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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of word processing on the quality of written expression of students with learning disabilities identified in the area of written expression. A examination of existing research revealed that most studies do not focus on word processing independent of writing instruction. Therefore, the consensus among researchers that word processors make a difference is limited by the influence of instruction within the research setting. Therefore, this study sought to determine the impact made solely by word processing by controlling for instruction. The 75 students who participated in the study represented three groups--students with learning disabilities identified in the area of written expression (LD-W), students with learning disabilities identified in an area other than written expression (LD-O), and general education students (NA). Each student completed four writing samples: (a) descriptive - handwritten, (b) informative - handwritten, (c) descriptive - word processed, and (d) informative - word processed. The writing samples were scored according to the TOWL-3 on the three Spontaneous Composite subtests (e.g., Contextual Conventions, Contextual Language, and Story Construction). In addition, Word Perfect 6.1- Grammatik was used to determine the number of syllables, words, and sentences in each writing sample. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used in the analysis in conjunction with univariate F-Tests and Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) test. General education students scored consistently higher than LD-W on all subtests even when handwriting and word processing were considered. They also generated more syllables, words, and sentences than students with learning disabilities. In addition, all students scored higher on subtests when writing descriptive samples rather than writing informative samples. No practically significant results were determined for the effect of word processing. Therefore, word processing alone does not have an impact on students' quality of writing. It is simply a tool in the writing process. These results do not suggest that schools disregard the use of technology. Rather, teachers must continue to use word processors during writing instruction but should focus on providing good writing instruction.

Studiens overordnede hensikt er å bidra til økt forståelse omkring sammenhengen mellom vurdering og skriving i fremmedspråkundervisningen. Det er særlig vurdering som læringsfremmende verktøy i forhold til elevenes utvikling av skrivekompetanse som er fokus i studien. Denne studien har både et elev- og lærerperspektiv, men særlig kommer lærerens vurderingskompetanse og betydningen av denne i elevenes læringsprosess til syne.   Skriveopplæringen i fremmedspråk i Norge foregår i all hovedsak i en skolekontekst, i et klasserom med én lærer og mange elever. Når læreren skal gi tilbakemeldinger på elevtekster, står hun overfor mange valg. Hvordan hun velger å respondere på tekstene, har betydning for hvordan eleven opplever sitt eget arbeid med å skape mening på et fremmedspråk og for hvordan forholdet mellom elev og lærer oppfattes. Denne konteksten er gjenstand for denne studien. Materialet, som består av observasjon, intervjuer, elevtekster og spørreskjemaer, har jeg hentet i en ungdomsskole, der en lærer gav meg tilgang til å observere hennes arbeid i klasserommet og med vurdering av elevtekster. Datainnsamlingen foregikk i en periode på halvannet år.   Et av hovedfunnene i studien er at formativ vurdering som medierende artefakt har betydning for elevenes skriveprosess. Så lenge elevene har forståelse for målet med skrivingen og hensikten med de tilbakemeldingene de får i skriveprosessen, vil de også arbeide grundigere med teksten på alle nivå i neste skrivefase. Samtidig bidrar en felles forståelse av målene for skrivingen til at læringsprosessen blir mer transparent og åpner opp for et bedre samarbeid mellom elevene i skriveprosessen.   