Ian Davison Supervisor: Dr. Jenefer Philp Phd in Applied Linguistics By
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Department of Linguistics and English Language Student: Ian Davison Supervisor: Dr. Jenefer Philp PhD in Applied Linguistics by Thesis and Coursework Thesis submitted for PhD in Applied Linguistics “The Effects of Carrying out Collaborative Writing on the Individual Writing Proficiency of English Second Language Learners in an English for Academic Purposes Program” Abstract This quasi-experimental classroom-based study (n=128) looks at what students in an English for Academic Purposes Program (EAP) learn from the process of writing collaboratively and how this affects the individual writing that they subsequently produce. This is compared to how individual writing is affected by carrying out independent writing. Previous research carried out by Storch (2005), Storch and Wigglesworth (2007), Wigglesworth and Storch (2009), Dobao (2012), McDonough, De Vleeschauwer and Crawford (2018) and Villarreal and Gil-Sarratea (2019) found that writing produced collaboratively (by pairs or groups of writers) was more accurate than writing produced independently. This thesis suggests that individual students can learn from the process of writing collaboratively and that their own subsequent individual writing could become more accurate or improve as a result. Analysis of individual pre and post-test writing completed before and after two groups of students had carried out a series of writing tasks either collaboratively (collaborative writing group, n=64) or independently (independent writing group, n=64) over a period of 8 weeks revealed that accuracy increased to a significantly greater degree in the post-test writing of students from the collaborative group than in the same writing of students from the independent writing group. On the other hand, there were similar statistically significant increases in fluency and lexical complexity in the post-test writing of both groups and in the coherence and cohesion of post-test writing although syntactic complexity did not increase significantly in either group. In this study, it seems that carrying out collaborative writing has had a notable impact on the accuracy of the individual writing that learners who engaged in this writing process subsequently produced. Other facets of individual writing developed in a similar way after completing collaborative writing and the independent writing that is commonly carried out in English for Academic Purposes programs. Analysis of collaborative dialogue also revealed that students engaged in language related episodes concerning the use of language in the coauthored text that they produced. This involved peer discussion about how language was used, peer-to-peer corrective feedback and sharing knowledge about language use. The results also indicated that other interactive processes besides language related episodes, such as noticing, could also facilitate possible learning This study contributes to the field of Second Language Writing and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) because it highlights the learning potential of this interactive writing process and suggests that collaborative writing is a viable learning to write activity for the field of EAP. i Acknowledgements I would like to thank all of the people who have helped me in the completion of this thesis. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Jenefer Philp who has helped me to create this piece of work. I would also like to thank all of the other great people from Lancaster University who I was able to consult with. This includes Dr. Andrew Wilson, Dr. Oksana Afitska, Dr. Luke Harding, and Dr. Judit Kormos who provided invaluable help with the difficult parts of this work. I would especially like to give thanks to Elaine Heron who has been a constant source of support from beginning to end. I would like to show my appreciation to Dr. Linda Smail from Zayed University, Dubai – UAE who answered my never-ending questions about statistical analysis. I would also like to thank Dr. Amir Kaviani who started me on this journey and for his tireless support along the way. I would like to dedicate this to my mother, my two beautiful children Edward and Robyn and give special thanks to Geetha who has helped me with everything while completing this thesis. ii Table of Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Statement of Issue ........................................................................................................................1 1.2. Definition and scope of collaborative writing analysed in this study ....................................3 2. The research context - English for Academic Purposes ................................................... 4 3. Second Language writing .................................................................................................... 6 3.1 Two different perspectives about learning and second language writing ..............................6 3.2 Writing to learn ...........................................................................................................................7 3.2.1 Writing to learn language ......................................................................................................................7 3.3. Learning to write ......................................................................................................................12 3.3.1 Three different views of learning to write ...........................................................................................12 3.3.2 Learning to write which focuses on text ..............................................................................................12 3.4 Two types of knowledge involved in learning to write ...........................................................14 3.4.1 Linguistic knowledge ..........................................................................................................................14 3.4.2 Knowledge of written discourse ..........................................................................................................16 3.5 Different culturally influenced rhetorical patterns or strategies ..........................................17 3.6 Deductive vs Inductive rhetorical patterns and reader expectations ...................................17 3.6.1 Deductive rhetorical pattern ................................................................................................................17 3.6.2 Inductive rhetorical pattern ..................................................................................................................18 3.7 Using L1 rhetorical patterns in L2 ..........................................................................................19 3.8 Learning about different rhetorical patterns or writing strategies in L2 ............................19 3.9 Cohesion in writing ...................................................................................................................20 3.9.1 Cohesive devices .................................................................................................................................21 3.9.2 The link between cohesion and second language writing. ..................................................................22 3.10 Coherence .................................................................................................................................22 3.10.1 Learning to write coherently..............................................................................................................23 3.11 The link between learning to write and writing to learn in EAP ........................................24 4. Learning and interaction ................................................................................................... 26 4.1 What is learning?.......................................................................................................................26 4.2 Learning from a sociocognitive perspective ............................................................................27 4.3 Why learning is viewed from a sociocognitive perspective in this study ..............................28 4.4 The definition of learning used in this study ...........................................................................28 4.4.1 Justification for the definition of learning used in this study ..............................................................29 4.5 What types of knowledge do EAP second language writers need? .......................................30 4.5.1 Linguistic knowledge ..........................................................................................................................30 4.5.2 Knowledge of written discourse ..........................................................................................................31 4.6 The interaction approach .........................................................................................................32 4.7 Interactional processes that can facilitate L2 writing related learning ................................33 4.7.1 Language Input ....................................................................................................................................33 4.7.2 Feedback ..............................................................................................................................................34 4.7.3 Language Related Episodes .................................................................................................................35