Teaching Writing LLT 307

“ ” Objectives 1) Basics of L2 (vs. L1) writing (and L2 writers) 2) Approaches to teaching L2 writing 3) Feedback and assessment for L2 writing First, in small groups: Your TWO THINGS? “ There are two things that I learned from the reading. I learned that there is not one type of composing process. There are actually many different ways an ELL can work on composing. There are brainstorming, listing, clustering, and free writing. I usually do not think of different techniques of composing because when I write, I usually just start to write. I could say that I compose by free writing. A quote from the reading that I really liked is: "Responding to student writing has the general goal of fostering student improvement. While this may seem to be stating the obvious, teachers need to develop responding methodologies which CAN foster improvement; they need to know how to measure and recognize improvement when it does occur" (Kroll, 2001). When I was reading this, I took that as a teacher, I have to push my students to be strong writers. At the same time, I have to see all of the minor improvements that the student makes and encourage the student to make sure that he or she does not give up learning. ”

BIG GOALS of L2 Writing Instruction (Within the context of a writing-class-as workshop…) “The goal of every course should be individual student progress in writing proficiency... “ “…the goal of the total curriculum should be that student writers learn to become informed and independent readers of their own text with the ability to create, revise, and reshape papers to meet the needs of whatever writing tasks they are assigned.” (Kroll, 2001, p. 223)

Characteristics of L2 Writers more difficulty generating and organizing material distinct patterns of exposition less fluent transcription (fewer words) stylistically distinct and simpler in structure less lexical control, variety, and sophistication distinct patterns in use of cohesive devices less revising by ear (Silva, 1993) This is what L2 writers are like

Challenges for Learning and Teaching L2 Writing L1 writing proficiency Limited vocabulary and other formal aspects of language (eg., mechanics! – see next 2 slides) Limited experience with writing in academic contexts Differences across cultures in rhetorical patterns Possible clashes with previous types of instruction In an academic setting: Use of quotations Western concept of plagiarism Expectations for teacher feedback Integrating writing with other skills Providing opportunities for practice Providing effective feedback Distinguishing between language issues and writing issues Writing/understanding prompts for writing assignments (awareness of: task, content, audience, format/organization, linguistic issues, mechanics) Involves linguistic, cognitive, social, cultural, and affective knowledge/skills Motivation

Letter Recognition example:

CHINESE HEBREW ENGLISH

Communicative Competence and L2 Writing Grammatical: grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, capitalization Discourse: Organization, cohesion, transitions, rhetorical patterns Sociolinguistic: Written genre appropriateness, tone, register, exclusion of conventions typical of spoken language (e.g., like) Strategic: Relevance of claims, strength of argument, analyzing one’s own writing

Different Approaches to Writing Instruction Process Approach (an umbrella term) 1. pre-writing 2. drafting 3. revising 4. editing 5. Repeat 2-4 as needed Direct Writing Instruction Direct instruction in grammar and usage Practice with outlining Paragraph and short essay writing Writing following models (scaffolding) Moves from controlled to free writing Cooperative Learning Emphasizes benefits of groups working together (e.g., reading/writing workshop).

Some Suggestions for Teachers Writing in the classroom should Involve appropriate pre-writing activities Include extensive practice in relevant genres Have learners sample texts as well as their own and each others’ writing Be integrated with other skills Include free writing activities to encourage experimentation with the language Offer a variety of feedback types/modes Assessment may involve the submission of a portfolio

4 Pre-writing Techniques (Or, 4 ways to get past this ) Brainstorming: all students participate by sharing their collective knowledge about a subject Listing: Individuals list main ideas and subcategories that come to mind as they consider the topic at hand Clustering: Starts with a key word, student then writes down anything they associate with that word to form a chart. Completed clusters look like spokes on a wheel Freewriting: Students write for a period of time without stopping, anything that comes to mind about the subject. (Writing is about expressing IDEAS – not just expressing them “correctly”) For EFL/ESL students often it works best when teacher gives a sentence for students to build upon

Building Skills with a “Practical Writing Task” Combines spelling rules with morphological riles with meaningful messages. Present, past tense formation must be used. Fast effective tasks, will keep the students engaged and not bore them. They are seen as easy, every day activities, nonetheless the students will need to use mechanical skills to do them. Diary entry Email to teacher Email to friend To-Do list Thank you note Invitation

Feedback and Assessment for L2 Writing

Considerations for Assessing Writing Rubric? Holistic vs. analytical? What features of writing matter / what should be included in a rubric? Are these features equally important? (Beyond scoring…) Feedback Content? Form? Correct mistakes or just mark problems? Feedback on everything or just specific language and writing features? Identify location of errors or not? Symbols? Words? Written only / in person (i.e., conference) / recorded / combination? Level- and learner-appropriateness From who? Teacher? Self? Peers? What do the learners do with the feedback? Holistic (Looking at the entire picture) vs. analytical (analyzing in different components for L2 writing, Top Down approach. Do they answer the prompt? Showing ability in L2. Complexity. Understandable, Make sense. Variety of vocabulary. Pushing their ability (i+1). Become more confident in L2 as year goes on. Style of writing. Organization of writing. Mechanics. Clarity. CONTENT!!!!!!)

Dimensions of (L2) Writing

Assessing L2 writing: Holistic scoring The holistic scoring method requires readers to evaluate a piece of writing for its overall quality. While evaluating the work as a whole, readers also consider different elements of a piece of writing, such as organization, support, and conventions (e.g., spelling, grammar, punctuation). In this type of scoring, readers are trained not to become overly concerned with any one aspect of writing but to look at a piece of writing as a whole. Strengths/weaknesses? Holistic scoring and the SAT: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNews/teen-student-finds-longer-sat-essay-equals-score/story?id=12061494&page=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69CzjKN4U5g

Assessing L2 Writing: Analytic Scoring An analytic scoring rubric, much like a checklist, allows for separate evaluation of different factors contributing to the overall quality of a piece of writing. Each criterion is scored on a different descriptive scale (e.g., 3-point scale). Students may use this information to improve their future performance. Strengths/weaknesses?