STATE SCHOOL AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITY TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF WRITING AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE
Presented to:
Dr. ALBERTO FAJARDO
Presented by
LEIDY MARCELA CHACÓN VARGAS
BIJAN NASSIRI
INTRODUCTION
Writing
is one of the skills that concern EFL teachers as it is currently seen as a
holistic and social practice that attempts to reflect the students’ culture or
reality. It is expected that writing becomes an authentic reflection of who
learners are and what they think about the context that surrounds them. At the
same time writing as a social practice aims to see the pupil as the center of
the process where an atmosphere of cooperation is promoted.
In that
concern it is highly relevant to see how the teacher as one of the participants
of that interaction understands the writing process and how he eventually
approaches it.”In the realm of teaching writing as a language skill, often
research in to classroom teaching ignores teachers’ perspectives on practices
that they implement in their lesson”. Abadi & Marzban (2012, p. 25)
When students
are assigned to write a paragraph or a set of them, they can find it difficult
or even boring because of different reasons. Initially, they might not get
enough clarity on the task, they do not have sufficient knowledge on the topic,
they do not receive plenty of support and help from the teacher and perhaps the
activities implemented to foster that process are not the most suitable for the
group, or there is not a close relationship between those activities and the
students’ reality, among many other situations.
Along all
these possible reasons there is one inherent factor that is crucial in the
atmosphere of writing. This is the conception and understanding that teachers
pursue in regards to the writing process and its scenarios. Clark and Peterson (1986) say, “make explicit
and visible the frames of reference through which individual teachers perceive
and process information” (p. 287). This is important to consider how the
teacher’s performance becomes a mirror of his own theoretical constructs under
which he is building the teaching and learning atmosphere. “So for having such
a key role, their practices and perceptions are critically important since they
have the capability of influencing the effectiveness of the teaching/learning
process”. Abadi & Marzban (2012, p. 26) Then, teachers’ conceptions play a
crucial role when planning and guiding writing activities for students that
ensure the reality and individuality representation.
In that
concern the main purpose of this small scale project was to identify how two
different groups (from a state school and from a private university) of EFL
teachers understand writing. It is
important to consider these perceptions since these represent the own
reflection and questioning that teachers conduct towards their own practices.
At the same time, what actually students write about need to be considered in
the same rate.
RESEARCH QUESTION
What are state school and private university teachers’
perceptions of writing as a social practice?
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
To characterize the state school and private
university teachers’ perceptions of writing as a social practice.
Specific
Ø
To identify
the conception of language hold by state school and private university teachers
in the atmosphere of writing.
Ø
To
describe the students’ composition in terms of their connection with the
teachers’ beliefs on writing.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Appealing to the core concepts under which this
small-scale project was based, we have teachers’ perceptions, writing and
written composition.
Starting with teachers’ perceptions, these are defined
according to Ahern (cited in Russell & Kelly, 2002, p. 2) as “individual
belief systems and subjectivities”. At the same time Abadi & Marzban (2012,
p.26) inform, “beliefs are often known as our attitudes, values, judgments,
axioms, opinions. They affect not only how people behave but also what they
perceive (or pay attention to) in their environment”. It means that perceptions
recall on the type of ideology, theoretical as well as empirical constructs
that the individual handle. These aspects not only define how a person thinks
but also the way he acts.
That is
why in the dominium of teaching EFL skills and specially writing the teachers’
perspectives cannot be ignored. Griffiths (2007) support this by saying that
teachers become vital in the process of teaching and learning because teachers
have the ability to influence the outcomes from this process. For that reason
this short research focused on perceptions towards writing in order to account
for what Clark and Peterson (1986) state “make explicit and visible the frames
of reference through which individual teachers perceive and process
information” (p. 287).
At the
moment of looking at recent research approached in this field, it was found
that Yoshihara (2012) conducted a study where it was searched the teaching
beliefs teachers had, how they formulated those beliefs, and how they applied
those beliefs to their teaching practices. Results showed that the participants
perceived and interpreted their roles as coherent with the curriculum
guidelines. One of those roles was to fit the students’ demands. In terms of
the differences they approach different methods and strategies to guide their practices
and mediate their functions. This study gave us lights when understanding the
teachers’ perceptions of writing in their classes at two different contexts, a
state school and a private university.
