Text Creation in English Teaching

IN ENGLISH TEACHING TEXT CREATION

TEXT CREATION IN ENGLISH TEACHING

TEXT CREATION IN ENGLISH TEACHING

© Universitetsforlaget 2023

ISBN 978-82-15-03613-7

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my utmost gratitude to the students and teachers of English who have kindly agreed to let me read and use their texts . These learner texts have been a great source of inspiration for the writing of this book . I would like to thank the editor at Universitetsforlaget, Evelinn Throne-Holst, for her guidance and patience during the making of this book . I am also grateful to my colleague Sigrid Ørevik for valuable comments on drafts of several of the book chapters .

I would like to acknowledge the copyright holders for permission to reproduce the following material in this book:

Figure 8.1: Credit: Text and Illustrations © 2009 Walker Books Ltd . Based on the original novel SKELETON KEY © 2002 Stormbreaker Productions Ltd . Trademarks © Stormbreaker Productions Ltd ., Alex Rider TM, Boy with Torch TM, AR Logo TM From SKELETON KEY . Written by Anthony Horowitz and Antony Johnston & Illustrated by Kanako and Yuzuru .

Reproduced by permission of Walker Books Ltd ., London, SE11 5HJ

www .walker .co .uk

Figure 2.2: Image reprinted with kind permission from the artist Hilde Hodnefjeld

Figure 5.1: Photo: Nigel R . Barklie/Shutterstock editorial/REX/NTB

Figure 5.2: Photo: Alamy/NTB

Figure 7.1: Artwork courtesy of the Norman Rockwell Family Agency

Figure 8.2: Credit: Punch Cartoon Library/Topfoto

Figure 8.3: Image reprinted with kind permission from Arbor Hill Productions, LLC (dba Fullbright)

Bergen, January 2023

Aud Solbjørg Skulstad

Introduction

Why focus on text creation?

Communication is one of the core elements in the English subject curriculum of 2020 (LK20) (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2019) . The title of the present book, Text Creation in English Teaching, draws attention to the terms text and text creation – which are vital concepts in most forms of communication . These are broad concepts which normally include spoken, written, visual and multimodal texts . Text Creation in English Teaching does not discuss the creation of spoken texts, simply because developing students’ oral skills in English would deserve a book in its own right . A focus on written texts is in line with Norwegian national curricula, which have treated writing as a basic skill since 2006 . “To be able to write” is one of four basic skills in the English subject curriculum of 2020 (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2019) . The term basic skill indicates that learning in all subjects is dependent on such skills (Meld . St . 30, 2003–2004, p . 3) . At the same time, the book offers a wide focus on text creation, not limiting it to the teaching and learning of writing . Scholars emphasise the fact that communication is multimodal . This means that neither spoken nor written language can be adequately understood without taking non-verbal communication into account (van Leeuwen, 2011, p . 668) . In the case of written communication, aspects such as layout, typography, colour and images cannot be ignored . The creation of multimodal texts plays a central part in several chapters and is strongly present in Chapter 8 . In addition, the book emphasises that writing should not be viewed in isolation from the other basic skills; particularly the relationship between writing and reading, and between writing and digital skills is foregrounded .

A second core element of the English subject curriculum of 2020 is language learning . Although this curriculum document does not mention it explicitly, writing may be used as a tool for language learning and as

a tool in learning processes . Writing is essential in processes of learning new vocabulary, self-assessment (e .g . writing logs), cooperative learning, online communication, documenting the development of textual competence, and so forth . Students themselves should be encouraged to use writing as part of their individual learning strategies in the subject of English as an additional language (EAL)1 . The term learning strategies refers to actions chosen by learners in order to improve their overall communicative ability or to achieve a specific learning goal such as completing a task, and to learn more efficiently, effectively and easier (Oxford, 2011) .

