Self-Directed Language Development: A Study of First-Year College Writers

Research in the Teaching of English May 2017

Self-Directed Language Development: A Study of First-Year College Writers

Dana Ferris ; Grant Eckstein Brigham Young University ; Garrett DeHond University of California, Davis

Abstract

Students in first-year composition (FYC) courses are expected to control the mechanics, vocabulary, style, and grammatical accuracy of their writing. Yet language development support, particularly that of grammar instruction in US FYC courses, has largely disappeared in recent decades, due in part to suppositions that students implicitly know grammar. This assumption is problematic given the increasing number of multilingual writers enrolling in US schools with observed needs for explicit language instruction. The present study explores whether first- and second-language writers of English perceived a need for language instruction and whether they wanted or expected it. Students from 12 sections of FYC were asked in surveys and interviews about their prior language learning experiences and current self-perceived language needs and then were asked to complete one of two self-directed language development projects (LDPs): an online, self-selected grammar and usage study project or journal entries focusing on vocabulary/style in texts they had read. Student work was collected, analyzed, and supplemented with students’ end-of-term observations and preferences about self-directed LDPs. Our findings reveal that students overwhelmingly wanted and expected language instruction and were largely positive about both types of LDPs, but they felt that language instruction should be offered in multiple delivery methods beyond just self-study. With these findings in mind, we offer pedagogical suggestions for addressing the perceived and real needs for language development of linguistically diverse FYC students.

Journal: Research in the Teaching of English
Published: 2017-05-01
DOI: 10.58680/rte201729119
Open Access: Closed
Topics: first-year composition multilingual writers voice and style

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

Eckstein et al. (2022)

How Does the Language Control of L1 and L2 Writers Develop Over Time in First-Y…

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