TESTS

2008

This is to certify that the
thesis entitled

A PATHWAY BETWEEN ACADEMIC AND ESL CLASSES:
ACADEMIC TASKS AND THEIR POTENTIAL IMPACT ON
TEACHING AND TESTING WRITING

 

presented by

93
>- 59' 3‘
(I: (D a) NUR YIGITOGLU
<1 g 21-,
.__ :5 .
l—J o a
| ._.. has been accepted towards fulfillment
\ 2 of the requirements for the
L...-—-——--""""’!

Master of degree in Teaching English to Speakers
Arts

 

of Other Languages LTESOL)

Major Professor’s Signature

Q7/ 2;: 207(-

Date

 

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer

PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record.
TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due.
MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested.

 

DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5/08 K:IPro,/Acc&Pres/CIRC/DateDue.indd

A PATHWAY BETWEEN ACADEMIC AND ESL CLASSES: ACADEMIC TASKS
AND THEIR POTENTIAL IMPACT ON TEACHING AND TESTING WRITING

By

Nur Yigitoglu

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

2008

ABSTRACT

A PATHWAY BETWEEN ACADEMIC AND ESL CLASSES: ACADEMIC TASKS AND
POTENTIAL IMPACT ON TEACHING AND TESTING WRITTN G

By

Nur Yigitoglu

The present study attempts to fill a gap in L2 writing research literature by examining
large samples of syllabi and assignment handouts in university content classes and
investigating their potential impact on ESL writing classes. In the first part of the study,
the investigated constructs were the categories of writing assignments of various
programs, their cognitive demands, and their prompt formats. Content analysis design
was employed to categorize a variety of assignments from approximately four
departments from each college at a large Midwestern university. After syllabi and
handouts from 350 different content courses were collected, a descriptive scheme was
developed. Results indicated that, among the out-of-class writing assignments students
were required to do in content classes, the most fiequent genres were research papers and
reaction papers. The results also revealed their cognitive demands differed according to
the level of the courses for which the assignments were given. Analyses also indicated
that text-based prompts are the most common prompts in these assignments. The second
part of the study investigated the potential impact of such content analyses on actual ESL
teaching. 13 ESL writing teachers were interviewed. Results revealed that the potential
impact of such analyses depended on the proficiency level of ESL classes. The ways to
establish an agenda for future research based on the teachers’ comments are also

discussed.

Copyrighted by
NUR YIGITOGLU

2008

DEDICATION
I dedicate my thesis to my father, who was tremendously supportive of my pursuing a
degree in a graduate school in the U.S., and who passed away before seeing the final

product and my next step in a doctoral program.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“[A]ll of us who have tried to write something in a second language [...] sense
that the process of writing in an L2 startlingly different from writing in our L1”. Quoting
Raimes (1985, p. 232), I confess that I had not realized this difference before writing a
research study on L2 writing. As a second language writer, I found this process
challenging and I want to acknowledge some people who supported me before and during
my thesis writing.

I would first like to express my gratitude to Dr. Charlene Polio, my committee
chair. Dr. Polio gave me the inspiration to start and guidance to complete my thesis. Her
comments, questions, and concerns have developed my understanding of L2 writing
research. She has also been my mentor throughout my pursuit of a master’s degree and
her encouragement and support has been valuable.

I would also like to thank Dr. Debra Friedman, my academic and thesis advisor.
The independent study Dr. Friedman developed for me gave me a strong background on
genre theory, on which I based the theoretical background of my thesis. Her support,
guidance and constructive feedback have been incredibly helpful in improving the final
version.

I am also indebted to the professors, ESL instructors, and raters who made this
study possible. I wish to thank Dilek Yazici for supporting and encouraging me from
afar. I also would like to thank Fulbright Commission for giving me a chance and

financial support to complete my MA degree at Michigan State University.

Lastly, I would like to thank my parents, Aziz and Gulnaz Yigitoglu, for their
emotional and financial support. Even though they are hundred of miles away, their love

and thoughts are always here with me.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................... ix
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................... x
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
2. REVIEW OF RESEARCH ........................................................................ 2
2.1. Research on content classes ........................................................... 3
2.1.1 General analysis of writing assignments in content classes ............ 3

2.1.2 Focused analysis of writing assignments in content classes ............ 5

2.2. Faculty and student views on academic writing ................................... 6
2.3. Different definitions of genre ......................................................... 9

2.3.1 Social context analysis: The New Rhetoric .............................. 10

2.3.2 Textual features analyses: The Australian School and ESP ............ 11

2.3.2.1 The Australian School ........................................... 11
2.3.3 A working definition of genre ............................................ 14

2.4. Defining community .................................................................. 15

3. STUDY ONE .................................................................................... 17
3.1. Research questions ................................................................... 17

3 .2. Method ................................................................................. l 8

3.2.1 Context ....................................................................... 18

3.2.2 Data collection ............................................................... 19

3.2.3 Response rate ................................................................ 21

3.2.4 Definitions .................................................................. 21

3.2.5 Analysis ...................................................................... 25

3.2.6 Interrater reliability ......................................................... 28

3.3 Results .................................................................................... 29

3.3.1 Research Question 1: Genres ............................................. 29

3.3.2 Research Question 2: Cognitive demands .............................. 33

3.3.3 Research Question 3: Prompt format ...................................... 34

4. STUDY TWO .................................................................................... 35
4.1 Research questions ..................................................................... 35

4.2 Method .................................................................................. 36

4.2.1 Data collection ............................................................... 36

4.2.2 Participants .................................................................. 37

4.2.3. Analysis ...................................................................... 38

4.3 Results ................................................................................... 39

4.3.1 The effect of proficiency level ............................................. 39
4.3.2 Focus on the basics ......................................................... 40
4.3.3 The potential impact of knowledge about the writing demands of
content classes on ESL .............................................................................. 43
4.3.3.1. Practical considerations ......................................... 43
4.3.3.2. The importance of genre ....................................... 45
4.3.4 ESL writing teachers’ suggestions for further research ................ 46
5. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................... 53
5.1 The use of technology ................................................................. 54
5.2 Cognitive levels of writing assignments ............................................ 55
5.3 Genre based teaching and assessment ............................................... 56
5.4 Prompt formats and their influences ................................................ 58
6. DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ................................................ 61
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Definitions of different genres observed in the analysis ..................... 64
APPENDIX B: Interview guide ................................................................... 67
APPENDIX C: Recruiting advertisement for study one ......................................... 70
APPENDIX D: Informed letter of consent for study two ..................................... 73
REFERENCES ...................................................................................... 76

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Previous research on writing assignments ................................................ 3
Table 2 Distribution of syllabi across disciplines ............................................... 20
Table 3 Prompt format ............................................................................. 24
Table 4 Some examples of genre ................................................................. 26
Table 5 Comparison of results regarding genre ................................................. 32
Table 6 Participants in ESL teacher interviews ................................................ 38
Table 7 Questions suggested by ESL writing instructors ...................................... 47

ix

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Bloom’s Taxonomy ....................................................................... 22
Figure 2 Distribution of genres in writing assignments across disciplines .................. 30
Figure 3 Distribution of cognitive demands of writing assignments across disciplines. . .33

Figure 4 Percentages of prompt format in writing assignments .............................. 35

1. Introduction

Teaching and assessing ESL writing appropriately is difficult. Its difficulty may
come from its complex nature. For instance, a writing teacher or assessor, when
designing a writing prompt, should consider format, procedure, genre, length of time,
students’ level and interest and level of the assignment, topic choice, and whether to offer
a choice of prompts or not. In planning ESL writing classes, and in designing writing
prompts, teachers and/or assessors are alone deciding all these criteria. Horowitz (1986)
suggested that creating realistic writing tasks largely depended on EAP teachers’
“guesswork” (p. 445). Thus, writing requirements in university content classes is an area
that needs to be investigated to shed some light on the complex process of teaching as
well as assessing ESL writing.

Research studies which have focused on academic writing for the last 20 years
have emphasized the importance of academic writing (e.g. Horowitz, 1986; Leki &
Carlson, 1997; Rosenfeld, Leung, & Oltman, 2001; Samraj, 2002). However, as Russel
(1991) noted, “the role of writing in academia -both research and teaching- remained
largely transparent, unexamined” (p.10). Taking its importance into account, researchers
have attempted to look at this issue from different perspectives and give some insights to
teachers and assessors (e.g. Hinkel, 2004; Hyland, 2003; Swales & Feak, 2000, 2004).

Brown (2004) acknowledged that research in academic writing performance was
generally restricted by “the pedagogical necessities of establishing the basic building
blocks of writing” (p. 232). As such, what to teach, and accordingly, what to assess in
academic writing has remained an unresolved issue. This need to better understand the

nature and types of academic tasks required in academia and to gain some insight about

teaching academic writing have led researchers to explain and describe academic writing
assignments (Carson, 2001; Horowitz, 1986; Hale, Taylor, Bridgeman, Carson., Kroll, &
Kantor, R.,1996; Reid 2001). Rarely, however, has research investigated the impact of
this type of analysis, which can also be seen as an initial needs analysis, on actual ESL
teaching and assessing. This study examines university syllabi and assignment handouts
to determine the cognitive demands, genre, and prompt format of the writing tasks in
content classes. As such, the intent of the present study is to understand the nature of the
academic tasks in mainstream university courses. In addition, this study further
investigates the possible impact of this type of analysis on actual ESL teaching and

assessing through interviews with ESL teachers.

2. Review of research

Prior work in the area of second language writing has attempted to describe academic
writing assignments from different perspectives. The previous research studies in this
area can be grouped in three main classes: the research studies that investigated the
writing assignments in content classes in general, the research studies that focused on
only specific areas such as business andengineering, and the research studies that looked
at faculty and student views on academic writing. The basic information about the

literature in this area is summarized in Table l.

Table 1. Previous research on writing assignments

 

General analysis of writing
assignments

in content classes

Horowitz (1986): N= 36
Hale et al. (1996): N=162

 

Focused analysis of writing
assignments

in content classes

Zhu (2004a): N= 95
Jackson, Meyer, and Parkinson (2006):N= 47

 

Faculty and student views on

academic writing

 

 

Zhu (2004a): 6 participants
Zhu (2004b): 11 participants
Leki and Carson (1997): 27 participants

 

In this table, N refers to the number of writing assignment items that are analyzed.

2. 1. Research on content classes

2. 1. 1. General analysis of writing assignments in content classes

The first research attempting to describe academic writing assignments was
Horowitz (1986), which this research expanded upon. Before Horowitz, this kind of
research on assignments had been analyzed with the help of surveys (e.g., Bridgman &
Carlson, 1984; Johns, 1981; Kroll, 1979; Ostler, 1980), which asked university students
and faculty members to classify writing assignments. As these could not satisfactorily
explain the actual nature of assignments, the perspective of the research and results were
limited, Horowitz tried to fill a gap in this area. The research was conducted at Western
Illinois University. The researcher contacted 750 faculty members, 36 of whom sent data

that could be used in that specific study. Horowitz requested tests which had included

writing tasks and handouts of any assignments to analyze.

 

Analyzing their differences, Horowitz found seven categories of assignments,
which were summaries of or reactions to reading, annotated bibliographies, reports on a
specified participatory experience, connections between theory and data, case studies,
syntheses of multiple sources, and research projects. This study was unique in that it was
the first descriptive study which examined actual handouts and examinations, but the
small response rate made it difficult to generalize the conclusions. Moreover, it only
included assignments at the undergraduate level.

In the most comprehensive study carried out thus far, Hale et a1. (1996) analyzed
writing tasks assigned in 162 graduate and undergraduate courses in various disciplines at
eight universities in a research report conducted by Educational Testing Service. The data
consisted of course syllabi and copies of all writing tasks assigned in those courses were
requested. After collecting the assigned writing tasks, they developed a database out of
162 sets.

