College of Education
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item HOW L2 LEGAL WRITERS USE STRATEGIES FOR SCHOLARLY WRITING: A MIXED METHODS STUDY(2010) Bain Butler, Donna Patricia; Oxford, Rebecca L; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation research fills existing gaps regarding the practices and processes of teaching second language (L2) writers at higher ranges of proficiency in academic domain context. It is a mixed methods, longitudinal, descriptive, classroom-based study. The research purpose was to explore strategic competence as a catalyst for professional proficiency in the scholarly (academic) writing of international Master of Laws (LL.M.) students who need to show analytical thinking and communicative precision in their research papers and law review articles. The theoretical framework views scholarly writing in a second language as developmental learning in two domains, language and law, and as socialized cultural practice. The study showed how scholarly legal writing was both a cognitive and a social-cultural process for participants (N=6) as they shifted from the writer-centered activity of drafting to the reader-centered activity of revising and constructing knowledge. A triangulated, multi-stage design was used to collect the quantitative and qualitative data at recursive stages of writing (that is, pre-writing, drafting, and revising). The instruments developed for collecting the data raised strategy awareness for participants in the study and can be used for teaching. The research contributes to our knowledge of scholarly writing in the professions, helps us understand challenges and strategies for L2 writers in graduate programs, provides a useful way to conduct a mixed-methods writing study, reveals the interface between L2 and L1 academic legal discourse, and offers tested tools for developing professional-level competence in L2 academic writers. The study bridges the L1 research and L2 research literature by exploring how superior language learners used research-based strategies to build on their existing competences for professional-level research writing. This highly contextualized, learner-centered research contributes to several related fields by addressing L2 issues associated with plagiarism, the native-speaker standard, learner self-assessment and self-editing--all of which are issues of cross-cultural literacy. The following six fields are involved in and affected by this study: Applied Linguistics, Content-Based (Legal) English Teaching, English Composition, International (Legal) Education, Teaching English for (Academic and Specific) Legal Purposes, and Professional Development.Item Leveling the Field: The Need for Explicit Instruction of Argumentative Form for 'Struggling' Secondary Students(2009) Bado-Aleman, Jennifer; McCaleb, Joseph; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this essay, a method for explicit teaching of argumentative form is purported, based on the methods of classical rhetoric. Throughout, it argues that the secondary student labeled "struggling" is often one who is a cultural minority and who experiences a cultural mismatch between implicit standards in argumentative writing and that of his own culture. In order to provide culturally responsive instruction for such students, the essay suggests that teachers must make these standards for what constitutes a "well-organized" explicit and teach students methods to self-regulate their thinking during the composing process. In this way, students are granted an opportunity to succeed academically in terms of writing ability.Item Listening to Adolescent Heartsongs: Phenomenological Possibilities in Teaching Writing(2007-05-29) Hartshorn, Mary Ann M; Hultgren, Francine H; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: LISTENING TO ADOLESCENT HEARTSONGS: PHENOMENOLOGICAL POSSIBILITIES IN TEACHING WRITING Mary Ann McKenzie Hartshorn Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation directed by: Professor Francine Hultgren Department of Education Policy and Leadership College of Education University of Maryland This hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry, is called by the question: What is the lived experience of high school students who share something they have written from the heart? The metaphor of the human heart opens my understanding of the experiences of thirty-two students who write and share their writings in sophomore English class. My understanding of this experience deepens during after-school conversations with twelve of those students. Text, offering words for hermeneutic pondering, was compiled from conversations, journals, student writings and sharing activities. All voices were taped and transcribed to provide a visual remembrance of these lived experiences. The methodology underpinning this human science inquiry, is identified by Max van Manen (2003) as one that "involves description, interpretation, and self-reflective or critical analysis" (p. 4). Through my students' heartfelt words, I see them write their way to self-discovery. The importance of "lived space" (van Manen, 2002, p. 102) is brought forward, and lets me understand that students need to feel at "home" in school if they are to be successful. As we create a sacred space together, my students and I experience safety and freedom. In this space we find our "i-dentities" and hear our heartsongs. When sharing those songs, students announce their fears of failure, death and the swift passage of time; their memories; their longing for communication and disappointment in not connecting. We dwell together in the unique, sacredness of each other, opening a listening space where relationality "allows us to transcend ourselves" (p. 105). It is here that we celebrate more similarities than differences. The valued end of any class should include a place where students feel comfortable with themselves and others. Curriculum should be relevant to each student, providing an opportunity for self discovery and acceptance. Writing of a personal nature must be included across the curriculum so students learn to value themselves, fellow human beings, and the universe.Item The Effects of Honors Ninth-Grade Students' Strategic, Analytical Reading of Persuasive Text Models on the Quality of their Persuasive Writing(2007-01-22) Beach, Jennifer Anne; Slater, Wayne H.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the analysis and imitation of persuasive text models on the persuasive writing quality of ninth-grade honors students. Two intact ninth-grade honors classes participated in an instructional treatment of thirteen lessons designed to teach persuasive writing strategies through explicit instruction and collaborative learning. The experimental group examined, analyzed, and imitated persuasive models as part of the instructional unit. The comparison group studied the same persuasive writing strategies through explicit instruction and collaborative learning, without the analysis of text models as part of their instruction. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected during the study. Pre- and posttest persuasive writing samples were compared using two persuasive writing scoring instruments, the NAEP Grade 12 Persuasive Scoring Guide, and a researcher-designed persuasive trait analytic scale. Additionally, four purposefully selected students from each class were interviewed for the study, and their pre- and posttest writing samples were examined in conjunction with their interview responses. An analysis of the scores on the pre- and posttest writing samples revealed that the mean score for each group increased on the holistic scale. The experimental group had a higher mean gain on the holistic scale than the comparison group, but the results were not statistically significant. Of the six persuasive strategies measured by the researcher-designed persuasive trait analytic scale, only the audience awareness category showed significant results. The students' attitudes toward persuasive writing instruction, as determined by the interviews, were overwhelmingly positive. One surprising finding was that students held misconceptions about the concept of text models and their use in writing instruction. The interviews also revealed that students found explicit instruction in persuasive strategies to be helpful to them as they completed persuasive writing tasks. The findings from the present study indicate that the analysis and imitation of persuasive models has a significant positive impact on students' ability to appeal to an audience in their writing. The results of this study indicate that more research is needed on the use of writing models as an instructional tool for teaching persuasive writing at the secondary level.