This article examines the results of writing assignments completed by an English-as-a-Second-Language student outside of a college writing class. the study focused on how the student used feedback on her writing to study and learn, for social interaction, and to find her academic voice. (21 references) (CK)

A college teacher and student describe the rationale behind collaborative test taking and their efforts to implement it in a freshman English course. The approach, in which students learn to work collaboratively from the beginning of the course, allows participants to solve problems related to a writing task and teaches real-world work skills.…

Through a series of focus group interviews, 63 students at George Mason University (Virginia) related their academic and student life experiences. The goal of the researchers was to find a means of reporting the findings in a way that retained the integrity of the contextual data (student voices) and maximized audience impact. Three ways of…

A study looks at two broad issues: (1) the relationship between sentence sequence and 'coherence' in writing of academic discourse in a second language; and (2) identification of likely areas of difficulty for second-language readers. Two approaches to the diagnosis of coherence problems, using experimental manipulation of sentence orders in…

This study investigated the nature of students' discussion in peer response sessions in an English-as-a-Second-Language composition class in Taiwan. Subjects were 17 university students, divided into four writing groups. Half of the 16 peer response sessions were computer-mediated (CM), the other half in face-to-face interaction (FF). Analysis of…

The term "value added" refers to the assessment of the amount of learning that takes place during the college years. Two experiments, Value Added I and Value Added II, attempted to measure college students' attainment of eight liberal education objectives: (1) writing ability; (2) analytical ability; (3) sensitivity to ethics, morals,…

The first part of this two-part paper contains the original proposal for a college-level, team-taught library workshop designed for maximum interpersonal guidance on the mechanics of term paper preparation. It includes a survey of on-campus opportunities for students to receive help in developing their personal term paper skills, an assessment of…

The major hypothesis tested in this investigation was that college students using audiovisual aids and current reading materials would achieve greater competency in composition than would students taught by conventional methods. The "STEP Writing Test," the "STEP Reading Test," and writing samples were used for evaluation. Also tested were the…

Studied Spanish-speaking students in Puerto Rico to determine the resulting interaction process when two second language (L2) students are involved in peer revision of written texts. Results reveal a complex interactive process and highlight the importance of activating cognitive processes through social interaction in the second-language writing…

Investigates differences in the rhetorical organization of research article introductions between Korean academic writing and English academic writing based on Swales' Create a Research Space model (1990). Twelve published articles written by Korean national scholars and American scholars are compared, and eight term papers by Korean…

A study investigated the effects of instruction in metadiscourse on composition students' writing skills. Subjects were students in two 100-level college composition classes. A Control Class (CC) was taught using a process approach, and the Experimental Class (EC) had direct teaching of metadiscourse. The CC students worked on the propositional…

A college student of intermediate to advanced English as a second language (ESL) is still constantly trying to identify the rules governing the language and making and correcting mistakes. Sociolinguistic theory can help to understand this type of active, advanced learner and the instructional strategies that complement this learning style. Four…

Part I of this book attempts to provide students with an understanding of the "academic enterprise" as a whole, and specifically the structures, people, money, myths and practices which create that peculiar enterprise known as freshman English, an experience through which the majority of college students must pass. Part II offers students a…

This paper presents findings based on interviews with three employees of a university writing center about their experience tutoring foreign students. International students who are not native speakers of English but want to enroll in American universities must demonstrate a basic level of competence in English before they can participate in a…

One of the major issues in intercultural discourse studies is the variation of discourse patterns across cultures. It has been reported that there appears to be a Western preference for a deductive pattern and a Chinese preference for an inductive pattern in discourse. However, it has also been pointed out that there is nothing inherently Chinese…