How different are they? A comparison of Generation 1.5 and international L2 learners’ writing ability

A growing body of literature in second-language writing suggests that the writing ability of international second language (L2) learners, who attend post-secondary education abroad after having completed high school in their home countries, and the so-called Generation 1.5 population, that is, L2 learners who enter post-secondary education after attending high school in the new country, differs. The present study provides much-needed empirical evidence concerning potential differences in the writing ability of these two groups. Many-facet Rasch measurement procedures were used to analyze learners’ writing scores in five components, based on a theoretical model of writing ability: grammatical, cohesive, rhetorical, sociopragmatic, and content control. Results revealed that the international learners performed better overall than the Generation 1.5 learners and that the two groups had opposing strengths and weaknesses in grammatical and sociopragmatic control. Language program administrators and practitioners can use these results when designing curricula addressing the needs of diverse groups of L2 learners.     

Mapping pre-service teachers’ evolving information and communication technologies pedagogy

The research examined the nature and scope of e-portfolio reflective writing by primary pre-service teachers about their classroom implementation of information and communication technologies. Familiar and new technologies require a teacher to be able to confidently identify the pedagogical potential for effective learning and teaching. With the author as a teacher educator, uncovering of aspects of commonality and patterns of emphasis in pre-service teachers’ reflective writing prompted reconsideration of established education practice. A qualitative thematic coding approach was adopted using an initial stimulus of Mezirow et al.’s notions of transformational learning: content, process and premise reflection. Extracts were coded by case, structurally and thematically using qualitative analysis software. Distinct categories emerged from cycles of analysis and a comprehensive typological map was created that provided insights into pre-service teachers’ emergent pedagogic thinking in relation to their use of technology whilst on school placements. The research led to revised scaffolding prompts, particularly in relation to premise reflection, for pre-service teachers engaged in reflective writing as a tool to transform and enrich their pedagogical understanding of the interplay between technology, teaching and learning.     

The use of exemplars in English writing classrooms: from theory to practice

Recent literature on the use of exemplars in the context of higher education has shown that exemplar-based instruction is implemented in various disciplines; nevertheless, how exemplar-based instruction can be implemented in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing classrooms in higher education institutions remains under-explored. In this connection, this article reports on a textbook development project which adopts an exemplar-based instruction approach to be used by university English instructors to prepare students for IELTS writing (academic module). The goal of the textbook is to cultivate students’ understanding of the assessment standards of the two IELTS writing tasks through the design and use of exemplar-based dialogic and reflective activities. In this article, theoretical underpinnings of the use of exemplars, namely tacit knowledge, assessment as learning and dialogic feedback, will first be discussed in detail. Then, an overview of an ongoing project which aims to develop an exemplar-based IELTS writing textbook will be given. The last section of this article suggests practical strategies for ESL writing teachers who are interested in using exemplars to develop students’ understanding of assessment standards.     

基于英语写作测试样本分析的学科育人思考

写作是语言运用能力的反映,更是人文素养的重要体现。剖析初中学生英语写作所体现的思想内容,对学生核心素养发展及品德教育具有现实意义。本研究基于北京师范大学中国基础教育质量监测协同创新中心区域教育质量监测项目的测试数据,分析48份初中学生英语写作样卷,揭示学生在语用意识与语言礼仪、国际视野与跨文化理解、尊重与自重、学习态度与兴趣以及学习策略与自我效能等方面存在的问题,并提出教学与评价建议,以期为学生核心素养及品德教育提供启示。     

Research,writing, and racial identity: Cross‐disciplinary connections for multicultural education

Abstract

This paper describes a classroom‐based research study designed to determine how students in an undergraduate multicultural education course experience difficult and emotional content about racism. Samples of students’ reflective writing were used as sources of data, and Janet Helms’ theory of racial identity development served as the framework for analysis. Findings suggest that coursework in multicultural education can influence white students’ racial identities. In addition, the experiences of one white student are highlighted as she grappled with issues of white privilege and multicultural teaching. This study illustrates how reflective writing in combination with teaching practices informed by psychological theory helped to expand students’ understanding of racism while facilitating the development of their racial identities.     

Reflective practice in clinical teaching: the experience of two nurse academics

This article outlines steps taken to introduce two new nurse academics to reflective practice to demonstrate staff development in clinical teaching. The personal exploration of practice by two beginning university teachers, Angela and Helen, draws on reflective practice to inform their interpretations of clinical teaching. Thepaper examines reflective practice and, in particular, strategies of journal writing, audio‐taped debriefing sessions, and the use of a ‘critical friend’ to support and inform reflection. The process indicates that personal and collaborative reflection provides an avenue to investigate and improve teaching and learning in clinical education. It also demonstrates an effective non‐judgmental process which facilitates quality in all types of educational experiences, and which can aid university review procedures.     

