Composing strategies reported by high and low achievers in the TOEFL-iBT integrated task
Implications for investigative pedagogy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.30570Keywords:
writing strategies, test preparation, TOEFL, integrated test tasks, composing, academic writingAbstract
The teaching of composing strategies is acknowledged to be an important area in writing instruction and test preparation. This study presents a small set of data originating from a larger project which investigated the composing strategies reported by 30 international postgraduate students. These students were in their second year of university study and had all volunteered to attempt the TOEFL-iBT writing test. Immediately after completion of each task, they were interviewed about the way they had understood the requirements of the tasks and the processes and strategies they had used in order to complete them. All the students had successfully obtained entry to university and were functioning satisfactorily in their current areas of study, yet the scores they achieved in the TOEFL writing assessment showed considerable variation. Surprisingly, some were well below the benchmark for university entry. In order to investigate this, we revisited and reanalysed the interview data gathered from the three top and three bottom scorers, and examined similarities and differences in the way they approached and undertook the task. The high scorers' goals for task completion focused on the product as well as the process, and in contrast to the low scorers their monitoring strategies involved interaction with the emerging text. While we acknowledge that actual differences in language proficiency may have been partially responsible for the different scores, in this paper we explore the possible role of strategy choice, and we consider implications for test preparation teaching and writing instruction in general.
References
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Chenoweth, N., and Hayes, J. R. (2001) Fluency in writing. Generating text in L1 and L2. Written Communication, 18, 80--98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088301018001004
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di Gennaro, K. (2006) Second Language writing ability – towards a complete construct definition Teachers college. Columbia working papers in TESOL and Applied Linguistics 6 (2) Retrieved on June 3 2012 from http://www.tc.columbia.edu/tesolalwebjournal
de Milliano I., van Gelderen, A., and Sleegers, P. (2012) Patterns of cognitive self-regulation by adolescent struggling writers. Written Communication 29: 303—325. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088312450275
Esmaeili, H. (2002) Integrated reading and writing tasks and ESL students’ reading and writing performance in an English language test. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 58(4), 599--622.
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Flower, L., and Hayes, J. (1981) A cognitive process theory of writing. College Composition and Communication, 32(4), 365--387. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/356600
Gustilo, L. E. (2010) What you think, feel, and experience shape your writing: Cognitive, affective, and contextual processes in ESL writing. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 19, 271--285. http://dx.doi.org/10.3860/taper.v19i2.1596
Hayes, J. R. (1996) A new framework for understanding cognition and affect in writing. In C. M. Levy and S. Randall (Eds.). The science of writing: Theories, methods, individual differences, and applications (pp 1--27). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hayes, J. R. (2011) Kinds of knowledge-telling: Modeling early writing development Journal of Writing Research, 3(2), 73-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2011.03.02.1
Hayes, J. R. (2012) Modeling and Remodeling Writing, Written Communication 29: 369-388 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088312451260
Hayes, J. R., and Chenoweth, N. A. (2006) Is working memory involved in the transcribing and editing of texts? Written Communication, 23(2), 135--149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088306286283
Hayes, J. R., and Flower, L. S. (1980) Identifying the organization of writing processes. In L. W. Gregg and E. R. Steinberg (Eds.), Cognitive processes in writing. (pp. 3--30). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
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Hyland, K. (2007) Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16, 148--164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2007.07.005
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Kennedy, M. L. (1985) The Composing Process of College Students Writing from Sources. Written Communication, 2, 434--456. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088385002004006
Kroll, B. (1990) Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom. Port Chester NY Cambridge University Press.
Leki, I. (1995) Coping strategies of ESL students in writing tasks across the curriculum. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 235---260. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3587624
Mu, C. (2005) A taxonomy of ESL writing strategies. In Proceedings of Redesigning Pedagogy: Research, Policy, Practice, (pp. 1--10). Singapore.
Naiman, N., Frohlich, M., Stern, H., and Todesco, A. (1996) The Good Language Learner. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters
Nunan, D. (1996) Learner strategy training in the classroom: An action research study. TESOL Journal, 6(1), 35--41.
