issues in writing research and instruction

8/11/2019 Issues in Writing Research and Instruction

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ISSUESINWRITINGRESEARCHAND

INSTRUCTION

Theory and Practice of WritingWilliam Grabe & Robert Kaplan,

1996

A presentation by Maira Malla, Eliana Mercado, and Maximiliano

Castro


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Issues inWriting

The natureof writing

Literacyand writing

Oral andwritten

language

Writingresearch inL1 contexts

L2students

writingneeds

Writingresearch in

L2

Movingfrom theoryto practice


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ONTHENATUREOFWRITING

HOW MANY

TIMES

DOYOU WRITE

PER DAY?


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The need for writing extensive

People in many varieties of writing

control the written medium of language

Classification people writecontext

task

audience

Reasons unrelated to work: letters, diaries, messages, shoppinglists, etc.

to communicate, to remember , to identify, etc


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Writing with composing

telling or

retelling

transforming

without composing


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not acquired

culturally transmitted

technology

Writing abilities great problems

conscious effort

much practice

Training, instruction, practice, experience, and

purpose.


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Writing as technology

History of Literacy:

Enlightening

Misunderstood

Literacy influence on educational

systems

LITERACYANDWRITING


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Consequences of Literacy on both

individuals and society

Social and individual changes

Domination of history over myth

Rise of critical skepticism towards previous knowledge

Rise of democratic institutions

Creation of abstract logical deduction

Need for private introspection

Distinction between the natural and supernatural


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Academically valued writing demands composing

skills.

Oral and written language reinforce each

other.

All texts are highly complex multidimensional

structures.

Written texts vary greatly according to task,

audience, and purpose.

Differences between oral and written language

should not be oversimplified.


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RESEARCHONWRITINGINENGLISHL1

CONTEXTS

4 Dimensions of writing research

The study of literacy development

The study of cognitive aspects of writing

The study of text construction

The rhetorical study of writing


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SECONDLANGUAGESTUDENTNEEDSAND

WRITINGINSTRUCTION

Diversity of L2 learners uses and

needs:English as a foreign language

learners

English as a second language learners


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WRITINGRESEARCHINL2


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In the US and UK from the late 60s and early 70s

Increasing awareness of failing L2 students

Applied linguistics is the most active discipline

Recent efforts

Contrastive rhetoric (Kaplan)

Cognitive psychology, text linguistics, discourse

analysis

Study of the writing needs of ESP students


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In other countries

Minimal research

Countries which send students to the US and the

UK give some consideration to writing needs

Needs addressed by US university programs in

some cases

Success of such programs still to be seen


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MOVINGFROMTHEORYTOPRACTICEResearch on writing in L1 and L2 contexts.

The 1950s and 1960s = current traditional

approach

The mid-1960s constituted the turning point in

writing instruction.

In the 1980s there were powerful theories of

writing.In the 1990s many teachers stress early

composing practice for children.


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Thank you! Now go write something!


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Round-up questions

From which perspective have writing abilities been

developed and why?

What are some of the main differences between research

on writing in L1 and L2 contexts? Why do the authors conceive writing as technology?

What are some of the characteristics of writing?

What is the relation between literacy and writing?

What has changed in writing instruction over the years?

Mention the 2 approaches.

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