Et annet viktig funn i denne studien er at det synes som lærerens vurderingskompetanse er svært sentral for elevenes utvikling av skrivekompetanse i tysk. Hele vurderingskulturen i klasserommet synes å utvikles når tolkningsfellesskap mellom lærer og elever oppstår, der prosessen, hensikten og konteksten er tydelig og forståelig for alle deltakerne i kunnskapskonstruksjonen. / The overriding aim of the study is to contribute to an increased understanding of the link between assessment and writing in foreign language teaching. There is a particular focus on assessment as a learning enhancing tool in relation to the students’ development of their writing skills. This study has been conducted from both student and teacher perspectives, but the teacher’s assessment skills and the significance of this in the student’s learning process is particularly prominent. The teaching of writing in foreign languages in Norway principally occurs in the school context. When the teacher has to give feedback on students’ texts, she is faced with many choices. How she chooses to respond to the texts has implications for how the students experience their own work in order to create meaning in a foreign language and for how the relationship between the students and the teacher is perceived. This context is the subject of this study. I obtained the data material, which consists of observations, interviews, students’ texts and questionnaires, in a junior secondary school observing one teacher and her students. The data was collected over a period of 18 months. One of the principal findings of the study is that formative assessment as a mediating artefact is significant to the students’ writing process. Provided that the students have an understanding of the purpose of the writing and the aim of the feedback they receive during the writing process, they will also work on the text more thoroughly on all levels in the next phase of writing. A shared understanding of the aims of the writing also contributes to the learning process becoming more transparent, opening up for a better collaboration on the writing process among the students. Another important finding of this study is that it appears that the teacher’s assessment ability plays a central role in the students’ development of writing skills in German. The whole assessment culture in the classroom appears to develop when teacher and students have a common reference of assessment and when the process, purpose and context is clear and understandable to all the participants while building knowledge. / Der übergeordnete Zweck der Studie besteht darin, zu einem besseren Verständnis für den Zusammenhang zwischen der Beurteilung und dem Erbringen von schriftlichen Leistungen im Fremdsprachenunterricht beizutragen. Im Mittelpunkt steht vor allem die Beurteilung als lernförderndes Mittel für die Entwicklung der Schreibkompetenz der Schüler. Die Studie besitzt sowohl eine Schüler- als auch eine Lehrerperspektive, zeigt aber vor allem die Wichtigkeit der Beurteilungskompetenz der Lehrkraft und deren Bedeutung für den Lernprozess der Schüler auf. Fremdsprachlicher Schreibunterricht findet in Norwegen hauptsächlich in einem schulischen Kontext statt, wobei eine Lehrkraft viele Schüler im fremdsprachlichen Klassenzimmer betreut. Wenn die Lehrkraft Rückmeldungen zu Schülertexten gibt, hat sie zahlreiche Wahlmöglichkeiten. Die gewählte Art der Rückmeldung zu schriftlichen Leistungen hat zweierlei Auswirkungen, zum einen darauf, wie die Schüler ihre eigenes Arbeiten und somit ihr Bemühen etwas Sinnvolles in der Fremdsprache auszudrücken erleben, und zum anderen wie das Verhältnis zwischen den Schülern und der Lehrkraft aufgefasst wird. Dieser Kontext ist Gegenstand der Studie. Das Material, bestehend aus Beobachtungen, Interviews, Schülertexten und Fragebögen, stammt aus einer norwegischen "ungdomssskole" (entspricht in etwa der Sekundarstufe I in Deutschland), wo mir eine Lehrkraft Gelegenheit gab, ihre Vorgehensweise während des Unterrichtens und bei der Beurteilung von schriftlichen Leistungen der Schüler zu beobachten. Die Datenerhebung erfolgte in einem Zeitraum von eineinhalb Jahren. Eines der Hauptergebnisse der Studie besteht darin, dass eine formative Beurteilung als mediierendes Artefakt für die Schreibprozesse der Schüler von Bedeutung ist. Solange die Schüler Verständnis für das Ziel des Schreibens und den Zweck der Rückmeldungen haben, die sie während des Schreibprozesses erhalten, arbeiten sie auch in der nächsten Schreibphase auf allen Ebenen gründlicher mit dem Text. Gleichzeitig trägt ein gemeinsames Verständnis für die Ziele des Schreibens dazu bei, den Lernprozess transparenter zu machen und eine bessere Zusammenarbeit der Schüler untereinander während des Schreibprozesses zu fördern. Ein weiteres wichtiges Ergebnis dieser Studie ist, dass die Beurteilungskompetenz der Lehrkraft sehr wichtig für die Entwicklung der Schreibkompetenz der Schüler im Fach Deutsch zu sein scheint. Die gesamte Beurteilungskultur im Unterricht wird weiterentwickelt, wenn eine Deutungsgemeinschaft zwischen Lehrkraft und Schüler entsteht, in der der Prozess, der Zweck und der Kontext für alle an der Wissenskonstruktion Beteiligten deutlich und verständlich werden.

