English writing instruction in Norwegian upper secondary schools

Forfattere

  • May Olaug Horverak Universitet i Agder

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/adno.1689

Emneord (Nøkkelord):

Writing instruction, genre-pedagogy, teaching-learning cycle, context and modelling

Sammendrag

Abstract
This article presents a study of current English writing instruction practices in a selection of Norwegian upper secondary schools and discusses how this draws upon ideas within genre-pedagogy. The data comprises individual and focus-group interviews, observation reports and some teaching material. The study shows that English teachers focus on teaching genre requirements and adjustment of language to task and context. However, despite agreeing on the importance of teaching how to write specific text-types and to adjust to the situation at hand, there seems to be different opinions about how detailed instruction should be. Some teachers fear that too explicit instruction may hinder creativity, while others emphasise the need to learn how to structure a text, and to open up for creativity within certain writing frames. In spite of the differences, the practices revealed in this study comply quite well with genre-pedagogy. From the findings in this article, it seems like there is a need to develop and make available teaching material in English to be used in writing instruction, and also to improve the English teacher education with regard to the teaching of writing.

Keywords: Writing instruction, genre-pedagogy, teaching-learning cycle, con-text and modelling

Sammendrag
Denne artikkelen presenterer en studie av engelsk skriveundervisning i et utvalg norske videregående skoler, og diskuterer hvordan disse praksisene samsvarer med sjangerpedagogikk. Innsamlet data består av individuelle og fokusgruppe-intervjuer, observasjonsrapporter og undervisningsmateriale, og studien viser at engelsklærere fokuserer på å undervise sjangerkrav og det å tilpasse språk til oppgave og kontekst. Til tross for at det er enighet om at det er viktig å undervise i spesifikke tekst typer, og det å tilpasse skriving til situasjon, er det ulike meninger om hvor detaljert skriveundervisningen bør være. Noen lærere frykter at for eksplisitt instruksjon kan hindre kreativitet, mens andre understreker behovet for å lære å strukturere tekster i detalj, og åpner opp for kreativitet innen bestemte skriverammer. Til tross for ulikheter, så samsvarer praksisene presentert i denne studien i stor grad med sjangerpedagogikken. Ut fra funnene i denne artikkelen, kan en konkludere at det er et behov for å utvikle og gjøre tilgjengelig undervisningsmateriale for skriveundervisning i engelsk, samt at det er et behov for å forbedre engelsklærerutdanningen når det gjelder opplæring i skriveundervisning.

Nøkkelord: Skriveundervisning, sjangerpedagogikk, undervisnings-lærings syklus, kontekst og modellering

 

Forfatterbiografi

May Olaug Horverak, Universitet i Agder

Phd. stipendiat ved Institutt for nordisk og mediefag

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Nedlastinger

Publisert

2015-06-12

Hvordan referere

Horverak, M. O. (2015). English writing instruction in Norwegian upper secondary schools. Acta Didactica Norge, 9(1), Art. 11, 20 sider. https://doi.org/10.5617/adno.1689

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