The researchers employed two steps in the classification scheme of the data
collected: First, they examined the data, and reported their observations of the writing
tasks classified by discipline. Next, they examined the rest of the materials closely, and,
at the end, developed an initial classification scheme. As they analyzed the data, some
additions were made to the scheme. After a tentative classification scheme was
established, a preliminary classification of sample assignments was made in order to
observe the final adjustments needed. After the final adjustments, the final version of the
classification scheme was applied to all assignment sets. They examined the frequency of
assignment types in both in-class and out-of-class writing assignments, as well as the

characteristics of essay assignments. Results provided a classification scheme to shed

some light in the area. The results regarding genre included ten categories: essay, library
research paper, report of experiment/ observation without interpretation, report of
experiment/ observation with interpretation, summary (includes annotated bibliography
without comment), case study, plan/ proposal, documented computer program, book
review, and unstructured writing. This survey, including more data, reported a larger

range of genres than Horowitz (1986).

2. 1.2. Focused analysis of writing assignments in content
classes

Other studies have reported the writing demands of content courses in particular
disciplines. Zhu (2004a) reported a study on the analysis of assignment types in business
courses. He collected 95 course syllabi and handouts of writing assignments. Similar to
Hale et a1. (1996), this research study also included writing assignments required in
undergraduate and graduate courses in six departments in the college of business
administration at a large university in the United States. Twelve students’ writing
samples, handouts, portions of textbooks required of writing assignments, records of
discussions with business professors, and qualitative interviews with business faculty
members were analyzed to better understand the .characteristic nature of the major
business assignments.

Zhu came up with nine genre types of business assignments: case analysis,
article/book report, business report, business proposal, design project, library research,

reflection paper, letters and memos, research proposal/ paper, and miscellaneous.

Jackson, Meyer, and Parkinson (2006) investigated the types and amounts of
writing and reading tasks expected from undergraduate science students at a South
African university. The research was based on questionnaires given to academic faculty
across three campuses. After the questionnaires were distributed, a total of 47
questionnaires were received representing 14 disciplines: agriculture, biochemistry,
biology, botany, chemistry, computer science, dietetics, geography, geology,
microbiology, mathematics, physics, statistics and zoology. The results regarding writing
tasks suggested that three and four pieces of writing on average were expected of students
per semester-long module and report was the most common genre of writing tasks. When
grading these tasks, academic faculty appeared to pay attention to the organization of
written assignments followed by the attention to referencing conventions. This study
demonstrated the importance of analyzing faculty expectations to better understand the
nature of writing tasks required in content classes. The findings of this study would have
been more generalizable if a larger sample from other institutions were included. In

addition, using questionnaires to do this kind of research might limit the results.

2.2. Faculty and student views on academic writing

Some researchers have investigated faculty views on academic writing. Zhu
(2004b) examined faculty views on the importance and nature of writing. Data were
collected from ten interviews with business and engineering faculty members. Among the
faculty members contacted via e-mail, the volunteers were interviewed and then these
tape-recorded interviews were transcribed and coded. The results showed that although

the importance of academic writing was emphasized by the business and engineering

faculty, some differences in the nature of academic writing skills could be found in
different disciplines. Zhu (2004b) demonstrated the importance of looking at this issue
from the insider’s point of view, which was, in this specific case, faculty members in
different departments. But one of the limitations of this study was the small sample size
of the research involved. Thus, it is difficult to draw general conclusions from such a
small size. The greater limitation to Zhu’s work is that it is limited to a business context.
As such, it might only be useful and sufficient for a business context.

Leki and Carson (1997) analyzed the discrepancy between content and ESL
classes from an emic perspective, that is, the perspective of ESL students. In in-depth
interviews with non-native English speaking university students, they explored how
students perceive writing under different conditions. Interviews were conducted in two
different phases in the same term so that students could get a chance to experience these
three different writing conditions. They found three different academic writing situations
that emerged through the content analysis of the interviews: writing without a source text,
writing with a source text as springboard only, and writing with responsibility for source
text content.

The results of the interviews suggested that writing requirements in ESL classes
did not prepare students for their academic career in content classes. They found that in
academic classes, the students were required to demonstrate their knowledge of the
source text, but in ESL classes their personal experiences became source of content. They
suggested that the difference between writing tasks and demands for ESL and those for
content courses necessitated authentic writing tasks which would go beyond personal

narratives and help students prepare for academic classes.

While focused analyses of assignments are useful for a specific context, more
studies should be done to see the distribution of writing assignments across various
domains. In addition, prior work on general analyses of writing assignments is a good
representation of writing assignments in content classes, but they need to be updated after
a period of time.

In comparing previous studies on general analysis of writing assignments, one can
see that there can be some differences in identified patterns. For example, there were
some major differences between Horowitz (1986) and Hale et al. (1996). Although there
were common broad findings such as summaries, reports on a specified participatory
experience, and case studies, Hale et al. (1996) found different requirements such as book
reviews, unstructured writing, library research papers, plans/ proposals, and documented
computer programs.

In addition, as a result of the different coding schemes employed in these
assignments, there were differences between those findings which were seemingly
common. Hale et al used more precise categories, while Horowitz put everything together
into one category. For instance, Horowitz (1986) found a category that consisted of
reports on a specified participatory experience, but Hale et al. (1996) found two different
categories that may correspond to this single category: report of experiment/ observation
without interpretation and report of experiment/ observation with interpretation.

Similarly, the genre Horowitz (1986) identified as “summary of/ reaction to a
reading” was not the same as the “summary” Hale et al. (1996) reported, because the

genre Horowitz analyzed included both summary and reaction, whereas the analysis in

Hale et al. (1996) revealed that summary also included annotated bibliography without
interpretation.

The present study expands upon Horowitz (1986) with a larger sample size from
various departments. But Miller (1984/ 1994b) also suggested that genres change over
time. Thus, in order to investigate possible changes in identified patterns in literature and
contribute to the validity of results of the previous studies, prior work needs to be
updated. Thus, considering that genres are changing, this study also updates the findings
of Hale et al. (1996).

The gap between academic and ESL writing classes has always been an issue.
One possible way to shed light on this area can be analyzing the assignments given in
content classes and develop ESL writing syllabi and curricula accordingly. Thus, these
studies can benefit ESL instructors in a way that they will have a clearer picture of their
students' needs. It is intended to benefit ESL students in that the instructors will be able to

better meet their needs.

2.3. Different definitions of genre

A focus on genre is important for this study because previous research has
examined is the genre demands of content courses. But this term is used differently by
different people, and it is therefore important to come to a clear understanding of what
genre is. As Johns (2007) has stated, people should have a definition of the term genre
before using it because of the firzziness of the term itself. Different schools in genre
theory define and investigate genre in various ways. Therefore, a short summary of

different definitions will be provided in this section.

Most definitions of genre have emphasized the importance of the similar
situations or contexts that help to categorize the formal features of a text. 'Ihese situations
might have some commonalities in terms of conventions and expectations and construct a
common pattern which helps people to recognize the genre and its key features. On the
other hand, some definitions have focused on the text and its internal or linguistic
conventions and assume that one can understand the situations through an analysis of the
textual features. It is important to note that whether the focus is on texts or contexts, all of
them seem to focus on the purpose or fimction of a text as a central part of the meaning of
genre. According to Hyon (1996), current genre theories can be divided into three main
schools, namely, the New Rhetoric, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and the
Australian School. These main schools in genre analysis differ in their approach to genre
analysis and their application of these approaches to the methods of teaching genre: the
New Rhetoric analyzes social context whereas ESP and the Australian School focus on

textual features.

2.3. 1. Social context analysis: The New Rhetoric

The New Rhetoric views genre as a part of society and community. For these
scholars, genre knowledge can be obtained by investigating the society and the context
for which the text is written. Therefore, in their analysis of genre, they focus on the
members and ideology of the discourse communities to define the features of genre.
Miller (1984/ 1994b) proposed that the definition of genre had to be based “not on the
substance or the form of discourse, but on the action it is used to accomplish” (p. 24). She

proposed a type of hierarchy which included genre at higher levels as the “substance of

10

forms” (p. 37). In this way, genre seemed to be a large category which might include
various types of text-types. As such, she defined genres as “typified rhetorical actions
based in recurrent situations” (p. 31). In her definition, she located genre within a social
context which helped to interpret the actions or patterns that were similar. According to

Coe (2002), the example of political brief as a genre would be under this system.

2.3.2. Textual features analyses: The Australian School and ESP

The Australian School and ESP in genre theory focus on the linguistic analysis of
a text. They also agree that these linguistic forms are the product of the social purpose of
the genre. According to these schools, teaching genre conventions and features can help

the student to develop an understanding of genres.

2.3.2.1. The Australian School

Although ESP and the Australian school look at the linguistic features of a text,
they differ in terms of the kinds of texts that they classify as genres. For example, Martin
(2002), a representative of the Australian School in genre theory, defined genre as “a
term I use to name configurations of meaning that are recurrently phased together to
enact social practices” (p. 269). Thus, the focus in his definition of genre was distinctive
configurations of oral and written texts. He suggested some macro-genres such as service

encounter family (e.g., mail orders, small shop transactions), appointment family (e.g.

11

conference announcements, program scheduling), and interviewing (e. g. cross

examination, counseling).

2.3.2.2. ESP

However, Paltridge (2002), an ESP practitioner, classifies those texts as “text
types” which he distinguishes from genre. Borrowing from Biber (1989), Paltridge
explains the term genre in the following way:

For him [Biber], the term genre characterized text on the basis of external criteria,

such as a text that is written or spoken by a particular person, for a particular

audience, in particular context, for a particular purpose, and viewed by the

discourse community as being an example of the particular genre. (p. 73-74)
Paltridge (2002) distinguished text types from the term “genre” stating that the definition
of text types could be based on rhetorical modes such as problem solution, exposition, or
argument types. For him, these types showed similarity in their internal discourse
patterns. At this point, he agreed with Pilegaard and Frandsen (as cited in Paltridge,
2002), stating that text types were based on their “internal criteria”, whereas genres were
based on their “text external features and differences relating to the extralinguistic
context” (p. 77).

Similarly, Bhatia (2002), another ESP practioner, distinguished several levels of
generic description to explain the concept of genre. She claimed that there were different
levels of communication and explained her argument as follows:

The emerging picture, thus, posits at least three levels of conceptualization. At the

top level we see the category of generic value, which is essentially independent of

any grounded contextual constraints. The second level is that of more general
genre colony, but these are rather loosely contextualized in terms of socially

12

recognizable situations. Finally, at the third level, we have what we call
individually identifiable generic constructs [genres]. (p. 281)

As such, Bhatia argued that the communicative purpose of the genre could be attained by
rhetorical/ generic values, which formed genre colony. In this way, these genre colonies
included various genres.

The most famous practioner of ESP, Swales (1990), in his definition of genre,
emphasized that a particular genre included different communicative events. He stated
further that the members of these communicative events had some common
communicative purposes. According to him, the authorities of parent discourse
community introduced and justified the purposes of a genre. As such, his definition
suggested that these authorities affected and restrained its content and style. Besides the
discourse community, the main point in his definition was the communicative events that
could give information about the communicative purposes of the genre. He explained
that these purposes were realized through patterns of structure, style, content and
audience of the genre. These linguistic patterns allow members of the community to
realize a particular genre as being prototypical. In addition, in his description of genre,
Swales also proposed that discourse communities label and validate the name of a genre.
There was also communication between different communities in time, because some
discourse communities generally validated these identified names and transferred them to

their own communities.

13

2. 3. 3. A working definition of genre

As seen from the definitions listed above, definition of genre comprises many
things to take into consideration. Tardy (as cited in Johns, Bawarshi, Coe, Hyland,
Paltridge, Reiff & Tardy, 2006) granted that genre as a concept was complex. She
suggested the process of unpacking genre, which was also related to her definition of
genre:

Whether we choose to analyze genres in terms of their textual features, social

actions, communities of practice, power structures, or the networks and modalities

in which they operate (and individual researchers nearly always need to limit
themselves to only some of these), we know that we are only seeing a partial view
of all that is ‘going on’ (p. 9f).
As such, Tardy defined genre as a multidimensional concept, whose levels should be
dealt with separately in different stages of second language learning.

