It is usually said that "A picture is worth a thousand words". It is then interesting to look into how students perceive their own writing process when they use drawing as an pre-writing strategy. Previous research have shown that drawings help young pupils in the beginning of their writing development. The study is a phenomenographic study and are built on interviews and observation as method. The aim of this study is to investigate pupils perception of using drawings as a pre-writing strategy for writing. The following questions where formulated: • How do the students experience the drawing as a preparation for writing their narrative text? • How do the students perceive their own writing process? • What is the students perception of the drawing as a possible support during the      writing process? • How do the students perceive the drawing as support during their own writing process? This study is based on interviews with four pre-school students in second grade. The result in the study shows that the students are positive to use drawing as preparation for writing. It also shows that the students had different perceptions about how the drawing was as a support for writing. The drawing was perceived as a support for the working memory, a support to describe details form the drawing in the text and make structure in the text. The result also shows that the student´s perception of the drawing as a support of writing are connected to the student's perception of their own writing process.

This study is comprised of two parts: an unauthorised biography of the South African musician David Kramer, as well as a reflective look at the process of writing this biography. In this regard the following aspects were looked at closely: finding an appropriate style, biography versus propaganda, conjecturing, the bilingual nature of the text, problems of research, ethics, influences, make-believe, approach to the subject, intertextuality, and fictionalisation. The central question of the biography is to highlight the success of a fellow Worcester (the author’s hometown) boy. The central research questions of the thesis are the fictionalisation of the nonfiction text, intertextuality, and the question of a text written in both English and Afrikaans. With regard to the aforementioned fictionalisation, a biographical text is classified as “nonfiction”, because it deals with a real person and real events. However, a text such as David Kramer – an unauthorised biography presents an alternative perspective, in that the narrative often moves into fiction, or “creative nonfiction”. Written texts are traditionally divided into two fields: fiction or nonfiction. Nonfiction is deemed to be fact, truth, whereas fiction is the fruit of an author’s imagination. But perhaps the notion of truth versus untruth is too limited, and one should include the words “objectivity” and “subjectivity”. Some texts incorporate both elements, be they newspaper editorials which are mostly opinion, advertisements which are highly subjective, or biographies such as Taraborrelli’s Madonna – An Intimate Biography, which often reads as a novel. This doctoral thesis looks at David Kramer – an unauthorised biography, which is at times “faction”, to illuminate the sections where the text fell somewhere between fiction or nonfiction. In attempting this exercise, intertextuality was useful in two ways. Firstly, to ground the text in a reality the reader could believe, as it brought “real” things to the text, such as song lyrics, photographs, et cetera, all things which brought some credibility to the truth of the text, and secondly to place the events being described in a certain timeframe. The use of English and Afrikaans in the biography was to reflect that Kramer uses both languages in his songs, and furthermore, to give an idea of the South Africa at the time of Kramer’s early success: the divides of English/Afrikaans, white/black, liberal/conservative. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Unit for Creative Writing / Unrestricted

The study aims to examine (1) the extent to which EFL learners in upper secondary school use feedback comments from teachers and peers to revise their texts and how the usage patterns vary by type of feedback approach, (2) how the students use feedback to revise their texts and how the usage patterns vary by type of feedback approach, and (3) What positive or negative effects the type of feedback approach has on students’ revisions. Moreover, the study aims to investigate the extent the type of feedback approach affects students’ usage patterns in their revisions. The findings will provide a basis for discussions about the possible qualities of written feedback that could be included to help students improve their writing skills. Content analysis of 28 argumentative essays written by first-year upper secondary students in Sweden is used to identify the type of feedback provided by teachers and peers and the type of revisions made by the students. Using the identified types of feedback and revisions, a text analysis was adopted to examine the frequency of feedback and revisions, and how students used it to revise their text. Furthermore, the results are presented and compared to different relevant studies (e.g., Baker, 2016; Lee; 2008) and theories such as Krashen's (1985) input hypothesis and Swain's (2005) output hypothesis, to draw some insights into the effects of feedback on students' revisions. The results show that students utilized corrective feedback on the micro level more than the macro level – especially indirect corrective feedback on the micro level. The students used most of the feedback to revise their errors on the micro level such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation; however, a few revisions were made on the macro level where students improved their text by restructuring their arguments and ideas. Finally, the findings indicate that formative feedback had a positive effect on students' revisions both on the macro and micro level where students improved the coherence and cohesion of their texts in the final draft. Therefore, if formative feedback is applied in the appropriate context, it may help students develop their writing abilities.

