Education Commons^™

Integrating New Literacies In The Elementary School Classroom

Journal of Undergraduate Research

At no time has it been more vital to understand teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices than in the emerging and expanding field of new literacies. New literacies is defined as those social practices that continuously evolve in response to technological advances, which enable persons to question, construct, and participate in both consuming and producing knowledge through interaction with multiple modes of text including image, sound, and gesture. The continual and rapid pace at which information and communications technologies are developed, implemented, and then outdated sets the challenge. If new literacies are to reach their potential for educating the young, then …

Csr As Insurance: Investigating The Theory With Emotional Data, Nathaniel S. Gates, David G. Kryscynski

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to investigate the impact of emotional data on strategy theory, and explore the potential of using natural language processing to obtain meaningful insights from the emotional content of written text. The theory of CSR as Insurance, which relates a company’s level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) with how they are viewed by stockholders, was chosen because it is an inherently emotional theory. It holds that companies with a strong reputation for socially responsible activities are less likely to be penalized by stakeholders after a negative event—such as a corporate scandal, lawsuit, or major accident—than …

Professor Q+A: Jim Brau, Annie Pond

Marriott Student Review

Get to know Brigham Young University's Joel C. Peterson Professor of Finance, Jim Brau.

Externalities Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Employee Compensation, Rebekah Inez Brau, Nile Hatch

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), defined by the UN Industrial Development Organization as “initiatives by firms to integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders” is a controversial topic in the management literature. Although CSR is widely discussed, unfortunately some of the potential externalities of CSR have not been studied. The goal of this project is to determine if one of these externalities, a potential decrease in employee compensation, results from increased CSR.

Community Literacies: Examining The Availability Of Texts In Rural Communities And Their Integration Into The Elementary School Classroom, Chelsi Tolbert, Jennifer Wimmer

Journal of Undergraduate Research

It is an unarguable fact that literacy instruction is one of the most vital aspects of elementary education. Without literacy, knowing how to read and write, students will find success in the “real” world difficult to come by. Traditionally, the focus of literacy instruction has been linked to giving students the tools they will need once out of school, however recent studies have begun to look more critically at what literacies students are bringing into the classroom. These investigations look explicitly at community literacy, specifically, the funds of knowledge that students learn from their homes and communities that may …

A Student Perspective Of Interactive Technology, Sydney Boyer, Jennifer Wimmer

Journal of Undergraduate Research

With advancements in technology, educators understanding of teaching in the classroom has shifted and become less transparent. Early childhood classrooms have transitioned from printbased to technology integrated within a matter of years. This transition has led to research concerning teacher opinions (Turbill 2001)(Tertemiz 2015), student understanding (Wohlwend 2009), and use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in the classroom (Manny 2011). While this research is accurate and important, it is broad, foreign, and becoming increasingly outdated. One study focused on early childhood students and their use of play to involve technology related ideas into a printbased classroom (Wohlwend 2009). Although this information …

The Impostor Phenomenon, Derick Simmons, Jeff Bednar

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Impostor Phenomenon (or Impostor Syndrome) is a psychological phenomenon in which individuals are unable to internalize their accomplishments. Despite external evidence of their competence, persons with the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. The primary purpose of our study is to identify and examine the potential antecedents and consequences of Impostor Phenomenon exhibited in the lives of students and professionals.

Previous research has demonstrated that Impostor Phenomenon is most prevalent among high-achievers in competitive organizations, institutions, or programs. Thus, our sample consists of undergraduate accounting students who are beginning the …

Editorial Introduction, Grant Eckstein, Betsy Gilliland

Journal of Response to Writing

Welcome to the first issue of the third volume year of the Journal of Response to Writing. We are very encouraged by the positive response from readers to our previous issues and are excited to share several excellent contributions in this collection. Before introducing those articles, we want to also welcome you to our first issue published under new editorship. Dana Ferris has rejoined the general editorial board while Grant Eckstein and Betsy Gilliland have been appointed as the new coeditors of the journal.

Creating The Climate And Space For Peer Review Within The Writing Classroom, Helen Dixon, Eleanor Hawe

Journal of Response to Writing

Substantive and ongoing critique of the quality of one’s writing is necessary if students are to experience writing as a recursive process. However, students’ willingness to critique their texts and those of others is dependent upon the creation of a trusting and mutually supportive learning environment. Using the naturalistic setting of an elementary school writing classroom, attention is drawn to the ways in which two teachers nurtured competence and communication trust (Reina & Reina, 2006) between themselves and students, and among students. Consideration is also paid to teachers’ creation and use of public and private spaces to promote interactions that …

Teachers’ (Formative) Feedback Practices In Efl Writing Classes In Norway, Drita Saliu-Abdulahi, Glenn Ole Hellekjær, Frøydis Hertzberg

Journal of Response to Writing

This qualitative study reports on teachers’ (formative) feedback practices in writing instruction. Observations and interviews were used to collect data from 10 upper-secondary school teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classes in Norway. The findings indicate that while the teachers attempt to comply with the requirements of the national curriculum regarding formative assessment, and acknowledge the pivotal role of feedback in that pedagogy, the dominant tendency is still to deliver feedback to a finished text. As such, there is limited use of feedback for that text and no resubmission of the text for new assessment, while feedforward …

The Effect Of Mid-Focused And Unfocused Written Corrections On The Acquisition Of Grammatical Structures, Ahsan Pashazadeh

