Selected bibliography of recent scholarship in second language writing

JOURNAL OF SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING,

6 (2), 207-217

(1997)

Selected Bibliography of Recent Scholarship in Second Language Writing TONY SILVA COLLEEN BRICE Purdue Universi@ This

bibliography

cites

and summarizes

theoretically

grounded

reports

of

writing and writing instruction that have become available to its compilers during the period of August 1,1996 through November 30,1996. The categories used represent an attempt to aid readers, not to pigeonhole studies. research

and discussions

of central

issues

in second and foreign language

WRITERS .

Al-Omari, H. (1996). A descriptive study of the writing activities, writing strategies, and writing abilities of one non-native English-speaking child: A case study. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(3), 934A. This qualitative case study investigated the writing development of a NNES elementary school student. Findings suggest that though the student continued to make mistakes in writing, he produced authentic, meaningful texts, and that he was able to write lengthier pieces and more regularly when he was encouraged to write creatively.

.

Hedgcock, J., & Lefkowitz, N. (1996). Some input on input: Two analyses of student response to expert feedback on L2 writing. Modern Language Journal, 80(3), 287-308. The researchers report two studies assess and utilize teacher feedback. in their perceptions of the function about feedback are shaped by their

.

designed to analyze Results indicate that of expert feedback, teachers’ intervention

how ESL and FL writers ESL and FL students differ and that their expectations practices.

Moujtahid, B. (1996). Influence of cultural and linguistic backgrounds on the writing of Arabic and Japanese students of English. The Writing Lab Newsletter; 21(3), l-6. The author discusses cultural and linguistic characteristics of two groups of students (Arabic and Japanese), considering how such characteristics complicate their attempts to learn English. He suggests that basic knowledge of these characteristics 207

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can help writing consultants tutor ESL students in that they provrde insight mto sources of students’ writing problems.

.

Shuck, G. ( 1995). Preparing for university writing courses: A survey of students’ perceptions. Journul of Intensive English Studies, 9, 38-49. ESL students were surveyed and interviewed about then perceptions of the ways m which IEP courses prepared them for university writing courses. The researcher presents the students’ perceptions and suggestions for improvement. and discusses the mconsistency in students’ perceptions of how well the program prepared them for composition courses.

PROCESS .

Amores, M. (1996). The nature of peer editing in the foreign language composition classroom. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(4), 1592A. This ethnography describes the peer editing acttvities of etght undergraduates in a Spanish composition and grammar review course. Results indicate that parttcipants defined peer editing in soctal and emotional terms, and that three factors governed the extent to which they accepted feedback: perceptions of status and role, and linguistic capability.

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Brooks, A. (1996). An examination of native language processing in foreign language writing. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(4), 1527A. Two studies are reported: the first compared composrtions written m FL to those translated from L 1, and the second compared compositions wrttten m FL and prepared m either Ll or FL. Results from both studies indicate no significant difference between the quahty of texts produced.

.

Hyland, K. (1995). The author in the text: Hedging scientific Document 390258.

writing. ERlC

Thus paper reviews 26 research articles which discuss the importance, frequency, and realization of hedges in science research articles. The author constders why students have difficulty with hedging and suggests that the issue be grven higher priority m teaching and research agendas.

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Matsumoto, K. (1995). Research paper writing strategies of professional Japanese EFL writers. TESL Canada Journal. I.3( 1), 17-27. Four Japanese umversity professors were interviewed on their processes of writing a research paper in EFL. Findings indicate that they use strategies similar to those

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WRITING

of sktlled NES and ESL writers; view writing as a nonlinear, dynamic and epistemic process; and do not rely on their Ll writing in EFL.

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Rashid, R. (1996). The composing processes undergraduate level native Malay speakers Abstracts International, 57(5), 2017A.

and strategies of ESL/EFL.

of four adult Dissertation

Using think-aloud protocols and retrospective interviews, this case study examined the Ll and L2 writing processes of four Malay speakers. Results indicate consistent patterns in writing behavior across participants’ Ll and L2. with some variation based on writing proficiency. All four writers tended to transfer Ll composing processes to L2.

