Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:24:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 josiane_almeida_silva.pdf: 2777937 bytes, checksum: 9831920b856f0a8e5e24a84de30e4bc8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-05-27 / The dissertation presented under the title : A study on conceptions of language and teaching practices in the face of textual production activities , results from the desire to investigate what are the prospects that guide teachers work in the 5th year of elementary school in relation to production textual. Considering the relevance of the domain of writing and the use of textual genres in our society , we see the importance of school , in the role of lead agency for literacy , encourage work with textual production from the series / early years , due to the need for our students master early skills for the development of skills that ensure their proficiency to produce texts independently. The overall goal of this research is to verify how the conception of language adopted by the teachers surveyed are reflected in the mediation of textual production activities writing process. So, we have for specific objectives i ) understand the design of the language faculty , identifying their relationship to the study of textual genres ii ) relate the answers to the questionnaire with the practice of teachers , checking if what was said about the conduct of textual production process is concretized in class , and finally iii ) analyze the relevant aspects for the teachers in carrying out corrections of texts students. Worried , therefore, to examine : records of classes taught by three teachers of the public schools of the cities of Recife and Jaboatão Guararapes , questionnaires given to the same teachers and copies of texts written by their students. The theoretical basis was based on authors such as Ali (2003 ), Society and Brandão (2007 ) , Marcuschi (2008 ) , Travaglia (2009 ) , Koch (2010 ) , who argue the language as a site of interaction between the subject and the text as an event communication in which they articulate linguistic , cognitive and interactional expertise as well as the use of didactic sequences , and addressed by Schneuwly Dolz (2010 ) , as the work with production of oral or written genres in school development strategy . However, analysis of the corpus has shown the design of language that underlies the practice of teachers analyzed , which defines the conduct of strategies of textual production and training of the writer process. What might be viewed as the final result of the research is that the design of the language faculty ( language as an expression of thought or as a means of communication ) is reflected in the productions of the students , although these teachers have the knowledge about the necessity of exploiting textual genres that circulate socially and use of didactic sequences as a means to promote such exploitation in a planned and articulated in the classroom . Another important observation is that the use of these strategies in order to promote the interaction of students with the knowledge and genders during the process of text production , thus demonstrating a breakthrough regarding the quality of teaching is already observed the language of work in dealing with textual production. / O trabalho de dissertação apresentado sob o título: Um estudo sobre concepções de língua e práticas docentes frente às atividades de produção textual, resulta do desejo de investigar quais as perspectivas que norteiam os trabalhos docentes no 5º ano do Ensino Fundamental no que se refere à produção textual. Considerando a relevância do domínio da escrita e o uso dos gêneros textuais em nossa sociedade, vê-se a importância de a escola, no papel de principal agência de letramento, promover o trabalho com produção textual desde as séries/anos iniciais, devido à necessidade de nossos estudantes dominarem desde cedo as habilidades para o desenvolvimento das competências que assegurem sua proficiência para produzir textos com autonomia. O objetivo geral dessa pesquisa é verificar de que forma a concepção de língua adotada pelas professoras investigadas são refletidas no processo de mediação das atividades de produção textual escrita. Para tanto, têm-se por objetivos específicos i) compreender a concepção de língua das docentes, identificando sua relação com o estudo dos gêneros textuais ii) relacionar as respostas ao questionário com a prática das professoras, verificando se o que foi dito em relação à condução do processo de produção textual se concretizava nas aulas e, finalmente, iii) analisar os aspectos relevantes para as professoras na realização das correções dos textos dos estudantes. Preocupou-se, para tanto, em analisar: registros de aulas ministradas por três professoras da rede pública de ensino dos municípios do Recife e de Jaboatão dos Guararapes, questionários aplicados às mesmas professoras e exemplares de textos produzidos por seus estudantes. A base teórica foi fundamentada em autores como Antunes (2003), Morais e Brandão (2007), Marcuschi (2008), Travaglia (2009), Koch (2010), que defendem a língua enquanto lugar de interação entre os sujeitos e o texto como evento comunicativo no qual se articulam conhecimentos linguísticos, cognitivos e interacionais, bem como o uso das sequências didáticas, abordadas por Schneuwly e Dolz (2010), como estratégia de desenvolvimento do trabalho com produção de gêneros orais ou escritos na escola. Contudo, a análise do corpus demonstrou a concepção de língua que subjaz a prática das professoras analisadas, o que define a condução das estratégias no processo de produção textual e formação do escritor. O que pôde ser visualizado como resultado final da pesquisa é que a concepção de língua das docentes (língua enquanto expressão do pensamento ou como forma de comunicação) é refletida nas produções dos estudantes, embora as referidas professoras tenham o conhecimento acerca da necessidade da exploração dos gêneros textuais que circulam socialmente e do uso das sequências didáticas como meio para promover essa exploração de forma planejada e articulada na sala de aula. Outra observação importante é a de que já é observado o uso dessas estratégias de forma a promover a interação dos estudantes com o conhecimento e com os gêneros durante o processo de produção textual, demonstrando, assim, um grande avanço no que concerne à qualidade no ensino da língua em se tratando do trabalho com a produção textual.

Writing instruction that reflects the variety or represented pupil intelligences and learning styles in a special day classroom can significantly increase a child's opportunity for success. Attending to these areas while simultaneously taking into account student strengths, interests, and desires can facilitate the academic process. Written language skills and achievement must be addressed in a supportive and encouraging climate motivating children and maximizing their willingness to undertake new concepts.

