Don’t let the horse in the school!: Indigenous teachers’ perspectives of mother tongue literacies in rural Guatemala

Data collection consisted primarily of in-depth, semi-structured and informal interviews; supplemented by observations conducted by the researchers who served the dual role of participant/observer. Interviews were analyzed using constant comparative method (Charmaz, 2006). Major themes that emerged across the participants included: (1) the role of formal education and mother tongue education in language revitalization, and (2) teachers expressed their agency through the collaborative process of creating books representing the Ixil language and culture.

References:

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry and research design, 3rd edition. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.

Jones, A. (2006). Becoming a ‘girl’: Post-structuralist suggestions for educational research. Gender and Education, 5(2), 157-166.

Mason, J. (2002). Qualitative researching. London: SAGE Publications.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods, 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Reay, D. (2010). Spice girls, nice girls, girlies and tomboys: Gender discourses, girls’ cultures and femininities in the primary classroom. Gender and Education, 13(2), 153-166.

Sayılan, F., & Özkazanç, A. (2008). Gendered power relations in the school: Construction of schoolgirl femininities in a Turkish high school. International Journal of Social Sciences, 3(1), 1-12.

Walkerdine, V. (1997). Daddy’s girl: Young girls and popular culture. London: MacMillan.

Recent studies indicate that reading literary fiction might foster thinking skills and dispositions that contribute to critical thinking (CT), defined by Ennis (1997) as ‘reasonable reflective thinking, focused on deciding what to believe or do’.

Research Aims:

The aims of the study are 1) to determine which CT skills could be evoked by literary assignments; 2) to develop a test to assess CT in a literary context (CTLC)

Sample:

Participants are students of one secondary school in the Netherlands (N=550, grades 10-12, pre-university education) who followed a program structured around reading literary novels thematically and interpreting them in differentiated reading groups.

Methods:

Based upon a literature review we developed and administered a test to assess critical thinking in response to literature. This test consists of eight assignments in which students are asked to make judgments, for instance about the appropriateness of a poem for a particular occasion. The test was examined for reliability in a pilot study. Second, two other tests were administered: 1) a thinking disposition test, consisting of three scales: Need for Cognition, Actively Open-minded Thinking (AOT) and Tolerance for Ambiguity (TFA); 2) the Cornell Critical Thinking Test level X (CCTT) to assess CT skills.

Results:

Preliminary results (N=72) show high interrater reliability (r=.97, p<0.01) and acceptable internal reliability for the CTLC (Cronbach’s Alpha .64), as well as an indication of validity (r=.62, p<0.01) between the CTLC and the CCTT. Grade 12 students scored higher on the CTLC (mean 14.7; SD 2.7) than students in grade 10 (mean 9.7; SD 2.7) and 11 (mean 6.8; SD 3.9).

Cacioppo, J. T., & Petty, R. E. (1982). The need for cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42(1), 116-131.

Djikic, M., Oatley, K. & Moldeveanu, M.C. (2013). Opening the closed mind: the effect of exposure to literature on the need for closure. Creativity research journal , 25(2), 149-154.

Ennis, R. H. (1993). Critical thinking assessment. Theory into Practice, 32(3), 179-186.

Ennis, R. H., Millman, J., & Tomko, T. N. (1985). Cornell critical thinking tests level X & level Z: Manual. Pacific Grove, CA: Midwest Publications.

Facione, P. (1990). Critical thinking: A statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. Millibrae, CA: The California Academic Press.

Garcia, T. & Pintrich, P.R. (1992). Critical Thinking and Its Relationship to Motivation,

Learning Strategies, and Classroom Experience. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association (100th, Washington, DC, August 14-18, 1992).

Hakemulder, J. (2000). The moral laboratory: experiments examining the effects of reading literature on social perception and moral self-knowledge. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Kaufman, G. F., & Libby, L. K. (2012). Changing beliefs and behavior through experience-taking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(1), 1-19.

Kidd, D.C. & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science 342 (6156), 377-380.

Kohlberg, L. (1963). The development of children’s orientations toward a moral order. I. Sequence in the development of human thought. Vita Humana (Human development), 6, 11-33.