.

Schwarzer, D. (1996). Parallel development of writing in Hebrew, Spanish and English in a multilingual child. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(4), 1479A. This case study documents and analyzes the literacy development of a six-year-old female in a bilingual first grade. Findings discuss the students’ use of each language in wrtting. development of genres, use of technology, and questions about language learning. Three tensions which influenced the students’ writing are identified.

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Starch, N., & Tapper, J. (1996). Patterns of NNS student annotations identifying areas of concern in their writing. System, 24(3), 323-336.

when

Thts study analyzed how ESL students perceived and made use of an annotation scheme (based on Charles, 1990) to identify their writing concerns for their teacher. Analysis of student journals indicates that they primarily used annotations to request confirmation on syntactic and lexical questions and that they found the scheme useful.

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Uzawa, K. (1996). Second language learners’ process of Ll writing, L2 writing, and translation from Ll into L2. Journal of Second Language Writing, 5(3), 271-294. This study compared ESL learners’ writing processes in Ll and L2 writing, and translation from L 1 into L2. Results indicate that most students used a “what-next” approach in Ll and L2 writmg, a “sentence-by-sentence” approach in translating, and that they paid more attention to language when translating than when writing.

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Uzawa, K. (1994). Translation, Ll writing, and L2 writing of Japanese ESL learners. Journal of the CAAL, I6(2), 119- 134. Based on results of the study reported above, this article analyzed ESL learners’ writing processes in Ll and L2 writing and translatton from Ll into L2 with atten-

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tion to three recent cognitive theories of language learning (Cummins’ cross-linguistic interdependence of cognitive skills. Schmidt’s conscious attention, and McLaughlin’s restructuring).

AUDIENCE/ASSESSMENT .

Feak, C., & Dobson, B. (1996). Building on the impromptu: academic writing assignment. College ESL, 6(l), 73-84.

A source-based

The authors discuss an alternative to traditional impromptu essay exams-the Undergraduate Academic Writing Assessment (UAWA)-a reading-to-write test developed at the University of Michigan’s ELI. They describe the three interrelated sections of the exam (quotations, synthesis, and essay incorporating source material) and explain their benefits in assessing students’ writing.

.

Hamp-Lyons, L., & Kroll, B. (1996). Issues in ESL writing assessment: overview. College ESL, 6( 1). 52-72.

An

This article presents an overview of the variables which test developers must attend to when designing and conducting writing assessment m academic contexts. The authors discuss issues of context (writing tasks, genre, models of academic writers) and design (prompt development and scoring procedures. selection and training of readers, and test constraints).

.

Henry, K. (1996). Early L2 writing development: A study of autobiographical essays by university level students of Russian. Modern Language Journal, N(3), 309-326. The researcher compared short, autobiographical L2 essays written by NES university students studying Russian at four different levels. Results indicate that the novice and Intermediate level descriptions in the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Writing characterize the students’ writing, and that two factors differentiated the groups writing: fluency and accuracy.

.

Lipp, E. (1995). Training ESL teachers to write effective feedback on composition drafts. Journal of Intensive English Studies, 9, 50-66. The researcher studied two teachers’ comments on students’ writing portfolios. Only the second teacher utilized commenting guidelines. It was found that the first teacher commented most frequently on surface error while the second focused on content, and that the second teachers’ comments led to improvement in the length and content of students’ essays.

211

SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING

.

Longford, N. (1996). Adjustment for reader rating behavior in the Test of Written English. TOEFL Research Report 55. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. To establish a measure ment due to differences TWE in 1994. Results the mean squared error workloads.

.

of rating process quality and demonstrate score adjustamong readers, this study analyzed administrations of the indicate that adjustment due to reader difference reduces for all essays except those scored by readers with small

Myford, C., Man; D., & Linacre, J. (1996). Reader calibration and itspotential role in equating for the Test of Written English. TOEFL Research Report 52. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. This pilot study tested a quality control procedure (FACETS), which monitors and adjusts for differences in reader performance, during two TWE administrations. The report discusses the relationship of reader characteristics and rating volume and quality, effectiveness of third readings in adjudication, and feasibility of Reader Severity Measures to equate scores.

