chapter 7
DESCRIPTION
Chapter 7. Foregrounding Written Communication. Teaching Interactive Second Language Writing in Content- Based Classes. Teachers should include a wide range of writing types and tasks for all content areas in their long-term curricular planning. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Teaching Interactive Second Language Writing in Content- Based Classes
Teachers should include a wide range of writing types and tasks for all content areas in their long-term curricular planning .
Writing & Standards: Differences Between Foreign and Second Language
Foreign language- emphasis on production of certain functional texts
ESL - standards specify functional tasks in writing for each span of grades across three dimensions: social language, academic content, and culturally appropriate ways.
Integrating Technology & Writing
Use technology for: Word processing (using tools
including thesaurus, using templates for different genre, revision including find feature)
Research (using search engines, refining skills for judging credibility, taking notes, citing references)
Create reciprocity in learning across institutions and distance
Interactive Writing Instruction
Interactive writing activities that fulfill TESOL standards: Author’s chair Collaborative peer talk (chats) Interactional journals/logs
Interactive Writing Instruction
Prewriting Strategies for Getting Started Writing prompts Listing ideas Dialoguing Clustering Cubing Free writing
Interactive Writing Instruction
Writers Workshop Interacting with peer’s draft essays
Gathering information Judging quality of information Organization Making choices
Interactive Writing Instruction Writers Workshop
Teachers provide: editing checklist (word choice,
grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization)
personalized guidance for weak areas style sheet for citation checksheet of necessary steps for
task completion tools (dictionary, etc.)
Interactive Writing Instruction Writing Conferences
Use a written text that the student has produced
Ask questions related to: prewriting organizing drafting revising final product
Interactive Writing Instruction
Writing Assessments Portfolio – writing selected depends
on purpose: Formative – document progress Summative - showcase best work
Interactive Writing Instruction
Writing Assessments Benefits:
Makes students aware of important writing elements
Demonstrates how students can control process
Helps students/teachers identify where support is needed
Allows learners to participate fully in the evaluation of their writing
Interactive Writing Instruction
Teaching Diverse Learners Difficulties may arise from L1:
Non-roman alphabet Directionality of writing (left to
right, top to bottom) Different letter sounds
Learners with strong L1 literacy will transfer these skills to L2
Research on Writing
Psycholinguistic Research Examines cognitive processing needed
to create texts Sociocultural Research
Examines how writers understand the nature and purposes of writing
Examines how writers construct knowledge,social relationships, and their identities through learning to write
Research on Writing Writing as Product
Focus on writing from a composition and rhetorical perspective:
Grammatical skills Paragraph skills – theme sentence,
supporting sentences Paragraph functions: descriptive, how
to, compare and contrast, persuasive Reports/Essays – outlining,
revision,coherence, cohesion,perspective, genre, style, editing for grammar and mechanics
Research on Writing
Writing as Product Texts written by ESL students show
similar characteristics of development in distinguishing between oral and written genres compared to native English speakers
Research on Writing
Writing as Product Textual analysis alone does not
provide enough information to guide instruction. Quality of writing product can be influenced by student’s:
Experience generating texts Background knowledge of topic Access to materials Experience working with time
constraints
Research on Writing
Writing as Process Evaluating the ELL writing process:
Text-like or oral-like communication?
Planning at the discourse or lexical level?
Degree to which they draw information from reading?
Research on Writing
Writing as Process Process writing – writing is broken
down into discrete processes:1) Generate ideas2) Structure ideas3) Produce a draft4) Revise 5) Evaluate the process
Research on Writing Writing as Interactionally Accomplished
Cultural Practice Help students develop their own voice by:
Selecting topics with personal meaning Using a wide range of literature to
demonstrate narrative elements and “story grammar”
Creating opportunities for students to interact with their audience
Modeling and encouraging reflective writing
Research on Writing
Writing as Interactionally Accomplished Cultural Practice Provide a print-rich environment:
Lists Charts Mind maps Graphs Daily logs Dialogue journals
Research on Writing
Writing as Interactionally Accomplished Cultural Practice Promote Student Confidence and
Authority in Personal Writing Encourage rather than correct Model correctness by restating
incorrectly used or misstated words Encourage students to consult peers
or dictionaries
Research on Writing
Writing as Power Research on critical literacy – exposes
how the use of language features serves particular social interests or ideologies.
Students learn to interrogate and create texts for their own interests, becoming critical readers and critical writers.
Research on Writing
Classification Who produced text Intended audience Why text was
produced
(Ir)relevance to self Political or economic
consequences Word patterns used Agency Mood
This activity is followed by action with and/or against the text.
Writing as PowerText is evaluated as students determine:
Integrated Approach
Knowing the language Communicative
competence Individual abilities &
preferences The social context Attitudes & motivation Opportunities for
learning & practice
Formal instructional contexts
Processing factors Cultural variability Content & topical
knowledge Discourse, genre and
register knowledge
Factors which influence how L2 learners write:
Purposes for Writing As a tool for learning:
stores information in memory, prepares for reading or comprehension captures thoughts about what is read
(expressive writing) To communicate for personal, social,
academic purposes To inform, explain, instruct
(transactional writing) To document memory or reflection