SLWIS Newsletter - March 2014 (Plain Text Version)

Manchón, R. (Ed.). (2012). L2 writing development: Multiple perspectives. Boston, MA: Walter de Gruyter.

In this collection of articles, Rosa Manchón gathers studies from different theoretical frameworks to discuss the development of writing in itself, shifting from traditional second language acquisition (SLA) writing research that instead emphasizes language development through writing. This book includes chapters that work within the frameworks of dynamic systems theory, sociocultural theory, multicompetence, goal theories of education and psychology, genre theory, and systemic functional linguistics.

In Chapter 1, Manchón discusses how second language writing (SLW) research has grown substantially since its beginning in the 1990s and how these advancements have created additional volumes on SLW theories, research methodology, and pedagogy. Manchón’s collection adds to this breadth and explores SLW competency development, which, as she argues, has been neglected in the otherwise comprehensive research in the field. The goals for the volume are to present diverse views of SLW development, explore ways SLA frameworks can inform SLW research and pedagogy, and provide directions for future SLW research.

The book describes six empirical studies. In Chapter 2, Verspoor and Smiskova apply a dynamic usage-based perspective to the study of Dutch high school students’ development of “chunks” of English, calling attention to how frequency of input and use inform writing development. The researchers recommend that instructors make more use of writing in their classrooms in order to practice and use language in a meaningful way. Chapter 3 presents the second study, in which De Angelis and Jessner compared the writing of Italian L1, German L2, and English L3 learners in the south of Italy. Their findings suggest that because multilingual systems interact with each other, more research should be focused on the development of multilingualism, not simply L2 development. In Chapter 4, Wigglesworth and Storch explain how sociocultural theory can be applied to writing development, specifically when students are required to complete their writing tasks and respond to feedback in pairs. The study produced conflicting results, and the researchers are cautious about drawing conclusions about the effectiveness of feedback.

In Chapter 5, Kobayashi and Rinnert apply Cook’s theory of multicompetence to the relationship between L2 development and non-language-specific writing knowledge. Their findings suggest that as writing knowledge develops, L1 and L2 knowledge progress from separate systems to greater degrees of overlap until some components are merged completely. In Chapter 6, Cumming contrasts the writing development of two groups with different writing goals, proposing that writing proficiencies will develop differently based on the social and educational contexts of students and suggesting caution when transferring findings from one context to another. In Chapter 7, Tardy explores the development of genre knowledge by presenting longitudinal case studies she conducted with four graduate-level international students. She argues that because nearly everything we write is generic, genre theory must be applied in the study of L2 writing development.

In Chapter 8, Byrnes takes a more pedagogically oriented approach. She argues that L2 writing curricula should be informed by a theory of language and offers an approach that combines SFL <What does this stand for?> with genre theory. Drawing on linguistic features of history texts across grade levels, Byrnes argues that learners must be aware of the changes in order to write successfully in varying genres. She then proposes a genre-based curriculum design for her university learners of German.

Each chapter draws from the others, including several internal references and some cross-theory implications. Tardy’s discussion of genre theory, for example, draws from both Kobayashi and Rinnert’s DST approach and Byrne’s genre-based SFL approach. Although the book is firmly rooted in theoretical frameworks, each chapter offers pedagogical implications. For example, Cummings proposes that educators use students’ goals to predict what can and should occur for individual learners, and Tardy suggests bringing experts from other disciplines into the classroom to discuss their written genres. The volume also presents views of writing development from varying contexts, from English as a foreign language in Europe and Asia to community-based afterschool tutoring programs in the United States. For this reason, the “multiple perspectives” of the title apply not only to theoretical frameworks, but also to the breadth of the contexts.

In the final chapter, Norris and Manchón discuss how the theories in the book define L2 writing and how and why writing development takes place, make suggestions for further research, and discuss implications for teachers. The final section acknowledges that writing development takes place in educational contexts and therefore calls for better understanding of teachers, students, and the contexts in which they work.

It is refreshing to review a collection of studies that do not attempt to fit within one framework, but instead recognize the merits of taking diverse perspectives. This book is recommended for researchers who are interested in writing as a meaningful form of language in and of itself, and those who are interested in the dynamic and sociocultural theories of language development. Writing instructors who use SLA theories to inform their pedagogical practices will also benefit from this collection of empirical studies completed in real classroom contexts.