Sarah W. Beck

The Challenges of Writing Exposition: Lessons From a Study of ELL and Non-ELL High School Students

The purposes of the study we describe here were (a) to identify the challenges that English Language Learner and non–English Language Learner high school students in an urban public school district experience when composing in the genre of exposition, a genre considered to be central to advanced academic literacy; and (b) to relate these challenges to characteristics of the writing they produce. We present a descriptive inventory of the challenges these adolescents faced when composing in the genre of exposition and also compare the challenges that the 2 groups experienced both in relation to each other and in relation to characteristics of the writing they produced. Finally, we relate our findings to implications for improving writing instruction and assessment for adolescents.

Composition across secondary and post‐secondary contexts: cognitive, textual and social dimensions

As a topic of concern to educational researchers, writing is enjoying something of a renaissance, particularly with respect to the transition between secondary and post‐secondary levels of schooling. In the context of this renewed interest, this article presents a framework for understanding composition that integrates cognitive, textual and social dimensions. I explore how each of these three dimensions contributes to our understanding of the challenges that student writers face when composing. I also discuss ways in which the increasingly social focus of much research on composition offers new ways of thinking about the cognitive and textual dimensions. Finally, I propose that integrating these dimensions in our study and teaching of composition can help us to better understand and address the challenges that students face in moving across educational contexts.

Educational innovation as re-mediation: A sociocultural perspective

Purpose The purpose of this theoretical essay is to discuss recent scholarship in sociocultural studies of literacy – including two recent books by Peter Smagorinsky (2011) and Luis Moll (2013) and recent articles by Gutierrez and Engestrom – and to synthesize ideas from this scholarship into a coherent lens for understanding innovations in language and literacy education and in education more broadly, when language is seen as the means through which transformation of thought is achieved. Design/methodology/approach This essay uses ideas from Vygotskian theory, as interpreted by Moll, Smagorinsky, Gutierrez and Engestrom, to re-conceptualize innovation – a theme of current importance in literacy education and indeed education broadly – as culturally mediated. The author discusses specifically two examples of recent innovations in educational practice – the notion of multiliteracies and approaches to teacher education based on hybrid activity settings that link researchers and teachers, university and school. Findings As this is not an empirical study, there are no findings per se. However, the author’s discussion of innovation through a sociocultural lens focuses on re-mediation and the deliberate, conscious setting of goals as a means for construction knowledge in, and about, innovations in literacy teaching and learning. Also, the author concludes the essay with several principles by which to evaluate innovations from a sociocultural perspective. Research limitations/implications This conceptual paper has the potential to contribute to new ways of applying sociocultural theory in literacy teaching and research, particularly research that involves the study of innovative, transformative practices in teaching and learning. Originality/value This essay offers a theory-driven reconceptualization of innovation for use in educational research and practice, which has a potential value as an antidote to shallow, narrow and/or prescriptive models of language and literacy innovations that are offered to practitioners. Put another way, it offers readers a new way to think about innovation in sustainable and culturally relevant terms.