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Weeden, Scott R. Hesse Douglas Dean. "Teaching discipline-specific academic writing a qualitative study of four semesters /." Normal, Ill. Illinois State University, 1998. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ilstu/fullcit?p9835922.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1998.Title from title page screen, viewed July 7, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Douglas Hesse (chair), Janice Neuleib, Dana Harrington. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 179-183) and abstract. Also available in print.
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Olivier-Shaw, Amanda. "Lecturer and student perceptions of an academic writing task." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003548.
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This research considers the perceptions of an academic writing task held by a lecturer and first year students in the Philosophy department at the University of Zululand. The research takes as its starting point the following premises: that language is inextricably linked to learning; that each academic discipline has a particular discourse which students have to acquire in order to participate as accepted members of the academic community; that learning proceeds most effectively when teaching starts with what is known and moves into the unknown; and that learning takes place through experience and involvement, rather than transmission. The research suggests that many first year students bring with them to university an understanding of the nature of learning and of knowledge which makes it difficult for them to understand the implicit rules of the discourse of analytical philosophy. My investigation uncovered several of these rules in the study guide written for the course, but it appears that students were not able to discover them and, as a result, experienced great difficulty in fulfilling the assignment task in a way which promoted their understanding of the content. The research also shows that the lecturer's expectations of the task were far removed from the manner in which the students implemented the task. It is argued that the students appear to have reverted to their established writing strategies which consisted of simply repeating what the 'authority' has said. From this it is argued that unless rules of the discourse are made explicit to students, and students understand the content of the course, they will revert to copying and relying on other sources to tell them what to write. One way of making these rules explicit and encouraging students to integrate new knowledge with previous knowledge which they bring with them to university is through providing well-structured writing tasks, and where necessary, developing clearly defined assessment procedures. Writing is the principal means of mediation between the lecturer, who is trying to offer students entry into the discipline, and the student apprentice trying to make sense of the discipline and find his or her own 'voice' within that discipline.
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Hudson, Lizel Sandra Ann. "Enhancing academic writing competence in radiography education." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/1554.
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Thesis (MTech (Radiography))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011This thesis records a study undertaken by a radiography lecturer at a satellite campus of a University of Technology (UoT) in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The study investigated the academic writing practices of first year Radiation Science learners and focused on an intervention to assist learners to enhance their academic writing competence. Three research questions were addressed: 1. What did radiography learners perceive to be the factors that enabled and constrained their academic writing competence during the first year of academic study?; 2. What were the 2010 first year learners’ perceptions of the changes in their academic writing following an academic writing intervention?; and 3. According to the 2010 first year lecturers, how did the academic writing of the learners change following the intervention? To answer these questions, the research comprised two qualitative approaches: firstly a case study approach, to gain an in-depth understanding of learner writing in radiography; then the insights gained allowed for the design of an appropriate academic writing intervention, carried out in two action research spirals. Thereafter the intervention was evaluated for its impact on learners’ writing competence. The findings and interpretations from this study culminated in a forward looking model that is recommended for use by radiography educators to enhance first year learners’ academic writing competence. The model reflects a zone for the optimal enhancement of academic writing competence for entry-level learners. This ‘zone’ is created in the region of overlap of three contributing factors: collaborative guidance and support, peer mentoring and technology. The model also represents applicable underlying theories (critical theory, constructivism, and academic literacies theory) which provide the theoretical framework for enhanced academic writing competence.
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Sudol, David Eugene. "Voices and viewpoints: Teaching writing in grades four and five." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/185876.
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Responding to recent calls throughout the field for more studies of teaching, I present case studies of four elementary teachers--two fourth grade, two fifth grade--implementing process pedagogy in writers' workshops. Specifically, I examine how they teach, why they succeed and fail, and what they need to teach more effectively. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the study, explaining my purpose and rationale. Chapter 2 builds a knowledge base by presenting a survey of the recent literature on elementary school writing teaching. Focusing primarily on the works of Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins, and Nancie Atwell--the prime movers in the field--it details the major principles and components of the writing-process movement. Chapter 3 lays out the concrete particulars and theoretical bases of my research, explaining context, methodology, and presentation. Chapters 4 through 7 present individual case studies of the teachers I studied. Each chapter includes four sections: (1) Teacher Profile, (2) Classroom Observations, (3) Interview, and (4) Interpretation. Chapter 8 analyzes why these teachers teach writing as they do, re-evaluates the revolution in elementary writing, and speculates on the future of writing instruction at this school. In line with the experimental movement in contemporary ethnography, I have written this dissertation in a conversational tone and confessional voice. Through alternative text-building strategies, I attempt to make my epistemology visible and to represent this teaching community completely.
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{275572}竞 and Jing Cai. "An integrated genre-based approach to scaffolding novice academic writers : genre awareness, academic lexical phrases and student uptake." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/198828.
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In EFL contexts like China where research and application of findings in the field of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is still in its infancy, graduate students are in urgent need of support in developing their academic literacy, especially in terms of academic writing and research article writing skills under the forces of globalization of education. This study sets out to develop a contextualized EAP genre-based approach to scaffold novice academic writers and examine its impact through assessment tasks and analysis of students’ uptake. The theoretical traditions of ESP research article (RA) genre analysis (e.g. Swales, 1990, 2004; Swale & Feak, 2004) and lexical bundle studies (e.g. Biber & Barbieri, 2007; Hyland, 2008)are drawn upon and two dimensions of building blocks of academic discourse are conceptualized: the top-down dimension (i.e., genre schematic structuring) and the bottom-up dimension(i.e. general and move-specific academic lexical phrases). Then, the Sydney School genre-based Teaching and Learning Cycle and corpus-informed explicit bundle instruction were incorporated into the ESP genre-based framework to generate a new theoretical and pedagogical model taking into consideration the needs of the local context. In order to evaluate this innovative course thoroughly in a natural and intact classroom, careful triangulations of data were achieved. A mixed-methods programme evaluation framework was developed with two major components, namely an intervention study and individual case studies.
In terms of the average gains of the whole class, there was significant improvement in the receptive test of knowledge of genre and bundles after the course. In addition, the instruction significantly narrowed the achievement gap among the high, mid and low starting level students. Most importantly, the increase in the appropriate use of lexical phrases in rewriting suggests the effectiveness of the course in enabling active production. Regression analysis further indicated a strong relationship between the development of bundle knowledge and that of genre and genre-specific features.
The rich descriptions of the two student cases delineate the different learning trajectories of learners of distinct starting levels. Although the low starting level learner showed much slower in-class uptake, her active engagement and integration of knowledge in the rewriting task by drawing on various resources has increased her understanding of the RA genre. The high starting level learner with satisfactory in-class uptake, however, suffered from lots of textual borrowing in writing due to her high expectation of academic content but lack of corresponding genre and linguistic competences. The fact that both learners exhibited a strong lack of basic linguistic resources to verbalize their sophisticated thinking in the rewriting task pointed to the importance of developing the linguistic aspects in the initial stage of genre knowledge development in EFL contexts, which has been neglected in previous studies focusing on ESL contexts. The careful investigation of the instructional context has led to detailed discussions of a few prominent issues in the pedagogical design, in particular, the importance of focusing on the role of “task” in curriculum and pedagogical design in future research of genre-based pedagogy.published_or_final_version
Education
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Gentil, Guillaume. "Academic writing instruction in disciplines other than English : a sociocultural perspective." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape11/PQDD_0007/MQ43875.pdf.
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Mander, Erin. "Successful Urban Adolescent Writers: A Study of a Collaborative Model of Teaching Writing." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2012. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/5416.
