging deficit perspectives by focusing on strengths.
You should use the phrase "ah há!" in your dissertation title :)
DeleteAfter more thinking and reading, here is my revised response:
DeleteProblem
Writing is a key indicator of success in graduate school. With an attrition rate of about 50%, it’s no surprise that graduate students commonly suffer from imposter syndrome and anxiety related to their writing.
Research Goals
I’m more interested in writing process than the resulting products, and I’m attracted to research that is grounded in real world problems that takes place in real world settings. I’d like to challenge deficit perspectives by drawing attention to literacy strengths.
Potential Research Questions
1. In what ways do clients and consultants collaborate during consultations at the College of Education Writing Resource?
2. What literacy strengths do they explicitly and implicitly demonstrate?
3. What discourses (factors?) signal “ah ha moments?” (ah ha = achieving intended meaning)
Methods
Case studies of L2 writers in writing center tutorials, or case studies of dyads consisting of clients and tutors.
Data
transcripts from interviews and audio-recorded consultations, observations, written artifacts, post-session reports
Limitations
While I’m more interested in particularizing than generalizing, I recognize that my small sample size is a weakness. Also, because my research focuses on a unique learning context, findings cannot be generalized to other contexts. Issues involving my role as a participant researcher will raise flags for some researchers. I plan to increase the trustworthiness of my study by member checking and conducting inter-rater reliability measures.
As Claudia mentioned, I also interested in how bilingual children learn to read and write using both languages. I often notice that whenever my kids learn Korean, they learn better when I use English phonemes which sound similar. I write down the English alphabet under the Korean alphabet to make it easier for them to read Korean words. The interesting thing is that they have learned how to read and write in English even though their mother tongue is Korean. I was surprised that my kids Korean language teacher also teaches Korean words in this way. I assume that this situation would also apply to other immigrant families who have kids born in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThe second topic I’m interested in is related to what I’ve said in the previous class; how writing consultants’ perspectives (or perceptions) about providing corrective feedback to students differs in online and in-person situations. In my experiences visiting the writing centers, I realized that each writing consultant’s feedback style is different. They might have different thoughts about the best way to provide corrective feedback. In addition, I also thought that sometimes I felt that different dynamic engagements occurred through different mediums (in-person vs. online) while providing corrective feedback. I also want to examine how student’s perspectives are different or similar depending on their preference for their situations or their perceptions (or expectations) of services. I briefly described my plan for the final project.
Case study: The perceived differences between online and in-person services of receiving corrective feedback from writing centers
1. What are students’ preferences for receiving corrective feedback from the writing center?
2. What are writing consultants’ beliefs about giving corrective feedback to students?
3. How do these different mediums affect the dynamic engagement surrounding corrective feedback?
I’m planning to interview both writing consultants who provide in-person and online consultations as well as international students who receive the services. The interviews will be transcribed and open (axial) coded. those codes will be analyzed in order to determine the selective codes.
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ReplyDelete1. Does second language writing help improve other writings?
ReplyDeleteI can up with this question from my teaching experience. When I was teaching advanced Swahili last semester my students had to write different papers. Most of them tried to write but a lot of the work wasn’t very accurate. But I understand that Swahili is their second language therefore they are trying hard to come up with a good paper. I would prefer to use written reports whereby I use students writings.
2. What are the challenges faced by second language writers?
This question comes from the other courses I have studied. It has not been easy for me to write a good paper in my second language. I usually don’t have much to write about maybe I am not using many vocabularies as possible. I think I would love to use Auto-ethnology whereby I can use my own personal experience. So far i don't have a research experience.
My possible topic: reexamining the ultimate purpose of language proficiency tests: what is the appropriate writing test for ESL learners?
ReplyDeleteIn this study, I want to look at the neglected part of writing which is not emphasized in current language proficiency tests (and IEP) on ESL writers. In my eyes, ESL writers are just academic English writers. They don't know how to compose in English outside academic contexts. They not only need to succeed in academic institutions, they also need to adapt to the target culture in their lives, such as being writing fluently (or being literate in writing) in non-academic settings .
The purpose of this study is to provide test developers with an understanding of what ESL learners truly need in terms of writing.
Instruments: ethnographic method by incorporating interview, focus group, observation, etc.