Writing and New Technologies
PROVIDING FEEDBACK ON IELTS ACADEMIC WRITING FOR LARGE NUMBERS OF STUDENTS: FOSTERING LEARNER AUTONOMY THROUGH EMPORIUMSTYLE ENGAGEMENT WITH OUTPUT
Ian Charles Lister
Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
With hundreds of Politecnico di Torino students taking the IELTS Academic exam every month and increasing numbers using the services offered by the Language Centre (CLA), a new approach to helping as many as possible with their writing was required. Taking into account Swain’s output hypothesis, along with concepts of noticing and scaffolding, an emporiumstyle model of blended learning, combining aspects of elearning and the flipped classroom, was instituted. After watching an online lesson on IELTS writing, students may attend four writing tutorials, with one timetabled several times each week. They must do the IELTS Writing Tasks received when booking online before the tutorial in the CLA computer laboratory, with up to 18 participants. A teacher is present to offer guidance, but the onus is on the students themselves to use the interactive powerpoint presentation to compare their output with an annotated model, engaging consciously with noticing lacunae in the content and structure of their texts. Subsequently, students work on commonly encountered grammar and vocabulary issues. The branching potential of powerpoint lets them manage the hourlong session with great autonomy. The success of the tutorials in fostering student selfsufficiency, helping them learn from their output, has been evaluated through a survey of participants and analysis of attendance and IELTS results. A rewrite will implement this information to enhance the userfriendliness of the presentation and validity of the areas covered, providing a template for future applications of this novel approach to giving large numbers of students feedback on their academic writing.
References
Applebee, A. N. and Langer J. A. (1983) ‘Instructional scaffolding: Reading and writing as natural language activities’. Language Arts 60/2 Cotterall, S. and Cohen, R. (2003) ‘Scaffolding for second language writers: producing an academic essay’. ELT Journal 57/2, 158166 Hulstijn, J. H. and Schmidt, R. (1994) ‘Consciousness in second language learning’. AILA Review 11 L & S Learning Support Services (2012) Introduction to Blended Learning [online] available from < https://teachingwithtech.lss.wisc.edu/m3w1.htm> [20 January 2015] Swain, M. (2007) The Output Hypothesis: Its History and its Future [online lecture], 17 May 2007. Beijing: CELEA. available from < http://www.celea.org.cn/2007/keynote/ppt/merrill%20swain.pdf > [23 January 2015]