Discourse synthesis: Textual transformations in writing from sources

Nelson, Nancy Owen; King, James R.

doi:10.1007/s11145-021-10243-5

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 122 publications

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“…In line with the functional view on reading-writing (Fitzgerald & Shanahan, 2020) and prior research, (having to) select relevant information from different sources, comparing that information, integrating it in a coherent way in a synthesis text can be expected to lead to (more reflection and) a deeper understanding of the source texts (cf. Moran & Billen, 2014;Nelson & King, 2022 as cited by the authors). To empirically verify this hypothesis, Castells et al set up an experiment in which 155 psychology graduates read three source texts after which their inferential reading comprehension was measured.…”

Section: Process Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to the special issue on synthesis tasks: where reading and writing meet

2022

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Synthesis writing is a common activity in both upper-secondary and higher education (Raedts et al., 2017;Van Ockenburg et al., 2019), as the act of synthesizing is the highest cognitive operation for comprehension, useful in academic and workplace contexts (Leijten et al., 2014). Producing synthesis texts is considered to be an important learning task in education because of its epistemic value. Synthesis tasks have a high learning potential as the reading, rereading, integration, organization and elaboration of different source texts calls for knowledge transformation (Solé et al., 2013;Spivey & King, 1989). Independently of the field of study, all students will write multiple types of synthesis texts during their academic career. Students find it challenging, which is not surprising given the cognitively demanding nature of the task (

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Section: Process Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to the special issue on synthesis tasks: where reading and writing meet

2022

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“…In the fields of teaching (e.g., Chan et al, 2015;Leki & Carson, 1994Plakans & Gebril, 2012) and assessing (e.g., British Council et al 2022;Pearson, 2022;ETS, 2022;ISE, 2022) English for academic purposes (EAP), there has been a distinct shift in preference from integrated tasks to independent tasks given that the former are believed to replicate more effectively the processes engaged by actual target language use domain tasks characteristic of a variety of educational settings, specifically tertiary education. The composition process elicited by integrated tasks is discourse synthesis, the conceptualization of which has evolved through several theoretical and empirical studies (Nelson, 2008;Nelson & King, 2022;Plakans, 2009Plakans, , 2010Plakans, , 2013Spivey, 1984Spivey, , 1990Spivey, , 1991Spivey & King, 1989) that investigated it in relation to integrated task types, the composition processes they elicit, the assessment construct redefinition and scoring problems they pose, assessment task design issues they raise, and their pedagogical implications. However, in spite of the fact that integrated task types have been investigated in relation to summary writing tasks (e.g., Ascención, 2008), which is a single-source text reading-into-writing task type, discourse synthesis as a process is believed to be elicited only by multiple-source text integrated task types.…”

Section: Multiple and Single-source Text Integrated Writing: A Compar...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As several studies have discussed in detail (Nelson, 2008;Nelson & King, 2022;Spivey, 1984Spivey, , 1990Spivey & King, 1989), there is an interaction between the mental representations derived by means of construction from input texts and those constructed for output texts during the organizing, selecting, and connecting operations. In this section, the brief descriptions of the operations based on these studies are elaborated with additional relevant theoretical and empirical research findings.…”

Section: Cognitive Transformational Operations In Discourse Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple and Single-Source Text Integrated Writing: A Comparative Study of Task Characteristics and Composition Processes

Tankó¹

2022

DEAL 2022: Challenges and Opportunities in Contemporary English Applied Linguistics

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Integrated tasks (IntTs) are prominent in teaching and assessing English for academic purposes. The composition process of multiple-source text IntTs is discourse synthesis. However, there is a marked lack of discussion on it in relation to single-source text IntTs as the current understanding is that it is only elicited by multiple-source text tasks. As this has been challenged by recent research, this study undertook to substantiate the claim that discourse synthesis needs to be reconceptualized. In Phase 1 of the investigation, a guided summary writing task was analyzed, piloted with 28 participants, and the scripts were independently double-coded for content reproduction and macrorule use to document the input-related processes it engaged. In Phase 2, a comparative analysis of the task characteristics and processes engaged by synthesis and guided summary writing tasks was conducted. The results indicate that (i) the two tasks are very similar and engage appreciably matching processes, and (ii) discourse synthesis can also be engaged by a single-source text integrated writing task. An innovative difference found is that it is not the number of source texts but the special-purpose task schema that elicits discourse synthesis. This and the taxonomy of integrated task types proposed in this study are of practical relevance for researchers, teachers, and assessors.

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“…Consequently, students must juggle reading and writing activities during the writing process: they have to read and understand information in the sources, select only relevant information from the source texts, plan, write, and revise their actual texts. The core element of synthesis writing is to gather information from different sources and structure it around a central theme that serves a certain purpose (e.g., supporting or refuting a claim) (Spivey and King, 1989;Solé et al, 2013;Nelson and King, 2022). Source texts, however, may treat the same subject with multiple perspectives, which could be either complementary or contradictory (Cumming et al, 2016;Leijten et al, 2017;van Weijen et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As there seems to be a consensus that L2 learners, especially those in higher education, should be trained to write effectively from sources, synthesis writing has been a productive subject of inquiry in second language writing research (Cumming et al, 2016). However, contemporary intervention studies have failed to reach a one-size-fits-all solution for teaching this specific writing competence (Spivey and Nelson, 1997;Nelson and King, 2022). Unlike spoken discourse, which can be acquired both via formal learning and outside the walls of classrooms, learning to write requires long hours of classroom instruction or intensive practice (Cuevas et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Envisioning multilingualism in source-based writing in L1, L2, and L3: The relation between source use and text quality

et al. 2022

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In this article, we report on a study that investigates how master’s students consult external sources for reading-to-write integrated tasks in their L1 (Dutch), L2 (English), and L3 (French). Two hundred and eighty master’s students in professional communication wrote synthesis texts based on three external sources, including a report, a web text, and a newspaper article in their L1 (Dutch), and in L2 (English), or L3 (French) at two moments of measurement, which were separated by an interval of 6 months. Their source use activities during the writing process were registered using Inputlog – a keylogging program. Inputlog enabled us to determine the amount of time the writers spent composing their main texts and consulting the sources (when the source consultation activities took place during the writing process, which sources were consulted most frequently, and how frequently the writers transitioned between the various sources). Final text quality was assessed holistically using pairwise comparisons (D-pac, now Comproved). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated three components that could describe source use processes in L1, L2, and L3 writing: (a) initial reading time, (b) source interaction, and (c) variance of source use throughout the writing process. Within-subject comparisons revealed that there were no improvements in the students’ text quality in L1, L2, and L3 over an academic year. Structural equation modeling indicated that the source use approach, particularly source interaction, is related to text quality, but only in L1 and L3. We provide further explanations for this variation based on language proficiency, temporal distribution of writing process, and individual differences.

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Discourse synthesis: Textual transformations in writing from sources

Cited by 23 publications

References 122 publications

Introduction to the special issue on synthesis tasks: where reading and writing meet

Introduction to the special issue on synthesis tasks: where reading and writing meet

Multiple and Single-Source Text Integrated Writing: A Comparative Study of Task Characteristics and Composition Processes

Envisioning multilingualism in source-based writing in L1, L2, and L3: The relation between source use and text quality

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