This qualitative case study explores the trajectory of one English writing teacher's self-directed development. The teacher's self-directed development incorporated the use of drama-based pedagogy, in assisting student writers' topic knowledge development. The study shows that the teacher's initial journey of self-directed development was zigzag,…

This paper outlines evaluation of practitioner research into a writing development intervention used with a group of international students studying at Masters level in a UK university. The research was motivated by our understanding that academic writing is a task which provokes significant anxiety for students. Our methodology was informed by…

Sociocultural theory (SCT) is a powerful basis for exploring and guiding L2 (second/foreign language) learner development. For the most part, however, the focus of classroom SCT-L2 has been on single activities, for example, teacher mediation of learners' writing process or peer scaffolding. In this paper, we expand on these studies, building on…

The study aimed at investigating the effects of peer feedback on students' English writing ability in L2 writing class. A mixed-methods research, an embedded experimental design was employed, making use of a writing pretest and post-test and self-written reflection in the experiment. Data were quantitatively analyzed through a dependent simple…

Lecturers are challenged when creating safe, dialogic-educative spaces for first-year students (freshman), where optimal teaching-learning of academic writing can be accomplished. This paper reports on a project aimed at creating a safe, dialogic-educative space in which first-year students may attain and practice academic writing skills providing…

The 7 articles in this 8th volume comprise the referred proceedings of the 2012 ATLAANZ (Association of Tertiary Learning Advisors Aotearoa/New Zealand) conference. The first three chapters present tools that can assist students with their academic development: In chapter 1, ("The DELNA Language Advisory Session: How do Students…

Research on expert performance suggests that deliberate practice provides optimal opportunities for expertise development. This study examined whether the provision of computer-based scaffolding (CBS) guiding deliberate practice facilitates students' development of writing expertise. A CBS environment "escribo" was designed to externally…

Copious researches argue the effectiveness of peer-correction in writing courses (e.g., Connor & Asenavage, 1994). Also, Coit (2004) mentions using peer feedback for correcting articles through a student-centered environment is a beneficial pedagogy to extend learners' academic-style writing practice. Therefore, this study focused on…

A study investigated whether a change in focus, viewing student writing as a process rather than a product, would have a significant positive effect on writing skill development. Secondarily, the study examined the effectiveness of actual teaching techniques, including a series of writing tasks interspersed with student-teacher interaction and the…

Observed English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing classes in Canada in order to document what the ESL instructors do when they teach. Findings reveal that the instructors gave more attention to collectively constructing language paradigms and to guiding individual development than other routines, and attracted student's attention in one way or…

This article considers the development in understanding of aspects of formative assessment of students' writing at Key Stage 3 (11-14 years) by a group of trainee English teachers. An "analysis and application" approach to writing development, which requires students to master categories and processes then apply them, is outlined and…

This booklet is intended to help parents and teachers of primary school children understand children's growth, development, and learning. The first section, following a general introduction, lists methods parents and teachers can use to share information about children, schools, and classrooms. The second section discusses the learning process,…