What is 'improvement' in L2 French writing?

International audienceWhen evaluating the quality of the output, oral or written in L2 (second language), you do it in the terms of complexity and accuracy (cf. Wolfe-Quintero et al., 1998). Improvement in L2 writing could therefore be expressed in an increase of complexity and accuracy. Nevertheless, recent L2 research shows that these evaluating tools are quite difficult to define and ambiguous to use (cf. Housen et al. forthcoming)

The Use of Diagnostic Procedures in Assessing an Educational Problem

In every classroom there are pupils who fail to make satisfactory progress in their language development. Some youngsters do poorly in reading while others are unable to spell or write effectively. The pupil who continually performs at a sub-standard level of accomplishment in reading and spelling is often looked upon as being either stupid or lazy by his teacher. Today it is not uncommon to find youngsters being labelled in this manner

From John Farnham to Lordi: the noise of music

In the field of music scholarship in general, it is popular music studies that have engendered the most innovative developments over the last several decades. As an academic formally based in literature and cognate theoretical fields, I would go further and offer the personal opinion that they have made some of the most interesting contributions to the methodologies of cultural studies over that period, fed by prior traditions of ethnomusicology and ethnography. One of the main reasons has a bearing on this article: it is impossible to write effectively about popular music, which is so predominantly independent of the printed score, without at least implicitly questioning the scopic orientations of cultural analysis and theory which dominate other fields (and indeed, sometimes music studies themselves). We can find an unfolding summary of the developments in popular music studies through what I suggest are the three most important academic journals in the field, which are, in order of seniority, Popular Music and Society (founded in the USA in 1971), Popular Music (UK, 1981) and Perfect Beat: the Pacific Journal of Research into Contemporary Music and Popular Culture (Australia, 1992). In its continuing series, Perfect Beat provides a comprehensive and focused exemplification of approaches to the critical analysis of the musics usually designated as ‘popular’ in the Oceanic region. In short, if we want to know what’s going on in Australian popular music studies, this journal is a good place to start

TEACHER’S STRATEGIES IN BUILDING THE STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIELD (BKOF) IN TEACHING WRITING NARRATIVE TEXT

This study is aimed at investigating the teacher’s strategies at the stage of building knowledge of the field (BKOF) especially when teaching writing narrative text. The BKOF stage is intended to build the students’ prior knowledge before they can write effectively. This study used the scaffolding theory as it shares some similarities with the BKOF stage. Qualitative research was applied in this study. Four instruments were used to collect the data; questionnaire, classroom observation, interview and document analysis. The findings showed that the teacher applied three main strategies in the BKOF stage, those are 1) asked students to translate in most of the class discussion; 2) built students vocabulary; and 3) the point system

You Can Do Both: Teach Students How to Write While Teaching Your Content

Faculty today often struggle with students\u27 poor writing skills, failing to get the quality of written work that they imagine students can do. The traditional assignment of a research paper inadequately addresses the disciplinary and process issues of getting students to write well in classes. This session will address two related elements of these challenges: Teaching students how to write effectively as part of course content and using writing strategies to teach content. Participants will examine a sample writing integration plan in a sociology course, discuss ways to adapt it to their own disciplines, and then examine writing-to-learn strategies meant to help students remember content and/or generate critical perspectives. The sample plan, a list of activities, and a reference sheet will be provided to each participant

ENGL 100

English 100 is an advanced-level course in academic writing for non-native speakers of English. It teaches reading, writing, and presentation skills, and it prepares students for English 1157 and 1158. During this course, you will be required to read others’ work critically and to understand rhetorical situations. You will learn to write effectively and creatively, to follow grammatical rules so that your language aids—rather than distracts—your readers, and to support and develop your ideas with evidence and detail. This course will provide you with the structural support for writing, and from there you will build your own meaning through your own words. As a writer, you must ask questions, explore ideas, take risks, embrace different perspectives, and think critically about yourself and about the world around you

Exploring European Writing Cultures : Country Reports on Genres, Writing Practices and Languages Used in European Higher Education

