Exploring the Writing Patterns of Elementary School Students as a Function of Their English Proficiency

• In Event: Metacognition, Collaboration, and Response: Innovative Approaches to Building Literacy

Abstract

This study compared essays written by fifth and sixth grade native English-speaking, fluent English proficient, and limited English proficient students in two conditions: writing with laptop or pencil-and-paper. Student’ essays were coded for word use, text complexity, and writing quality. We found significant differences among texts written by three groups of students. Although limited English proficient students’ texts differed from native English-speaking students’ texts in most of the measures, there were some similarities between fluent English proficient and native English-speaking students’ texts. We also found significant effect of writing modality on students’ essays and such effect was dependent on students’ levels of English proficiency. These findings have implications for instructional approaches that can be designed for pre-adolescent language minority learners.

Authors

• Jin Kyoung Hwang, University of California - Irvine

• Penelope Collins

• Binbin Zheng, University of California - Irvine

• Mark Warschauer, University of California - Irvine