Multiple Text Integration Among Native English and Spanish Speakers

• In Event: Division C Roundtable

Abstract

We examine organization and integration in the academic writing of native- and non-native English writers. We investigate whether these can be fostered by manipulating the organizational structure of texts prompting students’ writing. Participants read two texts comparing college education in Latin America and the U.S. Texts were organized by country or by concept (e.g., discussing cost in both the U.S. and Latin America), requiring students to make either inter-textual or intra-textual connections to compare regions. Students wrote comparative-contrastive reports, scored based on the number of comparisons (i.e., either inter-textual or intra-textual) generated. While native-English writing status did not affect performance, students generated more comparisons in the inter-textual reading condition (i.e., when reading separate texts about Latin America and the U.S.).

Authors

• Gala Sofia Campos Oaxaca, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park

• Alexandra List, The Pennsylvania State University