Enacting anti-racist writing workshop pedagogies in an online,drop-in writing club for youth

This article documents the authors' modification and implementation of anti-racist writing workshop (ARWW) practices in the context of an online, drop-in writing club, Pens Out. We sought to understand how teens perceive writing practices that are not white-normed — specifically, centring relationships instead of prizing individuality, embedding choice instead of replicating one authorial view and observing writerly craft instead of errors. As white-identifying educators and researchers, we engaged in practitioner inquiry to understand how programme participants who live in a predominately white region experience these practices. We asked: How do attendees understand and describe experiences with writing workshop pedagogies that seek to de-centre whiteness? This question has become increasingly important as politicians in the United States restrict anti-racist educational practices and content. We used conventional content analysis to observe themes across five participants' semi-structured interviews. Findings indicated that participants' relationships with each other produced inspiration and reciprocity, writing expectations from inside and outside the club affected choice and risk taking, and observing craft multimodally encouraged sharing and reciprocity. What we discovered can help teachers and leaders of K12 writing workshops implement ARWW practices and increase allyship while discussing and questioning hegemonic ideals in K12 schooling.     

Playful explicitness with grammar: a pedagogy for writing

The place of grammar within the teaching of writing has long been contested and successive research studies have indicated no correlation between grammar teaching and writing attainment. However, a recent study has shown a significant positive impact on writing outcomes when the grammar input is intrinsically linked to the demands of the writing being taught. The study adopted a mixed methods design with a large‐scale randomised controlled trial accompanied by a qualitative dataset, which provided contextual information about how the intervention was implemented. In this paper, we will outline the pedagogical principles that underpinned the intervention, and illustrate both the theoretical grounding and practical classroom examples that exemplify the approach. We will argue that any future policy or professional development that draws on this research must take account of these pedagogical principles, rather than focusing too superficially on either the grammar or the teaching materials which exemplify them.     

Paradigms and Pedagogy: revisiting D’Arcy’s critique of the teaching and the assessment of writing

This paper draws on research funded by the Bedford Charity (Harpur Trust) in which the narrative writing of reluctant writers in 10 Lower Schools (pupils aged 5–9) was levelled using, firstly, the Assessment of Pupil Progress (APP) criteria used in English primary and secondary schools and, secondly, criteria devised by the researcher. The latter were specifically designed for the assessment of narrative writing, whereas the APP criteria are generic. Findings resonate with the contrasting paradigms critiqued in D’Arcy’s paper on the teaching and assessment of writing (D’Arcy 1999). Evidence suggests that levels assigned to individual texts can vary between one assessment criteria and another. In many cases, pupils achieved higher levels against criteria designed to evaluate creativity and the ability to tell a story. Appropriate assessment criteria are critical not only to summative evaluations but also to the planning of future teaching and learning. However, it is suggested that the dominant assessment paradigm and concomitant approaches to the pedagogy of writing in England have been influenced by discourses over which teachers have had little control. However, the future for the teaching and assessment of writing necessitates a paradigmatic shift. A retrospective of D’Arcy’s paper may provide teachers and academics with the impetus for change.     

高职英语写作教学中激发学生写作兴趣的有效对策

随着高等职业教育的发展,高职英语写作教学的重要性更加明显,由于很多学生对英语写作缺乏学习兴趣,基本处于"被动写作"、"痛苦写作"的境地,所以严重影响了高职英语写作教学的有效性。鉴于此,就英语写作教学中激发学生写作兴趣的有效对策进行探讨,旨在让学生在寓教于乐的课堂氛围下,提高英语写作兴趣,激发学生的写作潜能。     

Widening access to writing support: beliefs about the writing process are key

Abstract

Universities’ performance indicators for scholarly outputs depend on academics having productive and sustainable writing behaviours. Research shows that writing programmes can increase research output, but less is known about which writing processes are productive. A project was initiated at a university which widened access to writing support to include staff who were not included in these performance targets, but who might be in the future. Following a writing for publication workshop, 36 academics were offered a place at a structured writing retreat. The evaluation aimed to increase our understanding of participants’ perceptions of their writing skills and processes before and after the retreat using a transactional model. We found that participants’ perceptions of their writing abilities were greater than their perceptions of their ability to employ effective writing practices. Both scores improved after the retreat. This finding confirms that a structured writing retreat provides an environment and structure for academics to practise effective writing. It enhances self-belief in the processes and skills required to produce output. Widening access to writing support for academics is essential for success in performance-based systems. Writing support must provide opportunities for academics to develop strong performance beliefs by practising writing skills and productive and sustainable writing processes.     

个性化:作文教学的走向

作文教学是语文教育改革的重点和难点。当今作文教学改革的一大趋势就是走向个性化。本文根据个性化作文教学主体性、真实性、独特性、民主性、创造性的特点 ,提出了几点具体的实施策略     

合作写作--元认知支持应用于作文教学的尝试

英国学者Fiona Yarrow和Keith J.Topping创立的配对写作模式,是一种非常灵活的结构性合作写作体系,它以整合元认知和社会互动的方法支持学生的写作发展。其中,带有元认知支持的配对写作流程图,不仅能有效地提高学生的写作成绩,而且能激发写作兴趣,增强自信心及自我效能感,培养协作精神。因此,该研究具有较高的理论意义和实践价值,是一项极具创新的作文教改实验,值得我们研究与借鉴。     

Developing grass roots writing resources: a novel approach to writing within the social work discipline

In this case study, we report on the development of a writing-specialist position, the ‘Writing Resource Coordinator (WRC)’, in a school of social work at a large state university in the southern USA. Such programs are facing increasing budgetary pressures at the same time as their growing enrollments strain available resources. Students who arrive under-prepared or un-acculturated to the discipline often suffer high writing-related anxiety, putting them at risk for low performance, or dropping out altogether. The WRC provides discipline-specific ‘grass roots’ writing assistance to the most at-risk students through a program aimed at both students and faculty, providing a two-pronged service strategy including: (a) individual consultations and (b) group-oriented seminars and workshops. We describe the implementation of this resource and offer recommendations for improving upon and adopting this approach in social science programs at comparable institutions.     

