December 2007 — Volume 11, Number 3
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| Author: | Robert Weissberg (2006) |  |
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| Publisher: | Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press | ||
| Pages | ISBN | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pp. xiii + 171 | 978-0-472-03032-3 (paper) | $22.00 | |
Connecting Speaking & Writing in Second Language Writing
Instruction (henceforth CS&W) is a useful book which should be
of interest to its entire intended audience: foreign language or ESL teachers,
composition teachers, teachers-in-training, and teacher educators/researchers.
Divided into seven chapters, each with clearly organized subsections, the book
remains faithful throughout to its aim of demonstrating how structured speaking
practice benefits language learners in the ESL writing classroom. Each chapter
begins with an epigraph taken from the work of a scholar in one of the fields
brought into discussion, and ends with a set of suggested tasks and/or discussion
questions. It is a well-referenced book that includes numerous diagrams and
examples.
In “An Introduction to Dialogue and Second Language Writing,” Weissberg
initiates the reader into his central argument: second language writing is best
acquired through a dialogic classroom model. A key assumption is that “social
interaction provides an ideal context for mastering complex cognitive skills
like writing” (p. 3). Also summarized here are the remaining chapters, which
include both the theoretical justification for this argument and specific techniques
for incorporating spoken interaction into the L2 writing classroom.
In Chapter 2, “From Talking to Writing,” Weissberg lays out developmental
and sociocultural theories as well as evidence from empirical studies as foundations
for his claim that social interaction should be a basic part of the L2 writing
classroom. Of particular interest is Vygotsky’s thesis that writing, like all
higher cognitive functions, emerges from the inner speech that children acquire
through social interaction. Vygotsky’s ideas have prompted writing teachers
“to focus on collaborative learning as one way to promote the speaking-thinking-writing
connection for student learners” (p. 16).
In “ESL Writers and Speakers: A World of Individual Differences”
(Ch. 3), Weissberg uses case studies to look at differences among L2 learners
according to modality preference: Do learners find it easier to approach L2
through speaking, writing, or a balance of the two? He points out that assuming
a natural progression from speech to writing–as Vygotsky did–doesn’t always
hold up for L2 learners. Weissberg also explains how oral and written tasks
can be balanced in the L2 writing class so students have opportunities to use
their stronger modality to develop their weaker one.
The heart of CS&W is Chapter 4, “Beyond Teacher-Talk:
Instructional Conversations in the Writing Classroom.” After reviewing the limitations
of transmission-style teaching as exemplified by the IRE sequence (teacher Initiates
a question, student Responds, teacher provides an Evaluative comment), Weissberg
presents Instructional Conversations (ICs) in considerable detail; these are
instructionally-focused but natural-sounding teacher-student dialogues intended
as the main tools for embedding instruction within social interaction in the
L2 writing classroom. Teachers can build ICs by offering various forms of verbal
assistance in the classroom: turn-taking, allowing wait-time, modeling, feeding-back,
questions, and uptake; they can also prepare for the IC classroom experience
by developing a content-based curriculum, good materials, and collaborative
projects. The basis for promoting ICs is threefold: (1) Speech is developmentally
related to writing, so L2 writers draw on the linguistic resources of their
conversational talk. 2) Students who talk about their writing tend to write
with greater coherence. 3) When writing is taught conversationally, it becomes
a meaningful, reality-linked social activity.
Chapter 5, “Conversations in the Writing Tutorial” (with Gina L.
Hochhalter), is about using the dialogic approach during tutoring and conferencing.
In focus are four strategies for building oral scaffolding: get the student
talking (for example, through positive feedback), maintain conversational parity
(as through turn-taking). ask leading questions (dealing with sentence-level
problems, global discourse, etc.), and “link and extend” through verbal linkages
(which, for example, echo the student’s own talk) and idea linkages (which incorporate
the student’s ideas into the instructional dialogue, as when teachers summarize
or paraphrase them).
In “Written Response as Dialogue” (Ch. 6), the main focus is on
how teachers can approach comments on student drafts, since these are likely
to be the most frequent form of written interaction L2 writing teachers have
with their students. Weissberg contends that the dialogic quality of a teacher’s
written comments depends on such factors as degree of personal involvement (for
example, including a student’s name), topic continuity (for example, mentioning
previous work or remarks by the student), where on a paper comments appear (end
comments resemble listening without interruption), degree of student participation
(that is, the extent to which students have opportunities to “talk back”), and
the student’s intention in writing paper (a teacher may be biased if s/he compares
the student’s work to an ideal template). Also of note is the teacher’s social
stance, as formed by the attitudes s/he projects and the recognition that each
written comment is a speech act, and as such is necessarily communicative. The
more dialogic the comments, the better for the students’ ability to develop
their own writing.
In the final chapter, “Critiquing the Dialogue Approach,” Weissberg
raises potential objections to the dialogic model and provides responses. Topics
include how the dialogic model differs from the Socratic dialogue (the former
involves less control and more conversational collaboration with students),
using oral language to develop writing when speech is not a student’s strength
(including speech provides students with an additional option as they develop
their own voices as writers), the value of peer response groups (students develop
a sense of audience), and taking responsibility for the personal issues that
may surface when the dialogue approach is adopted. Weissberg concludes CS&W
by noting that writing instruction, like writing itself, is a social activity.
Identifying the shortcomings of CS&W has been a challenge.
Weissberg does an admirable job of keeping the material accessible to a wide
variety of readers. Nevertheless, in an effort to reach a range of instructional
personnel, the suggested assignments sometimes seem too widely targeted: some
are aimed at novice teachers or teachers-in-training, while others are aimed
at veteran teachers or scholars; the effect is one of mildly inconsistent register.
Another issue is acknowledged by Weissberg himself (p. 144): In
some situations, the dialogue approach may simply not work or be appropriate,
for example if students are unable or refuse to participate. This point needs
greater emphasis. Convincing students that the “noisy classroom” is a place
of structured learning may prove problematic. Even if a teacher explains the
purpose of classroom conversation at the start of the term, the point may need
regular repetition. Teachers may also struggle to control the “instructional”
part of ICs during peer group discussions in big classes, especially when some
groups work faster or more diligently than others, or when students who share
a first language unavoidably work together.
A third concern is that, while Weissberg does mention that to follow
all of his suggestions may be impractical, not enough attention is given to
this issue. The proposed approach to written comments, for example, may prove
unrealistic for teachers, who are often responsible for several large classes
at a given time. And while veteran teachers may be well-equipped to measure
Weissberg’s suggestions against the realm of practical reality, new teachers
and teachers-in-training may find that a sincere attempt to fulfill the promises
and possibilities of the dialogic approach is a daunting task. They might become
discouraged upon discovering that time simply doesn’t allow for the ideal level
of engagement with every student’s writing.
Finally, although there are both subject and author indices, a glossary of terms and acronyms would have been helpful, as many terms are introduced in the course of the book.
Instructional Conversations are guided dialogues with a pedagogical
purpose. The takeaway message of CS&W is that constructing ICs means
giving up control of predictable outcomes and making room for students to become
less like empty vessels into which teachers pour unquestionable knowledge and
more like partners in a journey of discovery. It’s a valuable message, and well
said.
Patricia Kilroe
California College of the Arts
<pkilroe
cca.edu>
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