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 will

A). 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 DIFFICULTYBeginning 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