A comparison of writing tasks in ESL writing and first-year composition courses: A case study of one US university

2019 ◽  
pp. 136216881985986
Author(s):  
Jooyoung Lee
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Composition Courses ◽  
First Year ◽  
Esl Writing ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
First Year Composition ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Course Syllabi

Many international students in American universities are required to take writing courses in English as a second language (ESL) before participating in a mainstream first-year composition (FYC) course. Given that the goal of ESL writing course is to prepare students for FYC course, the connection between ESL and FYC courses is significant. This study investigates the correspondence of two such courses in terms of writing tasks based on the analysis of course syllabi, assignment sheets, and interviews with eight ESL course and 10 FYC instructors as well as 26 international students who are from diverse countries and took both composition courses. The findings suggest that students’ assignments from both courses are all essays in terms of genre, but show differences with regard to the text’s purpose, audience, information source, topic, and rhetorical function. Students are also aware of such similarities and differences, but occasionally demonstrate less sophisticated or inaccurate understanding of the assignments. Pedagogical implications for modifying the writing assignments in ESL courses to fit the expectations of FYC courses are discussed.

scholarly journals Re-Imagining the First Year as Catalyst for First-Year Writing Program Curricular Change

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Crank ◽  
Sara Heaser ◽  
Darci L. Thoune
Keyword(s):  
College Retention ◽  
Habits Of Mind ◽  
Curricular Change ◽  
First Year ◽  
Writing Program ◽  
Research Project ◽  
First Year Writing ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Multiple Measures ◽  
Writing Course

This article describes a revision of a first-year writing program curriculum using the pillars of the Reimagining the First-Year Program. The authors adapted principles related to mindset and habits of mind from both college retention scholarship and composition scholarship. After developing a research project in order to understand what elements of mindset correlate with readiness for credit-bearing writing courses, the authors created a multiple measures placement system for enrolling students in a credit-bearing first-year writing course with co-requisite support.  

How Students in a First-Year Composition Course Respond to the Flipped Classroom

2016 ◽  
pp. 1405-1425
Author(s):  
Christina R. Grimsley
Keyword(s):  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
College Writing ◽  
First Year ◽  
Video Technology ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
First Year Composition ◽  
Composition Course ◽  
Writing Course

This qualitative pilot study investigated how 19 students enrolled in an entry-level college writing course responded to the use of video technology to supplement and flip class curriculum. Students were provided 10 video podcasts to augment course content and flip four class lessons. Collected through six student surveys and video download data, the results, including students' podcast viewership behaviors and attitudes toward the videos, are presented. The data revealed the college writing students involved in this study were generally satisfied with the flipped classroom and preferred it over the traditional lecture format. Download patterns indicated, however, less than half of the students watched the podcasts. Despite low viewership, the results suggest that the incorporation of video technology brings writing teachers opportunities to optimize class time by delving deeper into course content and by expanding the number of course assignments.

scholarly journals Awakening the Learner Within: Purposeful Prompts and Lifelong Learning Measures in a First-Year Composition Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 67-82
Author(s):  
Tara Moore ◽  
Suzanne C. Shaffer
Keyword(s):  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
College Education ◽  
Student Growth ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Lifelong Learners ◽  
First Year Composition ◽  
Composition Course

Lifelong learning skills have been shown to benefit students during and after college. This paper discusses the use of the Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory (ELLI) in a first-year composition course. Reflective writing assignments and pre- and post-semester ELLI data were used to assess student growth as lifelong learners over the course of a semester. Statistically significant gains in lifelong learning dimensions were made by students in the study as compared to those in a control group who received no direct instruction. The authors reflect on the outcomes of the project for students and instructors and question the general assumptions often made about the outcomes of a college education, namely, whether students gain lifelong learning skills simply by virtue of attending college, or is more instruction on these “intangible” qualities needed?

scholarly journals Vocabulary sophistication in First-Year Composition assignments

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-66
Author(s):  
Philip Durrant ◽  
Joseph Moxley ◽  
Lee McCallum
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Composition Courses ◽  
First Year ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Loss Of Information ◽  
Substantial Loss ◽  
First Year Composition ◽  
Large Corpus

Abstract Recently-developed tools which quickly and reliably quantify vocabulary use on a range of measures open up new possibilities for understanding the construct of vocabulary sophistication. To take this work forward, we need to understand how these different measures relate to each other and to human readers’ perceptions of texts. This study applied 356 quantitative measures of vocabulary use generated by an automated vocabulary analysis tool (Kyle & Crossley, 2015) to a large corpus of assignments written for First-Year Composition courses at a university in the United States. Results suggest that the majority of measures can be reduced to a much smaller set without substantial loss of information. However, distinctions need to be retained between measures based on content vs. function words and on different measures of collocational strength. Overall, correlations with grades are reliable but weak.

Wearable Writing

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Chew Kit Tham
Keyword(s):  
Technical Writing ◽  
Wearable Technology ◽  
Composition Pedagogy ◽  
First Year ◽  
Google Glass ◽  
First Year Writing ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Composing Process ◽  
Writing Technology

As technology continues to become more ubiquitous and touches almost every aspect of the composing process, students and teachers are faced with new means to make writing a multimodal experience. This article embraces the emerging sector of wearable technology, presenting wearable writing strategies that would reimagine composition pedagogy. Specifically, the article introduces Google Glass and explores its affordances in reframing student peer-review activities. To do so, the author presents a brief overview of wearables and writing technology, a case study of how the author deployed Google Glass in a first-year writing course, and a set of tips for using wearable technology in general and technical writing courses.

Cultural Biases in Transitional Writing Courses and Their Effect on Hispanic Students in Texas

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-66
Author(s):  
Nora K. Rivera
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Hispanic Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
School Students ◽  
College Credits ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
First Year Composition ◽  
Composition Course

High school students in the United States have the option of taking advanced placement (AP) courses designed to prepare them to take AP exams that will potentially give them the opportunity to receive college credits for first-year undergraduate courses. This chapter examines the cultural biases present in the AP English Language and Composition course and exam, which focus on skills and knowledges typically learned in a first-year composition course. With culturally relevant theory in mind, this work specifically draws attention to the effects of such cultural biases on Hispanic students in Texas, a state where the number of Hispanic students surpasses the number of students from any other cultural background.

scholarly journals Writing for Justice in First-Year Composition (FYC)

2020 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 26-36
Author(s):  
Shane A. McCoy
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
First Year ◽  
Cognitive Schemas ◽  
First Year Composition ◽  
Curriculum Design And Development ◽  
Course Syllabi

Conceptualized as writing for justice, I offer close-scrutiny and analyses of teaching artifacts that animate my course syllabi in order to understand how first-year composition (FYC) courses might function as a vehicle for advancing social justice. Specifically, this essay offers a framework for enabling students with the critical capacities to transfer social justice knowledge from the classroom to the street. With close readings of my curricula and borrowing from the scholarship on knowledge transfer studies (Bawarshi & Reiff 2011; Beaufort 2007; Yancey 2011), I bridge the theoretical framework of writing for justice to a practice of writing for justice in curriculum design and development. As I argue here, this aspect of the curriculum provides the framework for crafting a FYC curriculum that aims to transform undergraduate students’ cognitive schemas by forming new “impressions” (Ahmed 2004) of social justice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document