Though the notion of the "problem" is central to self-directed and research-like problem-oriented learning approaches in universities, few studies have focused on how students themselves conceptualize it. The purpose of this study is to investigate how university students communicatively frame "the problem-oriented problem" in…

Can online collaboration yield a positive effect on academic writing in a foreign language? If so, what exactly is the added value, compared to individual writing, and (how) does it translate to better output? These are the central questions addressed in this paper. L2 writing research has long highlighted the benefits of collaboration in terms of…

This study documents how a high school ESL teacher working with new immigrants ages 14-20 supported the development of their critical thinking and English language skills by using advertising analysis activities. The article examines the use of key critical questions for analyzing media messages and documents instructional activities designed to…

Academic writing, individual or collaborative, is an essential skill for today's graduates. Unfortunately, managing writing activities and providing feedback to students is very labor intensive and academics often opt out of including such learning experiences in their teaching. We describe the architecture for a new collaborative writing support…

This paper discusses writing as a social practice and speculates on how wikis might be used to promote higher quality academic writing and support collaborative learning. This study of undergraduate teacher trainees' online learning activities focuses on how shared spaces--wikis--might be used to communicate ideas and generate course-specific…

Students must reconsider the nature of composing and their identities as writers when working on a jointly authored piece of writing, such as a two-page report on a particular area in a university library. Looking at the ways workshop groups interact to produce a piece of collaborative writing and a joint oral presentation offers insight into the…

Asks whether concerns over helping students enter the academic discourse community are not at odds with the pedagogical aims of the interpretive community of the classroom. Suggests that teachers engage students in a dialogue that respects the complexity and value of both student and academic discourse. (RS)

Outlines a collaborative writing exercise designed to help students develop position statements for persuasive essays. Notes that this exercise helps students adopt the discursive style and language of the academic community, as well as develop reader-based arguments. (MM)