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The goal of the research study was to explore the cognitive, social, and affective factors that contribute to the development of 8th grade writing skill. The central research question for this study was: How does a collaborative model of teaching writing prepares students for high achievement on Florida Writes? The researcher successfully answered this inquiry by asserting the following supporting questions: How does school culture impact teacher collaboration and student engagement in teaching writing? What is the relationship between engaging in a collaborative model of teaching writing and improvement of writing skill in middle level students? The study determined how and why the writing skill was developed at an urban, rural middle school in a Central Florida School District. The rationale for completing research at Horizon Middle School was to provide an exemplar in the teaching of writing skill, a phenomenon. Horizon Middle School presented a learning community that was entrenched in the same challenging demographics, but distinctly showed a high level of academic achievement in writing. Instead of teaching through a formulaic, test-generated approach, students learned through discovery, personal relationship, and engagement. Not only did 97% of 8th grade students passed the Florida Writes examination, but in the process of preparing for the standardized assessment was an embedded foundation laid for students and their future learning. The review of literature focused on: school culture, models of teaching at the middle level, models of teaching writing at the middle level and the standardization found within the FCAT Writes. Data collection was completed through classroom observations, one-on-one interviews and participation in faculty meetings. Data analysis was completed by addressing each research question through the conceptual framework. The study determined that this was a model for developing the writing skill for all middle level students, an exemplar within the field. Suggested uses for the study included the development of future studies focus on successful schools that were challenged by the same demographics and consideration of the partnership that Horizon had with the University of Central Florida as a model for other educational communities to consider.Ed.D.
Doctorate
Education and Human Performance
Education
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Naidoo, Nadasen Arungasen. "Facilitating reflection in post-graduate writing practice." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/688.
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University teaching staff are employed because of their knowledge in their particular disciplines. Many do not have a qualification to teach at a higher education institution upon commencement of their academic career. In that group there are few who have the research experience required to assist at postgraduate level. This should be developed as one of the three core activities of higher education, in which they have to be involved. This study is the result of a problem that I encountered as a higher education practitioner. In keeping with my being a practitioner researcher within an action research paradigm, this report is written mainly in the first person. The study reports on how my personal theories grew over a period resulting in the need to constantly improve my own practice. These personal theories culminated in the development of an instrument (ADaM), to assess writing. ADaM was used primarily to facilitate reflection in post-graduate writing practice. In this study, there were three sets of workshops comprising 13 practical sessions each, where lecturers engaged with the process of reading, writing, computer-mediation and, to a limited extent, with the concept of mentorship. The purpose was to answer the research question: Can a writing assessment instrument be used to sensitise staff teaching post-graduates to reflect on the complex nature of producing and assessing academic writing? At two points during the 13 practical sessions, data was gathered through semistructured interviews. The data has been analysed using a form of grounded theory referred to as remodeled grounded theory. Since the analysis traversed both the quantitative and qualitative paradigms of research, it was necessary also to place the study within the third paradigm, referred to as mixed methods research. The analysis has been presented via a series of relationships generated first by open coding, then axial coding and concludes with selective coding. In addition, the comments of an independent coder were used to validate the analysis. In accordance with classic grounded theory, it was only after the analysis of the data and the emergence of a substantive theory that I referred to existing theory in the penultimate chapter as validation of my findings. The findings from the study, together with existing literature, allowed me to conclude that “Creating an awareness of writing assessment sensitises academics to their roles as HE practitioners particularly in the areas of writing and mentorship in post-graduate supervision”.
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Free, Loretta Dianna. "Improving academic literacy at higher education." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/839.
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This study is a deliberation on students who advance from high school to a higher education institution, without demonstrating the attributes required on admission. They are granted formal access, despite being underprepared for tertiary studies. One of the qualities that they noticible lack is academic literacy. In the course of this investigation, academics had to relate what their perceptions were of the academic literacy of their students at higher education level. Initially, being literate meant the ability to read and write, but the term literacy has assumed a more varied form. The term multi-literacies is employed now, as there are several forms of literacy. These include, Information Technology, Technology, pictorial and numerical literacies, to name a few. Academic literacy constitutes more than one literacy, namely, operational or functional literacy, cultural literacy and critical literacy. These literacies are elaborated on and the role of language proficiency, together with the inter-relatedness between students' linguistic competence and their cognitive ability are discussed in depth. Alternatives are examined to assess how this problem of the lack of academic literacy can be circumvented and what mechanisms can be put in place in order that students can be assisted in their pursuit of academic literacy.
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Mohamed, Hashim Issa. "Academic writing as social practice: a critical discourse analysis of student writing in higher education in Tanzania." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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This thesis was a critical analysis of students academic second language writing at Sokoine University of Agriculture. Student writing in English as a second language in higher education has excited much interest in the English as a Second Language writing research and discussion in Tanzania. The interest was motivated by frequent criticisms from examiners regarding students literacy performance in the English as a Second Language writing in the post primary and higher education where the language of instruction is English as is configured in the Tanzanian language policy.
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Townsend, Rodwell. "The national curriculum statement on writing practice design for grades 11 and 12: implications for academic writing in higher education." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1125.
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This study examines the role of academic literacies and academic-writing practices at two diverse South African senior secondary schools and the implications that these practices have for academic-literacy teaching in Higher Education (HE). As student academic writing is central to teaching, learning and assessment in HE, learner academic-writing standards at schools will often impact on academic success in HE. This is a concern for HE as research from South African schooling contexts have found that students from secondary schools are seldom equipped to cope with the demands of HE writing practices. In addition, the introduction of a new curriculum (National Curriculum Statement – NCS) based on the principles of the South African constitution and informed by the Bill of Rights, impacted for the first time on senior secondary schools in 2006, when it was implemented in grade 10, and HE received its first cohort of matriculants with an NCS educational background in 2009. Therefore, this study specifically explores teachers' writing practices within an NCS writing-practice design for grades 11 and 12, and assesses its current implications for academic-writing practices in HE. Critical ethnography was selected as the primary methodology as it is concerned with multiple perspectives and explores local-practice contexts. Therefore, it provides a holistic understanding of the complexity of writing practices by examining the participants' writing-practice perceptions, observing their teaching practices and analysing their written responses or feedback to first and final drafts. The data/study sample consisted of three grades 11 and one grade 12 English Home Language and English First Additional Language teachers as well as selected learners from two secondary schools in the Port Elizabeth district. The data was collected by means of classroom observations, teacher interviews and learner samples of academic writing. Although this study focused on the teaching of academic writing by the four teachers, literacy understandings were also explored by describing what literacy practices subjectively meant to the four teachers by determining the meanings they collectively and individually gave to dominant literacy practices in academic writing, especially feedback practices in text production. A detailed examination of the new NCS requirements suggest that it offers an understanding of knowledge as a social construct, advocates a multiple literacies approach to teaching and learning, and allows for a process approach to cognitively-demanding writing which takes cognisance of the rhetorical, social and cultural dimensions of literacy. Collectively, the ASs in LO3 reflect a process approach to writing, from planning, drafting, feedback, revision to presentation of the final text. It also considers the specific rhetorical dimensions of purpose, audience, and context. Therefore, these NCS writing practices should benefit learners advancing to HE. This study argues that if teachers in secondary schools were to adhere more closely to the NCS's LO3 and its ASs implementation guidelines, learners would be better prepared to cope with HE academic-writing requirements. Instead, the study found that the teachers tended to reduce writing practices to the mastery of discrete sets of technical skills with a focus on surface features of language like spelling and grammar. In addition, the study found that when the teachers' perceptions of the NCS and their own classroom-writing practices were explored, they tended to resist a social-practice approach to academic writing, and, as a result, mostly adapted LO3 of the NCS rather than adopting it as intended by the policy-makers. Similar to other South African studies, this study concludes that teachers remain largely rooted in their autonomous teaching practices favouring traditional methods with which they are familiar over curricula policies which could emancipate learners toward levels of achievement which would better prepare them for both HE and the world of work. In other words, teachers in the sample tend to conserve their traditional methodologies which are predominantly informed by deficit views of learners‟ problems, selectively including new policy requirements which create the impression of compliance, rather than fundamentally altering their approaches pedagogically in the classroom and their academic-writing practices in particular.