Although genre is difficult to define, it is necessary to have a clear definition for
research purposes. Previous researchers also defined genre for the purposes of their own
research. For instance, Hale et al. (1996) defined genre as “the task and conventional
form associated with the product that is likely to result from the task” (p.11). That is, they
analyzed the purpose (i.e. “task”) and the conventional form used to accomplish that
purpose.

For the purposes of this research, genre is defined according to Swales’ definition
because these categories reflect the community’s perspective. As Johns (2003)

commented, researchers coming fi'om an ESP approach have categorized genres with the

discourse communities they emerged from and, in this way, they use “the nomenclature

14

of these communities” to recognize the important and established genres in the area being
questioned (p. 206).

In addition, the goal of the present study is to see the “communicative purpose” of
the genres within each community. Most genres required in these academic departments
have some features in common and these are established by the audience, in other words,
professors in these departments. As Paltridge pointed out “Genres are ways in which
people ‘get things done’ through their use of language in particular contexts” (as cited in
Johns, et al., 2006, p.5). Considering the fact that one “purpose” of these assignments is
for students to display their knowledge of the subject matter, these assignments may not
always be the same as the genres in use by the expert members of the community. But
still, one may argue that the genres required within the same departments may serve
common purposes that are shared by most of the faculty in these departments. Thus, the
genres analyzed in this research construct “a class of communicative events, the members

of which share some set of communicative purposes” (Swales, 1990, p. 58).

2.4. Defining community

When one analyzes genre, the concept of discourse community always comes to
mind. This is understandable because a genre is a part of what constitutes a community.
Thus, it is possible to say that, in fact, the concepts of genre and community are like two
sides of a coin: they need one another in order to be defined.

For the purposes of this study, the concept of community is defined according to

Swales’ definition. Swales (1990) used the term discourse community to refer to the

15

group of people who shaped the genre. His approach to this type of community was a
broad one, because his definition might contain many different types of corrrrnunities,
including but not limited to academic communities. According to him, a group needs to
have six characteristics in order to be defined as a discourse community: shared goals,
mechanisms of intercommunication, participatory mechanisms for information and
feedback, one or more genres in the communicative utterance of its aims, some specific
lexis, and a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and
discoursal expertise. As in his definition of genre, he underlined the importance of
communication and “a class of communicative events” (p. 58). This time, he
acknowledged that the members of the community used genres as shared tools to
communicate with each other.

Other researchers also defined the concept of community. For instance, Hyland
(2000) focused only on academic community. He narrowed community down, and he
coined the term disciplinary cultures. According to him, disciplinary cultures had both
interdisciplinary diversity and intradisciplinary homogeneity. In other words, a particular
disciplinary culture must be both different from other disciplinary cultures
(interdisciplinary diversity) and have similarities among its members (intradisciplinary
homogeneity).

One of the points these definitions have in common is the general issue of being
similar in a group in terms of actions, such as having a common genre or genres and a
shared understanding of the purpose and form of the genre(s). In Hyland and Swales’
definitions, this issue comes along with being a member who has common interests,

nomenclature, and practices in a certain community. These members, according to them,

16

have collective goals, words, actions, and genres and these shared conventions in various

practices construct the community.

3. Study one

3. 1. Research questions

The first study serves as an extension of Horowitz (1986) and a replication of
Hale et al. (1996), and is an indicator of change in how university faculty use writing to
teach and assess content since those studies were conducted. It also expands upon the
general analyses of writing assignments in content classes so far. The timing of this study
is important to push the area forward because Horowitz (1986) was conducted nearly 20
years ago and Hale et a1. (1996) was conducted 10 years ago. To compare the results of
these kinds of studies, and in this way, analyze the change in the timeline, such studies
should be done periodically.

In addition, prior research in the area of writing assignments in content classes
have mainly looked at genre requirements (Horowitz, 1886; Hale et al. 1996; Zhu 2004a,
Jackson et a1, 2006) and only Hale et a1 (1996) have investigated cognitive demands of
such assignments given in content classes. The present study expands upon these studies
and investigates a new construct, prompt format, which has never been looked at before.

The following research questions guided the first part of this study:

1. What genres are required in non-language classes? How do these genres compare

to the genres found in Horowitz (1986) and Hale et al. (1996)?

2. What is the level of information processing required in these assignments?

3. What is the most common prompt format used in these assignments?

17

3.2. Method
3. 2. 1. Context

The study was conducted at a large Midwestern research university with a
population of nearly 46,000, a total of 36,000 undergraduate and 10,000 graduate and
professional at the time of the study. This study includes syllabi and handouts from 14
out of 16 colleges, which helps to maintain a representative sample of writing
assignments from different departments.

The research by Horowitz (1986) was conducted at a single university, as well.
Hale et al. (1996), however, included assignments from 8 different universities. It
included five disciplines fi'om the graduate level and these were business, chemistry, civil
engineering, computer science, and psychology. In addition to the undergraduate level
courses of these disciplines listed above, they also selected Economics, English, and
History.

What differs in the present study was, although the data were collected from a
single university, the disciplines were not selected as they were in Hale et al. (1996).
Thus, it was intended that data would represent all disciplines. In other words, this study

includes more departments represented but only one university.

l8

3. 2. 2. Data collection

For this research, syllabi for content classes were collected. There were two
methods of data collection in this research: searching online for publicly available syllabi
and assignment handouts and requesting syllabi and handouts which were not online. For
publicly available syllabi and handouts, which were collected in the first part of the data
collection, I selected three departments fi'om randomly selected colleges. These colleges
were College of Arts and Letters, College of Business, College of Natural Science,
College of Education, and College of Communication, Art and Sciences. For this stage, I
got all syllabi and handouts that were available online. In some cases, I was directed to
professors’ departmental web pages to download syllabi and handouts. At this point,
syllabi and handouts for 176 different courses were collected.

For the publicly unavailable syllabi and handouts, which were collected in the
second step of the data collection, the head of departments were contacted via email and
asked to forward an email requesting syllabi and handouts fi'om professors. In some
cases, if professors taught various classes, they provided me with different syllabi and
handouts. Some professors also provided extra information and materials without being
asked to do so. These extra materials included more information on expectations, grading
sheets, sample essays, guidelines for the assignments, and links to the websites that
helped better understand requirements of a particular genre in some disciplines. These
materials were also consulted when analyzing and coding the data.

At the end of two steps of data collection, syllabi and handouts from 350 different
courses were collected. The distribution of these courses across disciplines is as follows:

111 courses in sciences, 125 courses in social sciences and 114 courses in humanities.

l9

The distribution of syllabi including each discipline, number of departments represented,

and number of syllabi is summarized in Table 2.

Table 2: Distribution of syllabi across disciplines

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of Number of Syllabi
Departments Assignments
represented

Social Sciences 5 196 125

Sciences 4 175 1 1 l

Humanities 5 182 l 14

TOTAL 14 553 350

 

 

 

 

 

 

This type of data collection was different from Horowitz (1986) and Hale et al.
(1996). Horowitz sent a letter to the faculty members of a middle-sized university and got
a 5% response rate. Hale et al. (1996) selected five disciplines to be represented at the
graduate level (business, chemistry, civil engineering, computer science, and psychology)
and eight disciplines to be represented in undergraduate level (the five courses mentioned
above and economics, English and history). This replication, however, included a large

sample of both publicly available and non-publicly available data.

20

3. 2.3. Response rate

For the publicly available data, the data were searched for and collected online.
As a result, no response rate is reported. As far as publicly unavailable data is concerned,
an e-mail was sent to the head of each department in a large research university. The
number of people these heads of departments forwarded that request to was unknown.
Thus, the response rate in the present study could only be reported according to the
number of departments. Out of 48 different departments, 39 departments responded with
various data to be used in the study. Each of these departments sent me at least one
syllabus. Nine departments either did not respond, or rejected the request. As a result, the

response rate for the data collected via e-mail by department was 81%.

3. 2.4. Definitions

In this study, a writing assignment was defined as any piece of writing requiring
more than one or two sentences, which was the definition of an assignment used in Hale
et a1. (1996). All the assignments collected from content classes were considered to be
relevant if they fit this definition.

The second research question, which investigated cognitive demands of writing
assignments, was investigated only in Hale et a1. (1996). The classification scheme for
this question was adapted from Hale et al. (1996). This present study was unique in the
analysis of the level of information processing these assignments require. Hale et al.
(1996) analyzed their cognitive demands, and this analysis was loosely based on Bloom’s
taxonomy.

Bloom (Bloom B. S., 1956; Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., & Bertram, B. M.,

1973) suggested six different cognitive levels, each of which could help the educators to

21

categorize the level of information processing they require in tasks. These levels,
summarized in Figure 1, are knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis,
and evaluation. In this taxonomy, knowledge level requires the learner to remember the
information, comprehension involves comprehending the information presented and thus
converting and communicating it with new words, application means transferring the new
information and using it in new contexts, analysis involves deconstructing the new
knowledge, synthesis means reorganizing the data and evaluation requires the learner to

provide his/ her judgments.

Figure l: Bloom’s Taxonomy

Evaluation

 

Synthesis

 

Analysis

 

Application

 

Understanding

 

Knowledge

 

Taken from Southeast Missouri State University (2005). Accessed 2008, January at
<http://cstl.semo.edu/institute/2005 Surnmer/e-excuses/images/bloomstgxonomygif >

 

22

The third research question, regarding prompt format, was investigated only in
Hale et al. (1996). The classification scheme for this question was adapted from Kroll and
Reid (1994). A summary with the examples given in Kroll and Reid (1994) is included in
Table 3. In giving guidelines for designing writing prompts, Kroll and Reid (1994)
suggested three different formats: a bare prompt, a framed prompt, and a text based or
reading based prompt (p. 232). Bare prompts refer to simple statements and questions
explaining the task for the writers. Framed prompts include tasks which provide students
with a specific context to interpret and assess its implications. The third type of prompt, a
text-based prompt, provides students with either adapted or authentic reading passage to

develop ideas according to its content.

23

Table 3: Prompt Fonnat*

 

Bare

Prompts

Capital Punishment. Discuss.
Write an essay in which you discuss the reasons why you like or do

not [...]

 

Framed

Prompts

It always strikes me as a terrible shame to see young people spending
so much of their time staring at television. If we could unplug all TV
sets in America, our children would grow up to be healthier, better
educated, and more independent human beings.

Do you agree or disagree? Explain and illustrate your answer from
your own experience, your observation of others, or your reading
(used as a topic on the CUNY Writing Skills Assessment Test,

CUNY Task Force on Writing, 1983)

 

 

Text-based or
reading-based

prompts

 

How does Kluckhohn explain the differences and similarities among
the world’s peoples? What do you think about his views? Use
examples from your own experience, reading, or observation in
developing your essay. (used on the University of California Subject

A exam, 1987, cited by Frodesen, 1991)

 

1"taken from Kroll and Reid (1995)

24

 

3. 2.5. Analysis

After the data were collected, a random sample of the syllabi and handouts (200
out of 350) was analyzed so that a preliminary descriptive scheme could be developed to
categorize the type of writing that students were required to according to a variety of
variables.

Content analysis design was used to categorize these assignments collected.
According to Fraenkel and Wallen (2006), there are two approaches to content analysis.
The first is that the researcher determines the categories prior to the actual analysis of the
documents whereas in the second type of categorization the researcher categorizes the
items after the data collection. In this study, similar to Horowitz (1986) and Hale et al.
(1996), the latter type was employed in order to ensure the descriptive nature of the
analysis and allow for possible emerging types of assignments.