Despite the fact that the creation of films has a place in language teaching, there haven’t been many studies about the learning outcome of such film production projects so far. In this study, a group of eighth grade pupils at a comprehensive school in Sweden have been creating their own film in German. They have been observed while they did so, and they answered an online survey one year after the project. The results of the analysis of that data show a visible increase in awareness for the purpose, the receiver, and the situation of the produced texts during the writing process. The level of motivation and meaningfulness experienced by the pupils during the film project was high. Furthermore, the finished film gave the participants a feeling of success, something they were proud of, and eager to repeat. As a conclusion it can be stated that creating a film in a foreign language has a positive impact on language learning.

A growing body of writing research suggests college students’ and teachers’ conceptualizations of writing play an important role in learning to write and making the transition from secondary to post-secondary academic composition. First-year college writers are not blank slates; rather, they bring many assumptions and beliefs about academic writing to the first-year writing classroom from exposure to a wide range of literate practices throughout their lives. Metaphor acts as a way for scholars to trace students’ as well as their instructors’ assumptions and beliefs about writing. In this study, I contend that metaphor is a pathway to meta-cognitive awareness, mindfulness, and reflection. This multi-method descriptive study applies metaphor analysis to a corpus of more than a dozen first-year composition students’ endof-semester writing portfolios; the study also employs an auto-ethnographic approach to examining this author’s texts composed as a graduate student and novice teacher. In several cases writing students in this study appeared to reconfigure their metaphors for writing and subsequently reconsider their assumptions about writing. My literature review and analysis suggests that metaphor remains an underutilized inventive and reflective strategy in composition pedagogy. Based on these results, I suggest that instructors consider how metaphoric competence might offer writers and writing instructors an alternate means for operationalizing key habits of mind such as meta-cognitive awareness, reflection, openness to learning, and creativity as recommended in the Framework for Success in Post-Secondary Writing. Ultimately, I argue that writers and teachers might benefit from adopting a more flexible attitude towards metaphor. As a rhetorical trope, metaphors are contextual and, thus, writers need to learn to mix, discard, create, and obscure metaphors as required by the situation.