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Birkett, Timothy Michael. "An investigation into EAP teacher and student perceptions and interpretations of an academic writing marking rubric." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/208031.
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The EAP written multiple trait rubric used in the City University of Hong Kong is believed to be of central importance to formative and high-stakes summative assessment in the institution. Crucial to both of these roles are the perceptions and interpretations of the key stakeholders: teachers and students. The learning and test scores deriving from the rubric are filtered entirely through these stakeholders. Investigating the perceived effects of the rubric on the EAP assessment's validity, reliability and student learning (three key strands revealed in testing literature) is seen as being essential as proof of the rubric's value. This paper presents an analysis of teacher (n=25) and student (n=123) perceptions of an EAP rubric, investigating core elements of both, comparing them, and probing into whether teachers' interpretations of rubrics influence their students. A mixed-methods study seeks to determine perceptions through combining qualitative analysis of interview data with quantitative analysis of questionnaire responses. Key elements of rubrics and how they both impact and are impacted by stakeholder perceptions are discussed. Findings indicate several strong trends in student and teacher perceptions of the rubric, and tentatively illustrate how teachers may affect their students. Arguments are made for a greater focus on standardising the teaching and learning of the rubric, for greater realisation of the learning potential of the rubric, and for investigating the appropriacy of certain domains and wordings.published_or_final_version
Applied English Studies
Master
Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics
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Miller-Cornell, Carol Ann. "Error feedback in second language writing." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2007. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3396.
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This thesis follows five second language (L2) students in an introductory composition class at California State University, San Bernardino. The study investigates their perceptions and responses to grammatical coded feedback provided by their writing instructor. The results showed that students wanted, expected, appreciated and understood the coded feedback that was given to them.
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Oliver, Cynthia Catherine, and University of Lethbridge Faculty of Education. "Technical writing : assessing curriculum and improvement rates for adult learners." Thesis, Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Education, 2000, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10133/108.
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The purpose of this study was to determine if adult students at the College of the Rockies improved in their ability to write technical English after having studied specifically developed curriculum. The research was conducted during the winter semester (January to April 1999) at the Cranbrook, BC campus. Curriculum for the course Technical and Professional Writing 091 was developed as a project for the Centre for Curriculum, Transfer and Technology, an arm of the post-secondary education division of the government of the Province of British Columbia. Four of the units, Direct Requests, Bad News Messages, Persuasive Writing, and Reports and Proposals were tested out in the Cranbrook class via pre and posttesting of the students. As well, field observations and interviews formed an integral component of the study. The final data analysis overall improvement in the learners' ability to write technical English; in addition, each curriculum unit was scrutinized for improvement rates. Recommendations were made for further areas of study and research needed in this discipline.ix, 81 leaves ; 29 cm.
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Hill, Kathleen J. (Kathleen Josephine) 1920. ""This one is best" : a study of children's abilities to evaluate their own writing." Monash University, Faculty of Education, 2001. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/8956.
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Holbrook, Hannah Sloan. "Negotiating "post" era writing pedagogies." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2660.
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This study examines how post-process theories are being defined, negotiated, and enacted in composition classrooms. While recognizing that most composition instruction remains shaped by modern and process oriented theories, this research asks how post-process considerations might be currently informing teaching practices in some classrooms.
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McNenny, Geraldine Roberta. "Situated knowledge and the teaching of writing: A rhetorical analysis of the professional writing of women's studies scholars." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/186888.
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Feminist scholars have in many instances led the way in challenging the tendency of academics to make transcendent claims from a disembodied and unmarked position, often in the name of objectivity. One means of reinstating the writer in the act of writing and thus circumventing discourse that, in effect, erases the writer as well as the complexities of the subject is to teach from the perspective of situated knowledges: that is, from the understanding that knowledge is mediated by one's cultural, ideological, and historical position. Moreover, the concept of situated knowledges challenges the positivist assumptions that place the writer outside of the cultural and situational context of the research subject. Situated knowledge thus holds out some intriguing possibilities for the future shape of the teaching of academic discourse. Foremost among those experimenting with the practice of positioning oneself in academic discourse are those scholars working in the cross-disciplinary field of Women's Studies. This dissertation analyzes the rhetorical strategies that three feminist scholars working at the University of Arizona employ in situating themselves in their professional writing. Each scholar occupies a different position along the continuum that represents the efforts to locate oneself. The most conservative strategy common to conventional ideological positioning is one in which the writer avoids any reference to personal location while situating herself within a community of scholars by means of reference and citation. Further along the continuum, the writer may invoke a form of strategic essentialism, critiquing those semiotic systems that enforce various forms of oppression while defining the social context to the advantage of the oppressed group. At the furthest extreme, the researcher acts as participant observer, placing herself in the research situation using a self-reflexive research methodology. In closing, I survey the potential that feminist research methodologies hold for writing pedagogy, especially in assisting our students in locating themselves in their own scholarly pursuits.
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Emilia, Emi. "A critical genre based approach to teaching academic writing in a tertiary EFL context in Indonesia." Connect to thesis, 2005. http://repository.unimelb.edu.au/10187/2886.
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This thesis reports on the effectiveness of using a genre-based approach in teaching academic English writing to studnet teachers who were learning English as a foreign language in a state university.
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Zhang, Qing. "Academic writing in English and Chinese : case studies of senior college students." Virtual Press, 1997. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1063193.
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This dissertation reports the findings of a comparative case study of English and Chinese academic writing with respect to the use of composing strategies, the patterns of written discourse organization, and questionnaire responses regarding educational background and attitudes toward writing.The subjects were eighteen traditional senior college students -- nine native speakers of English and nine native speakers of Chinese. Each subject was asked to write two essays on given topics with the think-aloud protocol method. While the protocol data showed that the composing strategies used by the American and Chinese subjects were similar, the American subjects used most of the strategies more frequently than the Chinese subjects did and there was a lack of group consistency in the use of these strategies among the subjects in the Chinese group. The written data, which were analyzed by means of Coe's (1988) discourse matrix method, showed that, contrary to prior claims, Chinese writing is not indirect in idea development in comparison to English writing. The questionnaire responses indicated that the subjects' composing performance was consonant with their instructors' methods of teaching writing and the curricula set up for teaching writing. Based on these findings, implications for contrastive research and EFL/ESL teaching are discussed and suggestions for further contrastive studies of English and Chinese writing are made.Department of English
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Harwell, Marsha Armstrong. "Scholarly Writing Among Graduate Students: A Qualitative Project Study." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1894.
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This project study focused on scholarly writing skills of adult students enrolled in a private graduate institution in the West Indies. The institution provided writing instruction, but scholarly writing skills remained inadequate for some students when they began their final projects. The project study provided insight into the most pervasive writing skill deficits and the positive and negative influences on writing skill development among graduate students. The research design was an applied qualitative case study using data collected from a purposeful sample of convenience within a bounded system of current students, faculty members, and administrators in one institution. Open-ended questionnaires (n = 5), interviews (n = 14), and qualitative assessments of student writing samples (n = 10) provided data for thematic qualitative analysis. Findings indicated a wide range of individual needs for writing development and guided the formation of a writing improvement project. The theory of andragogy provided the theoretical foundation for both the study and the project. Enrollment in the institution was limited to adults over 25 years of age; therefore, consideration of andragogical assumptions about how adults learn helped in understanding students' writing deficits and influences on their writing skill development. The project, called the Writing Suite, is an integrated curriculum aimed at developing students' scholarly writing skills throughout their graduate programs. When paired with the institution's emphasis on social change, the development of proficient writing skills will increase each student's potential for effecting positive change in his or her community and workplace.
