Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Implementing Writing In Content Areas: Teachers’ Perceptions As Writing Instructors, Matthew Davis Shemwell

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers across content areas have a shared responsibility to incorporate writing instruction into the curriculum; however, analysis of needs assessment survey data collected during Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant application in 2014 revealed that the faculty of the participating high school did not embrace writing instruction responsibility. The purpose of the study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions, confidence, and use of writing instructional strategies throughout content areas at the conclusion of implementation of the five-year grant. The researcher conducted an explanatory sequential mixed methods design that utilized a survey, interviews, and lesson plan document analysis. The survey sample consisted of …

Teachers' Sensemaking: Middle School And High School Language Arts Grading And Assessing Practices For Writing, Lana Michele Cook

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study will examine how middle and high school language arts teachers in a single school district make sense of their grading practices. This paper explores how Language Arts teachers at different grade levels may be faced with a variety of contextual factors that influence their grading practices. In order to do justice to this topic, a literature review will situate and contextualize writing instruction, learning standards, and assessments. Using a qualitative single case study design, this study will present the findings from nineteen in-depth teacher interviews, document analysis, and field notes.

Seventh Hour Poetry Class, Bill Meissner

New Jersey English Journal

No abstract provided.

Helping Students Improve The Quality Of Their Sentences, Michael Laser

New Jersey English Journal

This article shares some of the teaching methods I've devised to address awkwardness and other sentence-level issues in student writing.

The Gift Of Choice, Maria Geiger

New Jersey English Journal

This reflective paper describes how my teaching methods have evolved from my first semester teaching at the college level to the present; I learned to respect and work with the actual interests and needs of first-year composition students.

Impact Of I-Think Maps On The Flow Of Ideas And Writing Performance Of Year Five Pupils, S Thuraisingam T. Gewa

Student Works (2020-2029)

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of i-think Maps on the flow of ideas and writing performance of Year Five pupils. The use of i-think Maps as a cognitive tool enables pupils to activate and illustrate their flow of ideas in the i-think Maps templates during the planning and editing stages of the recursive process of writing. A total of 28 pupils participated in this pre experimental: one group pretest post-test study where treatment lessons using four i-think Maps were carried out for 10 weeks. The qualitative aspect of this study focused on structured interviews, classroom …

Developing Writing In Spanish Heritage Language Learners: An Integrated Process Approach, Ariana Mrak

Dimensions

There is no clear-cut division between orality and literacy (Street, 1993). This idea is central to literacy development in the Spanish heritage language (SHL) context because the opportunities to use heritage language (HL) skills are often oral, not written. Furthermore, the cultural situations that speakers find for their language are less extensive since they are in an environment where their HL is not the dominant language. This paper surveys the research on the writing of SHL learners (SHLLs) and proposes an integrated approach of product, process and post-process writing within a critical pedagogy that allows SHL writers to own the …

Scottish National Assessments: National Report For Academic Year 2018 To 2019, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Assessment and Reporting

No abstract provided.

The Intersection Of Influential Reading With Writing In Multimodal Contexts, Grace Rusk Kerr

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies have touted the importance of teacher self-efficacy on the motivation and achievement of their students (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Bandura, 1994 & 2002; Mojavezi & Tamiz, 2012). When teachers have high levels of self-efficacy (the level at which teachers believe they can affect student outcomes), their students achieve at higher levels and develop increased levels of motivation. By extension, we posit that if teachers have increased self-efficacy regarding their own writing abilities, it will translate into increased motivation and achievement levels for their students in the area of writing. The purpose of this three-article dissertation is to support …

Should An Effective Language Learning Be Through The Development Of Just One Language Skill?, Victor Daniel Gil Vera Vdgv, Bairon Jaramillo Valencia, Nancy Biviana Cardona, María Alejandra Cifuentes, Shirley Alejandra Jimenez, Laura Marcela Martínez