[pt] A presente dissertação aborda a escrita bilíngue – Português como L1 e Inglês como L2, a partir de uma perspectiva cognitiva, com vistas a buscar caracterizar, de forma integrada, o processo e o produto da escrita, e possíveis correlações entre desempenho em escrita e aspectos atencionais. Participam da pesquisa 15 professores de língua inglesa (10 mulheres e 5 homens), idade média de 43,5 anos (DP 13,25), nativos do Português brasileiro. No estudo, foram empregadas ferramentas computacionais que possibilitam o registro das ações de escrita no curso da produção textual de textos argumentativos (programa Inputlog), a análise automática de características linguísticas do texto final (Nilc-Metrix (L1) e Coh-Metrix (L2) e a verificação de padrões de conectividade no texto final, por meio de atributos de grafos (SpeechGraphs). Adotou-se também o teste ANT - Attention Network Test com o intuito de ampliar a reflexão a respeito de fatores cognitivos e possíveis influências na produção textual. Na análise do processo de escrita, foram examinados tanto padrões de pausa como operações de escrita ativa e ações de revisão (inserções e apagamentos). Na análise do produto, consideraram-se parâmetros ligados a aspectos vocabulares, semânticos, sintáticos e índices de legibilidade, e informações sobre recorrência lexical e conectividade entre palavras. No que tange ao processo, os resultados do estudo revelaram diferenças entre as duas línguas, com valores mais altos associados à escrita em Inglês, para (i) pausas no interior de palavras - possivelmente sinalizando uma demanda de ordem ortográfica - e (ii) percentual de escrita ininterrupta, indicando uma escrita com menos interrupções, com menor número de alterações/revisões. O estudo de correlação revelou que os participantes apresentam o mesmo perfil de escrita na L1 e na L2. Na análise do produto por meio do Coh-Metrix (Inglês) e Nilc-Metrix (Português), verificou-se, por meio de índice de legibilidade, que os textos apresentam complexidade moderada nas duas línguas. A despeito de diferenças em como as métricas são definidas em cada Programa, os resultados sugerem que os textos em Português apresentam graus de complexidade que se correlacionam com aspectos sintáticos (como número de palavras antes do verbo principal e índice de Flesch) e semânticos (grau de concretude). Na L2, destaca-se que a diversidade lexical permanece sendo um dos indicadores mais confiáveis de proficiência e graus de complexidade, correlacionando-se com comportamentos de pausas (antes de palavras) e revisão (normal production). Em relação ao SpeechGraphs, foram observadas diferenças significativas entre os textos na L1 e na L2 para quase todos os atributos de grafos analisados, o que é interpretado como um reflexo da forma como o programa lida com características morfológicas das duas línguas. Não foram observadas correlações entre o comportamento dos falantes na L1 e na L2. Foram ainda conduzidos estudos de correlação entre os dados do Inputlog e os das ferramentas Coh-Metrix e Nilc-Metrix e entre estas e os dados do SpeechGraphs. Nos dois estudos, observou-se uma correspondência entre parâmetros indicativos de complexidade das ferramentas utilizadas, sugerindo um caminho relevante de exploração de análise integrada processo-produto para trabalhos futuros. Em relação ao estudo de correlação entre dados do Inputlog e do ANT, destacaram-se as correlações entre acurácia e tempo de reação nas condições experimentais e os percentuais de apagamentos. Os presentes achados abrem caminho e trazem contribuições significativas para o campo da psicolinguística no âmbito da pesquisa entre L1 e L2. / [en] This dissertation addresses bilingual writing – Portuguese as L1 and English as L2 – from a cognitive perspective, aiming to characterize both the writing process and the final product in an integrated manner and explore correlations between writing performance and attentional aspects. The research involves 15 English language teachers (10 women and 5 men) with an average age of 43.5 years (SD 13.25), native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. The study utilized computational tools to record writing actions during the production of argumentative texts (Inputlog program), automatically analyzed linguistic aspects from the text (Nilc-Metrix program for Portuguese and Coh-Metrix for English) and verify connectivity patterns in the final text using graph attributes (SpeechGraphs program). The Attention Network Test (ANT) was also adopted. In the analysis of the writing process, patterns of pauses, active writing operations, and revision actions (insertions and deletions) were examined. In the product analysis, parameters related to vocabulary, semantics, syntax, readability índices, as well as information on lexical recurrence and word connectivity, were considered. Regarding the writing process, the results of the study revealed differences between the two languages, with higher values associated with writing in English, particularly in terms of (i) pauses within words, indicating orthographic demands, and (ii) the percentage of uninterrupted writing, suggesting less interruption and fewer alterations/revisions. Correlation analysis indicated that participants exhibited a similar writing profile in both L1 and L2. In the product analysis using Coh-Metrix (English) and Nilc-Metrix (Portuguese), it was found, through readability índices, that the texts exhibited moderate complexity in both languages. Despite differences in how metrics are defined in each program, the results suggest that texts in Portuguese show a higher level of complexity when considering syntactic aspects (such as the number of words before main verbs) and semantic aspects (concreteness degree). For L2, lexical diversity remains one of the most reliable proficiency indicators, correlating with pause behavior (before words) and revision (normal production). Regarding SpeechGraphs, significant differences were observed between texts in L1 and L2 for almost all analyzed graph attributes, reflecting how the program deals with morphological characteristics of the two languages. No correlations were observed between the behavior of speakers in L1 and L2. Additionally, correlation studies were conducted between Inputlog data and Coh-Metrix and Nilc-Metrix tools, as well as between these tools and Speech Graph data. In both studies, a correspondence was observed between parameters indicative of complexity in the tools used, suggesting a relevant path for exploring integrated process-product analysis in future research. Regarding the correlation study between Inputlog and ANT data, notable correlations emerged between accuracy and reaction time in experimental conditions and percentages of deletions. These findings pave the way for significant contributions to the field of psycholinguistics in the context of research between L1 and L2.

No description available.