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Lee, Melissa. "The Many Pedagogies of Memoir: A Study of the Promise of Teaching Memoir in College Composition." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2012. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/5392.
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This thesis examines the promise and problems of memoir in the pedagogy and practices of teaching memoir in college composition. I interviewed three University of Central Florida instructors who value memoir in composition, and who at the time of this study, were mandated to teach memoir in their composition courses. The interviews focus on three main points of interest: (1) the instructors' motivations behind their teaching of memoir, (2) how these instructors see memoir functioning in their classes, and (3) what these instructors hope their students will gain in the process of writing the memoir essay. By analyzing these interviews, I was better able to understand the three instructors' pedagogical choices and rationales for teaching memoir in their classes. I have also collected data and research from scholarly journal articles, books, and from my experiences teaching memoir in the composition classroom. This thesis challenges the widely accepted notion that memoir and the personal in composition scholarship, pedagogy, and teaching practices are “'touchy-feely,' 'soft,' 'unrigorous,' 'mystical,' 'therapeutic,' and 'Mickey Mouse'” ways of meaning-making and teaching writing (Tompkins 214). My findings show that memoir in the classroom is richer and far more complex than it might appear at first, and that the teaching of memoir in composition can, in fact, be greater than the memoir essay itself. Even though each instructor I interviewed values the personal and believes memoir belongs in composition curriculum, it turns out that none of these instructors' core reasons for teaching memoir was so his or her students could master writing the memoir essay, although this was important; rather the memoir essay ultimately served in the instructors' classrooms as a conduit through which they ultimately could teach more diverse writing skills and techniques as well as intellectual concepts that truly inspired them. Since the teaching of memoir seems to be even more dynamic and versatile in process and pedagogy than many of the other essay genres traditionally taught in college composition, this thesis makes recommendations for how memoir needs to be viewed, written about, and taught in order to harness the promise of this essay genre more consistently in the discussion of composition pedagogy and in the teaching of memoir to our students in the composition classroom. Thompkins, Jane. A Life in School: What the Teacher Learned. Reading: Addison-Wesley. 1996. Print.ID: 031001373; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Adviser: David Wallace.; Title from PDF title page (viewed May 21, 2013).; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2012.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 108-110).
M.A.
Masters
English
Arts and Humanities
English; Rhetoric and Composition
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Lok, Pui-ying Katherine, and 駱佩瑩. "The challenge of subject-area writing: a diagnostic study of L2 students' argumentative history essays." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2010. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B45176358.
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Jung, Miso. "When English as a Second Language students meet text-responsible writing." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2906.
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This thesis follows two international freshman students in an English composition class at California State University, San Bernardino. The results indicate that the students generally experienced feeling challenged and overwhelmed about the unfamiliar topic, but detailed assignment guidelines played a key role for students to progress in understanding the assignment.
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Roney, Joshua. "Evaluating Teaching Grammar in Specific Constraints of Context: A Pilot Study in the Developmental Writing Program at Seminole State College." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2012. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/5469.
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This pilot study investigated the efficacy of a supplemental Active Learning intervention that was administered with grammar workbook software in remedial-level composition classrooms at Seminole State College. The study analyzed student response data in a pre-test and post-test instrument in four classrooms; two followed standard methods while two incorporated the additional experimental intervention. The groups are identified in this study as either “Standard” or “Experimental,” according to the method administered in the classroom. The intervention was designed based on five grammar topic areas which correspond with content assessed in the pre-test and post-test. The Active Learning method required students to prepare a short, guided presentation on selected grammar topics. Findings showed that there was no significant change in improvement between the pre-test and post-test among the Standard or the Experimental groups, due in part to a relatively small sample size. A positive change approaching significant level occurred in the Experimental group in topic areas related to critical thinking. No significant or near-significant change was observed in the topic areas related to memorization in either group. Recommendations were made for further sampling, modification, and future applications of the intervention used in the study and for continued testing of grammar software used for instruction in Developmental Writing classes at Seminole State College.M.A.
Masters
English
Arts and Humanities
English; Rhetoric and Composition
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Frewin, Robert Duncan. "Ideation in ESL EAP teaching." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1997. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36558/1/36558_Frewin_1997.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Ideation, the selection and arrangement of information to build a
text, though a necessary skill for tertiary students, is not
satisfactorily addressed in writing skills textbooks for English as a
Second Language/English for Academic Purposes. To develop a
pedagogical approach to ideation, teachers need a theory of
language. The most fruitful theory is systemic-functional
linguistics, but systemic-functional theory has not yet fully
developed a theory of ideation. A related theory, Rhetorical
Structure Theory, offers a useful tool to analyse ideation both in
well formed model texts and, with slight modification, in not well
formed student texts. With Rhetorical Structure Theory, the
analyst can separate semantic value from syntax. The resulting
analysis indicates with clarity certain problem areas in ideation
which teachers need to address. Teachers are thus better equipped
to devise teaching approaches to address ideation in the classroom.
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Ross, Alanna. "Teaching and assessing for information literacy learning: A united Arab emirates case study." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2019. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/132446/2/__qut.edu.au_Documents_StaffHome_staffgroupW%24_wu75_Documents_ePrints_Julie_Ross_Thesis%5B1%5D.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores how instructors of Academic Writing in a UAE higher education institution conceive, teach and assess for information literacy learning. Using a case study the research included interviews, observations of classroom and instructor-student conferencing sessions, written assessment feedback, and curriculum-related materials. Findings provide insight into instructors' understanding and practice framed through the academic writing task, the challenges that students from a range of multicultural backgrounds face, and the utility that a formative assessment approach affords. Outcomes are significant for local institutions responding to international accreditation mandates, and practitioners who seek to understand the overlap between writing and research.