Negretti, R. and Kuteeva, M. (2011) Fostering metacognitive genre awareness in L2 academic reading and writing: a case study of pre-service English teachers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 20(2), 95--110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2011.02.002
O'Malley, J.M., and Chamot, A. (1990) Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Petric, B., and Czarl, B. (2003) Validating a writing strategy questionnaire. System, 31, 187--215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(03)00020-4
Plakans, L. (2008). Comparing composing processes in writing-only and reading-to-write test tasks. Assessing Writing, 13, 111--129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2008.07.001
Plakans, L. (2009) Discourse synthesis in integrated second language writing assessment Language Testing, 26(4), 561--587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0265532209340192
Rimka, M. (2004) Strategies for improving the writing process and implications for design of support tools. Unpublished Master Thesis, Stockholm University/Royal Institute of Technology.
Rosenfeld, M., Leung, P., and Oltman, P. K. (2001) The reading, writing, speaking, and listening tasks important for academic success at the undergraduate and graduate levels (TOEFL Monograph No. 21) Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
Sasaki, M. (2000) Toward an empirical model of EFL writing processes: An exploratory study. Journal of Second Language Writing, 9, 259--291. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(00)00028-X
Torrance, M., Thomas, G.V., and Robinson, E.J. (1994). The writing strategies of graduate research students in the social sciences. Higher Education, 27, 379--392. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF03179901
Torrance, M., Thomas, G.V., and Robinson, E. J. (2000) Individual differences in undergraduate essay-writing strategies: A longitudinal study. Higher Education, 39, 181--200.
Wong, A.T.Y. (2005). Writers’ mental representations of the intended audience and of the rhetorical purpose for writing and the strategies that they employed when they composed. System, 33, 29--47.
You, Y.L and Joe S.G (2002) A metacognitive approach to the problem of incoherence in EFL learners writing. In J. E. Katchen (Ed) Selected papers from the 11th International Symposium on English teaching /Fourth Pan Asian conference Taipei, Taiwan November 8-10 2001 (pp. 599--610).
Zhang, Y. (2010) Investigating the role of metacognitive knowledge in English writing. HKBU Papers in Applied Language Studies, 14, 25--46.
Breetvelt, I., van den Bergh, H., & Rijlaarsdam, G. (1994) Relations between writing processes and text quality: When and how? Cognition and Instruction, 12, 103--123. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s1532690xci1202_2
Chapelle, C. A., Enright, M. K. and Jamieson, J. M. (Eds.) (2008) Building a validity argument for the Test of English as a Foreign Language. New York: Routledge.
Chenoweth, N., and Hayes, J. R. (2001) Fluency in writing. Generating text in L1 and L2. Written Communication, 18, 80--98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088301018001004
Chien, S. (2008) A cognitive analysis of the relationships between Chinese EFL writers’ strategy use and writing achievement performance. Cambridge Occasional Papers in Linguistics, 3, 44--61.
Cohen, A., (2003) Strategy Training for Second Language Learners. Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, Universityof Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (ERIC Documentation Reproduction Services No. EDO-FL-03-02), 1--2.
Cohen, A., and Upton, T. (2006) Strategies in responding to the New TOEFL reading tasks (TOEFL Monograph No. MS-33). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2333-8504.2006.tb02012.x
Cohen, A., and Weaver, S. (2006) Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction: A teacher’s guide. Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Deane, P., Odendahl, N., Quinlan, T., Fowles, M., Welsh, C., and Bivens-Tatum, J. (2008) Cognitive Models of Writing: Writing proficiency as a complex integrated skill. ETS Research reports, Princeton N.J. Educational Testing Service. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2333-8504.2008.tb02141.x
di Gennaro, K. (2006) Second Language writing ability – towards a complete construct definition Teachers college. Columbia working papers in TESOL and Applied Linguistics 6 (2) Retrieved on June 3 2012 from http://www.tc.columbia.edu/tesolalwebjournal
de Milliano I., van Gelderen, A., and Sleegers, P. (2012) Patterns of cognitive self-regulation by adolescent struggling writers. Written Communication 29: 303—325. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088312450275
Esmaeili, H. (2002) Integrated reading and writing tasks and ESL students’ reading and writing performance in an English language test. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 58(4), 599--622.