Investigating learners’ use and understanding of peer and teacher feedback on writing: A comparative study in a Chinese English writing classroom

Existing comparative studies between peer and teacher feedback in English writing classes have predominantly used frequency measures of peer and teacher feedback in learners’ revisions to suggest their relative values for developing learners’ writing proficiency. However, learners do not necessarily understand the feedback that is used in their redrafts.This study distinguished learners’ use from their understanding of peer and teacher feedback. Eighteen Chinese university English learners participated in the study for sixteen weeks. Three research methods were adopted: (a) content analyses of learners’ use of feedback, (b) stimulated recall interviews on learners’ understanding of feedback, and (c) interviews on the factors that affected learners’ responses to feedback.The findings suggested that the learners used more teacher than peer feedback in their redrafts. However, interviews with these learners revealed that they used a larger percentage of teacher feedback than peer feedback without understanding its significance or value. Student interviews uncovered learners’ passive acceptance of teacher feedback and the facilitative role of first language use in peer interaction.This study suggests that learners’ understanding of feedback should be taken as at least an equally important factor as learners’ use of feedback in examining the relative value of peer and teacher feedback for developing learners’ writing proficiency.     

大学英语写作元认知知识实证研究

在元认知理论框架下,采用定性与定量两种研究方法,对大学一年级非英语专业学生在写作中掌握与使用元认知知识的情况进行了调查与分析。试图通过对元认知知识中三个变量的研究,探究一种科学、有效的大学英语写作者元认知知识的测量工具,为大学英语写作教学提供新的教学思路,提高大学英语写作者的写作水平。     

ZPD-activated languaging and collaborative L2 writing

Recent second/foreign language (L2) research has witnessed the application of sociocultural tenets to L2 classrooms. This study aimed to probe whether Iranian L2 learners’ engagement in ZPD-activated collaborative dialogue, or ‘languaging’, mediates their learning process and, specifically, their appropriate use of metadiscourse to address content, organisation and audience issues in writing. English-as-a-foreign-language-writing classes at two universities were assigned to four different instructional conditions, namely, ZPD-activated collaborative, ZPD-free collaborative, fine-tuned L2-input provision and prevalent teacher-fronted approaches. The data comprised metadiscourse-oriented writing test scores, weekly writings and audio-recorded in-class collaborative dialogues of the ZPD groups. The results demonstrated the ZPD-activated collaborative writing approach significantly facilitated the learners’ appropriate use of metadiscourse. Complementary interpretative analysis of the ZPD participants’ metadiscourse-related episodes showed that the initially-other-regulated (undistributed) writing tasks became progressively reciprocal with less-skilled peers displaying microgenetic use of L2 metadiscourse resources and dynamically assuming more participatory roles in regulating the writing tasks. The findings suggest engagement in ZPD-activated ‘languaging’ is crucial to shaping opportunities for L2 learners’ microgenetic learning and to their longer term cognitive development. In sum, the application of sociocultural tenets and notions has shown to be highly fruitful in explaining the social genesis of L2 development as a higher order psychological functioning.     

The expert learner: Strategic, self-regulated, and reflective

Reflection on the process of learning is believed to be an essential ingredient in the development of expert learners. By employing reflective thinking skills to evaluate the results of one's own learning efforts, awareness of effective learning strategies can be increased and ways to use these strategies in other learning situations can be understood. This article describes how expert learners use the knowledge they have gained of themselves as learners, of task requirements, and of specific strategy use to deliberately select, control, and monitor strategies needed to achieve desired learning goals. We present a model of expert learning which illustrates how learners' metacognitive knowledge of cognitive, motivational, and environmental strategies is translated into regulatory control of the learning process through ongoing reflective thinking. Finally, we discuss the implications that the concept of expert learning has for instructional practices.     

Designing innovative learning environments to foster communities of learners for students in initial vocational education

In this study, the concept of ‘community of learners’ was used to improve initial vocational education. The framework of a ‘community of learners for vocational orientation’ that we present offers both a theoretical understanding of teaching–learning processes in initial vocational education and heuristics for the design of innovative learning environments for optimising these processes. In a design research study, we investigated if, and how, learning environments designed on the basis of these heuristics fostered communities of learners for vocational orientation, in which students experience to learn in a shared, meaningful, reflective and transfer-oriented way. We examined students’ perceptions of the learning environment and their learning activities during eight curriculum units specifically designed to foster the communities of learners. During almost all of the units that we designed, students found themselves learning in a more shared, meaningful, reflective and transfer-oriented way than during regular units. We conclude that the proposed heuristics had been useful starting points for the design of innovative learning environments that foster communities of learners for vocational orientation. In addition, we show how the heuristics can be elaborated for a particular school, based on practical and pedagogical content knowledge of teachers, as well as students’ perceptions of the learning environment and their learning activities.     

