Writing in and across Disciplines
METAWRITING AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING IN A ‘REALWORLD’ PROJECT
Jacqueline F. van Kruiningen¹, Robin de Boer², Japke Grit³
1. University of Groningen, Netherlands 2. University of Groningen, Netherlands 3. University of Groningen, Netherlands
In writing research, little studies have been carried out that focus on university students’ metacognitions with regard to writing (Negretti, 2012). However, the knowledge that students bring into a course, form the foundation for the development of new knowledge and skills. This study examines students’ metacognitions about professional writing, and their progression in a ‘realworld’ client project; a classroomworkplace collaboration in which 80 thirdyear students learned to analyze an organizational problem and to write a proposal and a report for a real client. Such writing tasks can be considered as hybrid assignments, since students are not only required to write for an authentic client, but also for their instructors who may have (partly) different educational motives. These different perspectives may lead to conflicting demands (Blakeslee, 2001; Dias, Freedman, Medway & Paré, 1999; Schneider & Andre, 2005). In this study, students’ metacognitions and expectations with regard to these professional genres were analyzed in the first week and after completion of the project, based on a contentanalysis of two metawriting tasks. These outcomes were related to data concerning students’ orientations during the project (based on an analysis of consultations, journals, interviews, students’ texts). The outcomes of this ongoing study will give rise for reflection on the way we can teach professional writing effectively. Insight in the the ways students articulate their cognitions, and in how these articulations relate to their interactions and performances, can provide valuable input for the design of such writing tasks in university education.
References
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Dias, P., Freedman, A., Medway, P., & Paré, A. (1999). Worlds apart. Acting and writing in academic and workplace contexts . Mayway/Londen: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Negretti, R. (2012). Metacognition in student academic writing: A longitudinal study of metacognitive awareness and its relation to task perception, selfregulation, and evaluation of performance. Written Communication, 29(2), pp. 142179.
Paltridge, B. (2000). Genre knowledge and teaching professional communication. Ieee Transactions on Professional Communication Pc, 43, pp. 397401.
Schneider, B., & Andre, J. (2005). University preparation for workplace writing: an exploratory study of the perceptions of students in three disciplines. Journal of Business Communication , 42(2), pp. 195