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Selected bibliography of recent scholarship in second language writing
JOURNAL OF SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING, 6 (I), 89-101
(1997)
Selected Bibliography of Recent Scholarship in Second Language Writing TONY SEVA COLLEENBRICE Purdue University
This bibliography cites and summ~zes theoretically grounded reports of research and discussions of central issues in second and foreign language writing and writing instruction that have become available to its compilers during the period of April 1, 1996 through July 31, 1996. The categories used represent an attempt to aid readers, not to pigeonhole studies.
WRITERS * Sasaki, M., & Hirose, K. (1996). Explanatory variables for EFL students’ expository writing. Language Learning, 46(l), 137-174.
The researchers investigated the influence of several factors on Japanese university students’ L2 (English) expository writing. Quantitative analysis indicated that students’ L2 proficiency, Ll writing ability, and metaknowledge of L2 expository writing were significant variables in explaining their L2 writing ability variance, with L2 proficiency accounting for a majority of it.
l
Weaver, M. (1996). Transcending “conversing”: A deaf student in the writing center. Journal of Advanced Composition, 16(Z), 241-25 1.
This article presents a narrative of a tutor’s interactions with a deaf student in a university writing center. The author explores the hidden audist assumptions in reading/writing process instruction and in the writing center itself, and discusses how she used this information to modify her tutoring of the student.
89
90 l
StLVA AND BRlCE
Zeki, C. (1995). A common culture, individual voices: An ethnographic case study of five student writers. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56(12), 4645A.
This ethno~~phic ease study examined how five Chinese ESL undergraduate students negotiated their writing tasks when writing inside and outside of the classroom. Results indicate that participants found process approach instruction useful, applied this approach when writing in English, and did not transfer revision strategies from Chinese to English.
PROCESS
l
Gosden, H. (1996). Verbal reports of Japanese novices’ research writing practices in English. Journal of Second Language Writing, .5(2), 109-128.
Sixteen Japanese doctoral students were interviewed about their writing practices in preparing their first scientific research articles to be published in English. Results focus on the construction of NNS novices’ research article drafts, translation from Ll to L2, and revision in relation to critique and audience awareness.
l
Kim, A. (1995). Composing in a second language: A case study of a Russian college student. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56( 12). 4754A.
The researcher conducted a two-year case study of a Russian college student’s L2 (English) writing processes and development. Results show that errors decreased and syntactic maturity increased in the student’s writing over the two-year period, and that he was atypical in his attitudes and strategies for learning a second language.
l
Porte, G. (1996). When writing fails: How academic context and past leaming experiences shape revision. System, 24(l), 107-I 16.
The researcher studied the revision strategies of 15 underachieving EFL undergraduates writing in two discourse types and two time conditions. Results suggest that past learning experiences (writing instruction and feedback) and the perceived nature of the writing task and context may affect students’ revision strategies.
SELECTEDBIBLIOGRAPHY l
Ting, Y-R. (1996). Looping Journal, 50(2), 135-142.
forward:
Drafting
91
in my own language.
ELT
To investigate the effects Ll composing strategies might have when employed
in L2 writing, the researcher recorded the composing processes he used while writing a short story in his Ll, Chinese. He hypothesizes that different levels of L2 proficiency are required rhetorical strategies.
in order to effectively
transfer
different
Ll
AUDIENCE/ASSESSMENT l
Becket, D. (1995). Writing across the curriculum in a second language: An analysis of students and teachers. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56( 1 l), 4297.
Two case studies were conducted to investigate American professors’ reactions to the writing of ESL students in their classes. Results indicate that both professors were primarily concerned with the content of students’ papers, but that their responses to students’ organization of material and language use varied according to disciplinary context.
l
Connor-Linton, J. (1995). Cross cultural comparison of writing standards: American ESL and Japanese EFL. World Englishes, 14(l), 99-115.
The researcher compared the evaluative criteria employed by American ESL and Japanese EFL instructors in rating compositions written by adult Japanese EFL students. Japanese EFL teachers focused on issues of accuracy (content, word choice, grammar), whereas American ESL instructors focused on intersentential features of discourse and speciftc intrasentential grammatical features.
l
Educational Testing Service. (1996). Test of Written English Guide, (4th ed.). Princeton, NJ: Author.
Designed for people responsible for interpreting Test of Written English (TWE) scores, this book describes the TWE test and scoring guide, reviews the developmental research and statistical characteristics of the TWE, and provides information about the interpretation of TWE scores, including sample TWE essay questions and scored TWE essays.
SILVA AND BRICE
92
l
Garrett, P., Griffrths, Y., James, C., & Scholfield, P. (1995). Development a scoring scheme for content in transactional writing: Some indicators audience awareness. Language and Education, 9(3), 179-194.
This article discusses dren’s L2 transactional ness. After reviewing initial scoring scheme sent and discuss their
l
Lee, S. (1995). English writing 652A.
of of
the development of a scoring system for content in chilwriting which attempts to account for audience awarethe difficulties they encountered trying to apply their to students’ written game instructions, the authors prerevised final scheme.
