This research project studied a class of high school 11th and 12th grade writing students, for one semester, as they learned to use word processors for composing and editing assignments. The goals of the study were to (a) determine whether the use of a word processor created a special learning environment, (b) document the learning environment created, (c) document the resultant student word processing concepts, schemata and strategies, and (d) document the effects on the writing of students. Five predictions, based on research on language thought and symbol systems, and the application of a theoretical model formed the basis for observations. The predictions were tested by collecting and analyzing student writing and observational data. Student concepts, schemata and strategies were documented through use of the checklists and through observation. Pre- and post-student writing samples were matched and analyzed using individual T-tests, ANOVA and MANCOVA to determine any impact on writing due to the use of word processors. Questionnaires provided background information on English teacher and student writing/word processing backgrounds. Findings indicate support for the research model and predictions 1-4. The research model was found to be useful in organizing data and summarizing prediction results, and may offer assistance to teachers and researchers who want to study the impact of microcomputers from a total learning environment perspective.

This study provides a description of the writing done by Freshman English students in classes other than English at The University of Arizona. The study involved three aspects of observation and documentation of writing habits: a Questionnaire administered to 1,442 students, a Writing Checklist completed by twenty-three students over a one week period, and case study interviews of five students. All three aspects were considered in the findings for the following research questions: (1) What kinds of writing tasks are students doing in classes other than English? (2) How frequent are these tasks? (3) What quantities of writing are being done? (4) To what audiences are the students writing? The population for the study is representative of the university. The task of Taking notes was the most frequently occurring by far. Journals and Creative writing were the least frequent, also by a wide margin. Students felt that teachers were more concerned with content than with presentation. Little in-class time was spent on pre-writing activities. The highest responses were to questions about students' values and attitudes concerning writing. More school writing seems to take place on Monday and Wednesday, with Friday the lowest week day work response. Little work in writing occurs on the weekend. All three aspects point to similar conclusions: students are not writing very much, they are not writing in very many different modes, they are not getting very much guidance in their writing, and they are not getting very much affirmation for writing as a valid cognitive skill in the classroom. Some students are receiving some of these benefits, but the majority of university students are not. Little research has been done on university students to determine how much and what kinds of writing they are doing in classes other than English. If our society continues to value writing as an important skill, universities must re-examine the role of writing in college classes. Without the process of discovery that occurs when writing, the student's education and cognitive growth are greatly limited. Writing is a valuable cognitive aid that must be used in all departments.

This study examines the effect of class discussion as a pre-writing activity on actual writing performance. The experiment was conducted with all the Level 3 and Level 4 students enrolled in the Intensive English Language Institute of North Texas State University in the Spring, 1986 semester. Cochrans C test was performed to test significant differences between groups at the beginning of this test. Multivariate analysis of variance tests were used to determine the treatment effect between and within groups, and a matched t-test was also utilized to analyze the difference within tests. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the relationship between the discussion activity score and the actual writing score. Analysis of covariance tests were used to determine which variance of discussion activities had greater effect on the actual writing score.

