28.3524, Review: Applied Linguistics: Matsuda, Manchón (2016)

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Subject: 28.3524, Review: Applied Linguistics: Matsuda, Manchón (2016)

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Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2017 11:26:24
From: Donna Bain Butler [dbainbutler at yahoo.com; dbutler at desu.edu]
Subject: Handbook of Second and Foreign Language Writing

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/27/27-5215.html

EDITOR: Rosa M.  Manchón
EDITOR: Paul Kei  Matsuda
TITLE: Handbook of Second and Foreign Language Writing
PUBLISHER: De Gruyter Mouton
YEAR: 2016

REVIEWER: Donna Patricia Bain Butler, Delaware State University

REVIEWS EDITOR: Robert A. Coté 

SUMMARY

The Handbook of Second and Foreign Language Writing, edited by Rosa M. Manchón
and Paul Kei Matsuda, provides a comprehensive view of theory and research in
the field. It is an edited collection of key developments by authoritative
authors, many of whom are known internationally for their contributions to
second and foreign language (L2) writing. Editors Rosa M. Manchón (foreign
language writing) and Paul Kei Matsuda (second language writing) enrich the
field of Applied Linguistics by bringing them together. This Handbook is of
value to researchers, graduate students, practitioners and other working
professionals interested in state of the art achievements, developments, and
future directions in L2 writing.  It is self-contained volume that fills a
longstanding void in the growing body of Applied Linguistics handbooks and
encyclopedias. It is organized into six parts that move from “Mapping the
terrain,” “Population and contexts,” “Learning writing,” “Teaching and
assessing writing,” and “Researching writing” to “Interdisciplinary
relations.”

In the Introduction, Rosa Manchón justifies a comprehensive L2 writing
handbook, considering the “Past and future of L2 writing research” as an
evolving, interdisciplinary field of inquiry. She carefully delineates the
aims, scope, and structure of the Handbook, as well as future developments,
with a useful reference section at the end. The editor explains the thematic
selection of criteria that seeks “to achieve comprehensiveness” with
organization into six parts that mostly follow an identical structure to
“guarantee consistency” (p. 6). After “Mapping the terrain” in Part I,
contributors to Parts II to VI provide an historical overview, follow with a
“critical interpretation” of research in the areas covered by the chapters,
and finish with a “critical reflection on future developments” (Manchón, p.
6). The editor closes the Introduction with an analysis of future theoretical
and research developments based on summary accounts of the contributors, most
of whom are prominent L2 writing scholars.

In Part I, Tony Silva authors Chapter 1, “An overview of the development of
the infrastructure of second language writing studies.” He looks at the
field’s evolution and “infrastructure” based on a study of its material,
intellectual, and institutional “artifacts…and those who produce them” (p.
19). The chapter includes a definition of second language writing (L2W)
studies, historical developments by decade which bring “greater diversity in
nationality and geographic location (p. 27), important concurrent trends as in
publication, the current status of the field as necessarily
multi-disciplinary, and the bright future of L2W studies globally. Silva
includes an extensive Appendix of selected journal articles and book chapters
that collectively “provide an overview of the development of second language
studies” (p. 34).

Three experts, Alan Hirvela, Ken Hyland, and Rosa M. Manchón, author Chapter 2
on “Dimensions in L2 writing theory and research: Learning to write and
writing to learn.” Hyland begins with three main frameworks to help understand
Learning to Write in L2 adult contexts with a focus on writers, texts, and
readers. The different models suggest that we should assist our learners in
becoming researchers of the texts they will need rather than adopt a single
formula for teaching writing (Hyland, p. 51). Hirvela then focuses on writing
as a tool for learning, especially in content areas (WCL). He says students
should learn to engage in meaningful “adaptive” transfer of what they have
learned in a writing course (p. 55), “… making it necessary to bring a
stronger transfer lens to WCL scholarship” (p. 51). Last, Manchón introduces
“L2 writing as a site for L2 acquisition” (p. 55), referring “to the
motivation behind this orientation…and to the main issues of debate in current
research agendas” (p. 55). She says, “The general consensus in the field is
that both writing and the processing of feedback can bring about language
learning benefits” (p. 57). Manchón closes by highlighting how chapter
authors’ synthesis of theory and research help us analyze “the multi-faceted
nature of L2 writing,” suggesting that future L2 writing research might pursue
“closer links and more cross-fertilization among the three orientations” more
fully explored in several other chapters in this Handbook (p. 59). Needless to
say, the Reference section in this (and all subsequent chapters) is extensive
and invaluable.

Alister Cumming contributes “Theoretical orientations to L2 writing” in
Chapter 3. He reviews four sets of theories that have been dominant in recent
decades: (1) contrastive rhetoric, (2) cognitive models of composing, (3)
genre theories, and (4) sociocultural theory. Cumming gives an historical and
conceptual overview of each theory as well as critical interpretation and
research. He discusses what these “current theories provide researchers,
educators, assessors, and learners of L2 writing,” including their limitations
(p. 79). At the close of the chapter, Cumming identifies remaining issues and
challenges to end Part I.

