ERIC Number: EJ1200240
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 28
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1692-5777
EISSN: N/A
Graphic Organizers Support Young L2 Writers' Argumentative Skills
Mora-González, Carlos Andrés; Anderson, Carl Edlund; Cuesta-Medina, Liliana
GIST Education and Learning Research Journal, n17 p6-33 Jul-Dec 2018
This qualitative study had the objective of analyzing the influence of graphic organizers on the development of written argumentative tasks in a group of sixth-grade Colombian L2 English learners. Learners are increasingly required to analyze information presented in languages other than their first critically to form reasoned opinions and solve problems. It is thus urgent to develop their argumentation skills, needed not only for academic success but also later professional life--and, indeed, by participant citizens in democratic societies. Although there has been some increased interest in teaching argumentation at primary and secondary levels, this remains relatively unexplored Colombia, certainly when considering writing in a second language. For the present study, data were collected through a questionnaire, a survey, a focus group, a teachers' journal, and students' written artifacts and analyzed through the grounded theory approach. Findings revealed that using graphic organizers influenced learners' argumentative writing skills positively, specifically through supporting strategic information planning and argumentative linearization during the pre- and while-writing stages. These understandings, which show that younger learners can develop complex argumentative writing skills in a second language, offer significant lessons for teachers of language--and content--in both the first and additional languages.
Descriptors: Instructional Materials, Persuasive Discourse, Foreign Countries, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Teaching Methods, Grade 6, Skill Development, Writing Instruction, Teacher Attitudes, Diaries, Writing Processes, Native Language, Connected Discourse, Secondary School Students, Grounded Theory
Institucion Universitaria Columbo Americana UNCA. Calle 19 # 2A - 49 Third Floor, Bogata, Columbia. Tel: +571-281-1777 Ext 1291; e-mail: gist@unica.edu.co; Web site: https://gistjournal.unica.edu.co/index.php/gist
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Elementary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Colombia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A