Cloze test as integrative measure proficiency. Dissertation Abstracts
of Korean students’ International, 57(2),
To test the validity of cloze tests as measures of English writing proficiency, the researcher compared the performance of 129 Korean college students on a cloze test and an essay test. Results indicate that close tests tap the same language ability as essay tests. Implications of the results are discussed.
l
Li, Xiao Ming. (1996). “Good writing” in cross cultural NY State University of New York Press.
context. Albany,
This ethnography examines the notion of “good writing” from two cultural perspectives, presenting and discussing the written and oral commentary which four teachers (two Chinese, two American) delivered in response to a common set of student papers, and comparing their commentary to that of other teachers from both countries.
.
Norris, S. (1995). Responding to the adult ESL writers: researcher case study. (ERIC Document 388109.)
A teacher-as-
This case study explored the effects of specific error correction and writing instruction techniques on the in-class essay writing of a Chinese doctoral student in a composition course for foreign graduate students. Findings indicate that although the students’ writing and risk-taking increased, his writing quality did not improve.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
l
Pennycook, A. (1996). Borrowing others’ words: Text, ownership, and plagiarism. TESOL Quarterly, N(2), 201-230.
93
memory,
After tracing the historical development and ambiguities of the Western notion of textual ownership, the author discusses a context (Hong Kong Chinese) where understandings of texts and ownership are very different. He argues that plagiarism must be understood in terms of complex relationships between text, memory, and learning.
l
Russikoff, K. (1995). A comparison of writing criteria: Any diflerences? (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 3860 25.)
The researcher examined the validity of holistic assessment by comparing the criteria for assessing ESL writing in academic coursework with the holistic criteria of the Graduation Writing Test for NNES’s at California State Polytechnic University. Findings indicate that raters using the rubric yielded approximately the same proportions for pass/fail.
l
Schaub, M. (1995). Cross-cultural dialogics: Bakhtinian theory and second language audience. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 385 163.)
This article considers the possible impact of Bakhtinian theory, which views language, addressivity, and answerability as culturally and politically embedded, on ESL instruction. The author focuses on how the Bakhtinian audience
process was illustrated through journals written in an Egyptian university class of English learners to fellow students in other countries.
l
Song, B., & Caruso, I. (1995). Do English ating the essays of native English-speaking Second Language Writing, .5(2), 163-182.
and ESL faculty differ in evaluand ESL students? Journal of
The researchers compared the holistic and analytic rating of two NES and two ESL timed essay examinations by English and ESL professors at CUNY. Results show that English and ESL faculty raters differed significantly in holistic evaluation, but not in rating the specifically categorized features in analytic evaluation.
SILVA AND BRICE
94 l
Weigle, S. (1994). Effects of training guage Testing, 11(2), 197-223.
on raters of ESL compositions.
Lan-
This study examined how training affects composition raters, focusing on the verbal protocols of four inexperienced raters of ESL placement compositions scoring the same essays before and after training. Findings indicate that training helped clarify the scoring criteria for raters and modify their expectations about examinees and the writing task.
TEXT l
Abuhamdia, Z. (1995). Coordination specific? Multilingua, Z4( l), 25-37.
Arguing dination for this spoken writing
l
that negative transfer in Arab ESL writing, phenomenon, including and written discourse. is not culture-specific
in ESL writing:
Is its use culture-
cannot adequately account for excessive coorthe author suggests that other factors account learners’ unfamiliarity with separate norms for The author concludes that coordination-prone but typical of many groups of English learners.
Granger, S., & Tyson, S. (1996). Connector usage in the English essay writing of native and non-native EFL speakers in English. World Englishes, I5( l), 17-27.
A sample of the French mother-tongue sub-component of the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE) was compared with a sample of English essays for frequency of connector usage. Findings indicate no overuse of connectors by EFL learners. The authors suggest learners be taught the semantic and syntactic use of individual connectors in authentic texts.
l
Kassoff, B. (1996). Chinese use of English in business texts: Strategies for communicating bad news. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(2), 609A.
Thirty-two business students in the People’s Republic of China responded to three data elicitation tasks which required them to use their L2 (English) to convey bad news in a business context. Participants’ pragmatic and rhetorical choices were found to be motivated by three socio-cultural norms (face, relations, and group affiliation).
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
l
Kim, J.-W. (1995). Linguistic, rhetorical, and strategic aspects of Korean students persuasive writing in English. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(2), 609A.
Twenty-three “product” and 12 “process” persuasive/argumentative writing were compared NNES students. Findings indicate that several devices, discourse markers, impersonal closings, writing confidence, and vocabulary choice) were native from nonnative English writers.
l
95
variables of English in the writing of NES and variables (length, cohesion counterarguments, revision, successful in distinguishing
Lee, S. (1995). Syntactic,
lexical, and rhetorical differences in English prose written by native speakers of English and native speakers of Korean. Dissertations Abstracts International, 56( 1l), 4380A.
The writing of Korean ESL and NES university students was examined to identify statistically significant textual differences. Based on quantitative and qualitative analyses, the researcher concludes that Korean students had considerably more difficulty than American students with lexical choice, cohesion devices, and rhetorical style when writing academic prose.
l
Neff, J., & Prieto, R. (1994). Ll influence on Spanish EFL university writing development, (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 385 144.)
