Writing with word processors: an effective way to develop students' argumentative writing skills |
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| Authors: | Iiana Snyder |
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| Institution: | Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne |
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| Abstract: | Context one: the computer classroom It is period three on Tuesday. 8H is in the computer room. Wendy is tapping at her keyboard energetically, stopping every few minutes to read over the evolving text on the screen. The writing task is a letter to the members of the school's Student Representative Council (SRC) to persuade them that Our school is the perfect school. She is engrossed in her writing, oblivious to any movement or talk in the classroom. At another table, Susan stands behind Samantha who is peering at her monitor. Susan points to a sentence on the screen and suggests that Samantha move it to the beginning of the paragraph where, she argues, it might be more effective. Samantha uses a block command and inserts the sentence in its new position. They confer, then decide that it worked better where it was, so Samantha moves it back to its original location. Mary and Jill have been working at adjacent computers. They turn away from their keyboards and screens, move their chairs closer together and talk about the possible directions Mary's letter could take. Lauren has just printed her letter to the SRC. As she tears off the perforated edges, she approaches Tina and asks her to read it. They stand together, resting against a table, their eyes moving down the printed page. Tina suggests to Lauren that the tone is too formal. Lauren agrees and asks Tina's advice about how to loosen it up. Jacqui, the teacher, sits beside Anabelle who is reading her piece out loud. They are concentrating on the cohesiveness of the letter. Jacqui suggests where a conjunction would be useful. All the students in the classroom are engaged in writing, some independently, some collaboratively. Context two: the pen classroom English, Friday morning. The students of 8K are working on their letters to the members of the SRC. Jacqui, the teacher, sits next to Petula, but their discussion of the sequencing of the text is regularly broken. For the third time since the lesson began, Jacqui stands up and asks the girls to stop talking and get on with their writing. The students sit four to a table: they whisper to each other; the giggles and nudges indicate that they're not discussing writing. Jill has decided to move to an unoccupied table: as she gathers her books, Jill explains to Peta that she hopes she'll be able to concentrate better away from the interruptions of her friends. Abigail looks at her watch and exclaims that the bell is about to go and she has written only one paragraph. Jodie and Penny also announce that they are nowhere near finishing their letters. Jodie remarks that it's boring writing in class. Penny agrees and comments: “It's also too hard!” |
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