Nussbaum, M. (2012). Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Schulhauser, C.E. (1990) The effect of literary discussion groups on students' critical thinking ability and attitude toward reading. PhD Diss. Pullman: Washington State University, 1990.

Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (2007). Natural myside bias is independent of cognitive ability. Thinking & Reasoning, 13(3), 225-247.

Wass, Harland en Mercer (2011). Scaffolding critical thinking in the zone of proximal development. Higher Education Research & Development, 30 (3), 317-328.

Webster, D. M., & Kruglanski, A. W. (1994). Individual differences in need for cognitive closure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(6), 1049-1062

Witte, T. (2008). Het oog van de meester: een onderzoek naar de literaire ontwikkeling van HAVO- en VWO-scholieren in de tweede fase van het voortgezet onderwijs. [The eye of the master: a research of the literary development of secondary school students in grade 10-12] Delft: Eburon.

Developing a test to assess critical thinking in the literature classroom

Martijn Koek & Gert Rijlaarsdam & Tanja Janssen & Frank Hakemulder
Abstract: Background:

Recent studies indicate that reading literary fiction might foster thinking skills and dispositions that contribute to critical thinking (CT), defined by Ennis (1997) as ‘reasonable reflective thinking, focused on deciding what to believe or do’.

Research Aims:

The aims of the study are 1) to determine which CT skills could be evoked by literary assignments; 2) to develop a test to assess CT in a literary context (CTLC)

Sample:

Participants are students of one secondary school in the Netherlands (N=550, grades 10-12, pre-university education) who followed a program structured around reading literary novels thematically and interpreting them in differentiated reading groups.

Methods:

Based upon a literature review we developed and administered a test to assess critical thinking in response to literature. This test consists of eight assignments in which students are asked to make judgments, for instance about the appropriateness of a poem for a particular occasion. The test was examined for reliability in a pilot study. Second, two other tests were administered: 1) a thinking disposition test, consisting of three scales: Need for Cognition, Actively Open-minded Thinking (AOT) and Tolerance for Ambiguity (TFA); 2) the Cornell Critical Thinking Test level X (CCTT) to assess CT skills.

Results:

Preliminary results (N=72) show high interrater reliability (r=.97, p<0.01) and acceptable internal reliability for the CTLC (Cronbach’s Alpha .64), as well as an indication of validity (r=.62, p<0.01) between the CTLC and the CCTT. Grade 12 students scored higher on the CTLC (mean 14.7; SD 2.7) than students in grade 10 (mean 9.7; SD 2.7) and 11 (mean 6.8; SD 3.9).

Cacioppo, J. T., & Petty, R. E. (1982). The need for cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42(1), 116-131.

Djikic, M., Oatley, K. & Moldeveanu, M.C. (2013). Opening the closed mind: the effect of exposure to literature on the need for closure. Creativity research journal , 25(2), 149-154.

Ennis, R. H. (1993). Critical thinking assessment. Theory into Practice, 32(3), 179-186.

Ennis, R. H., Millman, J., & Tomko, T. N. (1985). Cornell critical thinking tests level X & level Z: Manual. Pacific Grove, CA: Midwest Publications.

Facione, P. (1990). Critical thinking: A statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. Millibrae, CA: The California Academic Press.

Garcia, T. & Pintrich, P.R. (1992). Critical Thinking and Its Relationship to Motivation,

Learning Strategies, and Classroom Experience. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association (100th, Washington, DC, August 14-18, 1992).

Hakemulder, J. (2000). The moral laboratory: experiments examining the effects of reading literature on social perception and moral self-knowledge. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Kaufman, G. F., & Libby, L. K. (2012). Changing beliefs and behavior through experience-taking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(1), 1-19.

Kidd, D.C. & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science 342 (6156), 377-380.

Kohlberg, L. (1963). The development of children’s orientations toward a moral order. I. Sequence in the development of human thought. Vita Humana (Human development), 6, 11-33.

Nussbaum, M. (2012). Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Schulhauser, C.E. (1990) The effect of literary discussion groups on students' critical thinking ability and attitude toward reading. PhD Diss. Pullman: Washington State University, 1990.

Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (2007). Natural myside bias is independent of cognitive ability. Thinking & Reasoning, 13(3), 225-247.

Wass, Harland en Mercer (2011). Scaffolding critical thinking in the zone of proximal development. Higher Education Research & Development, 30 (3), 317-328.

Webster, D. M., & Kruglanski, A. W. (1994). Individual differences in need for cognitive closure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(6), 1049-1062

Witte, T. (2008). Het oog van de meester: een onderzoek naar de literaire ontwikkeling van HAVO- en VWO-scholieren in de tweede fase van het voortgezet onderwijs. [The eye of the master: a research of the literary development of secondary school students in grade 10-12] Delft: Eburon.

The Study on Korean Education Contents for Critical Reading - Using Characteristics of a Genre, thematically expressed in Newspaper Text

Bon Gwan Koo
Abstract: In light of genre, the generic nature is created based on sociocultural interaction. If the reader knows each genre’s linguistic characteristics and its background of sociocultural contexts, their critical literacy can be improved.

In particular, I have focused on news media. A description invariably expresses writer’s subjective judgment based on objective facts. Since each topic’s intention is different, articles have different genre-factors from its topic. For example, an economy section in the newspaper may place importance on conveying facts, and focus on objectivity. In contrast, an editorial section may place importance on conveying a writer’s individual opinion which implies personal subjectivity. Therefore, the goal of this study is to analyze the linguistic characteristics of genres by examining an article’s topic-section, and to make an educational contents for improving reader’s critical literacy.

To accomplish this goal, I have established a hypothesis that articles have linguistic characteristics of genre, which appear with high frequency in texts. Also, I have collected research materials by using Korean-indigenous Texts Archive, Sejong Morph Analysis Corpora. I verified the aforementioned hypothesis using the following process.

Firstly, I chose five typical topics, mainly found in newspapers. These are economy, society, culture, sports, and editorial sections.

Secondly, I found lexical and syntactic characteristics in each topic by using Morphological Analyzer Hanmaru 2.1. which is a also Korean-indigenous quantitative statistical evaluation program.

Thirdly, I measured the frequency of words that signify tone-related grammatical feature like active or passive expression, as well as the frequency of words that suggest a complex sentence, like connective endings and compound sentences.

Finally, based on the results drawn from the aforementioned three statistical analysis, I examined sociocultural background meanings, and finally described genre factors which are derived from linguistic characteristics and sociocultural background.

So far, the result of this study would be one of instructional contents in Korean Language Education. Through this kind of educational contents, students could understand that texts generally reflect genre factors by using linguistic characteristics, and it would be useful material for critical language awareness.

The background of the study is the general educational focus on literacy and writing skills in the wake of global knowledge competition as instantiated in PISA and PIRLS. In the Scandinavian L1 context the new focus on literacy in the disciplines has raised questions about the specific task of L1 in the teaching of writing (Krogh, 2012 a, b). In the Danish context, a critical issue in this regard concerns the value of voicing as tied to personal narratives in L1 writing. The transition from secondary to upper secondary school is marked by a change in the attitude to narrative approaches in writing. Whereas in secondary school, narrative writing is treasured and trained, in upper secondary school, narrative reasoning is not accepted as part of the L1 register.

The two presentations include a theoretical framing, findings from two empirical studies, and a concluding discussion.

This opening presentation will contribute the theoretical framing and findings from a longitudinal, ethnographic study of one student’s reflections on her L1 writing in a range of interviews through grades 9 to 12, bridging the divide between lower and upper secondary school. The study documents a successful but complicated writer trajectory which indicates that voice and narrative are crucial Bildung aspects of L1 writing although the transformation from personal to academic writing was not without costs.

Bamberg, M. (ed.). (2005). Narrative Discourse and Identities. Berlin New York: Walter de Gruyter.

Bruner, J. S. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Ivanič, R. (1998). Writing and identity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Krogh, E. (2012a). Writing in the literacy era: Scandinavian teachers’ notions of writing in mother tongue education. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, vol. 12, 1-28

Krogh, E. (2012b). Literacy og stemme – et spændingsfelt i modersmålsfaglig skrivning. S. Ongstad (ed.).Nordisk modersmålsdidaktik. Forskning, felt og fag. S. 260-289. Oslo: Novus Forlag.