The third core element of the English subject curriculum is encountering English-language texts . As pointed out above, although the present book is devoted to text creation (production) and not text reception, reading English-language texts and using metalanguage or metatalk (Lantolf, 2000) to discuss written and multimodal texts is seen as a means of developing students’ textual competence and genre awareness . The close connection between writing and reading may be summed up in the following way:

Proficient writing and reading are intimately related, as they both rely on many of the same core cognitive processes and knowledge bases Both reading and writing access the same vocabulary and content knowledge to aid in comprehension and composition . Development and improvement of these skills are intertwined . (Pasquarella, 2019, p . 390)

The Core Curriculum of 2017 foregrounds the development of critical thinking (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2017) . Being critical “involves understanding the sets of historically contingent circumstances and contradictory power relationships that create the conditions in which we live” (Apple, 1993, p . 5) . Writing may be seen as a tool for the development of students’ critical thinking and for becoming aware of which thoughts and ideas one has . Writing is also an essential way of communicating one’s ideas and arguments and for convincing someone about certain views . The Core Curriculum of 2017 ties the concept of competence to critical thinking by pointing out that competence includes understanding, reflection and critical thinking (Norwegian

1 The term English as an additional language (EAL) captures the fact that each individual learner will have either Norwegian or a different language as their first language (L1) . English will not be an L2 for all learners, but may be an L3, L4 or L5 .

Ministry of Education and Research, 2017, p . 10) . In other words, developing students’ (multimodal) textual competence involves raising their awareness, reflection and critical thinking as to the power of language and other semiotic resources . It also implies raising students’ awareness of asymmetrical power relations in situations in which written language, non-verbal communication and multimodal resources are used . But learning to write well in English is also important in its own right: many employees work in international companies and are required to write in English, and more and more people take part in online communities in their spare time, with participants from different parts of the world – to mention two aspects .

Text creation in the 21st century

What does it mean to be a writer or a text creator in the 21st century?

Text creation has become more complex because students of English in Norway often have access to a number of different types of artefacts such as computers, tablets and smartphones . This fact enables students not only to create texts that combine various semiotic resources, but also to publish their texts instantly in a local classroom or school context, or globally on the internet . The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 and similar artificial intelligence (AI) tools has introduced new challenges to text creation and assessment within an educational context . The rapid development of automated text generation raises concerns and makes the educational project of developing students’ 21st century skills more urgent . When text creation is coupled with 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, the joy of creating and engagement, AI tools have the potential to assist students’ writing process in a way that may enhance learning . 21st century skills may be seen to include several different abilities, and some of these basic values are foregrounded in the Core Curriculum of 2017, such as:

• human dignity

• identity and cultural diversity

• critical thinking and ethical awareness

• the joy of creating, engagement and the urge to explore

• respect for nature and environmental awareness

• democracy and participation

Such basic values have always been a part of the concept of Bildung (danning in Norwegian), and these values are also reflected in the two interdisciplinary topics specified in the English subject curriculum of 2020: democracy and citizenship and health and life skills . The latter includes the aim of “developing the ability of the pupils to express themselves in writing and orally in English” (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2019, p . 3) . Obviously, these interdisciplinary topics provide plenty of opportunities for students to engage in text creation in the subject of English and across the curriculum . In addition, the Core Curriculum of 2017 emphasises major skills such as:

• communication

• creativity

• collaboration

• learning to learn

• active participation

• contextual learning (an integration of subject-related learning and social learning)

• in-depth learning

These skills should form an integral part of the development of (multimodal) textual competence in the subject of English .

Important priorities

Communicative competence is still seen as the most fundamental concept in EAL didactics in the 21st century, and Text Creation in English Teaching is anchored in a communicative paradigm . It cannot be ignored, however, that communication today is often very different from the way it was when Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) appeared: sometimes single authorship has been replaced by multiple authorship (e .g . in a wiki) with the result that authorship is not clear-cut and writers may turn into co-editors – to mention one example . Similarly, students creating multimodal texts may act as media producers rather than as writers of “traditional” genres . The result is that our notions of what constitutes a text and a genre and what communication means have had to be redefined and reconceptualised . Above all, Text Creation in English Teaching emphasises the need to assist students in realising their communicative

purposes in text creation and in learning to see the affordances of different modes . It is also essential to encourage students to engage not only in text creation but also in metacognitive discussions of texts and genres based on the scrutiny of texts produced by a variety of authors for a wide range of purposes within multiple domains .