Flower, L. S., and Hayes, J. (1980) The cognition of discovery: Defining a rhetorical problem. College Composition and Communication, 31(1), 21--32. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/356630
Flower, L., and Hayes, J. (1981) A cognitive process theory of writing. College Composition and Communication, 32(4), 365--387. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/356600
Gustilo, L. E. (2010) What you think, feel, and experience shape your writing: Cognitive, affective, and contextual processes in ESL writing. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 19, 271--285. http://dx.doi.org/10.3860/taper.v19i2.1596
Hayes, J. R. (1996) A new framework for understanding cognition and affect in writing. In C. M. Levy and S. Randall (Eds.). The science of writing: Theories, methods, individual differences, and applications (pp 1--27). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hayes, J. R. (2011) Kinds of knowledge-telling: Modeling early writing development Journal of Writing Research, 3(2), 73-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2011.03.02.1
Hayes, J. R. (2012) Modeling and Remodeling Writing, Written Communication 29: 369-388 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088312451260
Hayes, J. R., and Chenoweth, N. A. (2006) Is working memory involved in the transcribing and editing of texts? Written Communication, 23(2), 135--149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088306286283
Hayes, J. R., and Flower, L. S. (1980) Identifying the organization of writing processes. In L. W. Gregg and E. R. Steinberg (Eds.), Cognitive processes in writing. (pp. 3--30). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hayes, J. R., Flower, L., Schriver, K. A., Stratman, J., and Carey, L. (1987) Cognitive processes in revision. In S. Rosenberg (Ed.), Advances in applied psycholinguistics: Vol. 2. Reading writing and language processing (pp. 176-241). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hyland, K. (2007) Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16, 148--164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2007.07.005
Kellogg, R., T. (1996) A model of working memory in writing. In C. M. Levy and S. Ransdell (Eds.), The science of writing: Theories, methods, individual differences, and applications (pp. 57--71). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kennedy, M. L. (1985) The Composing Process of College Students Writing from Sources. Written Communication, 2, 434--456. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088385002004006
Kroll, B. (1990) Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom. Port Chester NY Cambridge University Press.
Leki, I. (1995) Coping strategies of ESL students in writing tasks across the curriculum. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 235---260. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3587624
Mu, C. (2005) A taxonomy of ESL writing strategies. In Proceedings of Redesigning Pedagogy: Research, Policy, Practice, (pp. 1--10). Singapore.
Naiman, N., Frohlich, M., Stern, H., and Todesco, A. (1996) The Good Language Learner. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters
Nunan, D. (1996) Learner strategy training in the classroom: An action research study. TESOL Journal, 6(1), 35--41.
Negretti, R. and Kuteeva, M. (2011) Fostering metacognitive genre awareness in L2 academic reading and writing: a case study of pre-service English teachers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 20(2), 95--110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2011.02.002
O'Malley, J.M., and Chamot, A. (1990) Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Petric, B., and Czarl, B. (2003) Validating a writing strategy questionnaire. System, 31, 187--215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(03)00020-4
Plakans, L. (2008). Comparing composing processes in writing-only and reading-to-write test tasks. Assessing Writing, 13, 111--129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2008.07.001
Plakans, L. (2009) Discourse synthesis in integrated second language writing assessment Language Testing, 26(4), 561--587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0265532209340192
Rimka, M. (2004) Strategies for improving the writing process and implications for design of support tools. Unpublished Master Thesis, Stockholm University/Royal Institute of Technology.
Rosenfeld, M., Leung, P., and Oltman, P. K. (2001) The reading, writing, speaking, and listening tasks important for academic success at the undergraduate and graduate levels (TOEFL Monograph No. 21) Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
Sasaki, M. (2000) Toward an empirical model of EFL writing processes: An exploratory study. Journal of Second Language Writing, 9, 259--291. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(00)00028-X
Torrance, M., Thomas, G.V., and Robinson, E.J. (1994). The writing strategies of graduate research students in the social sciences. Higher Education, 27, 379--392. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF03179901
Torrance, M., Thomas, G.V., and Robinson, E. J. (2000) Individual differences in undergraduate essay-writing strategies: A longitudinal study. Higher Education, 39, 181--200.
Wong, A.T.Y. (2005). Writers’ mental representations of the intended audience and of the rhetorical purpose for writing and the strategies that they employed when they composed. System, 33, 29--47.
You, Y.L and Joe S.G (2002) A metacognitive approach to the problem of incoherence in EFL learners writing. In J. E. Katchen (Ed) Selected papers from the 11th International Symposium on English teaching /Fourth Pan Asian conference Taipei, Taiwan November 8-10 2001 (pp. 599--610).
Zhang, Y. (2010) Investigating the role of metacognitive knowledge in English writing. HKBU Papers in Applied Language Studies, 14, 25--46.
Published
2018-09-24
Issue
Section
Research Matters
How to Cite
Murray, J. C., & Riazi, A. M. (2018). Composing strategies reported by high and low achievers in the TOEFL-iBT integrated task: Implications for investigative pedagogy. Writing and Pedagogy, 10(1-2), 129-160. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.30570