Krogh, E. (2003). Et fag i moderniteten. Danskfagets didaktiske diskurser. Ph.d.-afhandling. Det humanistiske fakultet, Syddansk Universitet.

Piekut, A. (2012). Genreskrivning i de fire gymnasiers danskfag – en undersøgelse af genrekompetence i elevbesvarelser fra de fire ungdomsuddannelser. PhD thesis. The University of Southern Denmark.

Smidt, J. (2011). Finding Voices in a Changing World: Standard Language Education as a Site for Developing Critical Literacies. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 55, No. 6, December 2011, 655-669.

Wortham, S. E. F. (2001). Narratives in action : a strategy for research and analysis. New York: Teachers College Press.

The Portfolio Assessment aims to assess students' learning outcome by evaluating the learning progress, rather than a single piece of assignment. It empowers students' learning by providing them with the opportunity to assess and reflect on their own learning.

This action research aims to investigate the effectiveness of adopting Portfolio Assessment in writing lessons: Does teaching with Portfolio Assessment improve students’ lexical and syntax use in Chinese? How does Portfolio Assessment benefit students’ learning in writing lessons?

56 secondary school students in Mother Tongue classes were selected and divided into 2 groups: 1 control group and 1 experimental group.

The experimental group adopted Portfolio Assessment in the writing lessons for 2 months. The control group continued with the current teaching and assessment practice. Both groups wrote on 3 topics from the school syllabus. The writing pieces were then checked in terms of content ideas and language use. Both peer review and teacher’s review were given to the experimental group while only teacher’s review and comments were given to the control group. The experimental group was also given the second chance to submit a revised assignment, whereas the control group was not requested to hand in the revised assignment. The experimental group was also requested to file the writing pieces they wrote on in a separate file while the control group was not requested to do so.

Pre-test and post-test writing is conducted in order to evaluate the students’ writing ability in terms of their lexical and syntax use for both groups. Both topics were from the school syllabus. A T-test was used to compare the results and the growth in lexical and syntax use of both groups in the pre-test and post-test phase.

A questionnaire comprising of students’ self-assessment in writing and personal perspectives towards learning writing and Portfolio Assessment was also conducted to collect students’ feedback.
Keywords: teaching writing, Portfolio Assessment, peer review
Reference List:
Brophy, J. E. (2013). Motivating students to learn. Routledge.

Burner, T. (2014). The potential formative benefits of portfolio assessment in second and foreign language writing contexts: A review of the literature. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 43, 139-149.

Dias, P., Freedman, A., Medway, P., & Par, A. (2013). Worlds apart: Acting and writing in academic and workplace contexts. Routledge.

Guénette, D. (2013). The pedagogy of error correction: Surviving the written corrective feedback challenge. TESL Canada Journal, 30(1), 117.

Hyland, F. (2011). The language learning potential of form-focused feedback on writing. Learning-to-write and writing-to-learn in an additional language, 31, 159.

James, C. (2013). Errors in language learning and use: Exploring error analysis. Routledge.

Kim, Y., & Yazdian, L. S. (2014). Portfolio Assessment and Quality Teaching.Theory Into Practice, 53(3), 220-227.

Lam, R. (2014). Promoting self-regulated learning through portfolio assessment: testimony and recommendations. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39(6), 699-714.

Lam, R. (2015). Assessment as learning: examining a cycle of teaching, learning, and assessment of writing in the portfolio-based classroom. Studies in Higher Education, (ahead-of-print), 1-18.

Tahriri, A., Sabet, M. K., & Aeineh, A. (2014). The Effect of Portfolio Assessment on Learning Idioms in Writing. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 2(2), 53-57.

Tierney, R. J. (1991) Portfolio Assessement in the Reading-Writing Classroom. Washinton, DC: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.

Walker, K. H. (2014). Reflective assessment: Using reflection and portfolios to assess student learning in a writing center (Doctoral dissertation, University of Arkansas at Little Rock).

Xeni, E. (2014). Preparing to teach writing: research, theory, and practice.Educational Media International, 51(3), 256-257.