The Qualitative Report

This paper is intended to identify how teachers’ emphasis on writing influence the learning process in an English class, taking into account that the development of the four language skills is essential for learning a second language to gain an effective communication. this study adopts some main concepts related to English teaching and learning, which are: language skills, writing and learning process. Then, in order to recognize this educational case, this study follows a qualitative approach, a hermeneutic paradigm and a case study, using a non-participant observation, a participant observation, a semi-structured interview and some task-based learning (TBL) sessions which …

Using Inquiry In Teacher Professional Learning To Build Efficacy For Writing Instruction, Jacqueline B. Koonce, Melissa Brooks-Yip, Kathleen Gibson

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Whitacre (2019) and Curtis (2017) found that participants’ efficacy impacted their writing instruction and ability to engage students. We share our experiences with a professional development program aimed to improve teacher efficacy and literacy of elementary teachers. In this professional learning network, the Study of Early Literacy (SOEL), a higher percentage of teachers reported to a Hanover Research survey that they felt less confident in teaching writing than other areas of literacy. To address this need, one of the authors developed a subgroup to specifically address the teaching of writing with an inquiry-based action research component. Most of the teachers …

Yellow Pads And The Return Of The Writer, Gregory Shafer

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

The Motivation To Write Profile-College: A Tool To Assess The Writing Motivation Of Teacher Candidates, Ernest Solar, Angela Marie Mucci-Guido Ph.D., Carolyn Cook, Barbara Marinak

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Writing is an important aspect of literacy regardless of the grade or discipline. State standards have defined the writing genres, crafts, and skills that are to be taught by teachers in PK-12 classrooms. However, in addition to standards, research indicates that a teacher’s own conception of writing is crucial to establishing classroom conditions necessary for young writers to grow, explore and take risks. If this is the job of PK-12 educators, then it is essential for higher education instructors to understand and explore the writing conceptions of teacher candidates. One of these critical conceptions is the motivation to write. The …

The Teaching Of Writing: Methods, Resources, Plans, And Analysis, Katelyn Knochenmus

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

As a culminating project for an MA in English on the individualized track, this portfolio is woven together with the theme of composition instruction. Beginning with a wide scope, the first selection is a reflective overview of writing instruction methods. The second piece in the portfolio, an annotated bibliography, offers many resources for teachers and tutors to better reach reluctant writers in particular. A unit plan for creating dynamic sentence variety through the use of grammar as a tool is the third selection. Lastly, the portfolio concludes with a narrower analysis related to one particular aspect of teaching writing: the …

From Creative Writing To A Self’S Liberation: A Monologue Of A Struggling Writer, Ethan Trinh

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

The pressure of being alone in a new country and of surviving in a competitive academia has scared me to death. I cannot find any better way to heal me other than writing. Writing helps me make sense of the worlds and come closer to my true self. This piece is journeying from my own struggles of a Vietnamese, queer, immigrant teacher to accept who I am as a writer. In addition, writing this piece helps me get closer to decademizing academic writing in higher education.

Enhancing Self-Monitoring With Differential Negative Reinforcement Of Alternative Behavior For Increasing Students’ Writing Production, Meghann Torchia

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Writing is a difficult task for many students who find it aversive, and who attempt to escape the task. Self-monitoring and differential negative reinforcement of alternative behavior (DNRA) are two approaches that have been shown to improve quantity of performance, but no studies were found that combined the two methods to determine whether they are more effective in combination than in isolation. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using DNRA to enhance self-monitoring for increasing writing productivity using a multiple probe, across participants, design. Number of words and number of sentences were measured. For …

New Approach To Chinese Writing: An Exploratory Study Of Writing Performance On Social Q&A Online Community, Lin Zhu

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Many studies have investigated how the online community has informed language acquisition and teaching. In the scholarship of Computer-Mediated Communication Theory (CMC), while most of the studies have emphasized second language English writing using the CMC framework, evidence is shown to support CMC in foreign language instruction. However, there is a lack of research on how feedback from native speakers of Chinese influences Chinese learners’ writing in a web environment. In response to the research gap, drawing on sociocultural and CMC, the current exploratory study probes the nature of feedback on Zhihu, the largest Chinese social question-and-answer website, and how …