The researchers compared the writing development of Spanish EFL students in first and fourth year philology. Writers’ argumentative compositions were studied in Ll and L2 and results were compared with American students and professional writers in the argumentative text typology. Results discuss student writers (globally), student groups, and professional writers.
l
Reid, J. (1996). U.S. academic readers, ESL writers, and second sentences. Journal of Second Language Writing, 5(2), 129-161.
This study examines the sentence immediately following the topic sentence in an English paragraph to determine whether it could be predicted by experienced NES readers, and successfully predicted and written by NES and inexperienced ESL student writers. NES’s predicted the “expected” second sentences nearly twice as often as ESL writers.
96
SILVA AND BRICE
Schweers, C. (1995). He use a square shirt: First language transfer in the writing of Hispanic ESL learners. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 386 924.)
l
Disadvantaged, beginning, Hispanic ESL college students wrote descriptions of two drawings of restaurant kitchens, attempting to identify the eight differences between the two. The descriptions were analyzed for communication strategy use, and the writers were interviewed. Results suggest that first language transfer plays a role in second language acquisition.
l
Snyder, W. (1995). Cognitive strategies in second language lexical processing: Evidence from English speakers’ spelling errors in Spanish. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(l), 196A.
Focusing on lexical form, this study examined 660 substitution
spelling errors from the timed, guided essays written by English speaking students with no other L2 experience in first-year university Spanish courses. Results suggest that leamers transfer spelling strategies from their Ll and use lexical orthographic representations in their L2 spelling.
l
Weissberg, R. (1995). Paths to proficiency: Case studies in the simultaneous acquisition of spoken and written English by adult ESL learners. Dissertations Abstracts International, 57 (l), 139A.
The researcher conducted a case study of the second language acquisition of five adult learners enrolled in an intensive English program. Analysis of participants’ spoken and written discourse indicated that writing is the preferred modality for innovation in emergent L2 syntactic forms. A modality preference model is presented.
l
Wu, S. (1995). Transfer in Chinese students’ academic sertation Abstracts International, 56 (12), 4754A.
English writing. Dis-
This study examined language transfer in Chinese ESL students’ academic writing, focusing on lexical and syntactic errors and patterns in the use of 10 linguistic features in Ll and L2 writing. Results showed that all 10 features were involved in transfer, to varying degrees, and that L2 proficiency affected transfer.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
97
CONTEXT l
Braine, G. (1996). ESL students in first-year writing courses: ESL versus mainstream classes. Journal of Second Language Writing, 5 (2), 91-107.
University ESL students’ preferences for and performance in fist-year mainstream and ESL writing courses were studied over a one-year period. Results indicate that a majority of ESL students prefer to enroll in ESL classes and perform better on holistically-scored exit examinations in them. Reasons for students’ preferences are discussed.
l
Carter-Tod, S. (1995). The role of the writing center in the writing practices of L2 students. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56 (ll), 4264A.
To investigate the role of college writing centers in L2 students’ writing practices, five case studies were conducted with four L2 students and the tutors they worked with during one semester. Results suggest that L2 students perceive writing centers as places to “fix” their language problems.
l
Cummins, M. (1995). Looking for commonalties in culturally and linguistically mixed basic writing courses. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 384 888).
The author describes the methods she uses in a community college basic writing course to provide collaborative opportunities between two groups of students whom she suggests have many commonalties: English as a second language (ESL) and English as a second dialect (ESD) students.
l
Rammal, S. (1995). Investigating the English writing skills curriculum Hebron University. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56 (1 l), 4383A.
This study investigated the writing curriculum of the English department at Hebron University to determine how well its goals match the university’s goals for writing. Results of analyses of interview and observation data indicate that the goals of the curriculum are not implemented in the classroom except coincidentally.
at
98
SILVA AND BRICE
INSTRUCTION l
Dossin, M. (1996). ESL quandary. The Writing Lab Newsletter, 20 (9), 15-16.
The author urges writing lab tutors to help ESL writers improve error-laden papers by not giving them what they may want (corrections, leading to “perfect” papers) but rather by giving them what will help them gradually become better writers-help in identifying their patterns of error and the reasoning underlying them.
l
Garrett, I’., Griffrths, Y., James, C., & Scholfield, P. (1994). Use of the mother tongue in second language classrooms: An experimental investigation of the effects on the attitudes and writing performance of bilingual UK school children. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 15 (S), 371-383.
Teachers in two UK bilingual settings did parallel pre-writing activities with their primary school students for three months-one group in the mothertongue (Punjabi or Welsh), the other in L2 (English). Researchers found no significant differences between the effects of the mother tongue and English on most of the variables examined.
l
Gee, R. (1996). Reading/Writing Journal, 5 (3>, 4-9.
workshops
for the ESL classroom.
TESOL
After describing reading/writing workshops, the author explains how they can be used in the second language classroom. Focusing specifically on middle school ESL workshops, he summarizes several activities (preparing a newsletter, responding to literature, personal writing, editing for grammar, and conferencing) that he uses in his own classrooms.
l
Henmatm, J. (1994). Datengewinnung in der Zweitsprachenforschung: Einige empirische Befunde zur Effizienz verschiedener Verfahren. Die Neuren Sprachen, 93 (6), 564-587.