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Xamlashe, Sibongile Saraphina. "The use of History texts in isiXhosa for Grade 11 in developing academic writing skills across the curriculum." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/98037.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The central aim of the study is to present a proposal of how academic literacy development across the curriculum in secondary school can be facilitated through the use of content subject texts in isiXhosa. This is demonstrated by making use of History texts, which can be incorporated in the isiXhosa Home Language (HL) subject for teaching the writing skills of academic texts. The Genre-based approach to literacy development, which has been employed with great success, especially in Australia, over the past thirty years, is assumed in presenting an analysis of the variety of genres exemplified by the History texts. The analyses of genres will be demonstrated by three texts selected from the grade 11 History textbook and the grade 11 assessment question paper, translated into isiXhosa, respectively. For example, genres such as chronological texts in which historical recounts are grouped into and non-chronological genres in which the factorial and consequential explanation genres are grouped under. The schematic structure of the selected genres is identified and related to the language system represented by the systemic functional linguistics. The study makes use of the method of text analysis and written discourse analysis within the genre framework underpinned by systemic functional linguistic for the data collection. The findings demonstrate that that the effective development of knowledge of language in the Home Language class through the use of texts from content subjects can play a crucial role in advancing academic writing skills, for both the Home language and History. Furthermore; the availability of resources in isiXhosa, teachers training and support on the implementation of genre-based approach underpinned by the systemic functional linguistics can enhance the understanding of genres across the curriculum and will in that effect, promote the use of African languages for academic purposes.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die sentrale doelwit van die studie is om ‘n voorstel aan te bied van hoe akademiese geletterdheid in die sekondêre skool gefasiliteer kan word deur die gebruik van inhoudsvaktekste in isiXhosa oor die kurrikulum. Hierdie doelwit word gedemonstreer deur die gebruik van Geskiedenistekste wat geïntegreer kan word in die isiXhosa huistaalvak vir die onderrig van skryfvaardighede van akademiese tekste. Die genre-gebaseerde benadering, wat met groot sukses in veral Australië gebruik is die afgelope dertig jaar, word aanvaar vir die aanbieding van analises van ‘n verskeidenheid genres soos vertoon deur geskiedenistekste. Die analises van genres word geïllustreer deur drie tekste wat geselekteer is uit die Graad 11 Geskiedenisteksboek en ook die Graad 11 assesseringsvraestel, vertaal in isiXhosa, respektiewelik. Byvoorbeeld, genres soos chronologiese tekste, waarin historiese herroepings (‘recounts’) gegroepeer word, en nie-chronologiese genres, waaronder die faktoriale en gevolg-verduidelikings-genres gegroepeer is. Die skematiese strukture van die geselekteerde genres word geïdentifiseer en in verband gebring met die taalsisteem soos gerepresenteer in sistemiese funksionele linguistiek. Die studie maak gebruik van die metode van teksanalise en geskrewe diskoersanalise binne die genre-raamwerk wat onderlê word deur sistemiese funksionele linguïstiek vir dataversameling. Die bevindings demonstreer dat die doeltreffende ontwikkeling van kennis van taal in die Huistaalvak en klasse deur die gebruik van inhoudsvak tekste ‘n belangrike rol kan speel in die bevordering van akademiese skryfvaardighede, in sowel die Huistaalvak as Geskiedenis. Voorts, kan die beskikbaarheid van leermateriaalbronne in isiXhosa, onderwysersopleiding en ondersteuning in die implementering van die genre-gebaseerde benadering waaraan die sistemiese funksionele linguistiek onderliggend is, die begrip van leerders van genres oor die kurrikulum heen verhoog, en dus die gebruik van die Afrikatale vir akademiese doeleindes verhoog.
isiXHOSA ABSTRACT: Injongo ephambili yesi sifundo kukuzisa ingcebiso kuphuhliso lolwimi ukuze lube kumgangatho wamaziko emfundo ephezulu, nophuhliso kwiKharityhulum ngokusebenzisa imibhalo kwizifundo ezingundoqo “content-subjects”. Oku kuza kuboniswa ngokusebenzisa okubhaliweyo kwimbali (history text), okunokuthi kufundiswe kwigumbi lokufundisa lesiXhosa njengolwimi lweenkobe, ukufundisa izakhono zokubhalwa kokubhaliweyo ukuze kube kumgangatho wamaziko aphezulu ezemfundo ukuya kumaziko emfundo enomsila. Indlela yokufundisa ekuphuhliseni ukufunda nokubhala esekelwe kokubhaliweyo ebizwa ngokuba “yiGenre- based approach” neye yasetyenziswa ngempumelelo enkulu, ingakumbi kumazwe afana ne-Ostreliya, kwiminyaka engamashumi amathathu eyadlulayo, ibonwa njengeyona isebenzayo ekuhlalutyeni iindidi ezahlukeneyo zokubhaliweyo ezibonakaliswa yimibhalo yezembali. Ukuphicothwa kwale mibhalo kuza kubonakaliswa ngemibhalo echongiweyo kwincwadi yebanga lethoba (ibakala leshumi elinanye) kwakunye namaphepha ovavanyo eli bakala nathe aguqulelwa esiXhoseni. Umzekelo: okubhaliweyo okubonakalisa indlela yokubhala apho kudweliswa iziganeko, izehlo eziyinyani nezo zifuna ingcaciso ephuhlisa isiphumo okanye isiganeko esithile, njalo njalo. Ubume bokubhaliweyo buza kuphichothwa ngokwendlela ulwimi olume ngayo ngohlobo olukhuthazwa yi“systemic functional linguistics”. Esi sifundo sisebenzisa olo hlobo lokuphicotha okubhaliweyo noluquka ukuphicothwa kokubhaliweyo okukhuthazwa yigenre, ingakumbi ekuqokeleleni idatha. Iziphumo ziphawula ukuba ukuphuhlisa ulwazi olusulungekileyo ngolwimi lweenkobe, lusetyenziswe ingakumbi kwiklasi yolwimi lwenkobe, kunganegalelo elikhulu ekuphuhliseni ukufundiswa kwezakhona zokubhala, nezokuhlalutya okubhaliweyo kwezifundo ezingundoqo “content subjects”. Obu budlelane phakathi kwezifundo zolwimi nezo zingundoqo zinganegalelo elikhulu ekuphuhliseni izakhono zokubhala ezikwizinga eliphezulu. Ngapha koko, ukufumaneka kwale mithombo ngesiXhosa, uqeqesho lwabafundisi- ntsapho nokubaxhasa ekufundiseni ngale ndlela ekhuthazwa yi-“genre ne-systemic functional linguistics” kunganefuthe elihle kwizifundo jikelele, nakuphuhliso kusetyenziso lweeLwimi zesiNtu njengeelwimi zokufunda nokufundisa kumaziko emfundo enomsila.
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Mkaza, Linda Olive. "Exploring the potential of digital storytelling in the teaching of academic writing at a higher education institution in the Western Cape." university of western cape, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/7231.
Full textAbstract:
Magister Educationis - MEdWriting is an important skill throughout learners’ schooling trajectory because it is through writing that learners need to situate meaning and sense-making across the curriculum. Writing proficiency becomes even more important when learners access tertiary studies. Yet studies suggest that most students struggle with academic writing. Various authors suggest that writing has not been taught appropriately especially in secondary schooling contexts in South Africa and that writing becomes even more daunting for Second Language speakers of English when they reach tertiary education. There is abundant literature on students’ challenges with academic writing and ways to address academic writing challenges but the use of digital storytelling in relation to academic writing development is recent and distinctively underexplored in the literature.
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Schechter, Amy June. "A Case Study of the Roles and Perceptions of Writing Coaches." Scholar Commons, 2014. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5305.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore the roles, responsibilities, and perceptions of writing coaches, a form of embedded professional development, which had the opportunity to assist teachers in deepening their pedagogical knowledge of writing instruction. Furthermore, this inquiry sought to describe middle school teachers' (N = 235) perceptions of how writing coaches may have impacted their beliefs and pedagogy with regard to writing instruction. At the time I conducted this case study, no extant literature existed to describe the roles, responsibilities, or perceptions of writing coaches, and this inquiry sought to fill that void.
In an intrinsic case study, the researcher's own interests guide the inquiry. Qualitative data from interviews, observations, and archival data informed the inquiry. Furthermore, a non-experimental quantitative survey complemented the qualitative data. I analyzed qualitative data as I collected it through constant-comparative analysis beginning with open coding of individual cases, proceeding to axial coding across site cases, and finishing with selective coding across site cases, at which point I integrated relevant empirical research. I reported descriptive statistics for the non-experimental quantitative survey data.
The findings of this inquiry do not generalize to other populations, but the results of data analysis may inform future study and practice. I uncovered teachers regarded the writing coaches in this inquiry positively, but did not explicitly communicate any change in beliefs or practice with regard to writing instruction. Furthermore, I discovered although writing coaches are deemed "coaches," they spend more of their time performing responsibilities which categorize them as teachers and administrators. A posteriori data trends revealed writing coaches faced many challenges: high-stakes testing, unclear roles and responsibilities, balance of their many roles and responsibilities, micromanagement, and inability to impact teacher practice. Lastly, I outline a model, which requires future testing under experimental conditions, to explain how the challenges writing coaches face may serve to lower their loci of control, perceptions of effectiveness, and job satisfaction.