This thesis was written in hope that it will serve as a stimulant to spur innovative ideas in EFL teaching and learning in Taiwan.

After a brief history of composition studies demonstrating a community realizing the need for more inclusive research practices, this thesis shows composition struggling with its identity as an academically legitimized discipline.

For many students in basic writing classrooms the language of writing assignments, essay prompts and required reading is especially difficult. Therefore, some teachers are using approaches other than logical or linguistic methods to assist these students. This thesis details some of the methods teachers and researchers are using. Most significant is a case study that explores the use of visuals in a basic writing classroom. The results of the case study and a survey instrument suggest that there is a niche for alternative methods and the use of visuals in the basic writing classroom.

In this project an educational DVD about the life and writing styles of John Steinbeck was developed for use in high school freshman classrooms at Yucaipa High School. Additional activities to stimulate students' writing and composition in the style of Steinbeck were created to match educational theory and state standards.

This qualitative two-case study draws from the intersection of three theoretical perspectives: sociocultural theory, transactional theory, and complex systems theory. Guided by two research questions, this qualitative study explored the conditions two seventh grade English language arts teachers set for teaching expository writing and their implications. Deductive coding based on seven a priori patterns of powerful writing instruction (empathy, inquiry, dialogue, authenticity, apprenticeship, re-visioning, and deep content learning) revealed six conditions for teaching expository writing. Inductive pattern analysis of these conditions revealed three emergent themes: reinforcing structures, mediating transactions, and balancing tensions. These findings suggest that teaching expository writing is a complex system filled with dialectical relationships. As interdependent pairs, these relationships encompass the entire system of expository writing instruction, including the structural and transactional aspects of teaching and learning to write. The overlapping conditions and themes demonstrate that expository writing appears ambiguous at times; however, routine, yet responsive instruction, framed by apprenticeship and a balance of reading and writing activities designed to inspire self-discovery are fundamental to the process of teaching expository writing. The final chapter includes instructional implications and a discussion about the significance of setting conditions for generative literacy learning. Recommendations for future research include writing research based on complexity theory, connections between expository writing and empathy, and critical thinking relative to critical action.

This study centered on the expectations of a non-native English-speaking undergraduate student and her teacher in a general education course at Portland State University during winter term 2012. This was a qualitative case study, where I collected data throughout the duration of the course by means of interviews, classroom observations, and written assignment sheet data. I triangulated verbal data from interview transcripts from the two participants, along with data from the observation notes and the assignment sheets in order to gain a better understanding of the expectations each participant had about writing assignments. Data from four sources were collected and analyzed: interview transcripts, assignment sheets, the course syllabus, and classroom observation notes. Interview transcripts were the primary source of data, and were triangulated with the other abovementioned data sources. The themes that emerged from verbal interview data were categorized and then subcategorized according to theme. The first category that emerged was Assignment Expectations. This was subcategorized into: Summarize, Examples, Reflect, Critical Thinking, and Theory Application. The second category was Evaluation, which was comprised of the themes Grading and Rubric. The third category that emerged was Student Interaction With Assignment, in which six subcategories emerged: Process, Experience, Time, Reading, Preparation, Understanding, and ESL. Lastly, the category background emerged, which contained the subcategories History and Background. The findings of this study showed that due to the student's extensive background with various academic writing assignments prior to entering the course, she had similar expectations of specific assignment sheet attributes as the teacher. However, there were more salient differences in expectations between the teacher and the student in terms of how the student interacted with the assignment at the individual level. Likewise, expectations of assessment illustrated the murky nature of evaluation, even in a situation where the student had had extensive experience with academic writing assessment in the past.

Writing coherent essays is evidence of a university student's discourse competence and is important in terms of academic success. An analytical taxonomy of coherence breaks {both topic-related and cohesion-related), based on Wikborg (1985; 1990), was used to determine the frequency of coherence breaks in essays written by first-year English Second Language (ESL) students. A subset of these essays was selected for assessment of their holistic coherence (HCR) by raters. The major finding of the statistical tests is that there is a significant relationship between the frequency of coherence breaks, particularly topic-related coherence breaks, and holistic coherence. Furthermore, the relationship between the coherence of essays and marks awarded them was established. Tutor intervention was also found to have had a positive impact when draft and final versions were compared: in general, there was a decrease in the frequency of coherence breaks, and a greater perception of coherence in the final versions. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

Graduation date: 2006 / Curricular models and teaching techniques that support college students as the primary authors of their writing-across-the-curriculum experiences remain largely unexplored. This thesis addresses that research gap by investigating the use of a start-of-term writing self-assessment and goal-setting questionnaire (STQ) for upper-division undergraduates taking writing-intensive (WI) college courses in their majors. The tool was piloted in 23 WI sections at Oregon State University during winter term 2004. Feedback obtained through an end-of-term writing self-evaluation showed that students who completed the start-of-term questionnaire tended to take the effort seriously, fill out the questionnaire completely, and use the tool for its intended purposes of reflective self-assessment and goal-setting. Students saw the tool as something that could help them with their writing, and study results suggest that its benefits may have been reinforced by students’ end-of-course review of their STQ responses. Feedback from participating instructors indicated that the tool helped with their teaching as well as their students’ learning, and most instructors planned to continue using the STQ beyond the pilot study. Study results also suggest that the questionnaire can serve as a program-level research and assessment tool, providing WI program administrators and policy-makers with new insights on students’ writing needs and goals. Campus-wide use of the STQ may lead to WI program enhancements, generate new ideas for WI instructor training, and support department, college, and institutional writing-curriculum development efforts.