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Exploring Reading and Writing Connections in the Synthesis Writing of Multilingual Students in a Second Language Writing Classroom

Zhao, Ruilan
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6030-2153
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1433507195

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, EDU Teaching and Learning.
Writing from sources is viewed as a fundamental component of academic literacy as well as developing connections between reading and writing. An especially challenging task of source-based writing is synthesizing, which requires careful selection, organization and integration of sources. Given the significance of synthesizing in developing multilingual students’ academic literacy in English, this study examined the teaching and learning of synthesis writing in a university L2 composition course. Within a multidimensional view of literacy and discourses of writing, I conducted classroom-based qualitative multiple case studies, in which both the teacher’s experience with synthesis instruction and four Chinese undergraduate students’ engagement in synthesis writing were examined. Guided by the constructivist model of discourse synthesis–organizing, selecting and connecting (Spivey, 1990, 1997)–from the L1 composition literature, I investigated the teacher’s task representation of synthesis, the students’ developmental trajectories of learning to write a synthesis, and the individual and contextual factors that contributed to their varied writing abilities while approaching synthesis tasks. Over a five-month period comprising one academic semester, I collected multiple sources of data, including semi-structured interviews, stimulated-recall protocols, writing samples, recordings of teacher-student writing tutorials, classroom observation field notes, course-related documents and artifacts, and surveys. These data were analyzed inductively and triangulated to explore different aspects of the teaching and learning of synthesis writing. The findings of the study revealed that both the teacher’s task representation of synthesis and the students’ products and processes of synthesis writing involved the three operations–organizing, selecting and connecting–albeit to various degrees among the student participants. Thus, it appears that the constructivist model of discourse synthesis from the L1 domain can be applied to the L2 context in teaching and researching synthesis writing; however, it should be reevaluated with careful consideration of L2 students’ understanding of sources, given that source use had a strong impact on the quality of their synthesis papers. Furthermore, the study confirmed that reading abilities and strategies were important predictors for L2 students’ success in synthesis writing, which underscored the interconnectedness of reading and writing in synthesizing. The study also found that the L2 writers’ motivation to learn academic writing and some contextual factors, such as classroom instruction, tutorial interaction, and prior writing knowledge, were important variables to consider when examining the complex interaction between the teaching and learning of synthesis. This research has thus extended our understanding about L2 reading-writing connections through a close examination of the sophisticated literacy acts of synthesizing performed by the student participants in the study. The study has also contributed to the L2 source-based writing and literacy research by bringing a focus on synthesis writing within an authentic classroom setting and taking a transfer perspective to study learning over time. Indeed, transfer played an important role in exploring the students’ encounters with synthesis writing.
Alan Hirvela, Ph.D. (Advisor)
George Newell, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Lin Ding, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
332 p.
Composition; Education; English As A Second Language; Literacy; Pedagogy; Teaching
writing from sources; discourse synthesis; reading and writing connections; task representation; learning to write; transfer of learning; Chinese undergraduate students; multilingual students

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zhao, R. (2015). Exploring Reading and Writing Connections in the Synthesis Writing of Multilingual Students in a Second Language Writing Classroom [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1433507195

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zhao, Ruilan. Exploring Reading and Writing Connections in the Synthesis Writing of Multilingual Students in a Second Language Writing Classroom. 2015. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1433507195.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zhao, Ruilan. "Exploring Reading and Writing Connections in the Synthesis Writing of Multilingual Students in a Second Language Writing Classroom." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1433507195

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.