The themes I discovered through data analysis led me to make recommendations with regard to future research and practice. This inquiry described three writing coaches' roles, responsibilities, and perceptions, but future study, both qualitative and quantitative, is needed to more fully describe and explore the phenomenon. The model I developed through qualitative data collect and analysis would require testing in inquiries with an experimental design. I recommend future research in the causal cascade to discover how the efforts of writing coaches and other academic coaches may impact teacher pedagogy and practice and eventually student learning. Furthermore, I endorse future studies into academic coaches' loci of control and challenges. Although this study sought to explore the roles, perceptions, and perceived impact of writing coaches, it truly became a study of the challenges perceived by writing coaches and the factors which may contribute to job dissatisfaction and perceived ineffectiveness. For this reason, I make specific recommendations to support writing coaches in their attempts to perform their jobs excellently.
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Mkaza, linda. "Exploring the potential of digital storytelling in the teaching of academic writing at a higher education institution in the Western Cape." Language Education in the Faculty of Education, University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/8303.
Full textAbstract:
Doctor EducationisWriting is an important skill throughout learners’ schooling trajectory because it is through writing that learners need to situate meaning and sense-making across the curriculum. Writing proficiency becomes even more important when learners access tertiary studies. Yet studies suggest that most students struggle with academic writing. Various authors suggest that writing has not been taught appropriately especially in secondary schooling contexts in South Africa and that writing becomes even more daunting for Second Language speakers of English when they reach tertiary education. There is abundant literature on students’ challenges with academic writing and ways to address academic writing challenges but the use of digital storytelling in relation to academic writing development is recent and distinctively underexplored in the literature.
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Mkaza, Linda Olive. "Exploring the potential of digital storytelling in the teaching of academic writing at a higher education institution in the Western Cape." Thesis, University of The Western Cape, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/7508.
Full textAbstract:
Doctor EducationisWriting is an important skill throughout learners’ schooling trajectory because it is through writing that learners need to situate meaning and sense-making across the curriculum. Writing proficiency becomes even more important when learners access tertiary studies. Yet studies suggest that most students struggle with academic writing. Various authors suggest that writing has not been taught appropriately especially in secondary schooling contexts in South Africa and that writing becomes even more daunting for Second Language speakers of English when they reach tertiary education. There is abundant literature on students’ challenges with academic writing and ways to address academic writing challenges but the use of digital storytelling in relation to academic writing development is recent and distinctively underexplored in the literature.
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Russell, Margo K. "A Comparison of Linguistic Features in the Academic Writing of Advanced English Language Learner and English First Language University Students." PDXScholar, 2014. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2023.
Full textAbstract:
Writing for an academic purpose is not an easy skill to master, whether for a native English speaker (L1) or an English language learner (ELL). In order to better prepare ELL students for success in mainstream content courses at the university level, more must be known about the characteristics of student writing in the local context of an intensive English program. This information can be used to inform ELL writing instructors of which linguistic features to target so that their students produce writing that sounds appropriate for the academic written register.
Two corpora of 30 research essays each were compiled, one of L1 student writing done in various departments at Portland State University, and the other of ELL writing produced in an advanced writing course in Portland State University's Intensive English Language Program. The corpora were compared for the frequencies of 13 linguistic features which had been previously found in significantly different frequencies in L1 and ELL essays (Hinkel, 2002).
The tokens of each feature in each essay were counted, and the frequency rate was calculated in each case. The results of the Mann-Whitney U test found 6 features with significantly different frequency rates between the two corpora. The following features were more frequent in L1 essays than in ELL essays: modal would, perfect aspect, passive voice, reduced adjective clause, and it-cleft. In addition, the type/token ratio was found be significantly higher in L1 essays than in ELL essays.
An analysis of how each of the significant features was used in the context of ELL and L1 essays revealed the following: Both student groups were still acquiring the appropriate use of modal would; the majority of students in both groups did not utilize it-clefts; the lower type/token ratio in ELL essays meant that these students used a more limited vocabulary than did L1 students; and ELL students were still acquiring the accurate and appropriate uses of perfect aspect, passive voice, and reduced adjective clauses, whereas L1 students used these features grammatically and for the standard uses.
To apply these findings to the ELL writing classroom, instructors should help students raise their awareness of these six features in their own academic writing by leading students in identifying grammatical and ungrammatical uses of these features and providing practice in differentiating between uses which are standard to the register of academic writing and uses which are appropriate only in conversation. Two sample activities are included to illustrate how to implement these recommendations.
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Treviño, Marlea. "Laying the foundation for successful non-academic writing: Professional communication principles in the K-5 curricula of the McKinney Independent School District." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2009. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc12206/.
Full textAbstract:
Traditionally, K-5 students' writing has had a primarily academic aim-to help students master concepts and express themselves. Even if students take a professional writing course later, they typically do not have the opportunity to practice-over the long period of time mastery requires-the non-academic writing skills they will be required to use as part of their jobs and in their civic life. Based on a limited K-5 study, Texas' McKinney Independent School District is doing a good job of preparing students at the elementary-school level in the areas of collaboration and presentation. A fair job of helping elementary-school students understand the communication situation, define audience, clarify purpose, gather and evaluate resources, and test usability. [And] a poor job of helping elementary-school students with analysis and organization. With their teachers' help, K-5 students eventually grasp the communication situation and can broadly identify their audience and purpose, but they do not appear to select words, format, communication style, or design based on that audience and purpose. Their writer-based focus affects their presentations as well, although they do present frequently. If teachers routinely incorporated audience and purpose considerations into every aspect of communication assignments (format, communication style, design), students would be better prepared for non-academic communication. Texas pre-service teachers practice the types of documents they will write on the job but do not receive training in design or style. Likewise, they practice researching, collaborating, and presenting but receive little training in those skills. If Texas K-5 teachers are to supplement the curriculum with professional writing principles, as trends suggest they should, education programs need to focus on these principles in their pre-service teacher curriculum. Professional writing principles need to become part of ingrained writing patterns because these are the skills that will best serve students after they graduate, both in their careers and civic lives. Understanding how to tailor communication for audience and purpose; how to effectively collaborate; how to select, evaluate, analyze, and organize information efficiently and productively; and how to format presentations effectively requires practice over a long period of time.
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Maclean, Hector Roderick 1950. "Learning literacies in the law : constructing legal subjectivities." Monash University, School of Literary, Visual and Performance Studies, 2003. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/5792.
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Zwald, Regan Lee. ""Everything in the Middle:" A Case Study of a Generation 1.5 Student's Academic Writing Process." Thesis, Connect to resource online, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/1947.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2009.Title from screen (viewed on September 30, 2009). Department of English, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Ulla M. Connor, Thomas A. Upton, M. Catherine Beck. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62).
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Kereni, Ildephonse. "Developing academic writing at the National University of Rwanda: a case study of first year economics and management." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2004. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
Full textAbstract:
This aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which writing skills offered in the one-year intensive English course and in the 75 hour course of Speaking and Writing Skills, prepare students for academic writing in the subjects which are offered through the medium of English. The study focused on first year Economics and Management.
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Hollis-Turner, Shairn Lorena. "Higher education business writing practices in office management and technology programmes and in related workplaces." Thesis, [S.l. : s.n.], 2008. http://dk.cput.ac.za/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1072&context=td_cput.
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Wilson, Craig Steven. "Using a computer negotiations simulation to improve the writing of English language learners in a specially designed academic instruction in English world history class." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1998. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1672.
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Wagner, Brandon Joel. "Integrating K-W-L Prompts into Science Journal Writing: Can Simple Question Scaffolding Increase Student Content Knowledge?" PDXScholar, 2014. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2127.