For the first research question, concerning the genres of the assignments, as their
contents were being analyzed, the preliminary categories were modified and new
categories were added as they emerged. The modification and development of scheme
continued to the end of the analysis. The final list of genres and their descriptions is

included in Appendix A. Some examples of genres are also given in Table 4.

25

Table 4: Some examples of genre

 

Genre

Example

 

Self reflection

[...] A daily journal written by the student concerning his/her work at
the internship:

The journal should describe what the student's tasks were for the day
and how those tasks were accomplished. This should include important
background information, organizational policies and procedures, and
the role of colleagues in accomplishing assignments. While the journal
may be handwritten, the contents are expected to be of professional

quality. This includes correct spelling and proper grammar.

 

 

Web page

 

Doublespeak Project

Choose one example of doublespeak and write an analysis of it. Why is
it doublespeak? Whose interests is this language serving? Then make a
webpage that features the example and your analysis. This page will be

graded on the quality of the doublespeak and the analysis.

 

Hale et al. (1996) also employed the same procedure, which included an initial set

(110 out of 162), which led to the final categorization with some modifications when

necessary. Horowitz, however, having a smaller sample size, categorized the data into

two groups as “essay test questions” and “everything else” in the initial analysis of the

data. He then classified and analyzed the writing tasks accordingly.

26

 

To illustrate the coding in this study, below is an example of an assignment taken
from College of Business:
“Each student will turn in one written case analysis report [...] Your analysis
should focus on: (1) identifying the critical problems confi'onting the employees
featured in the cases and why these problems are important to them; (2)
approaches to solving these problems; (3) sets of possible solutions; (4) criteria to
select solutions from sets of possible solutions; (5) selections of solutions and
their limitations; and (6) lessons learned (what you want the employees to learn).
[. . .] (with detailed analyses in appendices).”
In this assignment, the genre is a case study because students are required to analyze a
case and write a report on it. In terms of cognitive demands, it is at the evaluation level at
Bloom’s taxonomy, where students are required to make decisions and supporting views.
As far as prompt format is concerned, students required to think of a context for this case,
so it is considered to be context based in the present study.
Below is another example of a writing task, taken from College of Arts and
Letters:
In your reading response, you should briefly summarize the reading and also
address issues or topics in the reading that interested you or led you to ask
questions. You might begin your reading response by asking the following
questions: What ideas interest me most? What insights does this reading offer?
What issues are involved in this reading? What is at stake where these issues are
concerned? What do I agree with in the reading? What do I not agree with? What
do I not understand, or need to know more about?
This writing assignment requires students to response to a reading passage, so it is
considered to be a reading response in terms of genre. As far as cognitive demands are
concerned, it is at the application level where students are required to transfer abstract
ideas to practical solutions. Lastly, in terms of prompt format, students are presented with

a text to which they must respond or utilize in their writing. Thus, it is reading-based

prompt.

27

3. 2. 6. In terra ter reliability

The data were coded by two raters in order to enhance reliability. In each case,
two different researchers coded all the data collected focusing on only one question. The
second rater was different for each category (i.e. genre, cognitive demands, and prompt
formats). The process yielded an interrater reliability percentage of 85% for genre, and
89% for prompt format, and 63% for cognitive demands. This was understandable
because the distinction between the categories of the taxonomy was not clear-cut.

The disagreement areas for genre were mainly on the difference between self
reflection and reaction papers. The raters could not reach an agreement on the place of
interpretation and comments in reaction papers and self reflection. In addition, there were
some disagreements regarding review as a genre because the category was too broad and
included three different kinds of review (i.e., book review, article review, and literature
review).

The disagreement areas for prompt formats were mainly on the reading-based
prompts. In some cases, the students were required to observe some phenomena and write
a paper based on that information. In such cases, although it was not fi'amed, it was not
totally reading based, because there was no reading passage required. Thus, there were
some disagreement areas in this category.

As far as cognitive demands are concerned, the distinction between application
and analysis was the point where the raters disagreed most. The difference between
identification of connection in application level and identification of component in
analysis level were led to some disagreements between raters. I think Bloom’s taxonomy

and such educational taxonomies are necessary and useful for categorizing level

28

questions in educational settings. But as far as research is concerned, it may not be clear

cut to identify and reach an agreement on.

3.3. Results

3.3.1. Research question 1: Genres

For research question 1, addressing the genres required in the assignments in content
classes, the results indicated that the distribution varied according to disciplines. Results
indicated that, among the out-of-class writing assignments students are required to do in
content classes, the most frequent genres were research papers and reaction papers.
Figure 2 presents the distribution of genres required in content classes across social
sciences, humanities, and sciences. As shown in Figure 2, some genres could be found all
3 groups (e. g. research papers, reaction papers, self reflection, observation, review),
whereas some genres could only be found in one or two of them (e.g. lab report, case

study analysis, webpage).

29

Figure 2: Distribution of genres in writing assignments across disciplines

 

GENRE (N= 553)

Annotated bibliography . _
Case study analysis
Webpage

Syllabi development

 

Lab report

Participation in the class e mail list .
Review (book/ article/ literature) , . ‘
Observation

El SCIENCES
I SOCIAL SCIENCES
I HUMANITIES

 

 

Self reflection , .
Proposal ..
Reaction papers
Research papers ,

  

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

 

 

 

In this figure, N refers to total assignments. As it can be seen in Figure 2, the
numbers represent the percentage of the total instances of an assignment with that genre
found in each discipline. For example, 100% of the total instances of the genre case study
were found in the social sciences. Similarly, 100% of the total instances of the genre lab
report were found in sciences.

These genre types were somewhat different than Horowitz (1986) and Hale et al.
(1996). These two earlier studies, assuming that summary was a genre as opposed to text
type, had investigated summary as one of the genres. But the results of the present study
did not reveal summary as one of the genres required in the assignments. The genre
Horowitz (1986) identified as “summary of/ reaction to a reading” was not the same as
the reaction papers this study reported, because the genre Horowitz analyzed included
both summary and reaction, whereas the analysis in this present study did not find any

summary in the reaction papers (although a summary is often included in a reaction

30

paper, even if it is not specified by the assignment). For the reaction papers this study
analyzed, students were expected to comment on, considering, but not summarizing, the
reading assignments. There were, however, some common genres that could also be
found in Hale et al. (1996) (e. g., proposal, case study, and book review).

The analysis also revealed various different types of genres which had not been
observed in Horowitz (1986) and Hale et al. (1996) (e. g. participation in the class e-mail
list, web page). Although web page is a completely new genre, participation in the class
email list might be considered to be a different mode of communication (e.g., a reaction
paper that is posted online). On the other hand, there were also some assignments that
confirmed the findings of these earlier studies. Despite the differences in context, time
and sample size, this might suggest academic writing shows some similarities in various
contexts. Considering the descriptive nature of these kinds of studies, the results observed
in one study may or may not confirm earlier studies.

A summary of comparison of results regarding genre is given in Table 5. I should
also note that a precise comparison is not possible, because of the differences in sample
sizes and classification schemes. In general, when compared to Horowitz (1986) and Hale
et al. (1996), the most significant findings in the present study were the emergence of
new “digital” genres and the increased cognitive demands found in graduate versus

undergraduate courses.

31

Table 5: Comparison of results regarding genre

 

 

 

Horowitz (1986) Hale et at. (1996) The present study
0 summaries of or 0 summary (includes 0 research papers
reactions to reading annotated 0 reaction papers
0 annotated bibliography o proposal
bibliographies WithOllt comment) 0 self reflection
0 research projects ' essay 0 observation
0 reports on a 0 library research . review (book/
specified paper article/ literature)
participatory 0 report 0f 0 annotated
experience experiment] bibliography
0 connections between observation without . participation in the
theory and data interpretation class e mail list
0 case studies ' report 9f 0 case study analysis
- syntheses of experiment/ 0 lab report
multiple sources Observation With 0 syllabi development
interpretation . w ebp age
0 case study
0 book review
0 plan/ proposal
0 documented
computer program
0 unstructured writing

 

 

 

32

 

3.3.2. Research question 2: Cognitive demands

The analyses of cognitive demands were based on both content of the assignment
and the verbs used in the prompt. As Figure 3 shows, the most fiequent cognitive demand
in the distribution of cognitive demands of writing assignments in the undergraduate
content classes was analysis, whereas the most frequent cognitive demand in the
distribution of cognitive demands in the assignments in the graduate level was
evaluation. The comparative analysis of the cognitive demands according to levels
revealed that the assignments requiring comprehension level were observed only at the
undergraduate level (100%). Similarly, application (97%) and analysis (85%) were the
two demands that were most frequent in the distribution at the undergraduate level.
synthesis (76%) and evaluation (80%) were the most fi'equent in the distribution of

cognitive demands in the writing assignments at the graduate level.

Figure 3. Distribution of cognitive demands of writing assignments across disciplines

 

Cognltlve Demands (N=553)

yum“;

Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysrs I UnderGrad
Application I Grad

Comprehension

   

Uncertain

 

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

 

 

 

33

To compare the results with previous studies, the cognitive demands of the
writing assignments were only investigated in Hale et al. (1996). The results in that study
indicated that among the cognitive demands across disciplines, higher-cognitive demands
received the highest percentage in out of class assignments in 1-5 page essays in

undergraduate courses (p. 37).

3.3.3 Research question 3: Prompt format

For the third research question, regarding prompt format, as Figure 4 shows, text-
based prompts (43%) are the most frequent, followed by bare prompts (29%) and framed
prompts (26%). In 2% of the cases, the prompt format was not clear. These results added
a new dimension to the research studies which this study aimed to expands upon as these

have not been investigated in earlier research studies.

34

Figure 4. Percentages of prompt format in writing assignments

 

PROMPT FORMAT (N=553)

Bare prompts

Framed prompts

Text based prompts

Uncertain

     

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

 

 

 

4. Study two

4.1. Research questions

The second part of the study investigates the common writing assignments in ESL
writing classes and the potential impact of information about writing assignments of
content classes on ESL classes. In addition, this part further investigates ESL teachers’

suggestions for future research.

The following research questions guided the second study:
1. What are the cormnon writing assignments in different levels of ESL writing
classes? How do they compare to the findings in the content analysis in the first

part of the study?

35

2. What is the potential impact of knowledge about the writing demands of
content classes on ESL classes?
3. What needs to be further investigated to fill the gap between the ESL writing

classes/ assessments and content writing classes/ assessments?

4.2. Method

4. 2. 1 Data collection

The method used in this part of the research is in—depth semi-structured
interviews. The interviews were conducted over two months in 2007. The interviews
included open ended and descriptive questions such as “Please explain the types of
writing classes that you teac ” and “What type(s) of writing assignments are required in
your writing courses/ assessments?” to obtain as much information as possible about
level(s) the interviewees teach and different practices they employ in these classes. As
such, the interviews were reflective in that I tried to let the interviewee take the lead
without any interruption. I only probed for the rare cases where the statement needed
clarification and expansion. A list of main interview questions appears in Appendix B.

Furthermore, copies of their syllabi, writing assignment handouts, and texts were
collected as a means of triangulating the data. These materials were also analyzed to
investigate current practices in ESL composition classes at the university level and obtain
additional evidence regarding the information suggested by the ESL instructor
interviews.

In addition, to investigate the potential impact of the results of studies such as this

one, the interviewees were shown the results of the first part of the study and asked to

36

comment on them in relation to their current practices. They were also asked about the
relevance and sufficiency of the information in guiding future practices to determine if

and how assignment analyses were useful and relevant.

4. 2. 2. Participants

The participants were 15 English writing teachers in the English programs fiom 3
Midwestern universities (referred to here as T1, T2, etc.). English language programs in
these 3 universities included various levels from the lower level ESL classes to the
graduate level ESP classes. Four teachers taught classes in Intensive English Programs
(IEP), five teachers taught English for Academic purposes (EAP), and four teachers
taught academic writing for international graduate students. Most of the teachers who
participated in this study taught different levels of classes in different programs and
commented on them. The basic information about the teachers including their gender and

level they teach when the interviews were conducted is summarized in Table 6.

