Joan G. Carson

Focusing on learning styles and strategies: A diary study in an immersion setting

This diary study focuses on the second language learning styles and strategies of the diarist/researcher in a naturalistic setting, utilizing categories from Oxfords (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning and the Style Analysis Survey. The analysis of diary entries indicates that the learners learning style remained relatively constant throughout her time in the language immersion situation, but her strategies, while consistent with her learning style, were more variable over time. The total of indirect strategies used (58%) was higher than the total of direct strategies (42%), with the most frequently used strategies being those in the metacognitive group. The diarists learning style appeared to influence her use of learning strategies.

Writing Groups: Cross-Cultural Issues.

Abstract It may appear that writing groups, used in many English as a Second Language (ESL) composition classrooms, would be familiar to ESL students from collectivist cultures where group work is common in school both as a means of knowledge acquisition and as a vehicle for reinforcing the group ethic. However, writing groups may be problematic for students from collectivist cultures (e.g., Japan, the Peoples Republic of China) in at least three ways. First, writing groups, as used in composition classes in the U.S., function differently than groups in collectivist cultures: instead of functioning for the good of the collective, writing groups more often function for the benefit of the individual writer. Second, as a result of the dynamics of ingroup relationships in collectivist cultures, ESL students may be concerned primarily with maintaining group harmony at the expense of providing their peers with needed feedback on their composition drafts. Finally, the dynamics of outgroup relationships for ESL students from collectivist cultures may result in behavior that is hostile, strained, and competitive—behavior that is likely to work against effective group interactions.

Becoming biliterate: First language influences☆

Abstract Since schooling is an important determinant of specific literacy capabilities, it is reasonable to assume that a students educational background will have an effect on the development of literacy skills. However, in addition to learning the forms and functions of literacy in school, students also learn how to learn literacy skills. As a result, readers and writers develop a sense from their first language educational experiences both of what being literate means, as well as of what becoming literate entails. This paper will explore ways in which first language literacy learning strategies can be understood as either enhancing or complicating acquisition of second language literacy skills. Three aspects of literacy development for Japanese and Chinese elementary and secondary school students will be discussed: (1) the social context of schooling; (2) the cognitive considerations of the written code; and (3) the pedagogical practices most often used in teaching reading and writing. Implications for second language writing classrooms will be considered.

Broadening the Perspective of Mainstream Composition Studies: Some Thoughts from the Disciplinary Margins

In this article we (a) argue that mainstream composition studies is at present too narrow in its scope and limited in its perspective and (b) offer some thoughts, from our unique interdisciplinary position, that we feel could help mainstream composition professionals improve this situation. In our article, we first provide evidence that we feel suggests an unfortunate pattern of neglect in mainstream composition studies of writing in English as a second language (ESL) and writing in languages other than English. We then introduce a number of concepts from second language studies (primarily from second language acquisition and second language writing instruction) that we believe could help mainstream composition studies address its limitations; develop a more global and inclusive understanding of writing; and thus avoid being seen as a monolinguistic, monocultural, and ethnocentric enterprise.

Literacy demands of the undergraduate curriculum

Abstract Academic preparation programs need curricula based on actual university requirements since research has shown that students are better able to transfer skills that correspond to reading and wr iting assignments they encounter in university coursework. This study reports the results of a literacy analysis of History 113, a high‐demand, high‐attrition course at a major urban university. Results of faculty interviews, student surveys, and an analysis of written materials, texts, and examinations show that the key literacy requirement of this course is integration — of writing with reading and of in‐class with out‐of‐class learning.