Discovering the writer's voice : ESL students and the writing process
Date
1985
Authors
Rhynas, Elinor
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This two-month study investigated the dynamics involved in the relationship between writers and their readers as a technique for developing writing ability in English as a second language (ESL) students .
The theoretical framework for this study was based on research on the composing processes of native speakers of English (Britton, Moffett and Murray, among others) and English as a second language student writers (Kaplan, Zamel and Taylor).
The subjects were twelve ESL students, four females and eight males, enrolled in a university remedial writing course. The language groups represented were Arabic, Cantonese, Farsi, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish and Urdu.
The oral discourse techniques gave writers the opportunity to rehearse, through oral discourse with prospective readers , what they would write before they actually did so. When the first draft was written, readers gave feedback to writers regarding the clarity of the content, rather than the correctness of form. Interactions were observed and audiotaped. Analyses were made of a pre- treatment questionnaire, during- treatment verbal interactions and first and final drafts, and end- of- treatment interviews.
Results indicated that the oral discourse techniques were effective in helping ESL students develop good writing skills.
Discussion with a prospective reader before writing, together with feedback from the reader after writing, encouraged writers to clarify and revise. Revision strategies reflected those used by successful writers, as outlined in studies by Sommers (1980), Faigley and Witte (1981) and Schwartz (1983).
These findings were interpreted as support for an interactive model for the writing process, where writing is treated not as a separate skill, but one involving all of the language skills. Contributions made by this study to both ESL research and pedagogical practice include: (1) the development of an ethnographic, qualitative instrument, ELLVISS (English Language learners' Verbal Interaction Scoring System); (2) the development of a model for the interactive process of writing; and (3) a new direction for the teaching of writing to ESL students.