This article presents the initial results of a study of the effects of computerassisted learning on students writing business letters in English. Four methods of data-collection were subjected to efficiency analysis, and it was found that the best data were obtained when students worked on a text in small groups.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
l
99
Kahmi-Stein, L. (1995). The effect of explicit instruction on the summarization strategies of “underprepared” native Spanish-speaking freshmen in university-level adjunct courses. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57 (l), 78A.
Summaries written by “underprepared” Spanish ESL students before and after content-based summary writing instruction were compared to summaries written by “underprepared” freshmen and “able” readers. Results indicate that “underprepared” ESL students’ summaries received significantly higher holistic scores and included significantly more main ideas than those written by control group students.
l
Lee, L. (1994). L2 writing: Using pictures as a guided writing environment. (ERIC Document Reproduction 386 951)
This article illustrates how pictures can be used as a guided writing environment to facilitate students’ writing processes and reports the results of a study which investigated the effects of pictorial instruction on beginning FL students’ L2 writing processes, attitudes toward L2 writing, and reactions to the instruction.
l
Lewkowicz, J. (1994). Writing from sources: Does source material help or hinder students’ performance? (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 386 050)
The essays written by NNES Hong Kong university students who had and had not read background material were compared for quality (length, development, substantiation of points presented). Results indicate that while the background texts provided students with ideas, they did not necessarily lead to improved writing quality.
l
Morgan, C. (1994). Creative writing in foreign language Learning Journal, 10, 44-47.
teaching. Language
The author examines attitudes toward poetry writing and reading in three classroom contexts: English, English as a foreign language, and foreign language. After comparing the aims, classrooms, and audiences of these contexts, she discusses the benefits of creative writing and presents several approaches that teachers might utilize, including her own.
100 l
SILVA AND BRICE
Pennington, M., & Cheung, M. (1995). Factors shaping the introduction of process writing in Hong Kong secondary schools. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 8(l), 15-34.
This article describes the initial stage of a study designed to evaluate the adoption of process writing by eight secondary English teachers in Hong Kong. The authors profile the educational context and assess the teachers’ attitudes towards implementation of the innovation, using Rogers’ (1983) framework for describing adoption of innovations.
l
Sengupta, S. (1996). Creating a hypertext database to help Hong Kong English language teachers teach writing. System, 24(2), 1996.
This article describes how a hypertext database, Focus on Writing, was developed to assist Hong Kong secondary school English language instructors teach continuous writing. The researcher discusses the issues in writing pedagogy which shaped the database’s design, describes the advantages and limitations of a hypertext, and addresses instructional support problems.
l
Tsang, W-K. (1996). Comparing the effects of reading ing performance. Applied Linguistics, 17(2), 210-233.
and writing on writ-
This study investigated the effect on Cantonese ESL students’ writing performance of different enrichment programs, different form levels (one through four), and different enrichment programs at different form levels. Results demonstrated significant main effects due to type of enrichment program and form level, with no significant interaction of these effects.
l
Uhlir, J. (1995). A naturalistic second language. Dissertation
The researcher studied eighth graders’ attitudes L2 writing in a Spanish that students’ developed metacognitive.
study of the effects of writing to learn on a Abstracts International, 56( 1 l), 4306A.
how daily expressive writing opportunities affected toward, awareness of, and improvement in expressive I class. Presented in six vignettes, results demonstrate in all three learning domains: cognitive, affective, and
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
l
101
L. (1995). A critical etbnography of writing instruction in a bilingual classroom. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56( 12), 4644A.
Weaver,
Using a critical ethnographic approach, the researcher studied a third grade bilingual teacher during her first year of teaching Latin0 LEP students, focusing on the writing instruction she provided and her expectations and beliefs about the students. Findings, based on intersubjective horizon analysis, are discussed in terms of three themes.
l
White,
R. (Ed.).
(1995).
New ways in teaching
writing.
Alexandria,
VA:
TESOL.
Intended as a resource for second language writing teachers, this book presents a wide variety of techniques for teaching writing collected from a wide variety of contributors. It is organized in four parts, each dealing with different aspects of writing: writing processes, academic writing, expressive writing, and personal and business correspondence.
OTHER l
Reichelt, M. (1995). ESL writing. In M. Kramer, G. Leggett, & C. Mead (Eds.), Resource Guide: Prentice Hull Handbook for Writers 12th ed., pp. 105-127). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
This chapter addresses two concerns ence teaching ESL students: how to and NES writers differ educationally three drafts of an ESL students’ essay comments on each.
l
Scott, V. (1996). Rethinking & Heinle.
foreign
of writing instructors with little experirespond to ESL writing, and how ESL and linguistically. To illustrate response, are included, along with the instructors’
language
writing. Boston,
MA: Heinle
Designed for teachers interested in teaching foreign language writing, this book reviews theories and research about five aspects of FL writing: writing competence, the FL writing process, FL writing and computers, evaluation of FL writing, and teaching FL writing. Chapters include literature reviews, classroom implementations, and topics for discussion.