37

Table 6: Participants in ESL teacher interviews

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher Gender Level
T 1 Female Graduate level writing/ IEP
T 2 Male BAP
T 3 Female Graduate level writing
T 4 Female Graduate level writing
T 5 Female Graduate level writing
T 6 Male IEP/ EAP
T 7 Male IEP
T 8 Female EAP
T 9 Female IEP
T 10 Female EAP
T 11 Male EAP
T 12 Female IEP
T 13 Female EAP

4.2.3. Analysis

The interviews were all recorded in a digital voice recorder, and then transcribed.
Some follow-up emails were also used to clarify some points while the interviews were
transcribed. Identified patterns obtained from the interviews were summarized in a chart.

At the end of the interviews, all participants were asked to provide syllabi and
writing handouts for the ESL writing classes they teach. In addition to these main
required materials, some instructors provided me with extra data such as their grading
sheets, general course objectives determined by the curriculum committee, specific

guidelines they provide the students with. For the triangulation of data I got from the

38

 

interviews, I analyzed these additional materials and summarized them in a chart to see

commonalities and differences from the interviews.

4.3. Results

4.3. 1. The effect of proficiency level

Results revealed that the goals and requirements in ESL writing classes varied
greatly according to the level. A number of interviewees taught different levels at the
time of interviews so they explicitly made the comparison between different goals in the
classes they taught. For instance, one Intensive English Program teacher underlined
different requirements depending on various reasons:

T 9: Usually the assignment is not purely isolated but connected to the activities

we have done in the class. It depends on the learning goals and activities, class

activities that are associated with the assignment. Usually there are classroom
activities that have been leading up to the writing assignment. The writing
assignment is a combination of this particular learning activity.

Other teachers, while accepting the differences in requirements in different
classes, remarked that in various levels of English, students have different skills. As such,
the requirements and expectations vary according to skill students have at specific
level(s). For instance, one teacher asserted that their expectations and prompts differ at
different levels:

T 7: [in lower levels] Our assignments usually come from the context of the

chapter that we are studying. My prompts are not long to keep it simple for them

to understand. Higher levels, I give them more because I expect more. [...]They

will have to use the reading to support their ideas. But as far as writing a
response- that’s an EAP level skill.[. . .]

39

Some of the interviewees also mentioned different requirements during the same
semester. For instance, one teacher commented that they started with the basic of the five
paragraph essay and built on it during the semester.

T 11: It varies. I don’t have a very strict curriculum. Usually I start with
paragraphs.

As such, it is generally accepted that goals and assignments given in ESL classes vary

greatly due to the time they are assigned and level of students.

4.3.2 Focus on the basics

Depending on the level teachers teach at English language programs, the classes
are more focused on the basics (e.g., organization, citation, etc). In other words, ESL
teachers do not seem to pay much attention to genre, except perhaps at the graduate level.
For instance, lower level students were expected to present their writing skills in short
essays or paragraphs:

T 10: For the lower level classes there are much shorter essays. We start with

paragraphs.[. . .] The topics are less interesting because I don’t want them to write

so much at the beginning level.
Another teacher also commented that at these lower levels, students were getting the
basics even at the sentence level so as to be able to express their thoughts in their firture
academic career. At this level, one teacher even rejects the employment of academic
conventions as taking away a student’s voice:

T 7: I assume that they [the students] need to be able to write clear sentences and

paragraphs and explain something in their future careers.[...] I would be more
concerned to see their own voice then the rigid academic requirements.

40

At higher levels in English for Academic purposes, where students are one or two
semester away from their academic degrees, academic writing conventions such as
organization and plagiarism become the key goals of the classes. For example one teacher
remarked the importance of using academic language and formatting papers at this level:
T 12: They need to know how to format a paper[. . .]. They also need to learn how
to research topics and cite sources. At this level, at first I look for content but then
for the second draft I concentrate a little bit on grammar. They should be using
academic language, because, you know, it is an academic essay, but, then
something like cause and effect essay needs to be very academic.
At this level, some teachers indicated that the students had the basic skills in language
and they needed to develop skills to demonstrate their ability in academic writing in
English. As these courses were more academic-oriented than basic ESL writing courses,
teachers argued that it was important to better prepare the students for the writing
conventions as much as students needed. For instance, one teacher reported that they tried
to construct their classes in the way that they could address their students’ needs at this
level:
T 6: What I have found out what they really need the most is working developing
citation methods. That’s the one thing they have been asking me about the most.
Other than that, the things that we are doing directly apply to their academic life. I
am trying to model the class after what they’ll need.
Another EAP teacher commented that students also need some exposure of non salient
grammatical structures in their second language to be able to write well in their academic
classes.
T 2: [My role] is partly showing them how far they have to go. I mean the
difference between the writing they are doing and the kind of writing that will be
expected of them. That’s very important they understand the kind of writing that
they will be doing but they can’t do them yet. I think that it is very important to

supply them with the academic grammar and vocabulary because they are non
salient, they don’t exist in conversation.

41

In graduate level courses, students were more exposed to academic conventions.
The interviewees teaching these graduate-level writing courses focused on the types of
writing these international scholars and graduate students were expected to do in their
academic programs. One writing teacher commented that academic conventions are
important part of academic writing because misuse of conventions identified non-native
writers as such, and hindered comprehension of their writing:
T 1: We don’t impose the conventions on them, but we do lay it down for them
because that’s what they need and what they want. I think often other writing
teachers forget the fact that these people are not weak writers; they are very strong
writers in their own language. But they are perceived as being weak because
English is a second language for them and secondly, because they don’t know the
conventions. Sometimes they do things that are so counter to the academic
conventions here in the western world that they come off looking weak. Once
they learn those conventions and internalize them, then we realize that they have
got these great arguments. So, in a way, in the beginning, because I am teaching
one of the most basic graduate courses, I almost feel like it is necessary to almost
over teach the conventions in the beginning.
Similarly, another teacher indicated that, in a graduate level writing class, although
students all came from different departments and backgrounds, the common goal of the
course was to help them get the mastery of academic conventions:
T 3: Their goals are in a sense to understand sort of the academic forms in their
context and work on sort of understanding in this system especially like citations
and not plagiarizing.
These graduate level classes were more tailored to the needs of the students and the
assignments are given accordingly. The intent was to help them to be able to write better
especially for the writing the students undertake for their program. As one teacher put in
the syllabus of the course, one aim of such courses was to develop the students’ ability to

be able to deal with complexity of academic genres such as scholarly publications, theses,

and dissertations. These courses dealt with different components of such genres, but most

42

of the times, on a case by case basis. One teacher explained how tailored teaching writing
at this level by giving an example from a thesis writing class:
T 5: In [this] class, it is supposed to be a thesis writing class, so we look at the
different part of the thesis from acknowledgments to all the way through
discussion sections and literature reviews, evaluating scholarship, things like that.
But it is all focused on the writing that they are doing.
As such, specific needs of the students were addressed throughout the course. Having a
diverse population from different departments, it was a complex task to develop materials
and provide assistance with the specific writing samples. Most of the times, the goals of
such courses were set at the beginning of the semester. One instructor reported this initial
process as follows:
T 5: They are pretty clear about what they are doing in terms of writing. They tell
me. I always collect at the very beginning of the semester what writing tasks they
have ahead of them. [. . .]Because if students are not doing certain things, there is
no point in wasting your time on it.

In sum, most ESL teachers seem to focus on basic skills when teaching ESL

writing.

4.3.3 The potential impact of knowledge about the writing

demands of content classes on ESL classes

4.3.3.1 Practical considerations

Although recent studies have observed writing assignment types required in
content classes, no studies to date have examined the impact of these content analyses on
actual ESL teaching. In order to investigate this issue, I showed ESL writing teachers the

result tables of the first part of the study. While many teachers found these results

43

interesting, for most of them, the main problem was basic writing skills at the lower
levels. For instance, two teachers commented that the basic writing classes they taught,
the results of research on content classes would seem to have little or no immediate

impact on their teaching.

T 1: [It would not impact] the course I am teaching. [...]If we were to create
different courses with different objectives in mind, then bringing in this kind of
data when we do the course planning process, yeah, I think there would be things
to use here. Some of the trends and practices in teaching writing may need to

consider more maybe genres, more aspects of writing in the everyday academic
life.

T 12: I would not really change my teaching. But if I were to teach another level,
I would probably make sure that they did probably more academic type of papers
where you cite sources and research more but the level I teach we don’t really
concentrate on that stuff [genre].

Interviewees who taught EAP classes commented that it would impact their way of
teaching but they expressed their concerns about textbook activities. The following quote
reflects one EAP teacher’s concerns about the activities in the ESL writing textbook they
used.
T 2: First of all, this is very valuable. There is a lack of this kind of data. It is
interesting that there are very few short assignments [in the content classes].
That’s important because a lot of the textbooks, ESL textbooks, don’t get beyond
the short assignments. You know, they’ll be teaching paragraph still in level 3,
which is clearly an absurdity.
Some teachers commented that this would impact their teaching, but they need more
information about the requirements of specific genres:
T 6: I think I would consider the lab report’s being so prevalent. If half of my
students are doing that as their primary type of writing, I guess I would consider it

although I am not really sure how to teach that. So I would have to learn that.
That does interest me.

T 13: I think the thing that would immediately impact on what I am doing would
be this: Participation in the email. Because when I receive emails from students,
they are often kind of unconventional. [But] I guess it would be helpful to know
what a lab report looks like.
It seems that the potential impact of knowledge about the writing demands of content
classes on actual teaching would be more visible and practical at higher levels of ESL
teaching. For instance, writing teachers at the graduate level acknowledged that such
analyses were usefirl for them. One teacher even commented that teachers should also be
doing such analyses:
T 5: It is nice to have studies but that does not mean I am not responsible for

keeping in touch with my own community, so I think everybody needs to keep in
touch with their immediate community[e. g. in the same school].

4.3.3.2. The importance of genre

In some rare cases, some interviewees had some graduate students only fiom one
specific department. In these cases, they were interested to see the content analysis and
implement the results in their teaching. For instance, one teacher commented that it was
important to tailor their teaching at the graduate level:

T 4: To have a corpus of papers that we could take a look at for analysis and be

able to see may be something that we might be able to add to the course that

would address their needs. What is also interesting is looking at some of the
differences and seeing how we can tailor our teaching to the specific department.
Some teachers suggested that academic writing itself required more considerations than

academic forms. The following quotation reflects one teacher’s concern about current

ESL practices and textbooks:

45

T 5: I think we need to throw out these rhetoric books. We need to start looking at
the competencies and skills rather than forms and conventions. Any idiot can
write book that talks about thesis statements, compare and contrast essays. . .And
the fact that every ESL writing book is the same. I mean, go and read them.[...]
The even end up copying each other, it is quite firnny.
Most of the teachers agreed on the importance of genres in teaching in general, but the
way they taught genres might be different. For ESL teachers, providing the students with
the skills to deal with the academic genres became of primary importance. For instance,
one teacher suggested that it was important to teach core skills that may help to write
these academic forms.
T 13: It is obvious that different kinds of writing is used in different contexts, in
society in large and also in different kinds of classes. And a strong writer is the
one who can write in a variety of contexts. There are core writing skills that are
needed in all kinds of writing. It is important for students to develop those core
writing skills. It is also important for students to develop familiarity with perhaps
the most commonly used writing conventions or writing assignments that are used
in the university. So essentially you work on core skills that all writers need and
then you work on common academic forms.
To summarize, according to the level and context, the importance of genre

required in writing assignments differ. In graduate level writing classes, however,

teaching becomes more tailored and the importance of genre is visible.

