Bridging Expressive and Academic Writing: Strengthening Language Learners

1. Beyond “Just Writing Out the Facts”: Using Sequenced Research Papers and Contextualized Prompts with Second Language Writers

2. Students often don’t see research as connected to their own thoughts or experiences: “A research paper is just writing out the facts. It's not really what you think about it all those deep thoughts, is just writing out the facts.”~Ling Wei Expressive VS. Academic Writing

3. The purpose of this presentation is to show how these types of writing can compliment each other and help second language (L2) writers overcome the challenges associated with each type of writing. False Dichtomy

4. To do this, I will A). Present L2 scholarship on the debates between expressive and academic writing. B). Share findings from my research with multilingual writers that indicate the benefits of connecting expressive and academic writing. C). Suggest ways to design assignments that blend these types of writing Overview

5. John (1995, p. 159): • Focus on voice, identity, personal interests, meaning making. • Limited number of genres (e.g. personal essay, literary texts) What is Expressive Writing

6. Christie (1993) -Are “cruelly unfair” to language minority students • Academic writing is critical for success in school and beyond. • L2 writers are less familiar than their NES peers with the language, culture, audience, and genres used within academic writing. • Academic conventions need to be made explicit to L2 writers. Critiques

7. Severino, Gilchrist, & Rainey (2010): • Benefits of expressive writing for L2 writers: • Increase agency • Negotiate a sense of self that encompasses multiple identities Importance of Expressive Writing For L2 Writers

8. Worked with four adolescent L2 writers in a summer college preparatory program Their experiences with writing confirm the importance of both expressive and academic writing opportunities. Findings from my research

9. Four Interviews • Observations in English classes • College Admissions Essay for Common Application • Compare/Contrast College Research Paper • Artifact collection • Student writing samples • Assignment sheets Data Collection

10. Native Language Background • L1: Cantonese (also Mandarin) • Moved to US in 7th Grade (Currently a Senior) • Studied English in China (age 10) • Tested out of ESL in 9th grade • Resources • Interests in track and science • Abilities in lab reports and research papers • Challenges • Creative/Personal Writing • Vocabulary • Grammar Ling Wei

11. Native Language Background • L1: French and Khran • Came to the US in 3rd grade • Started learning English in refugee camp in Ghana at age 5 • Strengths • Interest in music/songwriting • Imagery • Rhythm • Word choice/code switching • Challenges • Selecting appropriate details • Engagement with academic writing Marie

12. Native Language Background • L1: Spanish • Moved from Peru at age 6 • Strengths • Interests in sports, music/songwriting • Sensory detail • Tone • Rhythm • Challenges • Timed Writing • Elaboration • Invention Jared

13. Native Language Background • L1: Spanish • Moved to US from Dominican Republic in 6th Grade • Mix of ELL and mainstream classes • Strengths • School yearbook staff • Strong Voice • Challenges • Vocabulary/Grammar (in both Spanish and English) Gabriella

14. Leki(1991/1992) • Develops authorial expertise (p. 19): • “avoids atomism implied by asking students to repeatedly gear up for different topics” • “seeks instead to link together all writing assignments Sequenced Writing Assignments

15. Students choose topics that meet these criteria: • Sustain interest • Connect to personal experience Topic Selection

16. 1). Current Knowledge • What they already know about the topic and their personal involvement • 2). Summaries • Synthesize the summaries of three sources in an essay format • 3). Survey • Survey at least 20 people about the topic and report the results • 4). Interview • Interview an expert on the topic and write up the results • 5).Final report • Combine findings from steps 1-4 into coherent report 5 Linked Assignments

17. Ling Wei and Gabriella • Allow them to develop a richer vocabulary and syntactic repertoire for writing about their own experiences by seeing how others write about similar topics • Marie • Increase engagement with research • Jared • Overcome writers block by building on prior knowledge and supplying plenty of content for writing Benefits to Students in my study

18. Ortmeier-Hooper, 2013 • Let’s get CRAFTy • Context/purpose • Role • Audience • Form • Topic Contextualized Writing Assignments

19. Entering/Incoming • What Students already know • Bridging • What students need to know to succeed in school • Advancing • What students need to know to succeed in real world contexts and their future roles Strenghts and Stretches

20. Beginning Advanced Form Single Step/Familiar Multi Step/Unfamiliar -Journal entry -Research paper Audience Small/Immediate Large/Distant -Friend - General Public Purpose Singular/Low Stake Multiple/High Stake -Learn about topic -Inform/persuade Range of Difficulty

21. Address a new context/topic through familiar Role, Audience, and Form • Context: Use research for evaluation and persuasion • Role: Son/daughter • Audience: Parent • Form: Letter • Topic: College Selection Bridging and Advancing

22. Learn new forms with familiar topics/audiences/roles • Context: Persuasion • Role: Student • Audience: Principal • Form: Compare/Contrast essay • Topic: Dress code Bridging and Advancing

23. Design a CRAFT prompt for second language writers with whom you have or currently are working. Activity

24. Literacy Scavenger Hunt (Ortmeir-Hooper, 2013): • Students and teachers bring in writing samples • Small-group then whole class-discussion on • Context • Role • Audience • Form • Topic • Create a master list to display in classroom Students Direct their CRAFT

25. Influenced by Atwell’s (1998) Writing Territories: Personal Writing CRAFT