The teaching and learning of writing in English is sometimes associated with the acquisition of part skills such as vocabulary, grammar or language functions . The present book is more concerned with the development of textual competence than with part skills of this type . However, part skills are not ignored, and one of the chapters (Chapter 6) is devoted to how textbook tasks deal with the teaching of part skills . The English subject curriculum of 2020 specifically mentions the ability to write coherent texts in its description of the basic skill “to be able to write” . The present book focuses on the ability to create cohesive and coherent texts, having a (set of) communicative purpose(s) and an imagined audience in mind, and placing the act of writing within a situational context . In doing so, Text Creation in English Teaching finds it helpful to introduce some concepts and ideas that are often associated with linguistics rather than English language pedagogy .

Text Creation in English Teaching sees the complex process of learning to write and to create multimodal texts as essentially a choice-making process . Thus, it follows that the backbone of learning to create texts is getting the opportunity to practise making all the relevant choices that are involved in text creation (Skulstad, 2022) . The book acknowledges the need for learning “traditional” school genres such as argumentative essays, but at the same time it shows how argumentative writing, for instance, may be found in a number of different genres . The book also illustrates how acts of argumentation and persuasion may be realised in visual communication, for instance, and that this type of non-verbal communication may be more demanding as to reader response .

A central issue of Text Creation in English Teaching is that students should be introduced to a wide range of genres from different domains . Diamantopoulou and Ørevik (2022) make the point that multimodal texts used in EAL classrooms are often linked to popular culture and entertainment domains (p . 3) . Examples of these type of genres, such as video games and graphic novels, form part of the present book . However, one of the book’s priorities is to introduce authentic texts from a wider range of domains such as business and public relations . This may be somewhat

surprising when we know that students of English in compulsory education are usually not required to write texts that belong to these domains . Nonetheless, these types of texts are easy to get access to and they often contain illustrative examples of communicative strategies and mixtures of types of discourses2 . Hence, such texts lend themselves to group discussions that aim to develop students’ critical thinking and use of metalanguage . Thus, it would be right to say that from a pedagogical point of view, the issue of genre is not only important per se; it is also fundamental in the larger project of developing students’ genre awareness . Learning to create texts gives students the opportunity to engage in powerful genres and social practices in English and is thus “a gateway to empowerment” (Cremin & Myhill, 2012, p . 12) . Examples of such empowerment are the ability to write a convincing letter of complaint in English or a persuasive petition that will make a change globally . These examples illustrate the fact that text creation is not only important from the point of view of individual communicative needs, but that it also carries importance related to the ideology of empowering individuals .

Text Creation in English Teaching is research-based . This focus is reflected in the discussion of research related to the different topics . But the book also includes the perspective of the English teacher as researcher . In addition, the book explores learner texts and teachers’ feedback to written texts as well as texts that do not belong to traditional school genres . Limiting the practical examples to traditional school genres would mean that a central point of the book would be lost, namely the opportunity to show how a specific type of discourse (e .g . narrative discourse) may be used in a large range of genres to achieve powerful communicative effects .

The teaching and learning of text creation in English is a broad field which concerns student teachers, teachers, teacher educators and researchers . The present book may be seen as a response to the need to explore different aspects of EAL text creation without having to search for a large selection of books and research articles .

2 Discourse usually means language in action – the actual choices made by the writer (or speaker) (Gee, 2018, p . 3) . Discourses (used as a countable noun) refers to language associated with a particular institution or a social practice (e .g . business discourse, environmental discourse, lifeworld discourse) (Skulstad, 2002) .