4. 3.4 ESL writing teachers’ suggestions for further research

For question 3 of the second study, teachers were asked to suggest areas that
needed to be investigated more to address the discrepancy between ESL classes and
content classes. As such, I wanted to address the specific needs and interests of the

stakeholders, the ESL writing instructors. The results are summarized in Table 7.

46

Table 7: Questions suggested by ESL writing instructors

 

 

Questions for

assignments

 

What kinds of writing assignments content professors are
giving?

How much reading students are required to do?

How much writing students are required to do?

What are the types of sources students read? Are they
reading highly philosophical stuff that probably difficult
for native speakers to understand, or are they reading kind
of technical sort of things?

What do content professors usually use in the wording of
the prompts for the assignments (e.g. a question, a
statement, or a specific context, guidelines of your
expectations, or student choice)?

What is the main genre required in content courses? What
does it look like? Like what are the guidelines for a lab
report?

How much language students have to use? Are
assignments writing like coherent paragraphs or are they

writing like 2-3 sentences for each question.

 

47

 

Table 7 Continued:

 

 

Questions for

evaluation

 

What is professors’ grading policy?

How do professors respond to writing assignments they
give for content classess?

What do professors value? (i.e., Coherency of an article,
linguistic competence as grammatically correct, the use of
vocabulary related to the area)

What do professors look for when they read a paper?

Do professors judge ESL students’ papers differently than
NS’?

What kinds of mistakes do professors focus on most?
What is the best way to linguistically evaluate a student’s
writing?

What do the professors consider the minimal skills that
students need to be able to do this?

Where do professors think the gaps are considering the
students coming out of the ESL programs? In other words,
what are the biggest gaps professors perceive in ESL
students’ writing assignments?

What do professors think that helps students most to
improve their writing?

What are the issues content professors are dealing with in

ESL students’ writing?

 

48

 

Table 7 Continued:

 

Where are ESL students’ weaknesses?

How do content professors define plagiarism?

What do content professors do when they think they see
plagiarism when they are looking at their students’ work?
How often do content professors think they see plagiarism

in ESL students’ writing?

 

 

Questions about
required students’

skills and needs

 

What are the basic skills students need in order to be able
to handle that kind of writing assigned in content classes?
What do students need to complete the assignments?

What is a good writer doing with the content?

What content skills do ESL students need?

What organizational tools do ESL students need?

What language tools in terms of vocabulary and grammar
in particular are in assignments?

Where do professors think that students need more
preparation?

What are the writing skills to be able to fulfill whatever
assignments in this class?

What types of skills do ESL students need to develop

before taking content classes?

 

49

 

Table 7 continued

 

 

0 What do content classes demand and how can ESL
teachers help develop those skills?

0 What do content professors think ESL students’ needs are
to complete assignments?

0 Do professors receive emails that are pragrnatically

incorrect? How do they deal with those emails?

 

 

Most ESL writing teachers wanted to get more information on the specifics of
assignments required in content classes. These included the amount of reading and
writing students are required, and the type of sources they read to obtain information in
their content areas. Some teachers commented that specifications regarding some genres
were even unknown to them. For instance, one teacher suggested that they needed for
some more specific information about the requirements of the specific genres required in
content classes:

T 13: ESL teachers are generally more literature focused or they are language
people. So I think we tend to teach more based on more social sciences or
humanities than Sciences. So the biggest thing for me is to know what a lab report
looks like and how we could help students write those well. Like what are the
guidelines for a lab report? How much language they have to use? Are they
writing like coherent paragraphs or are they writing like 2-3 sentences for each
question.

Some of the questions raised in these teacher interviews dealt with evaluation in

content areas. ESL writing teachers wanted to know more about questions in textbooks,

50

 

content professors’ grading policy, their feedback in writing assignments, their focus
when grading the assignments, and issues content professors dealt with in ESL students’
writing assignments.

T 12: May be seeing some of the textbooks that they use and then looking at what
kinds of questions are being asked in the textbooks and then you know what types
of writing assignments they are getting and what they’re required to write. How
they require formatting the papers and what kinds of style they require? I would
just ask them what kinds of writing assignments they are giving and how much
reading the students are required to do and then how much writing they are
required to do. I would also ask the professor may be what their grading policy is.
What they look for when they read a paper and then judge ESL students’ papers
differently than NS’. What kinds of mistakes do they focus on most?

ESL teachers also wanted to obtain more information about the possible
application of the material ESL students have been exposed to ESL writing classes. For
them, it was important to see how much the information students get out of these ESL
classes. For instance, one instructor suggested that fixture studies address the applications
of the information presented in ESL writing classes to academic and professional life.

T 12: I am curious to learn how much they got out of these writing courses.
Whether what they were taught in their first year of their PhD program paid off at
some point? Does the stuff they learnt, you know, get carried over in their
academic professional life? Did it have no effect whatsoever? (laughs) Do they
seek writing help even on the job? I am interested about that transition between,
you know, the school and professional life and how that teaching of writing that
they have received during school pays off either at the end of their academic
career or even carrying over into their professional career.

The interviewees also expressed their concern about the required skills and needs
in order to complete the assignments required in non-language classes. They wanted to

know more about the skills content classes demand so that they could help to develop

those skills in ESL classes. For instance, one teacher pointed out that they were aware

51

that there were some basic skills needed, but they needed to know what language tools
and minimal skills are required in particular:

T 2: So I guess the question for me is “what do the professors consider the
minimal skills that students need to be able to do this?” Because, obviously, you
know, if I am teaching, I don’t know, a class where there is a case study analysis,
I am going to teach them what I expect from a case study, what I am not going to
do is teach them how to write a paragraph (laughs). That’s why I am saying that
some of these is course-specific or genre specific. That is the kind of thing I
would expect the academic professors to be teaching. What I need to know from
curriculum point of view is what basic skills students need in order to be able to
handle that kind of writing.

One of the questions suggested by the ESL teachers dealt with ESL student
strategies. To be able to prepare ESL students for the range of vocabulary and difficulty
of the reading texts students would be required to read in content classes, they wanted to
more information about the strategies ESL students use in approaching these kinds of
assignments.

T 9: The hugest gap is going to be the vocabulary range in the university classes.

The difficulty of the text they are reading is a big jump.[. . .] What strategies do
our students have in approaching those kinds of texts?

52

5. Discussion

In the light of the results noted above, there are noteworthy implications for
pedagogy, assessment and research in the area of second language writing. The issue of
how students learn L2 writing has been discussed widely in research studies, the
implications of which have been considered to help to gain some insight about teaching
and researching L2 writing. In the literature, the distinction between content and ESL
classes and possible applications in teaching ESL writing according to what is required in
content classes or general requirements in rhetoric and ESL writing sources has been
widely discussed (e.g. Benesch, 1995, 2001). Some studies have also looked at teaching
practices in ESL classes (Spack 1988, 1993). Spack’s ideas about teaching basic skills
rather than specific genres seem to be similar to those expressed by some of the teachers
interviewed. in this study. During the interviews, most ESL teachers commented that they
needed more information on genre. Genre as a concept was new to some of them, and it
was an area they did not know, and consequently, did not teach. Most ESL teachers
participated in this study commented that they focused on basic writing skills so that ESL
students could express their thoughts in future. As such, the ESL teacher interviews
supported Spack’s ideas on ESL teaching.

This study, however, does not imply that ESL writing teachers should mimic what
is being done in content classes. In contrast, as a descriptive study, this study reported an
analysis of the nature of writing assignments given in content classes and analyzed the
impact of such analyses on actual ESL teaching. The pedagogical implications could

guide ESL writing teachers to implement some features in ESL writing curricula so as to

53

help their students to develop academic writing skills and understanding of genre
requirements in academic programs.

In this section, findings regarding the use of technology in writing assignments,
cognitive levels in writing assignments, genre based teaching and assessment and prompt

formats and their possible influences will be discussed.

5.1 The use of technology

One important finding from this study is that there was an effect of new
technology in the assignments analyzed given in content classes. Horowitz (1986) and
Hale et al. (1996) did not report digital writing or the use of technology in writing
assignments. As such, the use of technology might be interpreted as a new trend in
writing assignments. Both digital writing (e. g., web pages) as a newly-emerged genre and
participation in the class e-mail list as opposed to traditional mode for reaction papers
suggested that technology had a robust impact on the writing assignments required in
content classes. Some of these assignments required students to create websites with a
specific content and a great majority of them required the students to complete
assignments using word processing or specific programs to create web pages. Most of
them did not specify programs to help create these web pages or mention teaching
students how to create web sites.

Digital writing, as a new finding in the area of L2 writing, has different
requirements in order to complete. It can even be considered as another kind of literacy in
digital age. Unfortunately, not everyone is informed about how to create web pages, or
blogs. Using digital and graphical displays in a digital environment with hyperlinks and

creating materials accordingly is a different mode and genre in terms of communication.

54

As has been said earlier, it is necessary that learners be equipped with necessary
information and tools to complete such tasks in a digital environment.

With regard to this kind of digital literacy, which may well be present in some
ESL and EFL settings abroad, teachers should be aware of digital literacy to familiarize
students with up-to-date practices. ESL writing teachers can implement activities
including, but not limited to, use of e-mail discussion as a way not only to teach students
to express their opinions in a pragrnatically-correct style, but also to create a
technologically-communicative learning environment which can help learners to prepare
for their future life practices. Also, one may even consider whether the purposes of
genres such as emails and web pages used as instructional genres are the same as
purposes of e-mails and web pages used in professional life. After all, it is the purpose,
not the label, which determines the genre. But ESL teachers may use them as a tool to use

their content, which is language.

5. 2. Cognitive levels of writing assignments

This study reported a range of cognitive levels depending on the level of the
students (e.g., undergraduate vs. graduate). Weigle (2002) has suggested that one of the
task variables in creating a writing task is the cognitive demandvthe writing task requires.
Considering the importance of writing skills in academic settings, teachers of English,
especially at the graduate level in ESL and EFL settings, should take into account the
level of information processing they require in writing assignments. When preparing ESL

writing curriculum and materials for in-class practice they should consider the cognitive

55

demands required in undergraduate and graduate level courses in universities and prepare
the materials accordingly.

A consideration of cognitive demands is also important in assessment. Hamp-
Lyons (2003) has suggested that what is ignored in creating writing test prompts was
authenticity, which could be a result of the nature of test situation. She further suggests
that the authenticity could be added with the help of “elaborated prompts”, although this
might also result in some scoring problems in high-stakes testing (2003, p. 172). Thus,
writing assessors must prepare writing prompts appropriate to the students’ level in order
to ensure the reliability and validity of their tests. As such, the results regarding both

cognitive level and genres may help writing assessors to create authentic prompts.

5.3. Genre based teaching and assessment

This study reported a comparative analysis across disciplines, which could also be
helpful for implementation of genre-based teaching in writing classes. Hyland (2004)
stated that comparison of the use of genres across disciplines might help the students to
develop critical understanding of genres. As such, these findings could also help teachers
to create genre-based tasks in writing classes.

Underlirring the importance of assessing what students have learned, Hyland
(2004) noted that genre-based assessment could help to ensure the possible integration of
assessment and instruction in genre-based writing programs. He added that genre-based
assessment could ensure both the authenticity and relevancy of writing assignments,

which may help to create real-life learning and assessing situations. Considering the main

56

inquiry of what to assess in students’ writing, the findings of the present study may give
some insight to create new rubrics for genre-based assessment.

The results of this study indicated that there are some genres that overlap between
disciplines. For instance, annotated bibliography and case study analysis could be found
in both sciences and humanities. Similarly, proposal, and webpage were observed in
social sciences and humanities. Considering these common features between disciplines,
ESL writing teachers can come up with syllabi that are tailored according to their
students’ needs. As Belcher (2006) noted ESP teachers were firstly “needs assessors” (p.
135). As such, this study may also guide ESP teachers to do needs analysis because this is
a preliminary step to teach ESP students who have special needs depending on their
disciplines.

