Geocomposition engages students in writing on the move in order to explore how such writing composes the multiple layers of public places. This article describes a collaborative, location-based composition project designed for students to rhetorically engage a responsive public through locative media: media that work in and through specific sites.

Lexical richness makes an important contribution to L2 writing quality. To explore its importance, the study aims to identify and explain how lexical richness manifests in argumentative essays written in the final exam of reading and writing class by thirty-five undergraduates. The lexical richness consists of four interrelated elements: lexical…

This study investigates the impact on extemporaneous English-language first drafts by using Google Translate (GT) in three different tasks assigned to Chinese sophomore, junior, and senior students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) majoring in English. Students wrote first in Chinese (Step 1), then drafted corresponding texts in English (Step…

Learner autonomy is widely recognized as a desirable educational goal in second or foreign language learning. However, the generality of the concept often makes it difficult to either nurture or measure the related traits. The present study focused on learner autonomy in the area of writing, exploring the use of the process approach as a means to…

Developing students' communicative competence became the primary goal of the current College English Curriculum Requirements in 2004 in China. There has been increasing concern, however, that this goal has yet to be realized, particularly in relation to the teaching of writing. This study investigated the potential of a Systemic Functional…

This paper presents the first phase of a study conducted to analyze Knowledge Building forums for evidence of second language acquisition. This study is an analysis of the posts within an existing forum in search of evidence of foreign language learning. The analysis found that the collaborative writing project shows evidence that the students…

Recent multilingual perspectives view second language writing as part of a language user's dynamic multilingual repertoire, always occurring in the (cognitive and social) context of some first language(s), and often of first language literacy and/or use of other languages. This paper focuses on one element of written language (lexical…

As culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms become increasingly common, research looking at ways teachers can support language and literacy practices of all students in these spaces is needed. Using qualitative methods, this project examined second-grade, multilingual students' practices during a Writing Workshop activity that invited them…

Previous studies have identified that genres and genre knowledge are not only pivotal for the development of writing expertise but also for facilitating writing-related transfer. However, little research concerns issues of teaching genres for writing transfer to first-year English as a second language (L2) writers at universities in the US. This…

Of all English Language skills, writing poses the greatest challenge for students due to the demands of style, structure and vocabulary. Even if second language learners (L2 learners) can speak the language well enough for everyday activities--shopping, traveling, and so on, producing an academic write-up that is precise, accurate, objective and…

Many students with learning disabilities (LD) and emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) struggle with the writing process. Technology has shown to be effective in supporting prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and publishing of written products. This article explains the use of one technology-based graphic organizer with embedded…

The objective of this action research study was to assess the impact of the Process-Based Approach (PBA) on the development of the writing skills of young students who are learning English as a Foreign Language. The participants included 12 third-grade students from a bilingual private school in Manizales, Caldas. Six workshops were implemented,…

Recent literature on the use of exemplars in the context of higher education has shown that exemplar-based instruction is implemented in various disciplines; nevertheless, how exemplar-based instruction can be implemented in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing classrooms in higher education institutions remains under-explored. In this…

It is now five years since the introduction of the current National Curriculum for English in England; it is just over 50 years since the Dartmouth Conference drew together American and English educationalists. This paper reports on a hermeneutic study that presents voices from the field of English teaching in England. It asks questions of today's…

The significance of feedback in the learning process, including that in second language (L2) writing pedagogy has been widely recognized. Many studies investigating the effect of feedback on students' writing have indicated that the feedback process helps students improve their writing quality. However, few studies exist that focus on how the…