Research

Learning Integrated Skills (Products Analysis)

Dissertation Project: The effectiveness of learning-oriented assessment (LOA) on source use of Integrated writing tasks among L2 writers (To be submitted in 2022)

Previous research on integrated writing tasks focuses on the context of large-scale language assessment (Kim & Kim, 2017). Learning-oriented assessment (LOA), an assessment processes in which learning is valued more heavily than assessment (Carless, 2007), receives little attention in integrated writing research. This study fills the gap by investigating how second language (L2) writers incorporated self- and instructor-assessment on source use in revisions of integrated writing tasks in a LOA structured workshop, how integration style shifted between drafts and across tasks, and how participants perceived the effectiveness of LOA. The research contributes to the current understanding of both skill integration tasks and LOA because it is one of the few that looks at learning within integrated skill assessment.

Ten beginning to high-intermediate level secondary L2 writers from an international high school in China were recruited. An introduction and assessment training was held to review integrated writing tasks and source use, as well as introduced participants to the assessment checklist. The assessment checklist that I developed focused specifically on source use for the purpose of self- and instructor-assessment. Participants were asked to write three integrated reading-to-write tasks. After each task, they conducted self-assessment, received my assessment and feedback, and submitted a revision. A post-task interview was conducted. Data was analyzed qualitatively.

I have defended my dissertation in April 2022 and am working on submitting my dissertation for publication right now.

Assessing Integrated Skills (Process Analysis)

Plakans, L., Liao, J. T., & Wang, F. (2019). “I should summarize this whole paragraph”: Shared processes of reading and writing in iterative integrated assessment tasks. Assessing Writing, 40, 14-26.

Plakans, L., Liao, J. T., & Wang, F. (2018). Integrated assessment research: Writing-into-reading. Language Teaching, 51(3), 430-434.

Goal:

In the research of second language (L2) integrated skills assessment, scholarship has been focusing on the traditional unidirectional reading-to-write tasks. This research aimed to extend the conversation by exploring an iterative integrated writing-reading-writing task (free writing, reading passages with reading-based questions, and a persuasive writing task all based on the same topic) which elicits more iterative use of skills. Specifically, our scholarship investigated the shared processes across different task types and the influence of prior writing on reading performance among eleven adult L2 learners at a US university.

Results:

Five shared processes are identified in the iterative integrated assessment task (Figure 1).
Among these processes, metacognitive and vocabulary-focusing processes are used more frequently across task sections (Figure 1).
Short-answer questions (SAQs) elicit similar patterns of processes to the writing section, thus they could be considered an integrated skills task (Figures 2 & 3).
Two main processes emerged from the initial writing section-background knowledge and metacognitive thinking, which makes writing-into-reading a useful means to elicit skill integration processes (Figure 2).
The effect of writing on reading includes constructing meaning in later reading and supporting participants' arguments about the topic. Thus, the initial writing task has the potential to emulate a "pre-reading" task by allowing writers to think about the topic, establish an emerging position, and warm up for later writing.

Wang, F. (2020). Chinese international students’ cognitive processes and experiences with non-academic reading and writing in the United States. The Reading Matrix, 20(1), 127-142.

Goal:

The research of second language (L2) reading and writing has mainly investigated conventional paper-mediated academic texts. This study aimed to fill the gap by exploring twelve adult native Chinese-speaking English language learners' cognitive processes and experiences when reading and writing online for non-academic purposes at an American university.

Results:

Participants took advantage of the academic skills that they had procured in school to facilitate their reading and writing online beyond the classroom.
They employed multiple sets of strategies to help with their reading and writing activities (Figure 1).
Their online reading and writing processes shared both similarities and differences with their academic reading and writing processes.
Participants also reported that their academic literacy skills benefited their non-academic skills, although some participants felt uncomfortable with online non-academic reading and writing due to linguistic or cultural issues.

Understanding Integrated Skills (Task Analysis)

Collaborative Project with Jihye Shin: Real-life reading-to-write tasks in university settings: Authentic demands on L2 students (in the phrase of data analysis)

In response to the increasing attention to integrated reading-to-write tasks for instruction and assessment purposes, we examined syllabi from multiple academic disciplines focusing on reading-to-write tasks that students encounter at the university level. We aimed to identify common features of these tasks. Our goals were to use our findings to inform the EAP and assessment communities and to better prepare L2 learners for their academic success. To this end, we asked: What are the common features of integrated reading-to-write tasks assigned in first- and second year-courses in American university settings?

Data included syllabi, assignment prompts/handouts, and exams of 100 & 200 level courses from two large universities in the US was collected through direct contact with professors and department chairs as well as search on the university websites. Our coding scheme was adapted from Gardner and Nesi (2013), Hale et al., (1996), and Taylor (1989). Our coding is in progress right now.

Extensive Reading (Practitioner Research)

Wang, F. (2021). Developing readers through extensive reading of authentic materials, CATESOL Journal, 32(1), 1-9.

Goal:

This practitioner research described how I, as an ESL instructor for several Spanish-speaking adult immigrants at a community college in the US, used theoretical knowledge such as assumptions about adult education proposed by Knowles's (1980) and Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (2017) to guide my instruction and selection of authentic and adapted reading materials to enhance my adult immigrant ESL learners' career and life competence, as well as build their reading habits.

Reflections:

Challenges:

1. Finding authentic and adapted materials with appropriate language difficulty was very time-consuming.

2. Students may struggle to read online material.

Accomplishments:

1. Students were motivated to read through the use of authentic and adapted materials.

2. Students had the opportunity to develop life and workplace competence.

Recommendations:

Instructional orientation: teachers should collect primary data from their students by offering a needs analysis survey, communicating with colleagues, and observing student performance. It is essential that instructors know their students’ learning needs and employ a variety of materials for better instructional outcomes.
Material selection: I strongly recommend teachers to use one of the measures (e.g., the Flesch Reading Ease Score or the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level) or other similar measurements to calculate text readability when preparing materials. It also helps teachers to differentiate materials when they are tasked with instructing students of diverse English language proficiency levels.
Assessment: teachers can develop alternative authentic assessment tasks that are beneficial to students in order to minimize the negative impact of assessment.

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