Abstract
This chapter examines the instructional intervention aimed at enhancing source-based compare-contrast writing in the secondary school students. Conceptually, it relies on the schema theory as a cognitive basis for integrated reading-writing instruction. The theory asserts that writing and reading both generate meaning using similar cognitive processes and types of knowledge: meta-knowledge of reading and writing strategies in relation to communicative goals, domain and textual knowledge, procedural knowledge that involves integrating writing and processing information while reading the text. Methodologically, the instruction is based on read-write cycle and was carried out in a secondary public school of Kyiv, with the 10th-grade students being the participant (n=22). The general hypothesis about a positive impact of read-write cycle instruction is partially confirmed in the research, which is an indication of the necessity to give further insight into the issue.
TopIntroduction
As a life-long skill, writing plays a crucial role in post-secondary education and career. In the 21st century, however, writing has become more cognitively demanding and complex, as in most job settings, it is based on multiple text comprehension and analysis (List & Alexander, 2017). Consequently, the instruction of writing has considerably changed over the last decades by shifting the focus onto integrated or source-based writing (SBW). With its emphasis on knowledge transformation instead of knowledge transmission, SBW has captured the attention of researchers and language trainers in many educational settings, including secondary school. The research of the phenomenon, though, was mainly limited to frameworks of teaching source-based synthesis or argumentation (Dunlop & Xhafer, 2016; Göktürk Sağlam, 2020; Hillocks, 2010; Luna et al., 2020; Nelson, 2008) and standardized assessment (Chan, 2013). Scarce research, though, is devoted to teaching source-based compare-contrast writing (Lynne et al., 2003). Moreover, the available studies focus on SBW in content-based academic disciplines rather than foreign language (FL) training. Therefore, this study purposefully aims to explore SBW instruction as part of FL training in secondary school.
In the Ukrainian context, SBW in FL education has been neglected on both theoretical and practical levels; as a result, it is excluded from most tertiary and secondary school writing courses as well as assessment. Meanwhile, in L1 educational tradition, SBW is extensively practiced in integrated Language and Literature classes as well as in a range of the Social Science subjects. The tasks mainly involve writing reflections on the pieces of fiction read and discussed or on additional reading as part of independent research of the students. Historically, this fact is rooted in the traditional focusing of a secondary school FL instruction on grammar and reading as stand-alone skills in the 1950s-1970s (Allen, 1987). The reading tasks of that period included reading with the aim to answer the questions on a reading passage or reading to retell (Chokwe, 2013). Teaching writing boiled down to polishing spelling and writing grammatically accurate sentences to practise grammar or answer the questions on a reading passage. In the 1980s-1990s, a greater emphasis was made on teaching speaking to provide the schoolers with the communication skills. However, the skills of written communication were either ignored or neglected.
The objective of this chapter is to examine the instructional intervention aimed at enhancing SBW in secondary school students in the context of FL learning. The authors are particularly interested in examining whether Read-Write Cycle instruction can considerably boost students’ content integration and text structure organization as related to compare-contrast writing. Additionally, we intend to discuss the challenges encountered in the process of instruction design and implementation.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Knowledge Transformation: Is a process of creating new knowledge which involves problem analysis and problem setting through problem solving activities in content and rhetorical domains.
Source-Based Writing Cognitive Schema: Is the ability to comprehend the information of the text, analyze it, retrieve important information, compare and combine this information with the existing personal knowledge, plans and transform the information into a new coherent writing.
Fastwriting: Is a nonstop writing for a set amount of time offered to expand on the topic using the heading(s) and topic related vocabulary of the source texts.
High-Order Concerns: Are errors in writing connected with the development of ideas and organization standards of the essay, logical presentation of ideas and use of transition words.
W-K-L: What I Know- What I Want to Know - What I Have Learned activities aim to activate students’ prior knowledge through brainstorming on the suggested topic in pairs and small groups.
Source-Based Writing Instruction: Provides scaffolding activities that allow students to integrate new context into existing knowledge through critical comprehension of source texts, recognition of the necessary text structures and accurate representation of the retrieved ideas in writing.
Low-Order Concerns: Are the mechanical mistakes such as spelling or grammar mistakes that do not interfere with understanding.
Integrated or Source-Based Writing Skills: Is the ability to critically read source texts and effectively integrate extracted ideas into a new written product.