SILVA, Elinaldo Soares. Formação do professor de produção escrita em língua materna: da idealização à concretização. 2013. 171f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Letras Vernáculas, Programa de Pós-graduação em Linguística, Fortaleza (CE), 2013. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-08-26T17:37:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_essilva.pdf: 1670023 bytes, checksum: de4c0f3582bf3d2c8cb5d1feb3bb100a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo(marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-08-26T17:39:19Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_essilva.pdf: 1670023 bytes, checksum: de4c0f3582bf3d2c8cb5d1feb3bb100a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-26T17:39:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_essilva.pdf: 1670023 bytes, checksum: de4c0f3582bf3d2c8cb5d1feb3bb100a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / This study investigates the teaching of writing skills in the Portuguese as a Native Language Teaching Certificate Program at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC). The study aims at diagnosing how the skills of teaching to write are developed in this program. This quali-quantitative study relates to the field of Applied Linguistics and is supported by the principles of the socio-interactionist approach and by the theories of Bakhtin and Vygotsky and of some Brazilian researchers who adopted these theories and approach. Questionnaires were administered to two groups of students taking the course “Teaching Oral and Written Skills” and to two teachers who taught this course at UFC. Student teachers were also observed while teaching classes in Portuguese as a native language in schools in 2012. Official documents, such as the curriculum of the Program and the syllabi of some of the courses, were also analyzed, with special attention to the description of the courses, their content and bibliography. The purpose of this analysis was to identify the theoretical-methodological principles that were used as foundations for the Program – its goals, mission, theoretical and pedagogical bases. The answers to the questionnaires, the audio and video recordings of the classes as well as the notes taken during the observation of these classes enabled this researcher to analyze the theoretical discussions on general writing themes and the activities undertaken in the courses and performed by the student teachers while teaching classes in schools. These data were used to diagnose the concepts of teaching writing which underlie the curriculum and pedagogical practices developed in the Program. The analysis of the official documents of the Program points out certain discrepancies between the idealized goals of the Program and the training provided to the student teachers. The answers given in the questionnaires highlighted the little influence that the theories that support the Program and the courses had on what is actually done in the courses. There is no straight connection between these theories and the practice in the classrooms. For example, Bakhtin and Vygotsky are not read in their original sources, and the discussions on the interactional approaches to writing are superficial and fragmented. The observations of the classes demonstrated that the student teachers still adhered to pedagogical practices based on traditional concepts of writing in which writing was understood as a result, and the types of texts worked on were limited to the traditional narrative, descriptive and argumentative genres. Moreover, the writing activities developed in the student teachers’ classes resulted in group writing to one and only specific reader – the teacher. / Neste trabalho, investigamos a questão do ensino da produção do texto escrito na formação, em nível superior, do professor de Língua Materna e realizamos um diagnóstico da formação que o acadêmico do Curso de Letras da Universidade Federal do Ceará recebe sobre o processo de ensinar a escrita. A pesquisa se situa no campo teórico da Linguística Aplicada, na perspectiva sociointeracionista, embasada principalmente nos pressupostos teóricos de Bakhtin e Vygotsky e nos diversos estudiosos brasileiros que seguem essa vertente. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativo-interpretativa. Aplicamos questionários em duas turmas da disciplina Estágio em Ensino da Linguagem Oral e da Linguagem Escrita da UFC e observamos alunos durante a regência de aulas na disciplina Estágio em Ensino de Língua Portuguesa, no ano letivo de 2012. Analisamos também os documentos oficiais que norteiam o currículo do curso de Letras/Habilitação Língua Portuguesa da Universidade Federal do Ceará: o Projeto Político Pedagógico, matriz curricular, ementas e planos de disciplina a fim de traçarmos o perfil teórico-metodológico dessa licenciatura – seus objetivos, missão, bases epistemológicas e pedagógicas etc. Por meio de aplicação de questionários, de gravações em áudio e vídeo e de anotações feitas em fichas de observação, analisamos as discussões teóricas sobre o tema, as atividades práticas realizadas (dentre elas o Estágio Supervisionado), diagnosticando a(s) concepção (ões) de ensino de LM e de escrita que ficou evidenciada. Os resultados das análises dos documentos norteadores do curso de Letras demonstram que há uma dissonância entre a formação idealizada nos documentos e a formação real oferecida no curso. Além do mais, pelas respostas dadas aos questionários, evidenciamos que há uma influência tímida das teorias linguísticas sobre o processo observado, especificamente dos representantes da perspectiva sociointeracionista da escrita, como Bakhtin e Vygotsky, uma vez que não se trabalha diretamente com essas fontes teóricas, mas somente suas releituras, além de que, conforme as respostas dadas, as discussões e abordagens sobre os aspectos da interação e das concepções de escrita ocorrem de forma superficial e fragmentada. Através das observações e registros das aulas constatamos que os professores em formação ainda ancoram suas aulas de produção escrita na concepção de ensino que privilegia as tipologias tradicionais e a concepção de escrita como consequência, visto que a tipologia dos textos trabalhados limita-se à narração, descrição e dissertação, e as atividades prévias realizadas durante as aulas do estágio supervisionado são meramente pretextos para se escrever e resultam em uma escrita coletiva, para um único interlocutor, o docente.