Additionally,
Douglas, (2009) carried out a study whose main focus was to find out the
teachers’ perceptions of how they teach writing. The author approached
variables like time, method, and feedback given. Results demonstrated the
participants showed a wide range of classroom practices and a variety of
methodological influences. In terms of feedback it was found that it was
necessary to reinforce awareness, raise levels of understanding and foster more
confidence. Outcomes from this research gave a space for this small-scaled
investigation in order to understand the language conception handle by teachers
in atmospheres like writing.
Based on
what has been mentioned before here is important to address a concept of
language which should be immersed in the environment of writing. That is to say
that the focus that educators are giving to writing among their lessons
necessarily informs about the concept of language they handle. In that sense,
through this study we accounted for finding and characterizing the social view
of writing. At this point, Quevedo (2008, p. 126) states, “writing has been
considered as the language skill that provides individuals with linguistic and
communicative resources addressed to a particular community. That is to say,
through writing, individuals are able to submit common papers, letters and
simple notes or academic reports”.
Based on the previous assumptions, the author and to
our own understanding, there is a limited and rigid conception of language in
here. So it is expected that teachers and researchers go further and understand
writing as students’ self-reflexes that show who they are and what they want.
At that point is when we can talk about a social conception of language. In
this same line Quevedo (2008, p. 126) says, “my writing philosophy relates to a
holistic view of the person as a social being not one of language skill
development”. This idea comes as a complement to the cognitive side of writing.
It relies on the incorporation of the social and cultural views of writing.
Through this perspective, the person who writes, in this case the student is
seen as a member of a community, this relationship around writing and the
context has been stated around theories of authors like Vygotsky (1978).
Considering the connection of the
individual and the society through that must be reflected on writing, there is
a need to see at that individuals’ written composition. In general terms it is
understood by authors like Byrne in McDonough and Shaw (1993, p.184) that, “any
piece of writing is an attempt to communicate something: that the writer has a
goal or purpose in mind; that he has to establish and maintain contact with his
reader; that he has to organize his material and that he does this through the
use of certain logical and grammatical devices”. At the same time, it is
considered that “the writer interpreting the world, not simply observing it.
Saying that something is important means adopting an attitude towards it.”, Martin
in Holland and Lewis, (1997, p.52). The previous assertions let us to say that
students’ composition moves from gathering grammatical or linguistically
appropriate sentences, towards the representation of the self. It is a matter
of expression of feelings, beliefs, knowledge among many other things. That is
why this short projected attempted to incorporate those pieces of compositions
created by students in their classrooms and reveal from these those conceptions
of writing approached not only by students but especially by teachers as the
guiders of the process in the classroom.
METHODOLOGY
This
section includes core aspects about the type of research, the setting, the
participants, the instruments, the data collection techniques and the process
of analysis in order to achieve the research objective of this study.
Type of research
With the
purpose of getting the main purpose of this short project, the qualitative
paradigm guided this process. This focuses on the study of a situation that is
happening within a real context with real participants. Merriam (cited by
Nunan, 1998, p. 77), state towards this paradigm is is “an intensive, holistic,
descriptive analysis of a single entity, phenomenon of social unit”.
The
qualitative method used was the case study because the main purpose of this
investigation was to understand the teachers’ perceptions about writing as a
social practice in two different contexts, a private university and a state
school. Case study is defined by Janesick (1994, p. 216) as, “the cornerstone
of qualitative research”, and Yin (1984, p. 23) also approaches it “as an
empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-
life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not
clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used”.
Setting and Participants
This
short-term research was conducted in two different contexts, a state high
school and a private university. The participants of this study were three
teachers from each one of the contexts. So we had four women and two men.
