JOINT CONSTRUCTION WITH SECOND-LANGUAGE WRITERS: COLLABORATIVE WRITING PLUS

Katie Smith and Nigel CaplanUniversity of Delaware School of EducationCUCMC 2012

Source:“The Writing Process Colossal Concept Poster”http://catalog.mcdonaldpublishingcatalog.com

The Teaching-Learning Cycle

Martin, 2009; adapted from Rothery, 1996

Joint Construction

1. Pair Writing 2. Teacher-as-Scribe

Why should it work?

Second Language Acquisition• Interaction (Gass)

• Negotiation (Pica)

• Languaging (Swain)

Genre-Based Pedagogy• Explicit attention to genre (Martin, Rothery)

Collaborative Writing• Benefits of pair writing

(Storch & Wigglesworth)

• Joint construction (Humphrey & MacNaught)

Cognitive Strategy Instruction (MacArthur)

CONTEXT

Context• UD English Language Institute• Pre-MBA (Conditionally admitted MBA students)• Reading/Writing for Graduate Programs (level VI)• Target genres: persuasive writing & data commentary

Research Questions

1. What is the nature of the interactions in two different joint construction tasks?

2. Are the tasks qualitatively and/or quantitatively different?

3. What effects does joint construction have on the language and generic staging of ESL students’ independent writing?

Methods and Data CollectionSession IV (March-April) Session V (May-June)

Persuasive Essay Pair Writing Teacher-as-Scribe

Data Commentary Teacher-as-Scribe Pair Writing

• 12 Chinese pre-MBA students in each session• 3 of the students in Session IV repeated the course in Session V• Theme of the courses was different: technology (IV) and ethics (V)• Data collected:

• Video/audio recordings of the joint construction tasks• Pair/group writing• Diagnostic essay• Post-instruction data commentary in-class essay• Final timed essay (persuasive)

Challenges with Data Collection• Limitations of Technology• Limited collaboration • Task Demands• Time Demands

Tentative FindingsTeacher-as-Scribe Pair WritingTeacher can involve more students Some pairs are dominated by stronger

studentTeacher can focus students to stay on topic

Students have trouble focusing and/or begin lively discussions that take them off topic

Students self-correct and correct one another

When writing, students look for perfect wording of each sentence (often independently)

Students focus more on structure, less on content

In discussions, students construct slowly, focus on word choice and grammar but mostly on content

Students rely on the instructor for corrections to grammar or content

Students rely on one another and on other class materials for corrections

Future Directions• How do these joint construction tasks effect independent

student writing? (Is there any evidence of transfer?)• Do pair writing and teacher-as-scribe tasks affect student

writing in distinct ways?• What might be some successful strategies to develop for

joint construction tasks in ESL graduate student writing courses?

Nigel A. CaplanPhD Student, School of Education (Literacy)Assistant Professor, English Language Institutenacaplan@udel.edu

Katie SmithPhD Student, School of Education (Literacy)smithka@udel.edu

PowerPoint and references available athttp://nigelteacher.wordpress.com/handouts/cucmc2012