Writing With Incarcerated Students Towards Humanization: A Christian Critical Perspective, Deanna C. Kabler

Masters Theses

This thesis centers on the intersections between critical pedagogy and writing instruction in a prison college program with the aim of humanization. A theoretical framework is constructed that relies on the pillars of tenets from Liberation theology, critical pedagogy, an anti-racist and multicultural praxis, and generative culture-making. Writing as the foundation of education is the medium for supporting a humanizing and liberatory education.

Wounds And Writing : Building Trauma-Informed Approaches To Writing Pedagogy., Michelle L. Day

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation builds a trauma-informed approach to writing pedagogy informed by writing studies scholarship about trauma and inclusive pedagogy, clinical social work literature on trauma-informed care, and interviews with nine current University of Louisville writing faculty about their experiences academically supporting distressed students. I identify three central touchstones—“students are coddled,” “teacher’s aren’t therapists,” and “institutions don’t support trauma-informed teaching”—in scholarly and public debates regarding what to do about student trauma/distress in higher education. After exploring the valid concerns and misconceptions underpinning these touchstones, I illustrate how clinical research offers a way forward to help writing instructors develop more complex understandings …

Teaching Students With Language-Based Learning Differences (Lbld) To Write: Examination Of The Explicit Approach Versus Embedding Authentic Writing Into The Curricula, Jane Moskowitz

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Writing is, arguably, the most difficult skill for students to master and is particularly challenging for children who have language-based learning variations. There are different schools of thought about effective writing instruction; some, like Judy Hochman, believe that writing should be taught in a systematic and explicit manner, with heavy focus on the sentence-level and building on mastery of sentence skills to move students to paragraph and compositions writing. There are others, like Ralph Fletcher, who lean more heavily on mentor texts, student choice, and embedding rich literature into the curricula, as a means to cultivate authentic writers in the …

Write In Front Of Us: Creating Linguistically Diverse Composition Classrooms, Sarah Davis

Masters Essays

No abstract provided.

Foucauldian Dynamics In The Formation Of A Fifth Grade Writing Culture, Ashley Renee Watson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study looks at a student writing culture in a fifth grade English language arts classroom through the lens of Foucauldian power dynamics to examine the power relationships in the classroom and curriculum. The research questions were: 1) What is the nature of a writing culture in a fifth-grade writing classroom? 2) What are students’ perceptions of writing in a fifth grade ELA classroom? The methodology for the study was case study research.

The research took place during the 2017-2018 school year at Southeast Elementary School in Lancaster County in the southeastern part of the United States. Data was collected …

Using Literacy Quadrants In Preparing Teachers Of Writing: Reflective Tools For Identity, Agency, And Dialogue, Elsie Lindy Olan, Kia Jane Richmond

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

The researchers of this hermeneutic phenomenological study applied Colaizzi’s (1978) method to analyze and interpret English Language Arts (ELA) teacher candidates’ (TC) learning experiences with literacy quadrants and narratives while attending secondary writing instruction methods courses in diverse institutional settings. Qualitative strategies of data collection included inquiry-driven activities such as drawing and written reflections to literacy quadrants, as well as oral responses to open-ended questions. TCs, moving from knowledge to action, were reflexive about their literacy and learning experiences and the application of knowledge and practices when preparing to teach English to all students. Analysis of TCs’ narratives showed reliance …

Writing Conference Purpose And How It Positions Primary-Grade Children As Authoritative Agents Or Passive Observers, Lisa K. Hawkins