Instruments
With the
purpose of gathering data for answering the research question two instruments
were used. A semi structured interview (see annex A) whose main objective was
to look for teachers’ perceptions of writing as a social practice. Cohen,
Manion and Morrison (2000), state that through interviews participants can
express their views, perceptions or interpretations towards a specific
situation. The second instrument used was students’ samples of written
composition where the main objective was to describe these in terms of their
connection with the teachers’ beliefs on writing. These samples are described
in research as students’ artifacts, Ander-Egg (1993, p. 137) states that these
are “documents that provide information and are used to consult, to prove or to
study specific issues”
Data collection procedures and analysis
Considering the qualitative nature of this research, the stages
approached to collect and analyze the data were the following. Initially, the
information from the teachers’ interview was read, organized and reduced in order
to account for common patterns. At the time that this process was completed the
students’ samples of writing were read and used as support of what was said by
the teachers in terms of their perceptions. In that sense as the data was
categorized, defined and associated in different ways, it was a process
followed under the principles of grounded theory. (Strauss & Corbing 1990).
With the purpose of reporting data excerpts a specific coding was stated. “STI”
for state teachers’ interviews and “UTI” for university teachers’ interviews. Finally, this analysis helped us to come up
with the following categories and subcategories.
FINDINGS
With the
purpose of getting the main objective of this small-scale project: to
characterize the state school and private university teachers’ perceptions of
writing as a social practice, one category and two subcategories emerged after
the decanting of data from the interview and the students’ compositions.
A Social Medium: The Language Role Attributed by Teachers
This
category refers to the conceptions teachers handle in regards to language as
the layer of their teaching practices. The principal view here is that language
accounts for a social dimension where the meaning is interactively constructed
and negotiated. In that sense the EFL classroom as a community constitutes the
space for reflecting this language characteristic. Language as a social medium implies that
along the teaching experiences in the classroom the different atmospheres that
take place are mediated by a holistic dimension that is not only focused on competence
or in the development of isolated skills; but an environment where their
participants are considered human beings with genuine needs and life
experiences.
From
these categories there are two subcategories that accounts for the characterization
of teachers’ perception towards writing in their classrooms. The two
subcategories were Teachers’ perceptions on writing: A hand by hand negotiation
process with reading, and Teachers’ Perceptions on writing: A sense of life
experiences.
Teachers’
perceptions on writing: A hand by hand negotiation process with reading
This
subcategory aims to explain the teachers’ beliefs on writing as a result of their
perceptions of language and writing. Teachers view writing as a complex cognitive
process where reading offers more tools for students to write. This is because
writing depends on the influence of other skills “writing is dependent on
progress in other skills”. Oller in Jacobs et al. (1981, p. 2) Students are expected to read, summarize,
analyze, propose and criticize in order to be able to produce a text. Here it
must be said that students’ composition is seen as a product of these previous
tasks approached by students. At the same time writing is seen as the
production of suitable texts that accounts for the topic under study and that
accomplish the criteria stated for its organization. Here, teacher is who
mainly guides the process as he decides on the type of texts students should
write. Here the teacher also emphasizes on the edition of the texts as part of
the writing cycle that accounts for quality in form and content. So students
are expected to write about topics they like or the ones the teacher proposes.
In regards to the contexts of this study, what
has been described in this category accounts for the state teachers’
perceptions as they say,
“Lenguaje
es una condición social del ser humano que habilita al hombre para ser y para
existir. Es a través del lenguaje que el hombre puede leer su mundo, puede
expresarse, y eso lo necesitamos para vivir” (STI 1).
Es
todo lo que comunica es ese grupo de elementos que hace posible que el ser
humano sea, es el cúmulo de elementos que mirado desde la sociología o la
antropología hace que el ser humano pueda comunicar sus pensamientos,
sentimientos, sea de una forma verbal o no verbal” (STI 3).
“Pienso
que la lectura y la escritura son procesos dicotómicos que se trabajan de la
mano. Tengo en cuenta el contexto, la edad de los estudiantes, la unidad
temática que se está planteando. El vocabulario, la gramática, el tipo de texto
narrativo, descriptivo o argumentativo”. (STI 1)
“En el proceso de escritura me interesa mucho
la capacidad que tiene el estudiante para organizar sus ideas en inglés
siguiendo una gramática básica pero me interesa mucho la capacidad de síntesis
que el estudiante pueda mostrar. Me gusta tener en cuenta el aspecto de lógica
de coherencia y los textos, depende el nivel del estudiante depende lo que
personalmente y la creatividad” (STI 3).
