Rhetoric Construction of Chinese Expository Essays: Implications for EFL Composition Instruction

Recent scholarship on Chinese students’ English expository essays tends to blur or mitigate the differences between English and Chinese writings. This alleged convergence of English and Chinese rhetorical norms gives rise to a view that rhetorical aspects in second language writing instruction and research in China should be de-emphasized. Drawing on data from full-score Chinese compositions of College Entrance Examination, this study examines how Chinese expository paragraphs are developed. Results show great disparities between English and Chinese expository writing at paragraph level such as non-English rhetorical mode, reliance on authorities, rhetorical paragraph, and figurative language in topic sentence. We argue that Chinese rhetorical strategies are likely to be transferred to English writing if English rhetoric is not taught and reinforced in college.

A new reconstruction of the “Wisdom of the Hands” unit in 4QInstructiond (4Q418)

This study presents the material reconstruction of the unit on חכמת ידים‎—“Wisdom of the Hands,” in copy d of the wisdom composition Instruction (4Q418), followed by a complete transcription and an English translation. The study presents the location of nine fragments of 4Q418, placed on three consecutive columns, along with new joins and new readings. The reconstruction is based on the principles of the Stegemann method for the reconstruction of fragmentary scrolls, alongside new digital tools and software, as elaborated below. The new findings allow for a better understanding of the practical wisdom of Instruction, and provide new valuable data for future reconstruction of the entire composition.

Making It Work: Developing a Student-Centered Assessment Model for a Large-Scale Information Literacy Program

Information literacy instruction presents a difficult balance between quantity and quality, particularly for large-scale general education courses. This paper discusses the overhaul of the freshman composition instruction program at the University of Maryland Libraries, focusing on the transition from survey assessments to a student-centered and mixedmethods approach using qualitative reflections, rubrics, and the evaluation of student artifacts.

From Commonplaces to Consciousness

In many ways, the transformative character of developing critical consciousness reflects the dynamics of acquiring threshold concepts. Drawing from research into threshold concept acquisition, the author argues that critical first-year composition instruction can more effectively scaffold students into critical perspectives by linking critical pedagogy more closely with efforts to develop students’ rhetorical meta-awareness of writing.

Metadiscourse, Writer Identity and Reader Construction among Novice Arabic-Speaking ESL Writers

This study used qualitative analyses to explore novice ESL writers’ concepts of writers, readers and texts. Metadiscourse studies tabulate frequencies of discourse markers in order to characterise the different ways novices and experts, native-speakers and non-native speakers, construct themselves as writers, engage with their readers, and guide readers through their text. But the picture created by these descriptive statistics lacks many content areas voiced by student writers, including their reliance on visual content, and their emotions. Student writers’ experiences in a world saturated by visual media and marketing views are also factors shaping how they construct their identities as writers, the identities of their projected readers, and how they understand what they are doing when writing text. This study used content and transitivity analyses to assess how Arabic native-speaker novices understand themselves as writers, how they project their readers’ identities, and how they try to engage them. Results show that visuals are indistinct from text, and verbs of seeing are used for reader understanding, in novice writers’ sense of their texts, and how they understand engaging the reader. These novices have a demographically granular assessment of audiences, but aim to please readers with expected content rather than challenge them with academic content, and they downplay important elements of teacher talk, syllabus and second-language (L2) composition instruction, particularly data, research, structure and language.

Composition in the Ensemble Classroom: Ideas From Eight Researcher-Designed Methods

Composition is a natural human activity that can both support other music instruction and help students develop creativity that is applicable to their extramusical endeavors. It also constitutes a major strand within national and state music standards. However, it is not consistently taught in ensemble classrooms, which are often students’ only form of music education past elementary school. In this article, I briefly summarize arguments in favor of composition instruction, then describe and analyze eight composition units and activities developed by researchers for use in the ensemble classroom. I conclude the article with a synthesis of the implications of the methods, along with other research on composition, into eight key ideas to help ensemble directors implement composition instruction in their classrooms. This article serves as a starting point for ensemble directors hoping to implement composition while also directing them to several other resources they might use.

Penerapan Pembelajaran Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition Berbasis Inquiry untuk Meningkatkan Aktivitas dan Hasil Belajar Matematika Siswa Kelas IX-6 SMPN 1 Pujut

Abstrak: Pelaksanaan PTK dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui meningkatnya aktivitas dan hasil belajar matematika siswa kelas IX-6 di SMPN 1 Pujut tahun pelajaran 2017/2018 dengan penerapan pembelajaran cooperatif integrated reading and composition berbasis inquiri. Pengumpulan data dengan metode observasi, wawancara dan dokumentasi. Hasil siklus I skor rata-rata aktivitas belajar siswa 10,84 kategori aktif, nilai belajar siswa 66,25 dan ketuntasannya 79%. Siklus II aktivitas belajar siswa 12,68 kategori aktif, hasil belajar siswa 75,8 dan ketuntasannya 88%. Disimpulkan pelaksanaan pembelajaran cooperative integrated reading and composition berbasis inquiry pelajaran matematika dapat meningkatkan aktivitas dan hasil belajar siswa kelas IX-6 SMPN 1 PujutAbstract: Implementation of PTK with the aim to know the increased activity and learning outcomes of mathematics students of class IX-6 in SMPN 1 Pujut 2017/2018 academic year with the application of cooperative learning integrated reading and composition based inquiri. Data collection by observation method, interview and documentation. Result of cycle I average score of student activity activity 10,84 active category, student's learning score 66,25 and completeness 79%. Cycle II student learning activities 12.68 active categories, student learning outcomes 75.8 and completeness 88%. It is concluded that cooperative integrated reading and composition instruction based on inquiry of mathematics lesson can improve the activity and learning outcomes of students of class IX-6 SMPN 1 Pujut