In 2016 employers hiring four-year college graduates indicate that 27.8% have deficiencies in written communication. Postsecondary learning objectives should focus on improving specific writing skills like grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary usage for individual students and monitoring text readability as an overall score to measure learning outcomes. Web-based applications and the tools integrated into them have the potential to serve as a diagnostic solution for analyzing the text readability and writing skills of students. Organization and structuring of Canvas data was required before adding text readability and other writing skills analytics as part of the process to develop diagnostic learning analytics that interprets student writing skills in the learning management system. Decision modeling was used to capture and describe the specifics of literacy improvement decisions for instructors and administrators in a graphical notation and structured format.

This diploma thesis is focused to the writing skills in an initiatory education of a literacy during the first grade at a primary school. The thesis is divided into the theoretical and the practical part. The theoretical part presents the genesis of the handwriting during the history, the physical and psychical expectations for the assumption of the writing skills, the methodics of two learning methods which are used in the czech education system most frequently and last but not least a list of the evaluated scales of handwriting. In the practical part we present the evaluation scale which were constructed for the purpose of this thesis. This scale monitors a plot of the written children's products, an error rate, an ability of corections and a graphical part. We kept at disposal about 500 written children's products which were collected from 22 classes from 9 schools from three parts of Czech Republic (Prague, Central and South Bohemian Region and Moravia). Children which were involved to the project, they were educated by the analytic-synthetic method or the genetic metod for the education of the literacy. The gained data was a part of the another project which were realized under the auspices of IPPP CR. The data was collected twice a one school year. Therefore we can observe a development of...

The purpose of this work is to examine the teaching methods secondary and upper secondary teachers apply to teach grammar in the EFL classroom, as well as their perceptions about the benefits of having grammar knowledge and its benefits to students’ writing. Previous research reveals that grammar teaching is an integral part of language teaching; explicit and implicit methods along with deductive and inductive instruction are the main practices teachers use to transfer knowledge to their students. Apart from that, it is beneficial when teachers have good grammarknowledge; hence students can develop good metalinguistic awareness and writing ability. The theoretical framework is based on teacher cognition theory, as teachers’ personal experiences and knowledge affect their decisions about grammar practices in the classroom environment. A qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with six secondary and upper secondary teachers who teach English as a foreign language in different schools and municipalities in the whole of Sweden are used to conduct the current study. The results demonstrate that indeed grammar teaching is needed to teach a new language. However, factors such as age and type of groupinfluence teachers’ decisions. Above all else, teachers’ highest goal is to help students become good language users. / Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka de undervisningsmetoder högstadie- och gymnasielärare tillämpar för att undervisa i grammatik i EFL-klassrummet, samt deras uppfattningar om fördelarna med att ha grammatikkunskap och dess fördelar för elevernas skriftliga förmåga. Tidigare forskning visar att grammatikundervisning är en integrerad del av språkundervisningen; de explicita och implicita metoderna tillsammans med deduktiv och induktiv undervisning är de huvudsakliga metoder som lärare använder för att överföra kunskap till sina elever. Bortsett från det är det fördelaktigt när lärare har goda grammatiska kunskaper; därför kan eleverna utveckla en god metaspråklig medvetenhet och skriftlig förmåga i målspråket. Det teoretiska ramverket bygger på lärarkognitionsteori, eftersom lärares personliga erfarenheter och kunskaper påverkar deras beslut om grammatikpraxis i klassrumsmiljön. En kvalitativ analys av semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex högstadie- och gymnasielärare som undervisar i engelska som främmande språk i olika skolor och kommuner i hela Sverige har använts för att genomföra den aktuella studien. Resultaten visar att det verkligen behövs grammatikundervisning för att undervisa ett nytt språk. Faktorer som ålder och typ av grupp påverkar dock lärares beslut. Framför allt annat är lärares högsta mål att hjälpa eleverna att bli bra språkanvändare.

