Upload
tct118
View
1.365
Download
4
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
A brief description of the ways EFL teachers can help their students write better essays and research papers.
Citation preview
Teaching Academic Writing:
from essays to research
Thomas Tasker English Language Fellow Program
PowerPoints and handouts…
1. tesolukrainesummerinstitute.pbworks.com
2.personal.psu.edu/tct118/presentations
Overview
• Linking reading and writing
• Academic writing: essays
• Process vs. product approach
• Portfolios
• Research projects
• Teacher / student writing consultations
• Plagiarism
• Creating a writing goal
Writing skills
1. What do students need to be able to do to become good essay writers?
2. What do students need to be able to do to become good research paper writers?
Be specific!
Writing tied to reading
• Students need to write often about what they read, and publish what they write
• Have students react to the reading they are doing for class.
• Have students react to topics they read in depth
▫ Research a curriculum topic
▫ Give a presentation in class
▫ Write a paper about what they discovered
Publishing what students write
• Writing in the real world is public
• Teacher Class World
• Ways to publish:
▫ Pass out copies of student work
▫ Students write on blogs
▫ Students write on wikis
A blog is an online, semi-public journal that displays the user’s posts, and allows visitors to post responses
Blogging = individual reaction to something + the comments of others
Informal, independent writing
Blogs
• What are the potential problems your students might have with blogging?
• Not all students will have access
▫ Kontakt; Facebook; World of Warcraft
▫ Students can work in pairs
▫ Give students time to post
▫ Students can turn in the work on paper
Blogging
• Autobiography • Add a new chapter each month • Other students read, comment on
• Student responses to reading, films, class discussions, curriculum topics • Follow-up writing task from class work • Students can add pictures, video, Powerpoints
• Reading blog • Add 10 entries per semester about class /
home reading
Blogging projects
Wiki = web-based collaborative writing space
• Wiki wiki means ‘quick’ in Hawai’ian
• Allows multiple users to add and edit content of one shared space
• Users add new pages to create a network of hyperlinked documents
• More student control = more success
Wikis
Wiki projects
• A student newsletter ▫ Students add information monthly
• A town / district information source ▫ A resource for tourists
• Extra information on curriculum topics ▫ Assign students different topics, they create a page
on the class wiki with links, pictures, videos, etc.
• Student cookbook
• Student essays ▫ Students have their own page for essays; other
students proofread their writing, make suggestions
Academic writing
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
• ESL writing, style guides, how to run a writing tutorial, resumes, cover letters, writing exercises
Essay writing
• Builds on paragraph writing work
• Learning essay structure essential
• Formulaic to creative
• Student’s voice to informed opinion
Rearrange the steps of the writing process
• ___ Publish
• ___ Brainstorming
• ___ Assess the topic
• ___ Write the second draft
• ___ Editing
• ___ Revising
• ___ Write the first draft
The 5-paragraph essay
• Introduction (1 paragraph, 4-5 sentences) ▫ Hook
▫ Thesis statement
• Body (3 paragraphs, 3-4 sentences) ▫ Topic sentence
▫ Supporting statements
• Conclusion (1 paragraph, 4-5 sentences) ▫ Re-stated thesis statement
▫ Closing statement
• During the cold months of winter, I often dream of the white, sandy beaches of an island country, where the sun shines warmly upon my face. Then I wander to another corner of the world, where I find myself walking among trees tall like giants and I feel as if I am one of the exotic animals running freely below. Yet each time I begin to dream of traveling to another country, my mind keeps returning to a place with historical pyramids where strange spices waft through the air and beautiful, rhythmic music lures me into a trance. For me, Egypt has always been a place that has an indelible mark of history, culture and mystery and is a place I hope to visit one day.
• If you study history closely, you will notice that Egypt has played a central role in world history time and again. Books tell us stories from the beginning of time when pharaohs ruled the land, to today, when the fight between democracy and extreme Islamic views make Egypt a powerful player in world politics. Yet, books can only provide us with a limited view. To fully understand and experience a country, we must travel to this place, where we can walk on the streets where these leaders walked, visit the places where these important decisions were made, touch the monuments crafted in their honor.
• Also, the culture of the Egyptians has infiltrated the ways of life in countries near and far. Today, we can see Egyptian influences in our food, clothes and even furniture. Often popular culture is influenced by Egyptian music and fashion. In America, belly dancing, which originated in Egypt, is popular among young women. Although the proverb reminds us that imitation is the best form of flattery, American belly dancing classes and Egyptian jewelry purchased in Ukraine are only artificial representations of this country’s culture. I want to visit Egypt’s bazaars and eat in its restaurants because such authentic experiences will create memories that I will be able to remember the next time I watch belly dancers or wear an Egyptian necklace.
• Finally, people often travel around the world trying to find answers to its mysteries, and Egypt has always been a place of intrigue for many travelers, including myself. I hope that my adventures will help me understand that culture’s place in history and explain why the rest of the world is so fascinated with their traditions. It is possible that my travels will only create more questions, but these questions can be the beginning of a lifetime of globetrotting.