.

Osbume, A., & Mulling, ERIC Document 390303.

S. (1995). Essay prompts and the ESOL student.

This study investigated the preferences of 142 college ESOL students for writing prompts in different forms (statement and question). Results indicate no statistical differences in students’ preferences for prompt form; however, they did reveal that their preferences correlated strongly with perceived ease, degree of interest, and potential prolificacy of prompts.

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Otte, G. (1996). Yes (and no) to a double standard.

CoZlege ESL, 6(l), 16-28.

The author discusses three issues involved in the placement of ESL writers-initial assessment, exit assessment, and proficiency assessment-considering the complexities of each. He argues that such assessment should be determined by ESL faculty, and that ultimately, ESL students should be held to the same standards as other students.

.

Zwick, R., & Thayer, D. (1995). A comparison of the performance of graduate and undergraduate school applicants on the Test of Written English. TOEFL Research Report 50. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. This study compared the performance of graduate and undergraduate students on the TWE for each of 66 data sets, dating from 1988 to 1993. Findings indicate that, for matched examinees in 63 of the 66 data sets, the undergraduate TWE means were higher than the graduate means.

212

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AND BRICE

TEXT .

Allison, students’

D. (1995). written

Modifying

answers

meanings:

to a legal problem.

Modality

and argumentation

in

ERIC Document 390260.

The researcher compared teachers’ judgments of claims made by ESL law students in their writing and examined the effects of the writers’ epistemic modal choices on their texts’ consistency and warrant of argumentation. Results suggest that inconsistencies in the wording of arguments do not necessarily reflect underlying confusion over content.

.

Eason, C. (1995). nese and English:

International,

Argumentative essays written by native speakers of ChiA study in contrastive rhetoric. Dissertation Abstracts

57(4), 160 1A.

The researcher examined structural differences in the writing of four groups of students (native-Taiwanese and overseas Chinese English majors. and American developmental writers and English majors), considering how well the essays met teachers’ expectatrons. Results discuss major differences in students’ essay structure and expectations suggested by teachers’ evaluations of them.

.

An analysis of narrative writing performance of bilingual secondary school students in Malaysia. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(4), 1550A. Haq, F. (1996).

Essays written in English and Malay by native and non-native speakers of Bahasa Malaysia were compared to investigate students’ instructional needs. Results indicate that for total points, coherence, and organization, group performance was dependent on language of communication. and that both groups scored stgnificantly lower when writing in Enghsh.

.

Schleppegrell, M. (1996). Conjunction Applied Linguistics, 17(3), 27 1-285.

in spoken English and ESL writing.

This article compares the functions of because in spoken English and ESL writing, illustrating how ESL wnters inappropriately use because clauses in academic writing in ways that native speakers generally only use in speech (to indicate the knowledge base for their assertions, introduce independent segments, and lmk sections of discourse).

.

Walelign, A. (1996). Aspects of local and global coherence in the English essays of Amharic-speaking basic writers: A text based exploratory study. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(3), 1121A. The researcher examined whether aspects of local and global coherence affect raters’ judgments of college ESL students’ writing quality. Results indicate that a high

SECOND LANGUAGE

WRITING

213

percentage of coordinated T-units correlated with low ratings for writing quality and that a high incidence of semantic subordination correlated with high writing quality ratings. CONTEXT .

Alford, C. (1995). Bilingual students in the composition class: Dimensions of language use in academic writing. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(3), 981A. This study investigated the role bilingualism played in the experiences of three bilingual freshmen enrolled in an intensive reading and composition seminar. Findings indicate that the new program viewed writing as knowledge making and that the students made use of language in SIXways to participate in the class.

.

Losey, K. (1997). Listen to the silences: Mexican American interaction the composition classroom and the communi@ Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

in

This book reports a two-year ethnography

of bilingual Mexican American and monolingual Anglo American students in a community college basic writing course, chronicling the factors which contribute to the silencing of Mexican Americans, including the community’s political and economic situation, student-teacher relationships, and the nature of class discussions and assignments. .