What do the ten chapters focus on?

A principal aim of the present book is to raise (student) teachers’ awareness of the repertoire of approaches and methods for the teaching of writing that exist (past and present) and to get insight into views of language and learning and the ideologies that underpin these methods .

Chapter 1 takes the aims and functions of these approaches and methods as a point of departure . The historical context sheds light on how ideas and theories related to the teaching of writing have emerged and developed . But above all, it is important to realise that there are traces of previous theories and methods in textbooks and online materials currently in use .

Chapter 2, “Implications of a functional view of writing”, is organised around four different statements about writing related to its nature, function and aims as well as students’ awareness of these aspects: writing aims to accomplish or do something, writing has a communicative purpose, writing does not take place in a vacuum, and writing relates to the development of genre awareness . Writing should not be viewed as a skill in isolation, and the route to developing good writers also depends on reading (e .g . model texts) and discussing meta-perspectives of texts and genres orally . The latter aspects should form part of the process of developing genre awareness .

Above, creativity was singled out as one of the general skills or qualities that subsumes all learning (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2017) . The use of technology enhances the opportunities for creativity and “non-linear thinking” (Lambert & Cuper, 2008), but also writing in a more traditional sense may allow for the creative use of language, using one’s imagination to create fantasy worlds or to create atmospheres that impinge on the reader . Chapter 3 explores genre characteristics of narratives and discusses the use of genre models, model texts, writing frames and insights from relief theory . It also raises questions about the place of narratives in the subject of English and whether strict formal requirements will hinder students’ creativity . A poem written by a student is used to illuminate the latter of these questions . Within the context of education, narrative genres tend to be treated in isolation, ignoring the fact that narrative discourse may appear in genres such as news reports, corporate reports and advertisements for a number of communicative purposes .

An increased focus on the development of critical thinking and how to deal with controversial issues means that the need for developing students’ argumentative writing seems more urgent than ever before . Chapter 4 discusses various strategies and theories that may facilitate the teaching of argumentative writing in the subject of English . A learner text, written by a student in Year 9, is used to provide practical examples of writing strategies and theories introduced .

Chapter 5 explores persuasive writing . But, importantly, the chapter also includes examples of the persuasive power of visuals . In addition, the issue of discourse mixing is discussed in more detail in this chapter . Besides exploring intriguing extracts from students’ travel brochures, the use of persuasive discourse and visuals in several domains of text creation are included such as marketing, corporate reporting and academic writing .

Irrespective of whether English teachers use paper-based or online educational resources, tasks for students to complete form a major part of the teaching . Consequently, raising English teachers’ awareness of professional criteria for task design and task selection is important . Chapters 6 and 7 discuss authentic task prompts from the point of view of a binary division between tasks that focus on part skills of text creation (e .g . grammar) and communicative text creation tasks, respectively . Illustrative textbook tasks have been chosen which may assist English teachers in analysing tasks and in selecting and designing such prompts . Chapter 7 asks the question of what characterises a good text creation task, and as a response to this question six criteria for designing or selecting such tasks are presented .

Chapter 8 is devoted to students’ semiotic resources for text creation and to the fact that the use of Web 2 .0 technologies has led to seminal changes of views of language, communication, text creation and learning . The first part of this chapter discusses the concepts of multimodality and multimodal literacy from the point of view of the teaching and learning of text creation in English . A double-page spread from a graphic novel is used to illustrate multimodal design . Chapter 8 also explores a video game as a multimodal artefact . The last part of Chapter 8 discusses changes brought about by the use of Web 2 .0 technologies as to communication and learning, exemplified by blogs and wikis .

In the English subject curriculum of 2020, formative assessment has a prominent place, and teachers’ feedback plays an important part of this

type of assessment . Chapter 9 discusses feedback from peers and teachers on learner texts . Feedback is an essential element of learning, and students need to be trained in order to be able to provide useful feedback to their peers . At the same time, Chapter 9 sheds light on the fact that certain mechanisms typical of speech situations, such as face-threatening acts (FTAs), may complicate the feedback situation . This chapter also discusses some principles of teachers’ written feedback, including digital feedback, and authentic examples of teachers’ feedback are provided .