Full textAbstract:
Writing-to-learn strategies have been administered in the past to enrich student learning. The purpose of this study was to see if K-W-L prompts in science journal writing could benefit student content knowledge within biology. Two high school biology classes were provided with learning journals. The journals given to the students during the treatment unit were provided with K-W-L question prompts to guide student learning while during the comparison unit students were given an open ended writing assignment. Pre and posttests were administered to determine student-learning gains. Student motivations and opinions of the treatment were collected through student interviews. The combined results were used to determine to what extent could K-W-L prompts in science journal writing influence comprehension of content knowledge. This study found there to be no difference in student learning gains when utilizing the K-W-L literacy strategy versus another free-writing activity. When scored, student K-W-Ls total scores did correlate to student success on unit tests. This opens up the potential for K-W-Ls to serve as an adequate tool for formative assessment. Here the K-W-L could be expanded to enrich student question asking, potentially aid students learning English, and potentially be used by students without teacher scaffolding.
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Martinez, Laura. "Transfer within FYC tracing the operalization of writing-related knowledge and concepts in composition." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2011. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4978.
Full textAbstract:
This study traces the transfer of writing-related knowledge and concepts from the composition classroom into the writing assignments composed by students within the same course. Working in a first-year-composition classroom taught through a writing-about-writing curriculum, the researcher observed students as they navigated from the initial learning of concepts such as rhetorical situations, writing processes, and discourse communities, into an application of these concepts in various writing assignments, including rhetorical analyses and discourse community profiles. By analyzing a composition instructor's objectives for her assignments and observing the interaction between students and their instructor in a single composition course for the duration of one semester, the researcher traced how students operationalized knowledge from the classroom and applied it in their own writing. After tracing this operalization through interviews with the instructor, observation of class activities and analysis of assignment sheets and student papers, the researcher proposes that instructors may encourage transfer within their composition classrooms by adequately presenting assignment objectives to students, and by allowing sufficient scaffolding of writing tasks. In this way, the researcher explains that students may be able to understand the objectives of their writing assignments in a way that may encourage them to apply the knowledge they learned in the classroom to the writing tasks assigned by their instructor.ID: 029809951; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-77).
M.A.
Masters
English
Arts and Humanities
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Tshotsho, Baba Primrose. "An investigation into English second language academic writing strategies for black students at the Eastern Cape technikon." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_5702_1183703543.
Full textAbstract:
This study has been prompted by the negative remarks that lecturers make concerning the academic performance of students and the number of years they spend at the Eastern Cape Technikon before completing their diplomas. The aim of this study was to identify the kinds of strategies that English Second Language (ESL) students use to cope with English language writing tasks.
Academic writing requires a conscious effort and much practice in composing, developing, and analyzing ideas. Black students at tertiary institutions in South Africa face additional difficulty, especially when they have to deal with writing in English which is an unfamiliar language to them. This presents them with social and cognitive challenges related to second language acquisition. Since the black students do not often consider the social contexts in which L2 academic writing takes place, models of L1 writing instruction and research on composing processes are often found wanting in their L2 writing pedagogy. In this study, I argue that language proficiency and competence is the cornerstone of the ability to write in the L2 in a fundamental way. L2 writing instructors should take into account both strategy development and language skill development when working with black students. This is critical in South Africa considering the apartheid legacy and the deprived social conditions under which black students often live and acquire their education. Therefore, using critical discourse analysis and aspects of systemic functional linguistics, this study explores errors in written cohesion and coherence in relation to L2 writing strategies used by black students at the Eastern Cape Technikon. The study focuses on errors in the form of cohesive devices of referring expressions using topic development used by students. The aim was to explore the strategies used by black students to write coherent academic texts. Further, the study intends to scrutinize the grammatical devices of reference, through analyzing the forms of cohesive devices and theme development. A focus on the writing process as a pedagogical tool enables me to explore the relationship between the quality of studentsâ academic writing and coping strategies used, and come up with a model of L2 writing (coping) strategies for academic writing at the Eastern Cape Technikon. I investigate the L2 writing process adopted by competent and non-competent black students in the process of producing coherent academic texts by comparing strategies that the two groups of students adopt.
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Wojcik, Paul. "An investigation in journal writing and cooperative learning with 8th grade geometry students in the construction of proof." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2011. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/5083.
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This action research study summarizes the investigation of journal writing and cooperative grouping with 8th grade geometry students in the construction of proof. Students written responses to prompts in journals were analyzed over the course of twelve weeks. Case studies of four students were developed from the researchers' three geometry classes. All four students in the study participated in an academic program called Pre International Baccalaureate Preparation. Standardized test scores and an attitude scale categorized the four students. The ATMAT survey (Appendix A) measured each student's attitude toward mathematics. Writing prompts focused on the students' perceptions of the group process in constructing proofs and the development of geometric proof. The results suggested the students were engaged in learning within their cooperative groups but they also desired individual time before coming to a group setting. In addition, students' written responses to journal prompts may provide an informal assessment and help students convey their own understanding of proof before any formal assessments.ID: 029809427; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-95).
M.Ed.
Masters
Teaching and Learning Principles
Education
K-8 Math and Science
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Quinn, Lynn. "An examination of the drafting-responding process used to develop students' writing in an English Language for Academic Purposes Course." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002642.
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Many students when they arrive at university do not possess the “cultural capital” (Bourdieu 1977) which is favoured by the institution. The purpose of the English Language for Academic Purposes (ELAP) course and the drafting-responding process is to help students to begin to acquire the “cultural capital” required to succeed at university. The research reported on in this thesis examined the drafting-responding process as it is used to develop students’ writing in the ELAP course at Rhodes University. The process involved students submitting drafts of their essays on which they received constructive and formative feedback from their ELAP tutor. This feedback was then used to revise their essays before a final version was submitted for assessment. The research took the form of a case study with an essentially interpretive orientation. I examined the drafts (with the tutor’s comments) and final versions of seven students’ ELAP essays. Additional data was obtained by interviewing the students and the tutor. Underpinning my beliefs regarding the role of writing in learning as well as my orientation to research is an understanding of knowledge and learning as being socially constructed. All writing is embedded in and dependent on, not only the immediate social circumstances, but also the broader social and cultural context. In analysing and discussing the data in this research I used Halliday’s (1985) definition of context, in which he draws a broad distinction between the immediate context of situation and the broader context of culture The research findings showed that the drafting-responding process can help students with the process of developing the academic literacy they need in order to write essays within specific situational contexts, in this case, the context of the ELAP course. In addition, at a broader level, it can help students to begin the process of being initiated into the culture of the university as a whole.
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Tapia, Carlin Rebeca Elena. "Analysing trainee beliefs about thesis writing and professional development in a constructivist thesis writing experience." Doctoral thesis, Australia : Macquarie University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/76856.
Full textAbstract:
"December 2008".Thesis (DAppLing)--Macquarie University, Division of Linguistics and Psychology, Dept. of Linguistics, 2009.
Bibliography: p. 299-327.
Introduction -- Literature review -- Study 1 -- Study 2 -- Conclusions.
The aim of this case study was to identify the beliefs of eight pre-service teachers about thesis writing and professional development while and after writing their BA thesis through diary and survey inquiry. This research was conducted in the teaching area of the major in Modern Languages (LEMO) from the Autonomous University of Puebla (BUAP). The methodology used to identify trainee beliefs was applied in two periods: during the process to include reflection in action, and after the process obtaining reflection on action as suggested by Schön (1983, p. 26). Thus, the participants wrote their electronic dialogue diaries while taking the two Research Seminars and writing their thesis. In this diaries they expressed their thoughts and feelings, sent them to the teacher and the teacher answered them also via e-mail. Then, when the Research Seminars had finished, they answered the questionnaire called Thesis and Professional Development Questionnaire (TAPDQ), which was especially designed for this research taking insights from Eraut (1995), Fullan(1995), Burns et al (1999), Schmekes (2004) and Viaggio (1992). This questionnaire contains Likert scales and some open questions. The findings of these studies reveal that participants were aware of their lack of expertise in thesis writing and they looked for strategies to overcome this problem. Also, the findings suggest that the participants were benefited from the constructivist methodology employed in the Research Seminars. Most of the participants reported having acquired skills, knowledge, having improved their attitude and having become better students after writing their thesis. This doctoral thesis begins exploring an area that has not been explored on ELT teacher cognition at least as reported in the research reviews done by Borg (2003, 2006) and Reyes & Rodríguez (2007). It aims to contribute to get a better understanding the thesis writing processes in teacher education programmes in public universities in Mexico.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
xvii, 359 p
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Case, Cynthia Katherine. "Expressive writing and academic discourse: Bridging the gap for high school second language learners." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1999. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1940.