(1997)
Selected Bibliography of Recent Scholarship in Second Language Writing TONY SEVA COLLEENBRICE Purdue University
This bibliography cites and summ~zes theoretically grounded reports of research and discussions of central issues in second and foreign language writing and writing instruction that have become available to its compilers during the period of April 1, 1996 through July 31, 1996. The categories used represent an attempt to aid readers, not to pigeonhole studies.
WRITERS * Sasaki, M., & Hirose, K. (1996). Explanatory variables for EFL students’ expository writing. Language Learning, 46(l), 137-174.
The researchers investigated the influence of several factors on Japanese university students’ L2 (English) expository writing. Quantitative analysis indicated that students’ L2 proficiency, Ll writing ability, and metaknowledge of L2 expository writing were significant variables in explaining their L2 writing ability variance, with L2 proficiency accounting for a majority of it.
l
Weaver, M. (1996). Transcending “conversing”: A deaf student in the writing center. Journal of Advanced Composition, 16(Z), 241-25 1.
This article presents a narrative of a tutor’s interactions with a deaf student in a university writing center. The author explores the hidden audist assumptions in reading/writing process instruction and in the writing center itself, and discusses how she used this information to modify her tutoring of the student.
89
90 l
StLVA AND BRlCE
Zeki, C. (1995). A common culture, individual voices: An ethnographic case study of five student writers. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56(12), 4645A.
This ethno~~phic ease study examined how five Chinese ESL undergraduate students negotiated their writing tasks when writing inside and outside of the classroom. Results indicate that participants found process approach instruction useful, applied this approach when writing in English, and did not transfer revision strategies from Chinese to English.
PROCESS
l
Gosden, H. (1996). Verbal reports of Japanese novices’ research writing practices in English. Journal of Second Language Writing, .5(2), 109-128.
Sixteen Japanese doctoral students were interviewed about their writing practices in preparing their first scientific research articles to be published in English. Results focus on the construction of NNS novices’ research article drafts, translation from Ll to L2, and revision in relation to critique and audience awareness.
l
Kim, A. (1995). Composing in a second language: A case study of a Russian college student. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56( 12). 4754A.
The researcher conducted a two-year case study of a Russian college student’s L2 (English) writing processes and development. Results show that errors decreased and syntactic maturity increased in the student’s writing over the two-year period, and that he was atypical in his attitudes and strategies for learning a second language.
l
Porte, G. (1996). When writing fails: How academic context and past leaming experiences shape revision. System, 24(l), 107-I 16.
The researcher studied the revision strategies of 15 underachieving EFL undergraduates writing in two discourse types and two time conditions. Results suggest that past learning experiences (writing instruction and feedback) and the perceived nature of the writing task and context may affect students’ revision strategies.
SELECTEDBIBLIOGRAPHY l
Ting, Y-R. (1996). Looping Journal, 50(2), 135-142.
forward:
Drafting
91
in my own language.
ELT
To investigate the effects Ll composing strategies might have when employed
in L2 writing, the researcher recorded the composing processes he used while writing a short story in his Ll, Chinese. He hypothesizes that different levels of L2 proficiency are required rhetorical strategies.
in order to effectively
transfer
different
Ll
AUDIENCE/ASSESSMENT l
Becket, D. (1995). Writing across the curriculum in a second language: An analysis of students and teachers. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56( 1 l), 4297.
Two case studies were conducted to investigate American professors’ reactions to the writing of ESL students in their classes. Results indicate that both professors were primarily concerned with the content of students’ papers, but that their responses to students’ organization of material and language use varied according to disciplinary context.
l
Connor-Linton, J. (1995). Cross cultural comparison of writing standards: American ESL and Japanese EFL. World Englishes, 14(l), 99-115.
The researcher compared the evaluative criteria employed by American ESL and Japanese EFL instructors in rating compositions written by adult Japanese EFL students. Japanese EFL teachers focused on issues of accuracy (content, word choice, grammar), whereas American ESL instructors focused on intersentential features of discourse and speciftc intrasentential grammatical features.
l
Educational Testing Service. (1996). Test of Written English Guide, (4th ed.). Princeton, NJ: Author.
Designed for people responsible for interpreting Test of Written English (TWE) scores, this book describes the TWE test and scoring guide, reviews the developmental research and statistical characteristics of the TWE, and provides information about the interpretation of TWE scores, including sample TWE essay questions and scored TWE essays.
SILVA AND BRICE
92
l
Garrett, P., Griffrths, Y., James, C., & Scholfield, P. (1995). Development a scoring scheme for content in transactional writing: Some indicators audience awareness. Language and Education, 9(3), 179-194.
This article discusses dren’s L2 transactional ness. After reviewing initial scoring scheme sent and discuss their
l
Lee, S. (1995). English writing 652A.
of of
the development of a scoring system for content in chilwriting which attempts to account for audience awarethe difficulties they encountered trying to apply their to students’ written game instructions, the authors prerevised final scheme.