Teacher research is one way to develop one’s professional competence, and this aspect is often ignored in books for teachers and student teachers . Chapter 10 explores the importance of this type of research and gives advice on designing, carrying out and writing up research . The chapter is limited to research related to the teaching and learning of writing and text creation in the subject of English .

Reflection is a cornerstone of teachers’ professional competence . Text Creation in English Teaching aims to assist teachers and student teachers in engaging actively in reflection processes related to the teaching and learning of writing and text creation in the subject of English .

References

Apple, M W (1993) Official knowledge: Democratic education in a conservative age . Routledge .

Council of Europe . (2001) . Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment . https://www .coe .int/t/dg4/linguistic/ Source/Framework_EN .pdf

Cremin, T , & Myhill, D (2012) Writing voices: Creating communities of writers Routledge .

Diamantopoulou, S ., & Ørevik, S . (2022) . Multimodality in English language learning: The case of EAL . In S . Diamantopoulou & S . Ørevik (Eds .), Multimodality in English language learning (pp . 3–15) . Routledge .

Gee, J . P. (2018) . Introducing discourse analysis: From grammar to society . Routledge .

Gilje, Ø , Ingulfsen, L , Dolonen, J A , Furberg, A , Rasmussen, I , Kluge, A , Knain, E ., Mørch, A ., Naalsund, M ., & Skarpaas, K . G . (2016) . Med ARK & APP: Bruk av læremidler og ressurser for læring på tvers av arbeidsformer . University of Oslo .

Lambert, J ., & Cuper, P. (2008) . Multimedia technologies and familiar spaces: 21st century teaching for 21st century learners . Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 8(3), 264–276

Lantolf, J . P. (2000) . Second language learning as a mediated process . Language Teaching, 33(2), 79–96 .

Meld . St . 30 (2003/2004) . Report to the Storting No . 30 . Kultur for læring [Culture for learning] . Utdannings- og forskningsdepartementet . https://www .regjeringen .no/no/dokumenter/stmeld-nr-030-2003-2004-/id404433/

Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research . (2017) . Core curriculum: Values and principles for primary and secondary education Overordnet del – verdier og prinsipper for grunnopplæringen [Core curriculum: Values and principles for primary and secondary education] . Fastsatt som forskrift ved kongelig resolusjon . Læreplanverket for Kunnskapsløftet 2020 . https://www .regjeringen . no/no/dokumenter/verdier-og-prinsipper-for-grunnopplaringen/ id2570003/

Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (2019) Læreplan i engelsk (ENG01-04) [Curriculum in English] . Fastsatt som forskrift ved kongelig resolusjon . Læreplanverket for Kunnskapsløftet 2020 . https://www .udir .no/lk20/ eng01-04

Oxford, R . (2011) . Strategies for learning a second or foreign language . Language Teaching, 44(2), 167–180

Pasquarella, A . (2019) . Instruction for English learners . In S . Graham, C . A . MacArthur & M . Hebert (Eds .), Best practices in writing instruction (3rd ed ., pp . 385–405) . The Guilford Press .

Skulstad, A . S . (2002) . Established and emerging business genres . Høyskoleforlaget .

