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No description available.

This study was an examination of peer review use in English composition courses at a Japanese university. Approximately 100 students in four writing classes engaged in four modes of peer review modes: face-to-face, handwritten (both on-draft and using an evaluation sheet), and computer-assisted. The learners in the study represented a range of proficiencies, from lower-intermediate to advanced, so the assigned writing passages were limited to single paragraphs rather than full-length essays, which has typically been the case in prior research in this area. Each peer review session was preceded by training in peer review, including modeling and whole-class editing, as well as suggestions for each particular mode the learners participated in. After each session, students completed questionnaires in order to assess their evaluations of the activities, both as reviewers and comment receivers. The questionnaire data were then analyzed using a variety of statistical methods--including Rasch analysis descriptive statistics, and parametric and non-parametric measures--first to validate the questionnaire instrument, and second to ascertain the degree to which each peer review modes was viewed favorably or unfavorably received by the participants. Additionally, the participants' written drafts and peer comments were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed in order to answer several research questions that focused on: the number and type of peer suggestions the learners made in each mode, the number and type of suggestions that were incorporated into later drafts by the authors, the degree to which suggestions and revisions were affected by learner proficiency, and the accuracy of the peer suggestions. For the research questions concerned with learner evaluations of the peer review modes, findings were mixed. The participants responded favorably to reading others' drafts and receiving comments, but they were less comfortable reviewing and making suggestions for their peers. Computer-assisted peer review was the most positively received overall, particularly from those in the High Proficiency Group. Person measures for Low Proficiency learners, on the other hand, were generally higher for on-draft peer review, while those for Intermediate Proficiency participants tended not to indicate strong endorsement for any particular mode. In order to answer the next set of research questions, the participants' drafts and peer suggestions were analyzed. Most of the learners' suggestions, particularly for those in the Low Proficiency Group, tended to be local in nature, concerning such areas as word choice, grammar, and mechanics; fewer suggestions were made at the sentence- or whole-text-level. In terms of incorporation of suggestion by authors into later drafts, oral peer review led to the highest rate of suggested revisions while review using an evaluation sheet of guided questions resulted in the lowest rate. Learner proficiency did not have a significant bearing on suggestions or revisions, except in the case of the High Proficiency Group, whose members made significantly more suggestions during computer-assisted peer review than during the other modes. Finally, over 73% of peer suggestions were determined to be accurate across all four modes. These findings indicate that peer review can work on even the most limited of scales with learners of even modest language proficiency. No single mode of peer review succeeded in all areas, and instructors are encouraged to blend different modes if possible. However, if a single mode is preferred or required, computer-assisted review is strong choice. / CITE/Language Arts

The purpose of this study was to develop a theoretically-based social studies curriculum that incorporated research related to schema theory, reading to learn theory, and writing to learn theory. Learning principles and instructional principles were derived from each theory to serve as guidelines for selecting instructional strategies from the research to be included in the curriculum. The content of the Heath Social Studies text (1985) and the instructional strategies together constitute the curriculum for this study. A preparation phase, a guidance phase, and an independence phase was developed for each chapter of the curriculum based on Herber's (1978) instructional framework. / Ed. D. / incomplete_metadata

Grounded in sociocultural theory, peer feedback can help students engage in interaction and negotiation of meaning, which serve as a basis for the construction of knowledge (Vygotsky, 1978). It can also contribute to the development of self-regulation, as well as of reflection on one's own learning (Doolittle & Hicks, 2003). Its strategic incorporation into foreign language instruction can help students use the language they are in the process of acquiring to mediate language acquisition (Shrum & Glisan, 2005). Research shows that peer feedback can help students develop and advance their Zone of Proximal Development through their engagement in collaborative interaction with their peers (De Guerrero & Villamil, 1994, 2000; Donato, 2004; Lantolf, 2004; Lantolf & Thorne, 2006; Liu & Hansen, 2005). Peer feedback can also help students improve their writing proficiency, including organization of their texts and awareness of the mechanics of the language necessary for successful communication of the intended message (Kinsler, 1990; Hu, 2005; Williams, 2005). Framed within a sociocultural perspective on foreign language learning and development, and following a manuscript approach, this dissertation consists of a series of studies that aim to explore: (a) whether participation in a peer feedback experience has a positive impact on students’ foreign language writing proficiency; (b) whether guidelines plus training in how to provide meaningful feedback have a different impact on students’ foreign language writing proficiency than guidelines alone; (c) around what themes students focus the feedback they provide to their peers; and (d) what students’ perceptions of the peer feedback experience are. The results of the first the study, which consisted of a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design, showed that students significantly improved their writing proficiency after participating in a peer feedback experience, regardless of training. Further the results of this study indicated that, on average, trained and untrained students provided written peer feedback focused mainly on global aspects rather than local aspects. The results of the second study, which consisted of a mixed methods approach, showed that, on average, students had high perceptions of the peer feedback experience and that they perceived that their partner's feedback had helped them improve the global aspects of their composition more than the local aspects. Students expressed that what they liked the most about the experience was getting a different perspective on their writing, and what they liked the least was that they felt they were not proficient enough in the foreign language to provide meaningful feedback to their peers. / Ph. D.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Computer Science / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The availability of Web 2.0 tools and multiple modalities through digital media is promoting a growing renaissance in linguistic diversity and cultural affiliations, providing a cosmopolitan and plurilingual and multicultural landscape for multilingual users. Full participation in these digitally-mediated activities involves not only print-based literacy but also new literacies that are emerging within Internet-mediated social and communicative contexts. In an effort to better understand how these communication technologies can be used to enhance second language acquisition (SLA), this study explores the relationship between social networking and second language (L2) learning. Grounded within theoretical frameworks of an ecological approach to language (van Lier, 2004), second language socialization (Duff, 2008), and new literacies (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006), this dissertation examines use of social networking sites (SNS) by L2 learners/users of English as a group and as individuals over time in social networking communities through a mixed method approach, including quantitative (e.g., survey) and qualitative (e.g., case study) methods. The ultimate goal is not simply to describe the SNS use by L2 users, but to apply the findings to L2 writing pedagogy that can bridge students' in-school and out-of-school literacy practices and to examine the efficacy of that pedagogy. The three interrelated studies are comprised of 1) a survey-based study of SNS literacy practices and L2 learning, 2) a longitudinal case study of two L2 users' SNS-mediated community investment and identity formation, and 3) a study of the efficacy of an SNS-enhanced genre-awareness instructional unit in an ESL writing classroom. Findings show that L2 users, across culturally diverse groups, performed quantitatively and qualitatively differently in social media usage and displayed different culturally-informed patterns of technological affordances. The longitudinal case study on two users shows that the availability of Web 2.0-mediated semiotic resources allows users to perform complex identity work and explore multimodal selves over time. Implications are that L2 users can gain access to, develop new identities in, and acquire social capital in new communities. Results from the pedagogical intervention show that writing instructions using an SNS-enhanced genre-awareness approach can develop critical awareness of genres across both traditional and digital media.