Si le théâtre est le lieu de l’élaboration de la langue où le poète a naturellement sa place, force est de constater que l’auteur dramatique des années deux mille peine paradoxalement à trouver sa place dans le théâtre et la société de son temps. Confrontés à la frilosité institutionnelle, à la méfiance des publics et à une méconnaissance généralisée, les auteurs dramatiques actuels tentent de faire entendre leur voix et n’hésitent pas à revendiquer leurs droits auprès des instances publiques. Ce travail se propose de porter un regard actuel et transversal sur la place et la fonction de l’auteur dramatique, en le posant comme une entité humaine qui évolue dans un milieu artistique et social concret. Après avoir retracé le parcours de la figure de l’auteur et l’évolution de la conception du texte dramatique dans l’histoire du théâtre, notre principal intérêt portera sur les différents aspects qui composent aujourd’hui l’identité de l’auteur, qui définissent son profil socioculturel et qui déterminent sa place dans le théâtre. Nous nous pencherons tout d’abord sur l’image actuelle de l’auteur qui se présente comme un artiste combatif et comme un médiateur averti proche du public avant d’aborder la question de son statut professionnel. Nous nous focaliserons par la suite sur le phénomène récent du regroupement des auteurs dramatiques en collectif. L’étude de la place concrète et physique qu’occupe aujourd’hui l’auteur dans l’entreprise théâtrale, et surtout l’analyse des principaux modes de son intégration (direction-association) et des rapports qu’il entretient avec les autres partenaires de la création (metteur en scène, acteur, public) nous permettront de mesurer les avantages et les limites de sa présence au sein du théâtre. De même, la représentation de ses oeuvres dans le système théâtral subventionné, dans le théâtre privé et les compagnies amateurs, l’observation des structures, associations, festivals et manifestations divers qui mettent l’auteur de théâtre au centre de leur projet et enfin l’étude des différents moyens de diffusion et de valorisation (commandes, résidences, ateliers, comités de lecture) des écritures théâtrales contemporaines complèteront cette recherche. Dans un souci de dépasser le seul cadre théâtral, nous aborderons également la place qu’occupe actuellement l’auteur de théâtre dans l’espace médiatique, éditorial et scolaire. Enfin, l’exploration du geste d’écriture et l’analyse du processus de création des auteurs dramatiques, suivies par un aperçu des principales tendances esthétiques et formelles qui caractérisent les écritures contemporaines, offriront un nouveau regard sur la façon dont les auteurs conçoivent leur art et sur les moyens qu’ils déploient pour contribuer au renouvellement de l’écriture dramatique. / If the theatre is a place where a language in which the poet naturally belongs is created, we cannot avoid noting that the dramatist of the 2000's, paradoxically, is finding it hard to locate his place in the theatre and in the society of his time. Faced with institutional lukewarm support, with a distrusting public and a general lack of understanding of their role, the dramatists of today are trying to make their voices heard, and do not hesitate to demand that public bodies support their rights. This work proposes to concentrate on a cross-disciplinary examination of the place and function of the dramatist. It will do this by positing that he is a human entity that is evolving within a concrete artistic and social milieu. After tracing the trajectory of the authorial figure and the evolution of the concept of the dramatist in the history of the theatre, we will concentrate on the various aspects that today make up the identity of the author, that define his sociocultural profile, and that determine his place within the theatre. We will initially focus on the current image of the author seen as a combative artist and as an enlightened mediating figure who is close to his public. Then we will take on the question of the author's professional status. We will then concentrate on the recent phenomenon which presents dramatists as a collective group. The study of the concrete and physical place occupied today by authors in the theatre, and above all the analysis of the principal modes by which the author is integrated (directing-associating) and of the relationships he has with his partners in theatrical creativity (director, actor, public), these will allow us to measure the advantages and limits of his presence within the theatre. Likewise, the representation of his works in the context of subsidized theatre, in the context of private theatre and of amateur companies, the observance of the structures, associations, festivals and other demonstrations that put the dramatist at the centre of their projects, and finally the study of the different ways to propagate and valorize theatrical writing (command performances, resident artists, play reading committees, writing workshops), these will complete this research project. Given our determination to go beyond the world of theatre, we will also examine the current place occupied by the dramatist as a mediating, editorial and scholarly force. Finally, the study of the writing and the analysis of the creative processes of dramatists, followed by an overview of the esthetic and formal tendencies that characterize modern writing, will offer a new way of looking at the way in which authors view their art and will offer a new perspective on the ways in which they contribute to the renewal of dramatic writing.