Malicka, A. (1996). Tasks, interaction, affect, and the writer’s development: A descriptive study of an ESL composition class. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(3), 106 1A. The researcher conducted an ethnography to explore the influence of instructional context and ESL students’ affective profiles on their development as writers. Results indicate that students’ opportunities for writing development are blocked by excessive focus on grammar, predictability of tasks. negative teacher commentary, fear of failure, low self-esteem, and resentment,

INSTRUCTION .

Allison, D., Berry, V., & Lewkowicz, J. (1995). Processes and their products: A comparison of task sequences and outcome in EAP writing classes. ERIC Document 390257. Using self-report questionnaires, the researchers compared the topic selection, relative prominence, and lexical density of summaries written by first-year university students in an EAP economics course. Findings suggest that reading input and written output are interdependent, and that student enthusiasm for the task adversely affected written outcome.

214

.

SILVA AND BRICE

Byrd, P., & Reid, J. (1995). Authenticity and authentic materials: Using student-produced writing in ESL materials. Journal of Intensive English Studies, 9(2), l-23. Drawing on their experiences, the authors discuss issues involved in developing a collection of student writing. After reviewing legal and ethical considerations, they explain how to organize writing samples, select and edit student wnting for use in composition and grammar reference textbooks, and use samples to learn about student problems.

.

Clark, E. (1995). “How did you learn to write in English when you haven’t been taught in English?“: The language experience approach in a dual language program. Bilingual Research Journal, I9( 3-4), 61 l-627. This case study describes how language experience and a natural approach to language learning are used in a dual language kindergarten class. The researchers’ notes from classroom observations are presented and discussed to give readers a sense of language use in the process of first and second language literacy development.

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Cumming, A., & So, S. (1996). Tutoring second language text revision: Does the approach to instruction or the language of the communication make a difference? Journal of Second Language Writing, 5(3), 197-226. This study investigated whether instructtonal approach (error correction versus procedural facilitation) or language of communication affected the dynamics of ESL tutoring sessions. Findings indicate that tutoring L2 writing involves a highly normative set of discourse transactions-dtstribution of problem solving responsibilities (between tutors and tutees) remained relatively constant across conditions.

.

Eggers, P, Friedman, B., Herrick, E., Janda, T., Peters, K., & Spitzer, L. (1995). Merging divergent ESL teaching approaches into a coherent course stream. Journal of Intensive English Studies, 9, 67-81. The researchers conducted an in-house review of credit-bearing undergraduate ESL courses at an American university. They present their consensus on several issues: how to define course goals to increase coherence. how to best serve students’ diverse needs. how autonomous instructors should be, and whether process or product should be emphasized.

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Featheringill, R., Fuller, J., & Vogt, G. (1996). Native and nonnative writers. Business Communication Quarterly, 59(3), 29-42.

student

To investigate whether grammar mstruction prepares students for business communication classes, the researchers compared NES and NNES’ scores on grammar and punctuation tests and examined then htgh school contexts. Results indicate that

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while most students passed the tests (and classes), some cannot write and are infrequently required to do so.

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Hale, G., Taylor, C., Bridgeman, B., Carson, J., Kroll, B., & Kantor, R. (1996). A study of writing tasks assigned in academic degree programs. TOEFL Research Report 54. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. The researchers collected and examined writing assignments given by faculty and instructors at 162 US and Canadian institutions. The report identifies key dimensions of difference among assignments and characterizes the nature of writing tasks assigned across selected disciplines based on a classification scheme developed for the study.

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Hu, J. (1995). Bringing written retelling language class. Journal of Developmental

into an ESL English as a second Education, 19(l), 12-14, 16.

After discussing how written retelling can be implemented in ESL classrooms, the author describes a study which compared error rates in the journal writing of students who did and did not engage m retelling. Findings reveal that more of the students who practiced retelling had below average error rates.

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Lang, F., & Moser, J. (1995). Parallel courses: Preparing native and nonnative students for freshman composition. EngZish in Texas, 27(l), 46-52. The authors describe the curriculum of basic writing courses for NES and ESL students at CUNY, explaining the type of content and rhetorical techniques they encourage in earlier and later writing and their approach to grammar instruction. Course goals are defined by the requirements for passing the CUNY Writing Assessment Test.