• In conclusion, Egypt’s history, culture and mysteries have transfixed the world for centuries and its influence can be seen across the globe. I believe that we can find answers through our experiences. Books are helpful but limited, and traveling is the best way to discover unknown worlds. I hope that one day I will be able to visit Egypt so that I can satisfy my curiosity about this country, its people and traditions.
Introduction
Conclusion
Thesis statement
Topic sentences
Hook
Last message
Supporting
sentences
Body
Graphic organizers for essays
Essay
thesis or
question
Make an outline
Introduction
Thesis Statement ____________________________________________
Reason #1
Topic Sentence ____________________________________________
Support A _____________________________________________
Support B _____________________________________________
Support C ______________________________________________
Reason #2, 3
Topic Sentence ______________________________________________
Support A ______________________________________________
Support B ______________________________________________
Support C ____________________________________________
Conclusion
Thesis Statement (restated in different words ) _____________________________________________
Revising and editing
• Students revise and edit the first draft of their essays
• Students can read each others’ first draft and underline parts they don’t understand, or underline words and grammar they aren’t sure about
• The teacher revises the students’ first drafts
Revising Check list for students:
▫ Is my argument clear?
▫ Did I include the necessary background information?
▫ Do I present only one idea per paragraph in the body?
▫ Do my supporting statements support my topic?
▫ Do the paragraphs fit together in a way that makes sense?
▫ Does my conclusion summarize the key parts of my essay?
Teacher (and peer) feedback: revising
• Higher order concerns first
▫ Clear focus / thesis
▫ Appropriate for Audience/Readers
▫ Good organization (paragraphs and structure)
▫ Good development (relevant & sufficient)
Lower Order Concerns
• Grammar
▫ sentence structure
▫ punctuation
▫ prepositions
▫ articles
▫ verb tense
• Word choice
• Spelling
Process vs. product approach
• Multiple drafts of essays
• Self editing and revising
• Peer editing
• Teacher editing, and suggestions about revising
• Publishing
Portfolios: a process approach
• Portfolios are used to collect samples of student work over time to track student development.
• A portfolio should contain samples of a student’s work and teacher and student reflection of that work.
Portfolios
• Writing samples such as dialogue journal entries, book reports, essays, reading log entries
• All versions of the writing (1st draft, 2nd draft)
• Interview notes
• Peer-editing notes; teacher comments
• Writing checklists (by student, peers and teacher)
• A reflective report about the student’s writing development - written by the student
Research papers
Tasks for improving research writing:
• Paraphrasing (sentences)
• Summarizing (passages, then whole articles)
• Citations – what style?
• Give students a 5 sources (article, chapter, from Internet, etc) and they write a bibliography
Essays to research papers
1. Students start with a personal essay, already written.
2. They find three (expert) articles that are relevant to their thesis statement
3. They cite appropriate information from the articles to support their position
4. Cite the sources appropriately, and add a ‘references cited’ list on the last page
Essays to research papers
1. Everyone in the class gets the same three sources (articles, chapters, etc.), chosen by the teacher
2. Students write brief summaries of each article
3. Students write an essay appropriately citing information from all three sources, and include a the references at the end of the paper
Summarizing articles: organizers • Title (student own
title for article)
• Full citation (MLA, APA, etc)
• Research question
• Sample
• Methods
• Results
• Theory
• Links
• Title (student own title for article)
• Full citation (MLA, APA, etc)
• Thesis / question
• Discussion points
• Conclusions
• Theory
• Links
Linking the research topics together
Research Project Overview
• Title
• Background
• Problem
• Aims / research questions
• Participants
• Method and Analysis
• Significance (answering ‘why should anyone care?’)
Typical ‘moves’ in a thesis introduction
• Move 1 Establishing a research territory ▫ By introducing previous research in the
specific area
• Move 2 Establishing a niche ▫ By indicating a gap in the previous research, or
raising a question about it
• Move 3 Occupying the niche ▫ By outlining purposes/aims, or research
questions/hypotheses; By providing previews of each chapter in the thesis
Academic writing conferences
•Purdue Online Writing Lab ▫ English as a second language ESL Instructors, Tutors ESL Orientation for Writing Lab Tutorials
Tips for Success
• Be a guide, not a ‘guru’: help the student to discover his/her own methods and ideas.
• Model, don’t prescribe: demonstrate how to apply something once, then let the student invent on his/her own.
• Review and/or refer: let the student leave with a task or a resource so they stay focused beyond their conference.
Setting an Agenda
• What does the student want to work on?
• Why is agenda-setting important? ▫ Tutorials are different from the instruction in
the classroom setting. Tutors usually ask what students want to work on.
▫ Students know their own writing best.
▫ They (and you) should be realistic about what can be done in one tutorial and set priorities.
Plagiarism
• What is plagiarism?
• What do you do when your students plagiarize a source?
• How can you encourage students to stop plagiarizing?
Writing goals
• What is a writing goal your students could achieve this year?
• By the end of the year, I want my students to…
• Write complex sentences, cohesive & unified paragraph, well-structured composition, properly cited research paper