Genre-based investigations in the graduate level and the issue of teaching writing
to graduate students accordingly has been employed broadly (Hopkins & Dudley-Evans,
1988; Biggs et al., 1999; Li, 2006, 2007; Lonka, 2003; Taillefer, 2007). The interviews
in the second part of the study also confirmed that there was an impact of the information
on the writing demands of content classes on graduate level writing classes. As such, the
findings of the first part of the study may have some implications for teaching academic
writing for graduate students. Considering that genre-based teaching would help the
students to get used to the conventions of scholarly writing, ESL writing teachers who
teach graduate level writing courses should consider particular genres especially when
they primarily teach graduate writing courses.

The results of this study may also help to develop ESL writing programs. It might

include discipline-related genres and thus meet their students’ needs with authentic and

57

realistic writing assignments rather than a traditional approach to teaching ESL writing,
such as five paragraph essays. This could not only help the teachers to prepare their
students for academic programs, but also bridge the gap between the ESL writing class
and content classes because such assignments can address real-world needs of the
students.

This kind of needs assessment becomes more complex when the differences
among multilingual and multicultural students are taken into account. Johns (2001)
acknowledged that in preparing students fiom diverse backgrounds for the “foreign,
sometimes hostile, acaderrric culture”, their academic and personal needs should be
considered (p. 35). She added that genre theory could be adapted to their level and be
employed to improve their knowledge of academic texts and conventions. Thus,
depending on their students’ level and needs, teachers should be aware of some writing
practices and assessment which may lead to a possible development of the students’

understanding of academic genres.

5. 4. Prompt formats and their possible influences

In addition, the results of this study confirmed that test developers needed to take
a number of variables into consideration when preparing writing prompts. Brossel (1986),
when proposing some unanswered questions and research implications for future research
in the field of writing assessment, indicated that there were some studies that have been
conducted to shed light in the area. For him, the wording of writing prompt and its effect
on the writers’ understanding of the topic and as a result performance in writing tests

were unknown. Similarly, in a more recent study, Weigle (2002) suggested that one of

58

the dimensions of the direct writing assessment was the “prompt wording”, which
corresponded “prompt format” in Kroll and Reid (1994).

According to Weigle (2002), this variable could affect the writing performance
and a writing assessment might include stimulus material depending on several factors,
the most important being “the role of topical knowledge in the construct definition”
(2002, p. 92). This can be understandable, because a certain type of prompt in a writing
assignment, as a result of including or not including some stimulus material, requires
different levels of information processing on the part of the writer. This point also adds
another dimension of the considerations in designing writing tasks.

Moreover, it should be taken into consideration that some structures in the
wording of the prompts and the amount of information the writer is provided may also
affect other variables such as the background knowledge the writer brings into the writing
process or the schema activated as a result of the presented information in the prompt
format. Douglas (2000) specified two types of data provided in prompts, namely
“contextual material”, which provided information about specific features of information,
and “input data”, which included “visual and/or aural material to be processed” (p. 55f).
Clearly, these two different data can affect the writers’ performance and the results of the
writing assessment accordingly.

The results of the first study suggested that prompts based on a reading passage
were the most common format used in content classes. The writing tasks in most content
classes analyzed in this study required learners to reflect on or react to a passage about
the area they specialized in, or, in some specific cases, they required learners to write a

passage about what they had seen or heard in their observation assignments related to

59

their areas of studies. As such, the students were required to write a passage having a
reference in their minds, which, in some ways, integrated multiple skills.

Calfee and Miller (2007) noted the importance of the implementation of a reading
passage in preparing writing tasks because, in that case, “comprehension and composition
become interwoven” (p. 278). Text-based prompts may also serve an assessor’s two
primary goals: validity and reliability. This type of integration of skills in a writing task
can be observed in the next generation TOEFL® (Test of English as a Foreign
Language). The TOEFL® iBT integrates reading and listening with the writing task,

which requires students write about a topic on which they have read a passage and
listened to a brief lecture. This approach is very‘authentic, because students in real life
students must read texts and listen to lectures and discussions in order to succeed as
writers in content-based courses. Writing teachers and assessors should take this new
trend of the integration of different skills when preparing text-based writing prompts in
order to design well-developed and authentic tasks.

On the other hand, when preparing such integrated writing tasks, test developers
should take the population being tested into consideration. Williams (2005) rightly noted
that, in creating integrated tasks, choosing a topic may also be tricky, because specific
topics chosen for a reading passage and topics used in writing prompts may give an
advantage to specific groups if it addresses a certain discipline. To counteract the prior
knowledge, test developers generally select topics that focus on little-known details of
easily accessible topics.

However, Hayes (2000) acknowledged that although a reading passage may help

the writers to be familiar with the content they can get from a source text, the passage

60

could also affect the representation of the topic discussed, a representation of the writer’s
persona, and a representation of the text as a spatial display. Thus, especially when
assessing these text-based writing assignments, assessors should take these points into

consideration.

6. Directions for future research

Concerning the implications for future studies, the first part of this study expands
upon Horowitz (1986) who called for future studies to build on the beginning which he
attempted to give some insight and answers to the unknown nature of writing
assignments. It is necessary to replicate these types of studies in order to investigate the
changes in the nature of the writing assignments in time. Future studies may address
some other genres or features of writing assignments that may emerge over time.

As far as implications for future research studies are concerned, there is also the
question of whether we should limit ourselves to what the community labels as a genre or
whether we can categorize something as a distinct genre even though the community may
not have a label for it. I tried to remain as objective as possible, firstly because I, having
an etic perspective, do not see myself as the authority to interfere with and change the
genres that professors had labeled already. Secondly, this analysis may show the insiders’
perspective to the outsiders, who are in this very specific case, ESL teachers. This type of
emic perspective may help us to understand how to better prepare ESL students for their

prospective academic studies in these departments.

61

Regarding the guidelines for writing teachers and/or assessors, Hedgcock (2005)
concluded that, except for a limited number of research, “[T]he L2 literature offers a
dearth of extensive discussion of, and explicit guidelines for, the practices and processes
of teaching L2 writing” (p. 609). This study only reported the assignments in content
classes and their impact on actual ESL writing and testing. More research should be done
to shed light in the area of second language writing with more guidelines for ESL
teachers. In the ESL teachers’ suggestions for future research studies, this issue was
frequently brought up. The results of the second part of this study suggested that future
research studies may address this issue providing L2 writing teachers with more specific
information and guidelines.

Moreover, regarding the prompt format, as Calfee and Miller (2007) state, “The
prompt sets the stage for the writing task. Rather amazingly, there is relatively little
research on how variation in prompt design affects the quality of student writing [...]”
Q1276). The present study only analyzed the prompt formats of the assignments given on
content classes. Thus, future research studies may investigate the relationship between
the prompt design and the quality of writing.

As shown in Table 7, this study revealed some directions for further research
based on ESL teachers’ interviews. Future studies may address the questions ESL writing
teachers suggested in the second part of this study. Future research may also include
interviews with a subset of university faculty to obtain additional information suggested
by the ESL instructor interviews. Longitudinal studies of ESL student’s writing
experiences in content classes are also necessary. These studies are expected [to provide

more insight into assessing and teaching ESL writing in the US. and abroad.

62

APPENDICES

63

APPENDIX A:

Definitions of Different Genres Observed in the Analysis

64

Below is the different genres found in the assigrments with brief explanations:

Research paper: The research paper category referred to any writing assignment which
required students to investigate a selected topic or a topic of their own choices.

Reaction paper: Assigrments given as reaction papers required students to respond to a
reading assigrment.

Self reflection: This genre required students to reflect their own process or learning or
writing in general.

Proposal: Proposal category was defined as any assigrrnent which asked students to
identify some topics, questions, and research methods to investigate a particular
phenomenon.

Observation: This particular assignment required a reflection of a particular activity they
have observed. This type both included observation with comments and observation
without comment assigrments.

Review (Book/ Article/ Literature): This genre called for a close reading of a particular
book, article or literature on a particular topic.

Participation in the class e-mail list: This genre required students to participate actively
in class e-mailserv. This assigrments required students to post a certain number of
response weekly.

Lab report: This genre required students to describe their findings and describe their
sigrificance of a scientific research they have experimented.

Syllabi development: This genre gave the students the opportunity to develop a syllabus

for a course they intend to teach.

65

Web page: Assigrments in this category required students to build web pages on a
particular topic following some instructions on digital writing.

Case study analysis: This genre included assigrments that called for a detailed
investigation of a single case or phenomena.

Annotated bibliography: Assignments in this category called for brief and descriptive
annotations for a review of literature on a particular topic.

No out of class assignment: This category included classes which required only in class

writing assigrments.

66

APPENDIX B: Interview Guide for Study Two

67

1. Please explain the types of writing classes that you teach.

a. Who are the students and what are their goals?

2. What type(s) of writing assigrments are required in your writing courses/
assessments?

a. Does your textbook require students a certain genre?

b. Do the assigrments you give require a certain genre?

c. Do the assigrments you give a certain transcription mode or is it up to the
student?

d. Can you explain the level of cogritive skills in your assigrments (for
example organize, analyze, etc.)?

e. What is the common length of the product these assigrments require?

f. What do you usually use in the wording of the prompts for the
assigrments (e. g. a question, a statement, or a specific context, guidelines

of your expectations, or student choice)?

3. What do you think your students’ needs are outside the class? How does that

influence your teaching philosophy?

4. [At this point in the interview, I will show them the tables showing the results of

the first part of the study] These are the results of the data that I have collected in

the first part of the study. What is your general opinion of these results?

68

9.

Having seen these results, would it influence your teaching? If yes, in what way?

What do you think we, as researchers, need to investigate to fill in the gap
between the ESL writing classes/ assessments and content writing classes/
assessments? In other words, what you want to know about the demands of

academic writing in university content classes that you don’t yet know?

Having seen the results, do you think these might influence your current

practices? If yes, in what way?

What do you think your role as an ESL writing teacher/ assessor is in meeting

your students’ needs outside of the ESL classroom?

Is there anything that I did not ask but you would like to add?

69

APPENDIX C: Recruiting Advertisement for Study One

70

Dear (Chair’s name):

My name is Nur Yigitoglu and I am a Fulbright Scholar completing my MA in the
Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian, & African Languages at MSU.
For my MA thesis, I am examining the types of writing that undergaduate and gaduate
students at a US university are required to do. The purpose of this research is to better
prepare ESL students abroad and in the US for academic writing tasks. I have been able
to access a number of syllabi online, but to obtain a better representational sample of
syllabi, I would like to examine syllabi and writing assignments that are not posted on
departmental web sites. As such, I am hoping to access syllabi and handouts that are
available on Angel or from your instructors. Would you be willing to forward the email
below to all your instructors (TAs, lecturers, and professors)? I would appreciate it if you
would let me know if you would let me know one way or another if you are willing to do
this. Thank you for your help.

Nur Yigitoglu
Fulbright Scholar, MA Student
Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian, & African Languages

 

Dear Instructors and Professors:

My name is Nur Yigitoglu and I am a Fulbright Scholar completing my MA in the
Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian, & Afiican Languages at MSU.
For my MA thesis, I am examining the types of writing that undergaduate and gaduate
students at a US university are required to do. The purpose of this research is to better
prepare ESL students abroad and in the US for academic writing tasks. I have been able
to access a number of syllabi online, but to obtain a better representational sample of
syllabi, I would like to examine syllabi and writing assigrments that are not posted on
departmental web sites as well. I am asking your help in allowing me to access your
Angel web site. If you do not want me to access your Angel web site, I would appreciate
it if you could send a copy of your syllabus and any handouts about specific assigrments
to me at: )g'gitogl@msu.edu. If you add me to your Angel web site, I will receive an
email confirmation and you do not need to respond to this email. If you don’t want to
allow me access, I would appreciate it if you would let me know.

