The Composing Processes of Advanced ESL Students: Six Case Studies

Abstract

The most recent research in composition has given us, important insights into the composing process. This research has revealed that composing is a non‐linear, exploratory, and generative process whereby writers discover and reformulate their ideas as they attempt to approximate meaning. A study of the composing processes of advanced ESL students was undertaken to investigate the extent to which these students experience writing as a process of discovering and creating meaning and the extent to which second language factors affect this process. The findings indicate that skilled ESL writers explore and clarify ideas and attend to language‐related concerns primarily after their ideas have been delineated. Since it is believed that the teaching of composition should be informed by and based upon what writing actually entails, an understanding of the composing process calls into question approaches that are prescriptive, formulaic, and overly concerned with correctness. Instead, it suggests the importance of instruction that gives students direct experiences with the composing process, that establishes a dynamic teaching/learning relationship between writers and their readers, and that enhances further linguistic development in the context of making and communicating meaning.

Political scientists on the functions of personal pronouns in their writing: An interview-based study of ‘I’ and ‘we’

“…Indeed, future investigations that focus on pronouns could make use of a number of alternative approaches, and Polio's (2003) subdivision of studies of writing into those that focus on texts, processes, participants, and context is helpful in making these alternatives apparent. 14 While corpus-based approaches obviously concentrate on the text, pronoun studies researching process could focus on writers' pronoun choices and revisions while composing, using methods such as think-aloud, talk-aloud, and stimulated recall, as well as interviews (see, for instance, Bosher 1998;Emig 1971;Zamel 1983 Returning once again to corpora and interviews specifically, it is important to acknowledge that responses obtained via interview can be less than valid and/or reliable. As Patton (2002: 306) points out, these potential distortions can occur 'due to personal bias, anger, anxiety, politics, and simple lack of awareness since interviews can be greatly a¤ected by the emotional state of the interviewee at the time of the interview'.…”

Metacognition in Language Learning and Teaching

“…Jones and Tetroe 1987;Raimes 1987;Zamel 1983). More recently, focus has shifted to the active development of strategies through programmes of strategybased instruction (SBI).…”

Ethnic Minority Children Acquiring Literacy

“…In a number of multiple-case-studies the second language writing development of adult ESL learners was analysed (Lay, 1982;Zamel, 1983;Raimes, 1985)· In all studies it was conluded that second language composing can be seen as a creative construction process which uses strategies which are highly intralingual. Furthermore, it was noted that Ll composing skills can be easily transferred to L2.…”