USING SEQUENCED RESEARCH PAPERS AND CONTEXTUALIZED PROMPTS WITH SECOND LANGUAGE WRITERS

Beyond “Just Writing Out the Facts”:

EXPRESSIVE VS. ACADEMIC WRITING

Students often don’t see research as connected to their own thoughts or experiences: “A research paper is just writing out the

facts. It's not really what you think about it all those deep thoughts, is just writing out the facts.”~Ling Wei

FALSE DICHTOMY

The purpose of this presentation is to show how these types of writing can compliment each other and help second language (L2) writers overcome the challenges associated with each type of writing.

OVERVIEW

To do this, I willA). Present L2 scholarship on the debates

between expressive and academic writing.B). Share findings from my research with

multilingual writers that indicate the benefits of connecting expressive and academic writing.

C). Suggest ways to design assignments that blend these types of writing

WHAT IS EXPRESSIVE WRITING

John (1995, p. 159): Focus on voice, identity, personal interests,

meaning making. Limited number of genres (e.g. personal

essay, literary texts)

CRITIQUES

Christie (1993)-Are “cruelly unfair” to language minority

students Academic writing is critical for success in

school and beyond. L2 writers are less familiar than their NES

peers with the language, culture, audience, and genres used within academic writing.

Academic conventions need to be made explicit to L2 writers.

IMPORTANCE OF EXPRESSIVE WRITING FOR L2 WRITERS

Severino, Gilchrist, & Rainey (2010): Benefits of expressive writing for L2

writers: Increase agency Negotiate a sense of self that encompasses

multiple identities

FINDINGS FROM MY RESEARCH

Worked with four adolescent L2 writers in a summer college preparatory program

Their experiences with writing confirm the importance of both expressive and academic writing opportunities.

DATA COLLECTION

Four Interviews Observations in English classes

College Admissions Essay for Common Application

Compare/Contrast College Research Paper Artifact collection

Student writing samples Assignment sheets

LING WEI

Native Language Background L1: Cantonese (also Mandarin) Moved to US in 7th Grade (Currently a Senior) Studied English in China (age 10) Tested out of ESL in 9th grade

Resources Interests in track and science Abilities in lab reports and research papers

Challenges Creative/Personal Writing Vocabulary Grammar

MARIE

Native Language Background L1: French and Khran Came to the US in 3rd grade Started learning English in refugee camp in Ghana at age 5

Strengths Interest in music/songwriting Imagery Rhythm Word choice/code switching

Challenges Selecting appropriate details Engagement with academic writing

JARED

Native Language Background L1: Spanish Moved from Peru at age 6

Strengths Interests in sports, music/songwriting Sensory detail Tone Rhythm

Challenges Timed Writing Elaboration Invention

GABRIELLA

Native Language Background L1: Spanish Moved to US from Dominican Republic in 6th Grade Mix of ELL and mainstream classes

Strengths School yearbook staff Strong Voice

Challenges Vocabulary/Grammar (in both Spanish and English)

SEQUENCED WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

Leki (1991/1992) Develops authorial expertise (p. 19):

“avoids atomism implied by asking students to repeatedly gear up for different topics”

“seeks instead to link together all writing assignments

TOPIC SELECTION

Students choose topics that meet these criteria: Sustain interest Connect to personal experience

5 LINKED ASSIGNMENTS

1). Current Knowledge What they already know about the topic and their personal

involvement 2). Summaries

Synthesize the summaries of three sources in an essay format 3). Survey

Survey at least 20 people about the topic and report the results

4). Interview Interview an expert on the topic and write up the results

5).Final report Combine findings from steps 1-4 into coherent report

BENEFITS TO STUDENTS IN MY STUDY

Ling Wei and Gabriella Allow them to develop a richer vocabulary and

syntactic repertoire for writing about their own experiences by seeing how others write about similar topics

Marie Increase engagement with research

Jared Overcome writers block by building on prior

knowledge and supplying plenty of content for writing

CONTEXTUALIZED WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

Ortmeier-Hooper, 2013 Let’s get CRAFTy

Context/purpose Role Audience Form Topic

STRENGHTS AND STRETCHES

Entering/Incoming What Students already know

Bridging What students need to know to succeed in

school Advancing

What students need to know to succeed in real world contexts and their future roles

RANGE OF DIFFICULTY

Beginning AdvancedFormSingle Step/Familiar Multi Step/Unfamiliar-Journal entry -Research paper

AudienceSmall/Immediate Large/Distant- Friend - General

Public

PurposeSingular/Low Stake Multiple/High Stake-Learn about topic -Inform/persuade

BRIDGING AND ADVANCING

Address a new context/topic through familiar Role, Audience, and Form Context: Use research for evaluation and

persuasion Role: Son/daughter Audience: Parent Form: Letter Topic: College Selection

BRIDGING AND ADVANCING

Learn new forms with familiar topics/audiences/roles Context: Persuasion Role: Student Audience: Principal Form: Compare/Contrast essay Topic: Dress code

ACTIVITY

Design a CRAFT prompt for second language writers with whom you have or currently are working.

STUDENTS DIRECT THEIR CRAFT

Literacy Scavenger Hunt (Ortmeir-Hooper, 2013): Students and teachers bring in writing samples Small-group then whole class-discussion on

Context Role Audience Form Topic

Create a master list to display in classroom

PERSONAL WRITING CRAFT

Influenced by Atwell’s (1998) Writing Territories:

Strengths in the CRAFT of Writing

Stretches in the CRAFT of Writing

Context:

Role:

Audience:

Form:

Topic