At European universities, writing is a traditional way of learning, assessment, and independent study, but it is handled in an implicit, tradition-based way that has only recently been contrasted with and supported by a more explicit writing ped-agogy. Still, little systematic knowledge is available about the pedagogical ap-proaches to writing, writing practices, and genres across Europe and much of it is codified in the national languages without correlation to internationally accept-ed terminology and theories. This book explores the writing cultures of Europe, nation by nation, and reports the idiosyncrasies for each respective country. The reports are based on a 17-item topic list used by the authors to collect data be-fore synthesizing the results. Next to writing practices and genres, a high level of emphasis was placed on the structure of educational systems, the languages in use, and the kind of support provided for student writers. Note: This research project has been conducted within the framework of COST Action IS0703 “European Research Network on Learning to Write Effectively”, funded by the European Union. We are also thankful to Christiane Donahue, Eliza Kitis, Charles Bazerman, Helmut Gruber, and David Russell for their cooperation and support in this project.Wissenschaftliches Schreiben an europäischen Hochschulen ist eine herkömmliche Form des Lernens, Prüfens und autonomen Studierens, auch wenn es in einer impliziten, eher auf Tradition denn auf bewusster Didaktik beruhenden Weise eingesetzt wird. Wenig auf systematische Weise erhobenes vergleichendes Wissen gibt es bislang über Schreibpraktiken, Genres und schreibdidaktische Ansätze in Europa und das, was an Wissen existiert ist oft in den nationalen Sprachen verfasst, die nicht mit internationalen Terminologien und Theorien der Schreibwissenschaft verbunden sind. Der vorliegende Band untersucht Schreibkulturen in Europa Land für Land und berichtet was jeweils hervorsticht. Die Berichte basieren auf einer 17-Item Themenliste, nach der die Autorenteams Daten über ihr jeweiliges Land sammelten, bevor sie es zu einem Bericht synthetisierten. Neben Schreibpraktiken und Genres werden dabei die Struktur des jeweiligen Bildungssystems, die verwendeten Sprachen und die besondere Schreibdidaktik hervorgehoben. Anmerkung: Das Projekt wurde im Rahmen der COST Aktion IS0703 “European Research Network on Learning to Write Effectively” durchgeführt, das von der EU finanziert wird. Wir bedanken uns bei Christiane Donahue, Eliza Kitis, Charles Bazerman, Helmut Gruber und David Russell für ihre Unterstützung und Mitwirkung in diesem Projekt.At European universities, writing is a traditional way of learning, assessment, and independent study, but it is handled in an implicit, tradition-based way that has only recently been contrasted with and supported by a more explicit writing ped-agogy. Still, little systematic knowledge is available about the pedagogical ap-proaches to writing, writing practices, and genres across Europe and much of it is codified in the national languages without correlation to internationally accept-ed terminology and theories. This book explores the writing cultures of Europe, nation by nation, and reports the idiosyncrasies for each respective country. The reports are based on a 17-item topic list used by the authors to collect data be-fore synthesizing the results. Next to writing practices and genres, a high level of emphasis was placed on the structure of educational systems, the languages in use, and the kind of support provided for student writers. Note: This research project has been conducted within the framework of COST Action IS0703 “European Research Network on Learning to Write Effectively”, funded by the European Union. We are also thankful to Christiane Donahue, Eliza Kitis, Charles Bazerman, Helmut Gruber, and David Russell for their cooperation and support in this project

Let me tell you a story: teaching transmedia in HE

Bolton Storyworld, a transmedia platform, is a practice based research project at the University of Bolton run by students and staff and supported by a Manchester based transmedia production company, Bellyfeel. Together we have been interested in discovering the most effective ways to write, produce, and to teach the necessary skills for transmedia, an emerging form of production. We have run 3 trials of a locally based interactive project as prototypes. These have helped us make some interesting discoveries about how to write effectively for the form and how to teach it as part of a programme of media production at HE level. To date we have analysed our work in relation to new media theorists and practices Zaluczkowska & Robinson (2014). This article reports a work in progress that aims to place the outcomes much more firmly in an educational context

Third Grade Students' Writing Attitudes, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Achievement

In order to become successful members of society in the United States, students must be able to write effectively. However, many students are unwilling or unable to write by the time they leave high school. Two major factors linked to writing performance include writing attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs. The first objective of this research is an investigation of the effectiveness of an intervention designed to improve writing attitudes, self-efficacy beliefs, and achievement. The second objective is an examination of the relation between those constructs. Participants were given the Writing Attitude Survey, a writing skills self-efficacy scale, and a short writing assessment. Further, 50% of the participants participated in an intervention designed to increase positive writing attitudes, self-efficacy beliefs, and achievement. The study found a significant positive relation between writing self-efficacy and attitudes. The intervention was found to have no effect on the self-efficacy, attitudes, or performance of participants