1. Theory to Practice in the Academic Writing Classroom Marcie M. Williams Applied Linguistics Winter Conference February 3, 2007

2. Background of Class Program started in 1992 Most want to attend university Many want to attend Pace University Conditional matriculation policy Placed into 090B with testing

3. Writing Research Reported as most difficult in some studies Assignments vary – analyze, describe, discuss, contrast, explain, evaluate, compare, summarize Types of assignments - connection of theory and data, report on a specified participatory experience, synthesis of multiple sources (reorganizing it in an appropriate way) (Horowitz, 1986), expository/critical writing (Bridgeman and Carlson, 1984) Short research paper and summaries (Bridgeman and Carlson, 1983; Conzett, 2003)

4. Writing Research Arguing for a particular position (Bridgeman and Carlson, 1984) Write about reading (Leki and Carson, 1994) Timed writings Essay exam questions – ill-defined assignments/questions and did not fit into traditional rhetoric forms – but very common!

5. Writing Research How to select what to quote/use for support Evaluated content over grammar to some extent except where impedes comprehension (Santos, 1988: Conzett, 2003) Content and culture are problematic Lexical errors most egregious (Santos, 1988) Multiple drafts – more damage than good? (Horowitz, 1986) No creative writing (Conzett, 2003)

6. Reading Research Number one skill needed (Johns, 1981) Students report 80% of their academic language use was in reading and listening (Christison and Kranke, 1986) Reading comprehension improved with relevant background knowledge, predicting content, guessing words, recognizing text structures (Johns, 1981; Corson, 1994; Richgels, McGee, Lomax and Sheard, 1987; and Fitzgerald, 1995) Many EAP readers not authentic (Morton, 1999) Read materials they don’t have time to finish (Adamson, 1990)

7. Vocabulary Research Most useful to reading comprehension Santos – word choice worst error Nation – word lists are good for “students with small vocabulary, a short time to learn it and academic study within a few months” Repetitive use – productive and receptive AWL plus 2000 GWL base gives learners 95% coverage

8. Practice in Writing Format 4 essays 2 with three drafts, 1 with one or two drafts, last essays no draft 2 essays topic is given Focus primarily on content/organization Various assignments University specific

9. Plagiarism Must be discussed Cultural Coping Strategy (Adamson, 1990)

10. Practice in Reading Skills covered in other class Large number of pages American culture

11. Practice in Vocabulary Skills also covered in other class Books – AWL Vocabulary tests

12. Student Thoughts “the subject is very interesting….it is for us to practice a real-life college course” “my writing is getting better” “you teached us how to write step by step” “every trivial fact such as Kentucky is a state not a city can be useful to international students” “Learning the organization of writing is most important. This also helped me to think about reading logically. It helped me to analyze”

13. Plans for the Future Needs analysis Follow-up with students Blackboard