This research was approved as “exempt” by the MSU Internal Review Board. Please be
aware that by adding me to your Angel web site or sending me your syllabus, you are
consenting for your syllabus to be examined for the purposes stated above. No
information about you or your course individually will be reported in my thesis or any
resulting publications; results will be reported only by department.

71

If you would like more information, please email me. In addition, you are welcome to
email at the end of the semester, for preliminary results, or next spring, when I will have

completed the thesis, for the final results.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
Nur Yigitoglu

Fulbright Scholar, MA Student
Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian, & African Languages

72

APPENDIX D: Letter of Informed Consent for Study Two

73

CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN A RESEARCH STUDY
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

University academic writing tasks and
their possible influence on ESL writing curricula and assessment
INSTRUCTOR

PURPOSE

You are being asked to participate in a research study that investigates the impact of the
writing assigrments given in content classes on ESL teaching and assessment.
Specifically, we hope to learn about the relevance and sufficiency of the information in
guiding firture practices to determine if and how assignment analyses are useful and
relevant.

PROCEDURE

If you decide to participate, your interview will be audio-taped. During the interview, you
will be interviewed about your current practices as an ESL writing teacher and/ or
assessor. You will be shown the results regarding writing assigrments in content classes
and be asked to comment on them in relation to your current practices. You will be asked
about the relevance and sufficiency of the information in guiding future practices to
determine if and how assigrment analyses are useful and relevant. In addition, I ask that
you share with me your syllabi and any copies of writing assigrments that you have.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Your privacy will be protected to the maximum extent allowable by law. All data
gathered from this study will remain confidential, including participants’ names. As a
participant, you will not be identifiable in any report of research findings. Only the
researchers will have access to the data collected. The audio tapes will not be used for
any other purposes or shown to anyone else. They will be kept for five years after
publication of any related studies and then destroyed.

For the compensation of your time you spend for this interview, you will be given a $10
gift card.

Your participation is voluntary; you may refuse to answer any questions, or give me any
documents and withdraw your consent and leave the study at any time.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact the researchers (Charlene
Polio: A714 Wells Hall, polio@msu.edu or Nur Yigitoglu Yigitogl@msu.edu ). If you

74

have any questions or concerns regarding your rights as a study participant, or are
dissatisfied at any time with any aspect of this study, you may contact—anonymously, if
you wish— Peter Vasilenko - Director, Human Research Protection Progarn Phone:

(517)355-2180 ext. 239 Email: irbchair@ores.msu.edu , or regular mail: 202 Olds Hall,
East Lansing, MI, 48824.

Your sigrature below indicates your voluntary ageernent to participate in this study.

Date

 

75

REFERENCES

Belcher, D. (2006). English for Specific Purposes: Teaching to perceived needs and
imagined futures in worlds of work, study, and everyday life. TESOL Quarterly,
40, 133-156.

Benesch, S. (1995). Genres and processes in sociocultural contexts. Journal of Second
Language Writing, 4, 191-96.

Benesch, S. (2001). Critical English for academic purposes: Theory, politics, and
practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Bhatia, V. K. (2002). Applied genre analysis: Analytical advances and pedagogical
procedures. In A. M. Johns (Ed.), Genre in the classroom: Multiple perspectives
(pp. 279-283). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Biggs, J., Lai, P., Tang, C., Lavelle, E. (1999). Teaching writing to ESL gaduate
students: A model and an illustration. British Journal of Educational Psychology,
69, 293-306.

Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1: The Cognitive
Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.

Bridgeman, B., & Carlson, S. (1984). Survey of academic writing tasks. Written
Communication, 1, 247-280.

Brossel, G. (1986). Current Research and Unanswered Questions in Writing Assessment.
In Greenberg, K. L., Wiener, H. 8., Donovan, R. A (Eds). Writing Assessment:
Issues and Strategies. New York & London: Longnan.

Brown, D. H. (2004). Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Principles. NY:
Longnan.

Calfee, R.C. & Miller, R. G. (2007). Best Practices in Writing Assessment. In Graham,
3., MacArthur, C.A., Fitzerald, J. (Eds). Best Practices in Writing Instruction.
New York & London: The Guildford Press.

Carlson, J. (2001). A task analysis of reading and writing in academic contexts. In D.
Belcher & A. Hirvela (Eds), Linking literacies (pp. 48-83). Ann Arbor, MI:
University of Michigan Press.

Coe, R. (2002) M. The new rhetoric of genre: Writing political briefs. In A. M. Johns
(Ed.), Genre in the classroom: Multiple perspectives (pp. 197-207). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

76

Douglas, D. (2000). Assessing languages for specific purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Fraenkel, J. R. & Wallen, N. E. (2006). How to Design and Evaluate Research in
Education (Sixth Edition). Boston: McGraw Hill.

Hale, G., Taylor, C., Bridgeman, B., Carson., J ., Kroll, B., & Kantor, R. (1996). A Study
of writing tasks assigned in academic degree programs (Research Report 54).
Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

Hamp- Lyons, L. (2003). Writing teachers as assessors of writing. In Kroll, B. (Ed.)
Exploring the Dynamics of Second Language Writing. Cambridge University
Press: Cambridge.

Hayes, J. R. (2000). A New Framework for Understanding Cogrition and Affect in
Writing. In Indrisano, R. & Squire, J .R. (Eds.) Perspectives on Writing: Research,
Theory, and Practice. Delaware: International Reading Association.

Hedgcock, J. S. (2005) Taking Stock of Research and Pedagogy in L2 Writing. In Hinkel,
E. (Ed.) Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Hinkel, E. (2004). Teaching Academic ESL writing: Practical Techniques in Vocabulary
and Grammar. Mahvah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

Hopkins, A. & Dudley-Evans, T. (1988). A genre based investigation of the discussion
section in articles and dissertations. English for Specific Purposes, 7, 113-122.

Horowitz, D. (1986). What professors actually require: Academic Tasks for the ESL
Classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 445-462.

Hyland, K. (2000). Disciplinary cultures, texts, and interactions. In K. Hyland,
Disciplinary discourses: Social interaction in academic writing (pp. 1-19)

Hyland, K. (2003). Second Language Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hyland, K. (2004). Genre and second language writing. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press.

Hyon, S. (1996) Genre in three traditions: Implications for ESL. TESOL Quarterly, 30,
693-722.

Jackson, L., Meyer, W., & Parkinson, J. (2006). A study of the writing tasks and reading

assigred to undergaduate science students at a South African University. English
for Specific Purposes, 25, 260-281.

77

Johns, A. (1981). Necessary English: a faculty survey. TESOL Quarterly, 15, 51-57.

Johns, A. (2001). The firture is with us: preparing diverse students for the challenges of
university texts and cultures. In Hewings, M. (Ed.) Academic writing in context:
Implications and applications: Papers in honour of Tony Dudley- Evans.
Birmingham: University of Birmingham University Press.

Johns, A. (2003). Genre and ESL/EFL composition instruction. In B. Kroll (Ed),
Exploring the dynamics of second language writing. (pp. 195-218). New York:
Cambridge University Press.

Johns, A. (2007, April). Characterizing and Teaching Genre (An On-going Quest). Paper
presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Applied
Linguistics, Costa Mesa, CA.

Johns, A., Bawarshi, A., Coe, R. M., Hyland, K., Paltridge B., Reiff, M. J. & Tardy, C.
(2006). Crossing the Boundaries of Genre Studies: Commentaries by Experts.
Journal of Second Language Writing, 15, 234-249.

Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., & Bertram, B. M. (1973). Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives, the Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook 11: Aflective
Domain. New York: David McKay Co., Inc.

Kroll, B. (1979). A survey of the writing needs of foreigr and American college
Freshman. ELT Journal, 33, 219-227.

Kroll, B & Reid, J. (1994). Guidelines for desigring writing prompts: Clarifications,
Caveats, and Cautions. Journal of Second Language Writing, 3, 3, 231-255.

Leki, I. & Carson, J. (1997). “Completely different worlds”: EAP and the writing
experiences of ESL students in university courses. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 39-70.

Li, Y. (2006). A doctoral student of physics writing for publication: A socio-politically-
oriented case study. English for Specific Purposes, 25, 456-478.

Li, Y. (2007). Apprentice scholarly writing in a community practice: An intraview of
NNES gaduate student writing a research article. TESOL Quarterly, 41, 55-79.

Lonka, K. (2003). Helping doctoral students to finish their theses. In L. ijrk, G. Bréiuer,
L. Rienecker, G. Ruhmann, & P. Stray Jorgersen. (Eds). Teaching academic
writing in European higher education (pp. 113-131). Dordrecht, The Netherlands:
Kluwer University Press.

Southeast Missouri State University (2005). Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid. Accessed 2008,

January at
<ht_tp://cstl.semo.edu/institute/2005Summer/e-excuses/images/bloomstaxonomv. gif >

78

Martin, J. R. (2002). A universe of meaning—How many practices? In A. M. Johns (Ed.),
Genre in the classroom: Multiple perspectives (pp. 269-278). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Miller, C. (1994a). Rhetorical community: The cultural basis of genre. In A. Freedman &
P. Medway (Eds), Genre and the new rhetoric (pp. 67-78). London: Taylor &
Francis.

Miller, C. (1994b). Genre as social action. In A. Freedman & P. Medway (Eds), Genre
and the new rhetoric (pp. 23-42). London: Taylor & Francis (Reprinted from
Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70 [1984], pp. 151-167)

Ostler, S. (1980). A survey of academic needs for advanced ESL. TESOL Quarterly, 14,
489-502.

Paltridge, B. (2002). Genre, text type, and the English for academic purposes (BAP)
classroom. In A. M. Johns (Ed.), Genre in the classroom: Multiple perspectives
(pp. 73-90). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Raimes, A. (1985). What unskilled ESL students do as they write: A classroom study of
composing. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 229- 258.

Reid, J. (2001). Advanced EAP writing and curriculum desigr: What do they need to
know? In T. Silva &P. Maksuda (Eds), On second language writing (pp.l43-
169). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Rosenfeld, M., Leung, S., &Oltman, P. (2001). The reading, writing, speaking, and
listening tasks important for academic success at undergraduate and graduate
levels (MS 21). Princeton, NJ: ETS.

Russel, D. R. (1991). Writing in the academic disciplines, 1870-1990: A curricular
History. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press.

Samraj, B. (2002). Text and contextual layers: Academic writing in content courses. In A.
M. Johns (Ed.), Genre in the classroom: Multiple perspectives (pp.l63-176).
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Spack, R. (1988). Initiating ESL students into academic discourse communities: How far
should we go? TESOL Quarterly, 22. 29-52.

Spack, R. (1993). Student meets text, text meets student: Finding a way into academic
discourse. In J. G. Carson & I. Leki (Eds), Reading in the composition
classroom: Second langage perspectives (pp. 183-196). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

79

Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre Analysis: English in academic and research settings.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Swales, J. M. & Feak, C. B. (2000). English in today’s research world: A Writing Guide.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Swales, J. M. & Feak, C. B. (2004). Academic writing for graduate students. 2nd Edition.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Taillefer, G. F. (2007). The professional language needs of economics gaduates:
Assessment and perspectives in the French context. English for Specific Purposes,
26, 135-155.

Wei gle, S. C. (2002). Desigring Writing Assessment Tasks. In Assessing Writing (pp. 77-
107). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Zhu, W. (2004a). Writing in business courses: an analysis of assigrment types, their
characteristics, and required skills. English for Specific Purposes, 23 , 111-135.

Zhu, W. (2004b). Faculty views on the importance of writing, the nature of academic

writing, and teaching and responding to writing in the disciplines. Journal of
Second Language Writing, 13, 29-48.

80

, Hill

LIBRARIES

ii

‘ l
1293 02951 5128

II

I.

l
l

l

1

III III

I

S
R
E
W
m
m
All I
T
S
M
mu.
H
pic
M

iii

3