Comparing Language Use in the Writing of Developmental Generation 1.5, L1, and L2 Tertiary Students

Abstract

Developmental composition courses serve a sizable and growing number of Generation 1.5 students, or long-term U.S. resident language learners, and it is believed that language challenges may be part of Generation 1.5 writers' difficulty in controlling the academic register. The current study investigates possible similarities and differences between Generation 1.5 students (n = 149) and two other student groups: mainstream first language (L1) writers (n = 203) and more traditional second language (L2) writers (n = 55), thus determining the extent to which language-use variables distinguish Generation 1.5 texts from those of their classmates. Results indicate significant differences between Generation 1.5 and L2 students on holistic writing quality, word errors, word class errors, verb errors, total identified errors, and spoken features of language. Generation 1.5 and L1 texts significantly differed on academic features of language. Implications are presented, suggesting that developmental Generation 1.5 writing may be more similar to L1 writing than has been previously reported.

Approaches Reflected in Academic Writing MOOCs

“…This is important as these findings show most current writing MOOCs still focus on teaching and learning textual structures, and rely on traditional methods of teaching writing, despite various writing theories. A considerable amount of literature has revealed the phenomena that the practices of teaching writing in face-to-face settings are far removed from writing theories or research (Aull & Lancaster, 2014;Crossley, Roscoe, & McNamara, 2014;Doolan, 2014;Hanauer, 2015;Imbrenda, 2016). It can thus be suggested that the same phenomena were founded in writing MOOCs.…”

Predictors of English Reading Comprehension and Performance in College-level Composition among Generation 1.5 Students

“…The term 1.5 generation was first used in the late 1980s by Rumbaut andIma (1988, cited in Rumbaut, 1994) to refer to individuals who were born in foreign countries and immigrated to the United States before age 12, but it has been used more liberally in the more recent literature (Blumenthal, 2002;de Kleine & Lawton, 2015;Doolan, 2014;Goldschmidt & Miller, 2005;Peña, 2010). Harklau, Losey, and Siegal (1999) explained that characteristics and experiences of this group resemble those of both first generation (foreign-born individuals who immigrated to the United States as adults) and second generation (U.S.-born children of firstgeneration immigrants).…”

“…Blumenthal (2002) defines generation 1.5 students as immigrants who "arrive in the United States in their preteen or early teen years and acquire at least some education in U.S. high schools and possibly middle schools" (p. 49). Doolan's (2014) criteria for generation 1.5 are (a) having been in the U.S. education system for more than four years, (b) speaking a language other than English at home, and (c) being younger than 22 years of age. Because there are many developmental stages encompassed in the term, a generation 1.5 immigrant who arrives in the United States at a very young age could have more in common culturally and linguistically with peers who are U.S.-born than with peers who are late-arrival generation 1.5.…”

“…Researchers generally agree that second-language characteristics are common in generation 1.5 students' writing, but there is still considerable ambiguity surrounding these characteristics. Studies comparing generation 1.5 writing to L1 and L2 writing have come to contradictory conclusions (diGennaro, 2013;Doolan & Miller, 2012;Doolan, 2014;de Kleine & Lawton, 2015;de Kleine, Lawton, & Woo, 2016). Researchers seem to agree, however, that generation 1.5 students' writing patterns are distinct from both L1 and L2 writers.…”

“…Studies that compared and contrasted generation 1.5 writing with L1 writing and L2 writing found contradictory evidence. Some found that generation 1.5 writing was more similar to L2 writing than to L1 writing, while others concluded that generation 1.5 writing has more in common with L1 writing than with L2 writing (Doolan, 2014). Researchers should use writing samples from generation 1.5 students from various literacy backgrounds to determine the specific areas of difficulty for those students.…”