Introducing the R2D2 Model: Online learning for the diverse learners of this world

The R2D2 method—read, reflect, display, and do—is a new model for designing and delivering distance education, and in particular, online learning. Such a model is especially important to address the diverse preferences of online learners of varied generations and varied Internet familiarity. Four quadrants can be utilized separately or as part of a problem‐solving process: the first component primarily relates to methods to help learners acquire knowledge through online readings, virtual explorations, and listening to online lectures and podcasts. As such, it addresses verbal and auditory learners. The second component of the model focuses on reflective activities such as online blogs, reflective writing tasks, self‐check examinations, and electronic portfolios. In the third quadrant, visual representations of the content are highlighted with techniques such as virtual tours, timelines, animations, and concept maps. Fourth, the model emphasizes what learners can do with the content in hands‐on activities including simulations, scenarios, and real‐time cases. In effect, the R2D2 model is one means to organize and make sense of the diverse array of instructional possibilities currently available in distance education. It provides new ways of learning for diverse online students, and demonstrates easy‐to‐apply learning activities for instructors to integrate various technologies in online learning. When thoughtfully designed, content delivered from this perspective should be more enriching for learners. The R2D2 model provides a framework for more engaging, dynamic, and responsive teaching and learning in online environments.     

Contribution of Distance Education to the Development of Individual Learners

An important touchstone of distance education has been to contribute to the development of individual learners whatever their life circumstances. The first half of the article provides an overview of this contribution and of the understanding and awareness that has been developed about distance learners in their individual learning contexts. The overview is based around five themes: access to education, adjustment to new learning environments, individual development, knowledge and awareness of learners in context, and the importance of understanding the learner’s perspective of distance education. In the latter part of the article it is argued that the way ahead for distance education requires attention to more than technological approaches to learning, and that the field is well placed to provide an informed critique of current trends and developments, to focus on the student experience, and to contribute to learner development and practitioner development.     

Has this begun to change the way they think? Moving undergraduate learners’ level of reflection from where it is to where it needs to be

This paper documents the ongoing development of a framework for reflection for undergraduate learners new to the reflective process. Motivated by the gap between students’ abilities and experience of reflection and the expectations of them at undergraduate level, the author experimented with a variety of approaches over a number of years. After much trial and error, a three-step pyramid method loosely based on Mezirow's three stages of the reflective process has been meeting with some success and is presented here. Findings indicate that recognizing the limitations in novice practitioners ability to reflect effectively, and providing them with a practical framework of initial support can empower them and result in greater expression and confidence in their reflective journal writing.     

Consulting the UK ESD community on an ESD indicator to recommend to Government: an insight into the micro‐politics of ESD

In 2006 the author was contracted to research possible approaches to a UK indicator of education for sustainable development (ESD). This article describes and seeks to explain the response of government advisers and influential members of the UK ESD community to the approaches he proposed. While the UK strategy for sustainable development called for a result indicator to show the impact of ESD on learners’ knowledge and awareness of sustainable development, the indicator that was recommended to government by its advisers, after consulting the ESD community, was essentially a facilitative indicator showing the percentage of schools that rated themselves good or outstanding using a self‐evaluation instrument linked to the emerging sustainable schools framework. An opportunity to monitor the impact of ESD on learners’ sustainability literacy and encourage more socially critical approaches was lost as the micro‐politics of ESD (the preferences of advisers and those consulted) failed to challenge the macro‐politics examined in the author’s earlier article.     

Narratives of learning communities in environmental education

Abstract

This article introduces the core concepts that emerged from five environmental education action research studies conducted by a group called Learning Communities in Environmental Education, Science and Mathematics (CEAMECIM) from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) in the south of Brazil. The studies focus on teacher education processes in learning communities involving teachers, researchers and environmental educators, and the critical writing and reading texts of classroom recordings to problematise participants’ teaching practices. CEAMECIM used action research cycles to examine narratives of educational action, narratives from teachers concerning their development as environmental educators, and narratives of their development of a sense of belonging, with a particular focus on critiquing social models that are based on hierarchies and individuality. From this analysis, we propose a new perspective on being and learning how to become a learning community, crystallised by the belief that ‘we are more when we are together’.