Analyzing Learners' Language Awareness in Written Production: Product-Oriented vs. Process-Oriented Approaches
2012 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Writing is one of the four skills that students learning a foreign language are supposed to acquire, and writing often has an important role in the language classroom. Furthermore, in the field of cultural and arts education, a process-oriented approach is considered essential for learning. However, even though we see an increased interest in emphasizing the writing process, in reality, what is often commented, discussed and graded is the final outcome - the product. Consequently, features of the writing process, like fluency, revisions, and pauses, are not considered. This thesis explores what information about the writing process might add to the picture. In this manner, the current study investigates the writing process of advanced Swedish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners through keystroke logging programme.
With the increased use of word processing tools, and not least with the development of keystroke logging tools, we now have the possibility to take also the details of the writing process into account. As Spelman Miller and Sullivan (2006:1) point out,
“[a]s an observational tool, keystroke logging offers the opportunity to capture details of the activity of writing, not only for the purposes of the linguistic, textual and cognitive study of writing, but also for the broader applications concerning the development of language learning, literacy, and language pedagogy”.
In the present study, a keystroke logging programme named Inputlog has been used, which allows researchers to get a better understanding of writing processes as well as cognitive processes during writing (Lindgren & Sullivan, 2002).
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2012. , p. 43
Keywords [en]
Language awareness; Writing product; Writing process; Error; Fluency; Revision; Pause; keystroke logging; Swedish EFL learners
National Category
General Language Studies and Linguistics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-87276ISRN: LIU-IKK/MPLCE-A--12/11--SEOAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-87276DiVA, id: diva2:588338
Subject / course
Master's Programme in Language and Culture in Europe
Presentation
2012-12-18, Linköping, 10:00 (English)
Uppsok
Humanities, Theology
Supervisors
Examiners
2013-01-172013-01-152018-01-11Bibliographically approved