L2 writing education: Does far transfer of learning outcomes occur, and can it be promoted

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L2 writing education Does far transfer of
learning outcomes occur, and can it be promoted?

• Mark Andrew James
• Arizona State University

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Background

• University ESL writing courses are meant to lead
  to learning outcomes that students will apply in
  (or transfer to) their other courses.
• However, the writing required in an ESL writing
  course can differ (e.g., in the way source texts
  are used Leki Carson, 1997) from the writing
  required in other courses.
• This mismatch means that there appears to be an
  expectation in ESL writing education for far
  transfer of learning outcomes.

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Research questions

• Will learning outcomes from an ESL writing course
  transfer to a writing task with characteristics
  very different from the kind of writing done in
  the ESL writing course but typical of the kind of
  writing required in other academic courses (i.e.,
  involving text-responsible writing)?
• Can learning transfer in this situation be
  promoted by asking students to look for
  similarities between the writing task and the ESL
  writing course?

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The participants (N30)

• 80 were in their first year of university study.
• The average age was 21.
• 57 were male and 43 were female.
• They represented 13 different nationalities, the
  most common being Indian (6 participants),
  Taiwanese (4), Korean (4), and Chinese (3).
• Their major areas of study were in business (15
  participants), liberal arts and sciences (9),
  engineering (5). (One participant had not yet
  declared a major.)

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The ESL writing course

• 4 sections of a 1-semester, 3-credit freshman ESL
  writing course. (4 instructors, all experienced
  TAs.)
• Goal to introduce students to the importance
  of writing in the work of the university and to
  develop their critical reading, thinking and
  writing skills so that they can successfully
  participate in that work.
• Main course assignments 4 multi-draft
  compositions, none of which involved
  text-responsible writing.
• Textbook The St.Martins guide to writing

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Data collection

• A 2-week period after the middle of the semester.
• Each student completed (individually, out of
  class)
• a 40-minute writing task
• a 15-minute interview
• a 1-page background questionnaire.

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The writing task

• Biotechnology The smell of wealth
• A North Carolina State University scientist has
  developed a simple method for processing animal
  waste, which may lead to productive uses for some
  of the 500 million tons of poultry and livestock
  waste produced in the United States each year.
• (... the article continues and is about 450 words
  long ...)
• Questions
• -- What is thermophilic anaerobic digestion?
• -- Why is it an important biotechnology?
• (Demonstrate your understanding by describing
  and discussing this phenomenon.)

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The writing task

• But first Try to think of similarities
  between this writing task and the writing tasks
  or assignments you do in your COMP107 class.
  Write down 4 similarities here
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
• 4.
• After you have written down 4 similarities, read
  the article and answer the questions.

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Data collection

• A 2-week period after the middle of the semester.
• Each student completed (individually, out of
  class)
• a 40-minute text-responsible writing task
• a 15-minute interview
• a 1-page background questionnaire.

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Data collection

• A 2-week period after the middle of the semester.
• Each student completed (individually, out of
  class)
• a 40-minute text-responsible writing task
• a 15-minute interview
• a 1-page background questionnaire.
• Students also submitted a copy of their most
  recent graded assignment from the ESL writing
  course.

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Data analysis

• 1. Two raters examined each piece of writing
  (from the writing task and the ESL writing course
  assignment) for the use of 15 strategies.
• 6 content-related strategies (e.g., exemplifying
  comparing/contrasting)
• 5 organization-related strategies (e.g., using
  cueing statements using connectives)
• 4 language-related strategies (e.g., avoiding
  fused sentences avoiding sentence fragments)

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Data analysis
Example of rubric for examining use of writing
strategies Strategy 10 Using connectives
(i.e., temporal e.g., when, spatial e.g.,
there, and/or logical e.g., however
transitions) 1 No use 2 Minimal use (e.g.,
one word used in only one or two places) 3
Moderate use (e.g., two or three different
words used, in several places) 4
Extensive use (e.g., multiple words used,
throughout the text)
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Data analysis

• 1. Two raters examined each piece of writing
  (from the writing task and the ESL writing course
  assignment) for the use of 15 strategies.
• 6 content-related strategies (e.g., exemplifying
  comparing/contrasting)
• 5 organization-related strategies (e.g., using
  cueing statements using connectives)
• 4 language-related strategies (e.g., avoiding
  fused sentences avoiding sentence fragments)
• 2. I coded the interview transcripts for evidence
  of learning transfer.

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Research question 1
Did learning outcomes from the ESL writing
course transfer to the writing task? ...
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Research question 1 Interview data

• In the interviews, 13 of the 30 students (i.e.,
  43) said that they had made a conscious effort
  to use learning outcomes from COMP107 to do the
  writing task. Of these, 7 (i.e., 23 of total)
  referred to writing strategies.
• Example of a report of transfer
• Researcher For this activity, did you try to
  use any of the skills or strategies or things
  you have learned or practiced in COMP107?
• Participant Actually, yes. I used some
  transition words like however, although,
  also. Some of those skills, like, not that
  much, to only maintain the essay.

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Research question 1 Writing sample data
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Research question 1 Writing sample data
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Research question 1 Writing sample data
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Research question 2

• Was learning transfer promoted by asking
  students to look for similarities between the
  writing task and the ESL writing course?

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Research question 2 Interview data

• Groups were compared using a Chi-square test
• Group 1 (i.e., students who had not been asked to
  look for similarities) vs. Group 2 (i.e.,
  students who had been asked to look for
  similarities), for reported learning transfer.
• There was no significant difference between the
  groups.

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Research question 2 Writing sample data
COMP107 assignment
Writing task
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Research question 2 Writing sample data
COMP107 assignment
Writing task
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Summary

• Far transfer of learning outcomes did occur from
  the ESL writing course but, this transfer was
  constrained
• some students tried to use learning outcomes from
  the ESL writing course to do the writing task
  others did not.
• some writing strategies (particularly those
  related to language use and those hinted at in
  the task instructions) transferred readily to the
  writing task others (i.e., many of those related
  to content and organization) did not.
• Asking students to look for task similarities did
  not stimulate transfer of learning outcomes.

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Implications

• L2 writing practitioners may be encouraged that
  far transfer of learning outcomes from an ESL
  writing course can occur. They may also feel
  cautious because this transfer is not inevitable.
  
• L2 writing researchers may investigate questions
  like
• How far will learning outcomes from a L2 writing
  course transfer?
• Do some learning outcomes from a L2 writing
  course transfer more readily than others?
• Both groups may be interested in the question of
  whether far transfer of learning outcomes can be
  stimulated.

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Thank you! ...