Skulstad, A S (2022) Theoretical perspectives on choice in multimodal text production and consequences for EAL task design . In S . Diamantopoulou & S . Ørevik (Eds .), Multimodality in English language learning (pp . 146–157) . Routledge .

van Leeuwen, T . (2011) . Multimodality . In J . Simpson (Ed .), The Routledge handbook of applied linguistics (pp 668–682) Taylor & Francis Group

How should writing be taught? Past and present perspectives

Introduction

How should writing in the subject of English be taught? This is a very complex question because there are several methods and approaches to choose from . In addition, any decision needs to take a number of factors into account, such as the students’ needs, the context in which writing takes place, the purposes and aims of writing, learning resources available, students’ motivation, ideologies of learning, and views of language . The English subject curriculum of 2020 does not make the choice easy for the teacher as it does not recommend a specific method for the teaching of writing (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2019) . This means that English teachers are free to select a method of their own choice, or they may take an eclectic approach, combining elements of previous and current methods . Making a good decision is dependent on knowledge about the repertoire of methods and approaches, as well as insight into views of language and learning that underpin these methods and approaches . The present chapter aims to provide this knowledge and insight, and in doing so it tries to unite past and present perspectives of theories related to EAL writing pedagogy . There may be reason to ask: when do historical methods and approaches become history? As you will see in Chapter 6, there are traces of earlier teaching methods in English textbooks and lessons today . This fact makes it relevant and interesting to examine methods and approaches for the teaching of writing in a historical context .

The subsections of this chapter take the aims and functions of methods for teaching EAL writing as a point of departure . Included in the discussion are references to past and present national curricula for the teaching of English . These documents give central information about recommended methods for the teaching of writing within a Norwegian context .

The role and view of writing in various methods and approaches

Writing as a tool for learning grammar and vocabulary

Today, writing is seen as a tool for learning, but also as being important in its own right . In the pedagogical history, the latter has not always been the case . In the Grammar-Translation Method which dominated foreign language teaching in Europe from the 1840s to the 1940s3 (Richards & Rodgers, 2014), developing writing skills was not an aim . The ultimate aim of this method was to enable the learners to read literary texts in the foreign language . Views of language and language learning in this method were influenced by the study of classical Latin . Just as the study of Latin had come to be seen as being beneficial in developing intellectual abilities, so was the study of modern languages, provided that the same classical procedures were used . The main writing activity was translation tasks, translating disconnected sentences into and out of the L2 . Thus, looking back, at best writing may be seen as a tool for learning grammar and vocabulary . The focus was on language practice (or intellectual practice) through written translation exercises .

Writing as transduction and mediation

Mediation was introduced by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (Council of Europe, 2001) as a fourth category alongside reception, production and interaction . Taking writing as a point of departure, the concept of mediation in the CEFR refers to written activities that enable communication between people who are unable to communicate directly with each other . Examples include translating,

3 English did not become a compulsory subject across the country until 1969, although it was offered as an optional subject in many schools much earlier – particularly in urban areas .

How should writing and multimodal text creation be taught in the subject of English in Norwegian schools? This question is relevant to all EAL teachers and teacher educators. This book offers a wide view of text creation in the subject of English, including other semiotic resources beside writing. Writing is not viewed in isolation from the other basic skills. Particularly the relationship between writing and reading, and between writing and digital skills, is foregrounded. The book emphasises that developing students' (multimodal) textual competence involves raising their awareness, reflection and critical thinking as to the power of language and other semiotic resources, such as the persuasive power of images. The global social context of educating students in the post-truth era has made this aim more urgent. Drawing on a range of examples from learner texts, textbook tasks, examination questions and examples of authentic feedback from teachers, the author discusses central aspects of the teaching of text creation, and in doing so she tries to unite ideas from the fields of linguistics, English didactics and pedagogy.

The English subject curriculum of 2020 is written within a communicative paradigm. Yet it does not recommend a specific method for the teaching of text creation. This book aims to enable English teachers to respond to this freedom in an informed way and to take an eclectic approach that fits their particular group of students. Text Creation in English Teaching also encourages teacher research as a way to develop schools from within.

The book is aimed at student teachers, teachers, teacher educators and researchers.

Aud Solbjørg Skulstad is Professor of English didactics at the University of Bergen, Department of Foreign Languages, where she has been a teacher educator since 1996. She has published many research articles and book chapters, and is the co-editor of Teaching English in the 21st Century: Central Issues in English Didactics (2020).

ISBN 978-82-15-03613-7