网络环境下的英语写作教学

传统英语写作教学的特点成为大学英语教学的瓶颈之一。随着网络技术在社会各个领域的不断渗透,网络英语写作教学的优点克服了传统英语写作教学的种种不足,网络写作教学成为可能。各种方式的网络英语写作教学为英语写作教学的开展提供了有益参考。     

浅谈初中作文教学

作文教学是语文教学过程中的一个重点和难点。怎样提高学生的写作能力,引导学生从怕写作文到爱写作文,作者围绕这个问题,结合学生的写作实际,谈了自己的一些体会。     

Portrait of the student as a young writer: some student survey findings about attitudes to writing and self‐efficacy as writers

This New Zealand‐based article reports on an analysis of data gathered over two years from upper primary school students on their attitudes to writing and writing instruction and their beliefs about their self‐efficacy as developing writers. Responses from 449 students in five diverse schools are included. Through an online survey administered at the beginning and end of each of the two years, students responded to a range of mostly closed questions. Conclusions (including student comments) were made about students' likes, dislikes and preferences as developing writers. Levels of association between their attitudes and gender and between their attitudes and proficiency levels were explored. Conclusions were also made about how student attitudes affect teacher practice.     

Incorporating formative assessment in Iranian EFL writing: a case study

Undergraduate students' experience of assessment in universities is usually of summative assessment which provides only limited information to help students improve their performance. By contrast, formative assessment is informative and forward-looking, possessing the leverage to inform students of their day-to-day progress and inform teachers of how to better tailor their instruction to students' immediate learning needs. Despite these potentials, studies carried out on the use of formative assessment in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts are somehow rare. The current study reports on incorporating formative assessment in an L2 writing course in Iran. The analysis of data from pre- and post-study writing tasks, pre- and post-study questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews revealed that first-year undergraduate students were offered opportunities to improve various aspects of their writing and to develop positive attitudes toward writing as well as formative assessment. However, the students reported several challenges that could have implications for the further implementation of formative assessment in similar contexts.     

应用文写作教学改革中的情境教学研究

通过分析目前高校应用文写作教学中普遍存在的问题,分析了情境教学法的内涵和特点,分析了情境教学法在应用文写作中使用的可行性,尝试运用情境教学法进行应用文写作课程教学改革。     

浅谈中学语文议论文写作教学

在中学阶段,语文写作教学是培养学生逻辑思维能力和创新能力等多种能力的重要环节。而在中学的语文考试中,议论文写作占有着重要的比例。但是就实际情况而言,议论文写作对学生逻辑思维能力的要求较高,成为了不少学生难以克服的写作难题。因此,议论文写作被当做是中学语文写作教学的重点内容,同时也是难点内容。所以,基于这种认识,本文对中学语文议论文写作教学问题进行了探究,从而为关注这一话题的人们提供一些参考。     

English for Specific Purposes and Academic Literacies: eclecticism in academic writing pedagogy

Academic Literacies and English for Specific Purposes perspectives on the teaching of academic writing tend to be positioned as dichotomous and ideologically incompatible. Nonetheless, recent studies have called for the integration of these two perspectives in the design of writing programmes in order to meet the needs of students in the increasingly diverse and shifting landscape of academia. The aim of the present paper is to reflect on how this theoretical integration could be put into practice. Drawing on the design of a research-based writing workshop for postgraduate anthropology students, we argue that rather than a ‘hybrid’ model of writing pedagogy, a theoretically grounded but eclectic approach is needed in order to respond to students’ personal, local, and disciplinary contexts.     

试论写作教学的情感效应

写作是一种复杂的脑力劳动,要有情感因素的积极参与。由于长期受应试教育的影响,写作教学一味地追求文章的体式,忽视了写作的灵魂——学生的情感体验,久而久之,学生的情感之河出现"断流"甚至"枯竭",写作中造假现象屡屡出现。写作教学应该努力为学生的写作创设情境,为学生业已"枯竭"的情感之河注入活水,使之汩汩而流,这样才能使学生写出具有真情实感和鲜活灵性的文章。     

文学作品习作:英美文学教学改革的趋势

英美文学教学改革任重道远。本文就现今某高校英语专业大二学生的写作能力进行调查,探索英美文学教学改革的潜在趋势。结果显示,文学作品习作是英美文学教学改革的趋势。     

支架式教学模式在大学英语写作教学中的运用

支架式教学模式作为建构主义的一种教学范式,可以有效地处理"教"与"学"之间的关系。近年来在国内外教育教学理论和实践领域日益受到重视。本文结合支架式教学理论,探讨其在大学英语写作教学中的运用,为外语写作教学提供新的借鉴。     

意识形态读写观在英语写作教学中的探索

读写结合是提高学生英语写作能力的有效途径。根据意识形态读写观的理论,结合英语写作教学的实际情况,采用多种教学手段,提高学生的英语写作能力。