First Year Composition (FYC) instructors are often left to puzzle out the larger meaning of the most ubiquitous course in our field for themselves; consequently, goals for the course are frequently selected by the instructor, and are not always most effective for laying a groundwork of lifelong learning and education, or paideia. This lack of clear and unifying goals for the course is illustrated by a piece of 2005 scholarship that points to multiple focuses for FYC, each different in its values and aims. FYC is an important course for students, not only because it is one of only a few writing courses students must take, but also because it is often required as part of a general education core. Because it is such an important course, it is imperative that we identify a unified set of goals for FYC—a set of goals that work toward a larger goal of paideia, or preparation for lifelong learning and citizenship. Some well-received and recently popularized approaches to the course try and fail to meet this criteria of enhancing students' pursuit of paideia, namely goals of teaching course-specific genres and general writing skills. Rather than continuing in these problematic to FYC, we must adopt a rhetorical paideia focus and seek to achieve the goals of rhetorical paideia in our courses. We must help students gain insights, through their development as writers, into their world (phronesis) and themselves (self knowledge), and FYC is the vehicle through which we can accomplish these goals.

В последние годы, с постоянным усилением влияния Китая, изучение китайского языка становится все более популярным. Актуальной задачей является разработка программ по развитию навыков речевой деятельности, включая письмо. Изучение трудностей письма на китайском языке и их решение имеет большое значение для улучшения навыков письма у иностранных студентов, может способствовать повышению их квалификации при работе в межкультурной среде, связанной со знанием китайского языка. Цель исследования – предложить методику развития навыков письма на китайском языке на начальном этапе обучения. Объект исследования – процесс развития навыков письма на китайском языке на начальном этапе обучения. Предмет исследования – методика развития навыком письма на китайском языке на начальном этапе обучения. Научная новизна исследования состоит в определении потенциала использования игровых и компьютерных технологий при обучении написанию китайских иероглифов на начальном этапе обучения. Полученные данные обоснованы теоретико-методологической базой исследования. Практическая значимость исследования: полученные результаты могут быть использованы в качестве методических рекомендаций и практических материалов на занятиях по написанию иероглифов на начальном этапе обучения. В первой главе диссертации описана теоретико-методологическая база исследования, обучение письму в трудах российских и китайских исследователей, история, происхождение китайских иероглифов, их взаимосвязь с культурными реалиями. Во второй главе диссертации предлагается методика обучения написанию китайских иероглифов на начальном этапе обучения, включающая игровые методы, компьютерные технологии, способствующие развитию навыков написания китайских иероглифов, уделяется внимание повышению квалификации преподавателей. / In recent years, with the increasing influence of China, learning Chinese has become increasingly popular. It is an urgent task to offer programs to develop speech skills, including writing. Studying the difficulties of writing in Chinese and solving them is important to improve the writing skills of international students and can help improve their skills when working in an intercultural environment related to the knowledge of the Chinese language. Purpose of the study: to propose a methodology for the development of writing skills in Chinese at the initial stage of learning. Object of the study – the process of developing writing skills in Chinese at the initial stage of learning. Subject of the study – methodology for the development of writing skills in Chinese at the initial stage of learning. Scientific novelty of the study consists in determining the potential of using gamification and computer technologies in teaching the writing of Chinese hieroglyphs at the initial stage of learning. The findings are based on the theoretical and methodological basis of the research. Practical significance of the study – the results can be used as guidelines and practical materials in classes for writing hieroglyphs at the initial stage of learning. The first chapter of the thesis describes the theoretical and methodological basis of the research, the teaching of writing in the works of Russian and Chinese researchers, the history, the origin of Chinese hieroglyphs, their relationship with cultural realities. The second chapter of the thesis proposes a methodology for teaching Chinese hieroglyphs writing at the initial stage, including gamification methods, computer technology to help develop Chinese hieroglyphs writing skills, attention is also paid to teachers’ professional development.

This study explores Cummins' interdependence hypothesis in the South African context. The design is experimental, involving Zulu primary language writing instruction to explore whether skills taught in Zulu composition classes transfer into English expository writing. The intervention and control groups were drawn from two ex-Model C high schools and the focus was on measuring use of coherence and cohesion in English essays. Quantitative findings showed, although the intervention group's writing skills did not improve significantly, they did not decline. By contrast, the control group's writing skills declined significantly. A more qualitative investigation of the corpus supports the statistical findings. However, because of the limitations of this study, more research is required into Cummins' hypothesis, bilingual programmes and teaching academic writing skills in African languages. It is hoped that this research design will benefit future researchers investigate the current debate about the efficacy of bilingual and multilingual approaches to education. / Linguistics / M. A. (Applied Linguistics)