Cloze test as integrative measure proficiency. Dissertation Abstracts
of Korean students’ International, 57(2),
To test the validity of cloze tests as measures of English writing proficiency, the researcher compared the performance of 129 Korean college students on a cloze test and an essay test. Results indicate that close tests tap the same language ability as essay tests. Implications of the results are discussed.
l
Li, Xiao Ming. (1996). “Good writing” in cross cultural NY State University of New York Press.
context. Albany,
This ethnography examines the notion of “good writing” from two cultural perspectives, presenting and discussing the written and oral commentary which four teachers (two Chinese, two American) delivered in response to a common set of student papers, and comparing their commentary to that of other teachers from both countries.
.
Norris, S. (1995). Responding to the adult ESL writers: researcher case study. (ERIC Document 388109.)
A teacher-as-
This case study explored the effects of specific error correction and writing instruction techniques on the in-class essay writing of a Chinese doctoral student in a composition course for foreign graduate students. Findings indicate that although the students’ writing and risk-taking increased, his writing quality did not improve.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
l
Pennycook, A. (1996). Borrowing others’ words: Text, ownership, and plagiarism. TESOL Quarterly, N(2), 201-230.
93
memory,
After tracing the historical development and ambiguities of the Western notion of textual ownership, the author discusses a context (Hong Kong Chinese) where understandings of texts and ownership are very different. He argues that plagiarism must be understood in terms of complex relationships between text, memory, and learning.
l
Russikoff, K. (1995). A comparison of writing criteria: Any diflerences? (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 3860 25.)
The researcher examined the validity of holistic assessment by comparing the criteria for assessing ESL writing in academic coursework with the holistic criteria of the Graduation Writing Test for NNES’s at California State Polytechnic University. Findings indicate that raters using the rubric yielded approximately the same proportions for pass/fail.
l
Schaub, M. (1995). Cross-cultural dialogics: Bakhtinian theory and second language audience. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 385 163.)
This article considers the possible impact of Bakhtinian theory, which views language, addressivity, and answerability as culturally and politically embedded, on ESL instruction. The author focuses on how the Bakhtinian audience
process was illustrated through journals written in an Egyptian university class of English learners to fellow students in other countries.
l
Song, B., & Caruso, I. (1995). Do English ating the essays of native English-speaking Second Language Writing, .5(2), 163-182.
and ESL faculty differ in evaluand ESL students? Journal of
The researchers compared the holistic and analytic rating of two NES and two ESL timed essay examinations by English and ESL professors at CUNY. Results show that English and ESL faculty raters differed significantly in holistic evaluation, but not in rating the specifically categorized features in analytic evaluation.
SILVA AND BRICE
94 l
Weigle, S. (1994). Effects of training guage Testing, 11(2), 197-223.
on raters of ESL compositions.
Lan-
This study examined how training affects composition raters, focusing on the verbal protocols of four inexperienced raters of ESL placement compositions scoring the same essays before and after training. Findings indicate that training helped clarify the scoring criteria for raters and modify their expectations about examinees and the writing task.
TEXT l
Abuhamdia, Z. (1995). Coordination specific? Multilingua, Z4( l), 25-37.
Arguing dination for this spoken writing
l
that negative transfer in Arab ESL writing, phenomenon, including and written discourse. is not culture-specific
in ESL writing:
Is its use culture-
cannot adequately account for excessive coorthe author suggests that other factors account learners’ unfamiliarity with separate norms for The author concludes that coordination-prone but typical of many groups of English learners.
Granger, S., & Tyson, S. (1996). Connector usage in the English essay writing of native and non-native EFL speakers in English. World Englishes, I5( l), 17-27.
A sample of the French mother-tongue sub-component of the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE) was compared with a sample of English essays for frequency of connector usage. Findings indicate no overuse of connectors by EFL learners. The authors suggest learners be taught the semantic and syntactic use of individual connectors in authentic texts.
l
Kassoff, B. (1996). Chinese use of English in business texts: Strategies for communicating bad news. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(2), 609A.
Thirty-two business students in the People’s Republic of China responded to three data elicitation tasks which required them to use their L2 (English) to convey bad news in a business context. Participants’ pragmatic and rhetorical choices were found to be motivated by three socio-cultural norms (face, relations, and group affiliation).
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
l
Kim, J.-W. (1995). Linguistic, rhetorical, and strategic aspects of Korean students persuasive writing in English. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(2), 609A.
Twenty-three “product” and 12 “process” persuasive/argumentative writing were compared NNES students. Findings indicate that several devices, discourse markers, impersonal closings, writing confidence, and vocabulary choice) were native from nonnative English writers.
l
95
variables of English in the writing of NES and variables (length, cohesion counterarguments, revision, successful in distinguishing
Lee, S. (1995). Syntactic,
lexical, and rhetorical differences in English prose written by native speakers of English and native speakers of Korean. Dissertations Abstracts International, 56( 1l), 4380A.
The writing of Korean ESL and NES university students was examined to identify statistically significant textual differences. Based on quantitative and qualitative analyses, the researcher concludes that Korean students had considerably more difficulty than American students with lexical choice, cohesion devices, and rhetorical style when writing academic prose.
l
Neff, J., & Prieto, R. (1994). Ll influence on Spanish EFL university writing development, (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 385 144.)