El objetivo de la presente investigación es el de aproximarse al potencial que el género de hiperficción explorativa Elige tu propia aventura (ETPA), abordado desde la producción, puede tener de cara al desarrollo de la competencia escritora en ELE. Como muestra, se ha tomado a un grupo multicultural y plurilingüe de 18 estudiantes de la Universidad de Estocolmo, con una competencia comunicativa mínima en español de B2 marco. Se ha llevado a cabo un análisis cualitativo-cuantitativo que, de forma correlativa, abarcaba el estudio del proceso de composición, del producto alcanzado y del impacto de la tarea sobre el componente afectivo de los participantes. La investigación asignó al grupo de control, la composición cooperativa de un cuento tradicional a través de una wiki, y al experimental, la de un ETPA; todo ello en base a una hipotética oposición entre un ejercicio compositivo lineal y uno de tipo recursivo, respectivamente. Los resultados parecen sugerir que, efectivamente, la estructura no secuencial de la ficción hipertextual propicia un proceso de composición marcado por la recursividad que repercute en la consecución de un mejor producto, en especial, con relación a las propiedades textuales de adecuación, coherencia y cohesión. En lo afectivo, la composición de un ETPA también parece constituir una actividad que, por su novedad, incide positivamente en la motivación de los aprendientes y en un sentimiento de autoeficiencia generado por la resolución exitosa de la tarea. / The purpose of this research is to uncover the potential that lies within the explorative genre of hyperfiction entitled Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA), approached from the student’s final production, and its significance for the development of writing competency in Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE). As our target sample population, we have chosen a multicultural and plurilingual group of 18 students from the University of Stockholm, all of whom have acquired at least a B2 level of the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR) in communicative competence. This study has carried out qualitative-quantitative research that, in a correlative manner, encompasses the study of the writing process, the final written product, and the impact of the task over the affective component of every participant. The project required the control group to create a cooperative composition of a fairy tale by means of a wiki, and the experimental group to CYOA; all of which was based on the hypothetical opposition between a lineal compositional exercise and a recursive one. Results indicate that the non-sequential structure of hypertextual fiction leads to a recursive writing process. Consequentially, this has an impact on the creation of a better product, especially when related to textual properties of adaptation, coherence and cohesion. Within the affective sphere, the composition of a CYOA could constitute an activity that, due to its novelty, has a positive effect on the learner’s motivation and on his or her sense of self-efficacy generated by the successful resolution of the task.

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo analizar la presencia que tiene la destreza de la expresión escrita en los manuales de español como lengua extranjera destinados a un público adulto de nivel básico, más concretamente de nivel A2. Asimismo, pretende observar qué tratamiento se hace de dos aspectos relacionados con la composición escrita: los géneros discursivos y los procesos de escritura. Para ello, recogemos datos a partir de una plantilla de análisis que aplicamos a cinco manuales de diferentes editoriales españolas publicados después de 2006. En esta recogida de datos destaca de la alta presencia de actividades de expresión escrita en los manuales. En relación a los géneros discursivos, los manuales dan importancia al trabajo explícito de los aspectos analizados para el presente trabajo: contexto comunicativo, destinatario y propósito. Sin embargo, notamos una presencia baja de textos que sirvan como modelo a los estudiantes a la hora de realizar sus producciones textuales y es prácticamente inexistente la reflexión acerca de la estructura y características de los modelos. En cuanto a los procesos de escritura, el proceso de textualización es el que tiene más presencia en los cinco manuales analizados, mientras que la planificación y la revisión quedan relegadas a un segundo plano con una ocurrencia más baja. En la misma línea, destacamos la poca relevancia dada a la revisión, especialmente la retroalimentación entre pares. A partir de los resultados obtenidos y basada en un enfoque ecléctico de la didáctica de la expresión escrita, presentamos una propuesta didáctica pensada para el nivel A2 en la que se combina el trabajo explícito del género discursivo con los procesos de escritura, así como fomenta la escritura colaborativa. / This paper aims to analyse the presence of written expression activities in Spanish as a Foreign Language textbooks designed for adults in a pre-intermediate level (A2). Moreover, the purpose is to examine the approach which is used in relation to two key aspects of the written composition: the discourse genres and the writing process. With this objective, we compile data using an analysis template that is completed with information from five textbooks from different Spanish publishers after 2006. According to the data collection, there is a prolific presence of written expression activities in the analysed textbooks. Regarding the genres of discourse, the textbooks place relevance to the explicit practice of the following aspects: the communicative context, the audience and the purpose. However, a low presence of model texts for the students to use for their own compositions is also noted, as well as a virtually non-existent reflection of the model texts' structure and characteristics. As far as the writing process is concerned, the textualization is the process with more presence in the analysed textbooks, whereas planning and reviewing are marginalised with a lower occurrence. To the same extent, we would like to emphasize the low relevance of revision, especially that among peers. Taking into account the results and based an eclectic approach to the teaching of written expression, we present a teaching proposal for an A2 level in which the discourse genre and the writing process are dealt with explicitly, as well as we intend to encourage collaborative writing.