This study looked at the effect of written and oral comments on students' writing. The research hypotheses were that the use of oral comments would improve the overall quality of the students papers, increase the length more, and cause more changes in content than the use of written comments. On the other hand, the use of written comments would cause a greater decrease in grammatical errors in the students' papers than oral comments. The tests used to evaluate these hypotheses were the holistic writing scale used by the Test of Written English (TWE), a word count, a content percentage scale developed by the researcher, and an adaptation of Brodkey and Young's Composition Correctness Score (1981). The procedures used in the study were as follows: Three different classes were used. Each class was randomly divided in half. After the students had written the first draft of an essay assignment given by their teacher, they were assigned to either the written or the oral group. Students in the written comments group received written comments only on their papers. Students in the oral conference group had conferences with their teachers about their papers. Then the students wrote a second draft of their papers. At this point, the process was repeated; students wrote a second paper. After this first draft, those students who had received written comments on the first paper had oral conferences, and those who had had oral conferences received written comments were revised based on these comments.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 175 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: In this dissertation, I first briefly examine the history of technology as it impacts on literacy practices, and especially the history of resistance to technological developments in the humanities. In so doing, I also briefly examine some of the possible ideological underpinnings of this resistance, including looking at some of the arguments proposed to counter it. More specifically, I consider how literacy practices, pedagogical practices, and assessment and gatekeeping practices in the field of composition studies impact on and are impacted by the intersection of computer technologies and our field. / Finally, I offer some suggestions for ways in which our pedagogical practices may need to be reconsidered in light of changes in howwe communicate. In particular, I propose guidelines for writing teachers to help negotiate the transitional period between traditional and neo-traditional forms, bridging the gaps between existing standards for producing print documents and as yet undetermined standards required by new forms. That is, I present guidelines that I hope, rather than stifle change, can help guide authors in determining which existing standards make sense for new forms, and which need to be reconsidered, thereby providing the flexibility necessary to cope with change. / Because it is imperative that we consider the effect of our teaching of writing and reading on the further development of these technologies, as well as the effect of further development of these technologies on our teaching and study of writing and reading, I also suggest ways we may need to rethink the academy, including the position of the composition classroom itself. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Informed by a sociocognitive view of writing, this study investigated six Chinese EFL students’ focus of decision-making and extent of criteria use in evaluating student texts, their decision-making in response to peer feedback and factors affecting their decision-making and criteria use in computer-mediated criterion-referenced peer review in one Chinese university setting. A multiple-case design was adopted and data were collected from a variety of sources, including think-aloud protocols, stimulated recall, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and classroom observations. An examination of the think-aloud and stimulated recall data revealed that five out of the six students displayed language-oriented decision-making while evaluating peers’ texts. The students also tended to emphasize consistently specific elements of student writing within language, content and organization regardless of task type. They used part of the assessment criteria to the extent that particular elements evaluated by them coincided with specific components of the criteria. In response to peer feedback, the students decided to incorporate it selectively into revision, with one student being an exception. Data analysis indicated that the students’ focus of decision-making and criteria use while evaluating peers’ texts were affected by the following factors: students’ own writing beliefs, conceptions and knowledge; teacher’s writing beliefs, conceptions and associated classroom practices; writing task types and features of student texts. The students’ decision-making in response to peer feedback was found to be subject to the influence of four categories of factors: student writer factors, especially their writing beliefs and knowledge; student reviewer factors; teacher factor and writing task factor. The findings provide an in-depth look into both the cognitive and social dimensions of peer review. On the basis of the findings, the study proposes a tentative exploratory model of Chinese EFL university students’ decision-making in criterion-referenced peer review. It captures the interplay between cognitive and social dimensions of peer review and throws light on the interaction between cognition and context in the case of learning to write through peer review. Particularly regarding the social dimension of peer review, the variety of factors influencing the students’ decision-making and criteria use in this activity indicate that their evaluation of peers’ texts and response to peer feedback were not linear processes, but were mediated by multiple factors. Among the various factors identified, the strong influence of the writing beliefs and conceptions held by the students, their peers and the teacher suggest the crucial role played by learner and teacher beliefs in affecting L2 students’ learning to write through peer review. This study also highlights the interactional effect of views about writing and learning to write exhibited by the students, their peers, the teacher and the “methodology” of criterion-referenced peer review on the students’ decision-making and extent of criteria use. Finally, the study makes pedagogical recommendations concerning how to enable students to make informed decisions in criterion-referenced peer review to bring its theoretical potential into full play. Recommendations for further research are also proposed. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In this dissertation, I present a narrative curriculum inquiry that grew out of a personal teaching experience in an independent Durban school in 2001. A grade seven creative writing project in English turned out to be an experience that was emotionally as well as intellectually intriguing to me. After carrying out the teaching work of my grade seven Teen Stories project, I was left with a strong desire to know what it was about this particular experience that was so important to me. The focus of my research, therefore, became my personal curriculum experience in the context of the Teen Stories creative writing project. In the course of this thesis, I describe how my desire to come to a deeper understanding of my curriculum experience led me to search within my life story to discover fruitful truths about myself as a teacher and a researcher. I illustrate my research journey from the fieldwork in the classroom through to the construction of my narrative research text. Drawing on the conceptual work of scholars such as Dewey (1916; 1934; 1963), Denzin (1989), Clandinin and Connelly (2000), and Conle (1999; 2000), I endeavour to share, make sense of and theorise my personal story of a significant curriculum experience. The study moves outwards from my personal experience to a conceptualisation that I believe has the potential to contribute to the development of new modes of curriculum practice for me and other members of my South African teaching community. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, 2003.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of English