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Medgyes, P., & Ryan, C. (1996). The integration with other curriculum components in teacher 361-373.

of academic writing skills education. System, 24(3),

This article describes how the academic-writing component of the TEFL program at the Centre for English Teacher Training (CETT) in Budapest developed during its first four years in response to students’ needs. After contextualizing the CETT, the authors explain the curriculum, focusing on how each course contributed to writing development.

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Oi, K., & Kamimura, T. (1995). A pedagogical contrastive rhetoric. ERIC Document 392254.

application

of research

The researcher examined whether inner-argumentative analysis would enable Japanese ESL students to: write high-rated argumentative essays. write in the general-spe-

in

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cific discourse and one-directional argumentative patterns, change argumentation less often, and make initial and closing argumentattve positions correspond. Results indicate that inner-argumentattve analysis was effectrve in these regards.

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M., Brock, M., & Yue, F. (1996). Explaining Hong Kong students’ response to process writing: An exploration of causes and outcomes. Pennington, Journal

of Second Language

Writing, 5(3), 227-252.

The researchers studied the effects of focused adoption of the process approach to writing on the teachers and students (all Cantonese speakers of English) m secondary school EFL classes. Fmdings indicate that students’ reactions to the experience are related to their instructors’ attitudes toward and implementation of the approach.

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Reid, J. (1996). A learning styles unit for the intermediate classroom. TESOL Journal, 6( 1). 42-47.

ESL/EFL writing

The author describes a writing unit on learning styles which she developed and implemented in her ESL writing classroom. After explaining the context and objectives of the unit, she provides a detailed description of the first week of the unit, followed by a summary of the subsequent two weeks.

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Shiozawa, T., & Simmons, T. (1995). Do improved examination scores indicate acquired skills? A study in teaching the use of articles in journal writing through a continuous testing regimen. ERIC Document 390252. Researchers compared how two groups of Japanese ESL students used articles in journal writing and on language tests (one group was instructed m the use of articles; the other was not). Neither group showed improvement in the use of articles in journal writing, but the experimental group showed consistent improvement on quizzes.

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Smith, A. (1996). Using video and newspaper texts to provide topic schemata in the composition class. The French Review, 70(2), 167-179. After revrewing criteria for appropriate topic choice and discussmg the importance of schemata development to the writing process, this article presents sample prewriting activities which utilize video and newspaper texts to promote student acqmsition of vocabulary, discourse forms, and background information necessary to confident L2 writmg.

.

Smith, S., Kane, V., Wessels, J., & Wignell,

P. (1995). Writing a discussion.

ERIC Document 390276. This article describes a unit used in an Australian school to teach ESL students how to write a discussion. Findings address how the teacher used student knowledge.

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217

guided class discussion, and changed her role as student learning developed (having greater input at the beginning of the process, less towards the middle, and more again at the end).

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Vandrick, S. (1996). Issues in using multicultural literature in college ESL writing classes. Journal of Second Language Writing, 5(3), 253-269. The author discusses several issues related to the use of multicultural literature in ESL writing classes: the “canon wars,” purposes and benefits of teaching multicultural literature, selection of appropriate textbooks, and potential problems in using such literature with ESL students.

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Weskamp, R. (1995). Schriftlichkeit im fortgeshrittenen fremdspracheunterricht-einkontextorientiertes model der textproduktion. [Writing ability in progressive foreign language teaching: A context-based model for text production.] Die Neueren Sprachen, 94(4), 387-401. Noting that the German school curriculum generally requires writing only in response to test questions, the author describes a learning strategy which can enable German students of English to learn adaptable ways to produce goal-oriented writing. Practical examples are provided throughout the article.

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Young, C., & Powers, J. (1995). Helping faculty work with international writers across the disciplines. ERIC Document 393314. This article describes a workshop which was designed to help faculty work on writing skills with ESL graduate students. The authors offer ten suggestions for making the classroom more accessible to ESL writers, and several ways to help ESL students and thesis and dissertation writers use the writing center.