Journal of Response to Writing

Studies that have reported delayed positive effects for written corrective feedback (WCF) have typically targeted the use of articles for first- and subsequent- mention functions, using narrowly focused corrections that lack ecological validity. Not much is known about how different grammatical features react to mid-focused and unfocused WCF options, which enjoy more ecological validity. This study investigates the delayed effect of different types of WCF on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ accurate use of three features of English grammar (articles, infinitive, and unreal conditional). Four groups of participants (N = 77) were treated with different feedback options (mid-focused …

Audiovisual Commentary As A Way To Reduce Transactional Distance And Increase Teaching Presence In Online Writing Instruction: Student Perceptions And Preferences, Anna Grigoryan

Journal of Response to Writing

The rapid increase in online learning programs has led to an increase in the number of students taking composition courses online. As a result, there is a need to develop teaching practices and approaches to feedback designed specifically for online learning environments, which serve a largely nontraditional student population. Addressing a current gap in the literature regarding approaches to feedback that meet the needs of nontraditional students, this quasi-experimental study used a process model of composition and post-positivist and social constructivist epistemological orientations to measure student perceptions and preferences when provided with text-only feedback or a combination of textual and …

Moving Beyond Corrective Feedback: (Re) Engaging With Student Writing In L2 Through Audio Response, Jennifer Ahern-Dodson, Deborah Reisinger

Journal of Response to Writing

This article examines teacher feedback on student compositions in an Advanced French Composition course at a Research 1 institution. Our study suggests that when teachers combine written corrective feedback with audio comments, their engagement in grading compositions may rise significantly. As teachers bring renewed energy to familiar responding practices, they shift from “grader” to “reader.” These findings have important implications for teacher training and the role of feedback in L2 courses.

Volume 3 Number 1 (2017)

Journal of Response to Writing

No abstract provided.

Editorial Introduction, Betsy Gilliland, Grant Eckstein

Journal of Response to Writing

Welcome to the second issue of our third year of publication. As the journal has become more established, we are seeing a wide range of fascinating research and teaching work related to response to writing in both first and second language contexts. This issue is no different. In this issue, we present two research articles, two teaching articles, and a book review. In the first piece, “L2 Learners’ Engagement with Direct Written Corrective Feedback in First-Year Composition Courses,” Izabela Uscinski examines how second language learners of English engage with feedback from their college writing teachers. Uscinski draws on Svalberg’s (2009) …

Critical Discourse Analysis Of Student Responses To Teacher Feedback On Student Writing, Hee-Seung Kang, Julie Dykema

Journal of Response to Writing

This study explores student written responses to teacher feedback and analyzes these responses through the framework of critical discourse analysis (CDA). Drawing on CDA, we examined the structural, interactional, and interdiscursive features of 21 students’ paragraph-length comments on formative teacher feedback on their first assignment draft in a first-year composition class and investigated relations between the text, interaction, and context. The structural analysis indicates that the students’ comments demonstrate their emerging academic literacy skills. Our interactional analysis shows that most students took on an active role as a good student and a hardworking writer, but some students exerted their agency …

L2 Learners’ Engagement With Direct Written Corrective Feedback In First- Year Composition Courses, Izabela Uscinski

Journal of Response to Writing

This study explores students’ response to direct written corrective feedback (WCF) in first-year composition courses. To that end, it focuses on analyzing students’ engagement with direct feedback and meta-awareness of the corrections provided on one of their drafts. Data include students’ revisions recorded with screen-capture software and the video-stimulated recall, which was transcribed and coded for evidence of engagement and meta-awareness. The findings of the study indicate that students’ engagement and meta-awareness may be affected by pedagogical factors, such as feedback delivery method. Based on the insights gained from this study, the author suggests that direct feedback may be more …

“I Could Express Feeling Completely”: Inviting L2 Writers To Use L1 In Peer Responses, Bee Chamcharatsri

Journal of Response to Writing

Peer response is one of the most important activities in writing classrooms because it provides a sense of audience to students. At the same time, students also receive feedback for revision. Asking L2 writers to use their L1s in providing feedback to their L1-speaking peers helps them gain confidence in peer response activities, which in turn gives them self-confidence in their writing proficiency. In this small-scale pilot project, L2 students were asked to reflect on their use of L1s providing both oral and written feedback. They reported that students felt they could express their feedback in a more meaningful way. …

Encouraging Active Participation In Dialogic Feedback Through Assessment As Learning, Claire Louise Rodway

Journal of Response to Writing

Sustainable feedback practices, that can encourage self-regulation of performance and improvement in future work beyond an immediate task, require our students to be active participants in, and users of, the feedback we provide. Critical to this participation are the internal feedback mechanisms of reflection and self-assessment. They require students to make evaluations about their own writing without the aid of external agents, which in turn can encourage better use of teacher feedback. Moreover, dialogic collaborative feedback that encourages this type of self-evaluation through interactive cover sheets has been featured in existing practitioner research studies. This teaching article presents an extension …

Review Of Written Corrective Feedback For L2 Development, Taichi Yamashita

Journal of Response to Writing

Written corrective feedback (WCF) has been increasingly attracting researchers in second language acquisition (SLA) as well as second language (L2) writing practitioners. Bitchener and Storch, two renowned WCF researchers, define WCF as “a written response to a linguistic error that has been made in the writing of a text by an L2 learner” (p. 1). This increasing interest in WCF is understandable because the implementation of WCF is time-consuming as well as pedagogically imperative. However, it is widely known that learners keep making the same error, and thus teachers’ efforts do not pay off easily. Therefore, with the increasing number …

Volume 3 Number 2 (2017)

Journal of Response to Writing

No abstract provided.