Teachers’ Perceptions on writing:
A sense of life experiences.
This
subcategory refers to the teachers’ beliefs on writing as an attempt to make
students able to reflect who they are and to describe the context that surround
them. Teachers view language as an opportunity to give students freedom in the
things they want to write and how they want to do that. Students are expected
to reflect on their experiences, emotions, interests, dreams, expectations,
points of view towards the different situations that they experience in a
groupal as well as in an individual form. Students’ compositions are mainly
product of open discussions and peer reflections towards different topics. Here the teacher guides the process in the
sense that he posts situations, present readings or topics that foster
students’ interest and reaction. These
compositions are checked by the teachers where they use a coding procedure and
additionally add comments to the texts produced by students. They are not
obliged to correct these all the time, but when they have to, it is expected
from them to interpret their errors and correct them. This view of writing is supported by Berns, (1990)
when stating that,
“If language is a social practice of meaning-making and
interpretation, then it is not enough for language learners just to know
grammar and vocabulary. They also need to know how that language is used to
create and represent meanings and how to communicate with others and to engage
with the communication of others” (p.17)
In regards to the contexts for this study, teachers
said,
El
lenguaje es el medio a través del cual se negocia el significado y se construye
conocimiento. Esto nos lleva a una dimensión social y cultural en el sentido de
la interacción y la significación constante” (UTI 2)
“El
lenguaje media todo lo que somos y hacemos, todo comunicamos y todo nos
comunica. Por el lenguaje somos capaces de crear, e interpretar significados”
(UTI 1).
“El
lenguaje es el medio de interacción social que nos permite entender el mundo, a través del lenguaje expresamos emociones,
pedimos información, interpretamos situaciones, símbolos e incluso los creamos”
(UTI 3)
“En
mis clases las actividades de escritura se desarrollan grupalmente, busco que
los estudiantes interactúen y expongan sus puntos de vista, la idea es que
juntos construyan el sentido de su propio texto” (UTI 3)
“En
el proceso de escritura con mis estudiantes me interesa que ellos siempre
hablen desde sus experiencias, de lo que ellos conocen, trato de evitar al
máximo imponer mis temas, la idea es que todos generamos ideas y ellos son
quienes eligen y eso si es un proceso de asesoría continua en las clases” (UTI
1)
“La
escritura es una habilidad que no puede verse aislada de ninguna de las otras,
por eso siempre busco la vinculación de un tema netamente lingüístico y su
aplicabilidad en temas que los estudiantes viven día a día. Es así como pueden
en cuanto a la escritura socializar sus ideas y textos finales” (UTI 2)
CONCLUSIONS
Regarding
the main objective of this study: To identify the teachers’ perception of
writing as a social practice. The nature of these perceptions is mediated by
the conception of language that teachers handle about writing. In that sense
they assume language as a social medium through which students can make sense of
the linguistic aspect of language. In the case of state teachers’ perceptions,
they find writing eminently connected with reading. They try to link the
experience students have and link it with grammar aspects for example in order
to account for fostering students’ composition skill. This is a process
conducted by means of summarizing, describing, analyzing and posting points of
view. At the time students are expected to edit their own texts.
On behalf
of private teachers they assume writing as a way of letting students express
themselves by accounting for a confortable atmosphere. They assumed it as a
matter of life experiences. They stated the role of reflection, and freedom to
select the topic of interest as layers at the moment of approaching writing as
a social practice. In that sense, teacher
consider that language structured is important, but it is much more valuable to
address what students want to say and the own style they follow.
Finally, it
was found a close connection between the teachers’ perceptions and the written
compositions developed by students in class. So is a good symptom of coherence between what
teachers in both contexts say and what they do. However there is a need for
further research in each one of these settings in terms of variables like the
methodologies implemented by teacher towards writing, the materials used the
activities and the amount of time devoted to this process.
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