The researchers compared the writing development of Spanish EFL students in first and fourth year philology. Writers’ argumentative compositions were studied in Ll and L2 and results were compared with American students and professional writers in the argumentative text typology. Results discuss student writers (globally), student groups, and professional writers.
l
Reid, J. (1996). U.S. academic readers, ESL writers, and second sentences. Journal of Second Language Writing, 5(2), 129-161.
This study examines the sentence immediately following the topic sentence in an English paragraph to determine whether it could be predicted by experienced NES readers, and successfully predicted and written by NES and inexperienced ESL student writers. NES’s predicted the “expected” second sentences nearly twice as often as ESL writers.
96
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Schweers, C. (1995). He use a square shirt: First language transfer in the writing of Hispanic ESL learners. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 386 924.)
l
Disadvantaged, beginning, Hispanic ESL college students wrote descriptions of two drawings of restaurant kitchens, attempting to identify the eight differences between the two. The descriptions were analyzed for communication strategy use, and the writers were interviewed. Results suggest that first language transfer plays a role in second language acquisition.
l
Snyder, W. (1995). Cognitive strategies in second language lexical processing: Evidence from English speakers’ spelling errors in Spanish. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(l), 196A.
Focusing on lexical form, this study examined 660 substitution
spelling errors from the timed, guided essays written by English speaking students with no other L2 experience in first-year university Spanish courses. Results suggest that leamers transfer spelling strategies from their Ll and use lexical orthographic representations in their L2 spelling.
l
Weissberg, R. (1995). Paths to proficiency: Case studies in the simultaneous acquisition of spoken and written English by adult ESL learners. Dissertations Abstracts International, 57 (l), 139A.
The researcher conducted a case study of the second language acquisition of five adult learners enrolled in an intensive English program. Analysis of participants’ spoken and written discourse indicated that writing is the preferred modality for innovation in emergent L2 syntactic forms. A modality preference model is presented.
l
Wu, S. (1995). Transfer in Chinese students’ academic sertation Abstracts International, 56 (12), 4754A.
English writing. Dis-
This study examined language transfer in Chinese ESL students’ academic writing, focusing on lexical and syntactic errors and patterns in the use of 10 linguistic features in Ll and L2 writing. Results showed that all 10 features were involved in transfer, to varying degrees, and that L2 proficiency affected transfer.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
97
CONTEXT l
Braine, G. (1996). ESL students in first-year writing courses: ESL versus mainstream classes. Journal of Second Language Writing, 5 (2), 91-107.
University ESL students’ preferences for and performance in fist-year mainstream and ESL writing courses were studied over a one-year period. Results indicate that a majority of ESL students prefer to enroll in ESL classes and perform better on holistically-scored exit examinations in them. Reasons for students’ preferences are discussed.
l
Carter-Tod, S. (1995). The role of the writing center in the writing practices of L2 students. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56 (ll), 4264A.
To investigate the role of college writing centers in L2 students’ writing practices, five case studies were conducted with four L2 students and the tutors they worked with during one semester. Results suggest that L2 students perceive writing centers as places to “fix” their language problems.
l
Cummins, M. (1995). Looking for commonalties in culturally and linguistically mixed basic writing courses. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 384 888).
The author describes the methods she uses in a community college basic writing course to provide collaborative opportunities between two groups of students whom she suggests have many commonalties: English as a second language (ESL) and English as a second dialect (ESD) students.
l
Rammal, S. (1995). Investigating the English writing skills curriculum Hebron University. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56 (1 l), 4383A.
This study investigated the writing curriculum of the English department at Hebron University to determine how well its goals match the university’s goals for writing. Results of analyses of interview and observation data indicate that the goals of the curriculum are not implemented in the classroom except coincidentally.
at
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INSTRUCTION l
Dossin, M. (1996). ESL quandary. The Writing Lab Newsletter, 20 (9), 15-16.
The author urges writing lab tutors to help ESL writers improve error-laden papers by not giving them what they may want (corrections, leading to “perfect” papers) but rather by giving them what will help them gradually become better writers-help in identifying their patterns of error and the reasoning underlying them.
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Garrett, I’., Griffrths, Y., James, C., & Scholfield, P. (1994). Use of the mother tongue in second language classrooms: An experimental investigation of the effects on the attitudes and writing performance of bilingual UK school children. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 15 (S), 371-383.
Teachers in two UK bilingual settings did parallel pre-writing activities with their primary school students for three months-one group in the mothertongue (Punjabi or Welsh), the other in L2 (English). Researchers found no significant differences between the effects of the mother tongue and English on most of the variables examined.
l
Gee, R. (1996). Reading/Writing Journal, 5 (3>, 4-9.
workshops
for the ESL classroom.
TESOL
After describing reading/writing workshops, the author explains how they can be used in the second language classroom. Focusing specifically on middle school ESL workshops, he summarizes several activities (preparing a newsletter, responding to literature, personal writing, editing for grammar, and conferencing) that he uses in his own classrooms.