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Fung, Wing-ching Fiona, and 馮穎偵. "The effectiveness of teacher written feedback on S.3 students' abilityto produce elaborations in expository writing." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2010. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B45442022.
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Malie, Tebogo Ma'Khopotso. "Improve your essay writing : the essential guide." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/21239.
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Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The application designed is an attempt to solve the problems that students face in writing well balanced academic essays. These are essays that are correct in structure and form, coherent and cohesive, well referenced, and not plagiarised. These concerns are addressed in five basic units. These are "Where to Start", "The Basic Structure", "Paragraphing", "Referencing" and "Exercises". The exercises serve as a summary of all the units. This application derived out of the needs of the students of the University of Botswana. The content was a result of a needs analysis done through observation and interviews. The evaluation of the application was done by the students themselves and fellow students at Stellenbosch University.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie voorlegging is 'n soeke na 'n oplossing vir die probleme wat studente ondervind om 'n goed-gebalanseerde akademiese essay (werkstuk, proefskrif, tesis) te skryf. Hierdie is essays wat in struktuur en vorm korrek is, duidelik en relevant is, korrekte verwysings het en nie nageskryf (plagiaat) is nie. Die probleme is in vyf afdelings bespreek; nl. "Waar om te Begin", "Die Basiese Struktuur", "Paragrawe", "Verwysings" en "Oefeninge". Die oefeninge dien as opsomming vir al die eenhede. Hierdie voorlegging het ontstaan uit ’n behoefte van die studente by die Universiteit Botswana. Die inhoud was die resultaat van 'n behoefte-analise wat deur observasie en onderhoude gedoen is. Die evaluasie is deur die betrokke studente en studente aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch gedoen.
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Van, Heerden Karen Ilse. "A phenomenological investigation into undergraduate students' experience of acquiring the discourse of engineering." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003581.
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The area of discourse acquisition and writing in higher education has become a much researched field. In South Africa the interest in discourse acquisition and writing has been partly in response to the change in student profile, particularly over the past ten years. While South African researchers and academics are increasingly focusing their interest in discourse acquisition and writing on the unique circumstances here, they rely on theories based on research done in very different social contexts. These theories are not necessarily universally appropriate. South Africa is currently undergoing a period of transformation in higher education aimed at greater access and equity for black students and academics. The accompanying sense of frustration and disillusionment among students and academics underlines the need to reappraise all aspects of higher education. Much of the research on discourse acquisition and writing is undertaken in arts programmes: vocational fields - such as engineering education - tend to be neglected. If the envisaged growth in science and engineering education is to be realised, it is essential that research in discourse and writing be undertaken in engineering programmes. This study investigates discourse acquisition as experienced by students in a South African engineering faculty. The experiences of six final year technikon students are investigated to gain a better understanding of what it means to acquire the discourse of engineering. The phenomenological method used requires that the researcher suspends or brackets a priori theoretical notions or pre-conceptions so that that which the students experience, rather than what the researcher expects in terms of theory, can emerge. What emerges from the students' experiences is partially congruent with established discourse and writing theories. However, some of the student experiences of discourse acquisition differ in significant ways from what is described in mainstream writing and discourse acquisition theory. The differences in the manner in which these students experience their acquisition of engineering discourse leads to a new understanding of the phenomenon. The students do not experience the alienation or struggle described in mainstream theoretic accounts of discourse acquisition. Students' approaches to writing are affected by their awareness of their multiple identities and the different locations in which they learn. Their approaches to writing are significantly different in some respects from descriptions in mainstream theories in some respects. The description of their experiences gives a different understanding of what it means to acquire the discourse of engineering, and may contribute to the reappraisal of engineering education in a contemporary South African context.
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Bailey, Audrey. "The Effect of Extended Instruction on Passive Voice, Reduced Relative Clauses, and Modal Would in the Academic Writing of Advanced English Language Learners." PDXScholar, 2016. http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3203.
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As more international students who are not expert users of English come to the United States to study at university, the field of teaching English for Academic Purposes grows. There are many important skills these international students must learn to become successful university students in America, but writing for academic purposes is of particular importance for these students to join the academic conversation in their respective disciplines. Corpus research has identified the grammatical features which are frequently found in different registers, and from this work it is known which structures are important in different types of academic writing. Grammatical structures frequently found in the academic register must be taught to these university-bound students. However, many English Language Learners (ELLs) are infrequently using, or inaccurately using, some of these grammatical features in their writing when compared to L1 writers. This study focuses on three of those under-used, and/or inaccurately used structures: passive voice, reduced relative clauses, and modal would.
At an Intensive English Language Program (IELP) in the Pacific Northwest, an experimental group of advanced ELLs were given extended instruction--extra time and practice--on these three features. The control group received the standard amount of time and practice students typically receive at this IELP. 25 essays from the experimental group and 44 essays from the control group were tagged for presence, accuracy, and appropriacy of the three grammatical features (passive voice, reduced relative clauses, and modal would). The experimental and control group essays were compared to see if the treatment instruction had a significant effect on the frequency, accuracy, and/or appropriacy of these features.
Results from an independent t-test on the frequency of passive voice showed no significant difference between the experimental group essays and the control group essays. Results from a Mann-Whitney U test on the frequency of reduced relative clauses and modal would showed no significant difference between the two groups. In regard to accuracy and appropriacy, a Mann-Whitney U test found no significant difference between the experiment group and control group.
The analysis of the two groups showed that students in the treatment group did use passive voice on average more than students in the control group, but it was not enough to be significantly different. The frequency of reduced relative clauses and modal would was low, yet accuracy and appropriacy of these features was very high for both groups.
These findings reveal that different, or perhaps more focused, approaches must be taken beyond extra time and practice to increase ELLs' use of passive voice, reduced relative clauses, and modal would in their writing.
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Friske, Monica L. "Influence of using context supportive of the area model on sixth grade students' performance when writing word problems for fraction subtraction and multiplication." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2011. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4764.
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The purpose of this action research study was to evaluate my own practice of teaching writing word problems with fraction subtraction and fraction multiplication using appropriate context. I wanted to see how focusing my instruction on the use of the area model and manipulatives could develop students' understanding of fractions when writing word problems. I chose this topic because Florida has adopted the Common Core State Standards and will be implementing them in the coming years. These standards encourage the development of deeper understanding of mathematics, including fractions. I hoped this research would give my students the opportunity to make sense of fraction subtraction and fraction multiplication word problems on a deeper level, while giving me insight into my own practice in teaching context within word problems. Through this study, I learned that my students continued to switch the context of subtraction with multiplication within word problems. Students did make clear gains in their writing of fraction subtraction and fraction multiplication word problems. Although there is a limited amount of research on students mixing their context within fraction word problems, this study offers additional insight into a teacher's practice with writing fraction word problems.ID: 030646233; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Error in paging: p. iii followed by 2] unnumbered pages which are followed by p. ii-v.; Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-85).
M.Ed.
Masters
Teaching, Learning and Leadership
Education
K-8 Math and Science