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

A common practice in today’s primary-grade classrooms, teacher-student writing conferences are considered a vital component of instruction by accomplished writing teachers and advocates of process writing. Moreover, what teachers say and how they say it shapes those opportunities for student learning that are possible in classrooms. As such, building an understanding of the talk that ensues during primary-grade writing conferences, those purposes that such talk serves overall, and the significance of its pedagogical appropriateness is essential. Findings from a multiple-case study of conference enactment in both a kindergarten and a first-grade classroom illuminate the varying degrees of authoritative and dialogic …

Techniques And Methods Change, Methodology Remains The Same: Web Technology Use As Cosmetic Change In Cfl Classrooms, Justin Olmanson, Xianquan Liu, Nannan Wang, Christopher Heselton

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Technology has been a staple in the language classroom for more than fifty years. From audio cassettes, to video tapes, to multimedia CD-ROMs, to static and interactive web technologies, language teachers have taken the time to learn these tools and integrate them into the classroom experience. Each new technology, each new app, creates an opportunity to alter the experience of teaching and learning—often supporting increased authentic interactions with the Chinese language. This potential however can go unrealized when the ways the technologies are used align with more traditional grammar and vocabulary-focused teaching methodologies and promote efficiency over communication. In this …

A Validation Program For The Self-Beliefs, Writing-Beliefs, And Attitude Survey: A Measure Of Adolescents' Motivation Toward Writing, Katherine Landau Wright, Tracey S. Hodges, Erin M. Mctigue

Literacy, Language and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent findings reveal clear evidence that students’ low performance on writing tasks is often related to problems with motivation. Writing curriculum and interventions produce varying effects on adolescents’ writing outcomes, and such variations may be mediated by motivation. However, without a valid tool for measuring students’ motivation towards writing, these effects cannot be quantified. In this study we present the results of our multi-study validation program for the Self-Beliefs, Writing-Beliefs, and Attitude Survey (SWAS). This measure is designed for monitoring students' motivation towards writing, as well as identifying variables that mediate student achievement. We first addressed substantive validation through a …

What Do Middle Grades Preservice Teachers Believe About Writing And Writing Instruction?, Tracey S. Hodges, Katherine Landau Wright, Erin Mctigue

Literacy, Language and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

After third grade, students’ motivation and enjoyment of writing begins to wane, and this trend continues through most of their education. Middle grade students especially need high-quality writing instruction; however, many teachers report feeling inadequately prepared to teach writing. To combat these issues, teacher preparation programs should understand how their preservice teachers feel about writing and teaching writing. The present study surveyed 150 middle grade preservice teachers to determine their self-efficacy beliefs about writing and writing instruction. Results indicate that preservice teachers valued writing, but did not feel confident with many specific aspects of writing instruction.

Willingness To Communicate And International Students' Use Of L2, Michelle Verbitskaya

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in the second language (L2) is the "readiness to enter into discourse" which is considered to be the direct precursor of students' communication in L2 (MacIntyre et al., 1998). Oral language is thought to precede written language which creates an assumption that ongoing refining of oral skills may impact writing fluency. In respect to WTC model, there have been several versions that describe the construct (MacIntyre et al., 1998; Wen & Clement, 2003; Matsuoka, 2006). This study references self-efficacy, a cognitive variable in Matsuoka's (2006) proposed model, when analyzing writing as a phenomenon in relation to …

Crafting Communities Of Writers: Advice From Teens, Ann D. David, Annamary Consalvo, Amy Vetter

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

The authors interviewed teens in five states to catalog their ideas about how teachers can build communities of writers.

Scottish National Assessments: National Report For Academic Year 2017 To 2018, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Assessment and Reporting

This report has been developed to provide a summary of outcomes at a national level on the newly established system of national standardised assessments, which has since been termed ‘Scottish National Standardised Assessments’ (SNSA) in the 2017 to 2018 academic year, the first year of the programme. A central aim of SNSA is also to provide information on the outcomes of Scottish children and young people in literacy and numeracy over time. The assessments have been available for use in publicly funded schools in Scotland since August 2017. They are administered to children and young people in Primary 1, Primary …