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Henmatm, J. (1994). Datengewinnung in der Zweitsprachenforschung: Einige empirische Befunde zur Effizienz verschiedener Verfahren. Die Neuren Sprachen, 93 (6), 564-587.
This article presents the initial results of a study of the effects of computerassisted learning on students writing business letters in English. Four methods of data-collection were subjected to efficiency analysis, and it was found that the best data were obtained when students worked on a text in small groups.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
l
99
Kahmi-Stein, L. (1995). The effect of explicit instruction on the summarization strategies of “underprepared” native Spanish-speaking freshmen in university-level adjunct courses. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57 (l), 78A.
Summaries written by “underprepared” Spanish ESL students before and after content-based summary writing instruction were compared to summaries written by “underprepared” freshmen and “able” readers. Results indicate that “underprepared” ESL students’ summaries received significantly higher holistic scores and included significantly more main ideas than those written by control group students.
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Lee, L. (1994). L2 writing: Using pictures as a guided writing environment. (ERIC Document Reproduction 386 951)
This article illustrates how pictures can be used as a guided writing environment to facilitate students’ writing processes and reports the results of a study which investigated the effects of pictorial instruction on beginning FL students’ L2 writing processes, attitudes toward L2 writing, and reactions to the instruction.
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Lewkowicz, J. (1994). Writing from sources: Does source material help or hinder students’ performance? (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 386 050)
The essays written by NNES Hong Kong university students who had and had not read background material were compared for quality (length, development, substantiation of points presented). Results indicate that while the background texts provided students with ideas, they did not necessarily lead to improved writing quality.
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Morgan, C. (1994). Creative writing in foreign language Learning Journal, 10, 44-47.
teaching. Language
The author examines attitudes toward poetry writing and reading in three classroom contexts: English, English as a foreign language, and foreign language. After comparing the aims, classrooms, and audiences of these contexts, she discusses the benefits of creative writing and presents several approaches that teachers might utilize, including her own.
100 l
SILVA AND BRICE
Pennington, M., & Cheung, M. (1995). Factors shaping the introduction of process writing in Hong Kong secondary schools. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 8(l), 15-34.
This article describes the initial stage of a study designed to evaluate the adoption of process writing by eight secondary English teachers in Hong Kong. The authors profile the educational context and assess the teachers’ attitudes towards implementation of the innovation, using Rogers’ (1983) framework for describing adoption of innovations.
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Sengupta, S. (1996). Creating a hypertext database to help Hong Kong English language teachers teach writing. System, 24(2), 1996.
This article describes how a hypertext database, Focus on Writing, was developed to assist Hong Kong secondary school English language instructors teach continuous writing. The researcher discusses the issues in writing pedagogy which shaped the database’s design, describes the advantages and limitations of a hypertext, and addresses instructional support problems.
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Tsang, W-K. (1996). Comparing the effects of reading ing performance. Applied Linguistics, 17(2), 210-233.
and writing on writ-
This study investigated the effect on Cantonese ESL students’ writing performance of different enrichment programs, different form levels (one through four), and different enrichment programs at different form levels. Results demonstrated significant main effects due to type of enrichment program and form level, with no significant interaction of these effects.
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Uhlir, J. (1995). A naturalistic second language. Dissertation
The researcher studied eighth graders’ attitudes L2 writing in a Spanish that students’ developed metacognitive.
study of the effects of writing to learn on a Abstracts International, 56( 1 l), 4306A.
how daily expressive writing opportunities affected toward, awareness of, and improvement in expressive I class. Presented in six vignettes, results demonstrate in all three learning domains: cognitive, affective, and
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
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101
L. (1995). A critical etbnography of writing instruction in a bilingual classroom. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56( 12), 4644A.
Weaver,
Using a critical ethnographic approach, the researcher studied a third grade bilingual teacher during her first year of teaching Latin0 LEP students, focusing on the writing instruction she provided and her expectations and beliefs about the students. Findings, based on intersubjective horizon analysis, are discussed in terms of three themes.
l
White,
R. (Ed.).
(1995).
New ways in teaching
writing.
Alexandria,
VA:
TESOL.
Intended as a resource for second language writing teachers, this book presents a wide variety of techniques for teaching writing collected from a wide variety of contributors. It is organized in four parts, each dealing with different aspects of writing: writing processes, academic writing, expressive writing, and personal and business correspondence.
OTHER l
Reichelt, M. (1995). ESL writing. In M. Kramer, G. Leggett, & C. Mead (Eds.), Resource Guide: Prentice Hull Handbook for Writers 12th ed., pp. 105-127). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
This chapter addresses two concerns ence teaching ESL students: how to and NES writers differ educationally three drafts of an ESL students’ essay comments on each.
l
Scott, V. (1996). Rethinking & Heinle.
foreign
of writing instructors with little experirespond to ESL writing, and how ESL and linguistically. To illustrate response, are included, along with the instructors’
language
writing. Boston,
MA: Heinle
Designed for teachers interested in teaching foreign language writing, this book reviews theories and research about five aspects of FL writing: writing competence, the FL writing process, FL writing and computers, evaluation of FL writing, and teaching FL writing. Chapters include literature reviews, classroom implementations, and topics for discussion.