Cooperative writing response groups: revising global aspects of second-language writing in a constrained educational environment |
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| Authors: | Melina Porto |
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| Institution: | Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
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| Abstract: | This article describes a cooperative writing response initiative designed to develop writing skills in foreign/second-language contexts (hereafter L2). The strategy originated from my desire to cater for my learners’ need to become better writers in English within a constrained educational environment in Argentina. In this article I describe this strategy and show how it has worked in my setting. First, I offer the rationale on which it rests, based on a sociocultural conception of reading and writing. This involves brief considerations about the notions of collaborative writing groups, social responses to texts and coherence in L2 writing. Second, I describe and explain the strategy in detail, and include one handout with specific written instructions (as my learners received them) for the cooperative writing response groups with a focus on coherence, i.e. global aspects of the composing process. Finally, I exemplify the strategy using one learner’s written text as a foundation (disclosed by permission). |
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| Keywords: | cooperative writing groups English language learners Argentina |
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