Chapter 4 introduces Part II with “ESL writing in schools,” defined as L2
writers in English-dominant contexts. According to authors Christina
Ortmeier-Hooper, Shauna Wight, and Corey McCullough, literacy development has
occurred in “fields like bilingual education and literacy studies… not
traditionally marked a ‘second-language writing’ or composition/writing
studies’” (p. 91). Authors, therefore, offer key terms for the “disciplinary
positioning” of the research followed by four theoretical trends, three main
research methods, five broad categories of major research findings, and three
new directions needed to broaden the scope and depth of the research on ESL
writers in schools (p. 103).

In Chapter 5, Icy Lee considers “EFL writing in schools” by examining the key
issues, salient research findings, and practical implications (p. 131). The
author critically reflects on diversity and context, classroom practices,
writing teacher education, and research with primary schoolchildren. Lee’s
alternative research methodologies reflect these issues, and her conclusion
suggests a “synthetic approach” in EFL writing research that includes a
cross-disciplinary approach (p. 134).
Next comes Chapter 6 with Dana Ferris covering “L2 writers in higher
education.” The author covers disciplinary traditions for theory, research,
and practice in a mostly U.S. focused, undergraduate, academic context with
major research insights that might apply to other L2 writing contexts.

Miyuki Sasaki reviews “L2 writers in study-abroad contexts” in Chapter 7.
Here, L2 writing is based on functional views that include different kinds of
knowledge for L2 writing competence as well as on traditional models of text
construction that require linguistic components. Sasaki’s chapter offers a
general history followed by research findings that suggest promising new
frames for theory, participants, and data for investigation that include
sociolinguistic knowledge as well as more complex target genres for studying
L2 writing in a globalized world (p. 177).

In Chapter 8, Melinda Reichelt deals with “L2 writing in languages other than
English.” The author offers “some broad, rather tentative assertions” (p. 185)
to expand our knowledge of “the ways, reasons, and motivation levels for
writing in non-English L2s” that may contrast with writers composing in L2
English (p. 181).

“Academic writing for publication in a multilingual world,” by Theresa Lillis
and Mary Jane Curry, is the topic of Chapter 9. Authors review four
influential research traditions and summarize their key contributions with a
focus on disciplinarity, key ideologies underpinning research and theory in
this field, and ongoing debates.

In Chapter 10, Susan Parks discusses “Workplace writing: From text to
context.” She situates the research within mainstream and second/foreign
language research on writing, reviews relevant research as it applies to
applied linguistics, and delineates several areas for future research. Her
definition of “workplace writing” refers to “both the processes of text
production and textual products” in non-academic context.

Part III, “Learning Writing,” begins with Chapter 11, “Focus on texts and
readers: Linguistic and rhetorical features” by William Grabe and Cuio Zhang,
who together provide a selective survey of written discourse analysis that
begins with a summary from the 1970s to 2000 (Kaplan & Grabe, 2002). Authors
delineate five subfields and then rearrange the categorization to reflect
recent trends dealing with the role of genre, technology and automated texts,
and corpus analysis. They conclude with “relatively little strong evidence
that applications of text analysis lead unequivocally to improved writing
instruction, improved writing outcomes, or improved learning of new content
from writing tasks” (p. 260).

Chapter 12, by Julio Roca de Larios, Florentina Nicolás-Conesa, and Yvette
Coyle, provides a “Focus on writers: Processes and strategies.” The authors
explore the origins and development of L2 writing processes and strategies
research, the main theories informing this research, the main methods used,
and recent findings produced in four research areas revealing “crucial points
of intersection between cognitive skills, personal attitudes and
socio-culturally and linguistically diverse contexts (Cumming 2013)” (p. 273).
Future developments include concerns that “need to be fully explored across
different contexts and populations” to increase generalizability and potential
application of findings (p. 281).

Charlene Polio and Ji-Hyun Park address “Language development in second
language writing” in Chapter 13. Although the authors stress that the
“interplay of nonlinguistic variables and language cannot be understated” (p.
287), especially when “goals both follow and determine language development”
as per Cumming (2012), they take a narrow view of writing development. They
review studies that examine “vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and formulaic
language with regard to complexity, accuracy, frequency, and emergence” (p.
287). Authors conclude that teaching implications cannot be drawn from much of
the research (p. 302).

Chapter 14 deals with “The development of digital literacies” by Paige Ware,
Richard Kern, and Mark Warschauer. The authors find a recurring theme across
different fields of study that point to a “new theoretical, empirical, and
pedagogical framework” that conceptualizes literacies as “multiple, dynamic,
dialogic, and situated” (p. 308). They summarize five theoretical research
lenses, main methods (with a focus on the qualitative), and four major shifts
in the development of digital literacies that highlight collaborative
authorship, intercultural complexity, network contexts, and multimodal
production. Authors close with future developments, articulating issues that
inform them.

Diane Pecorari authors Chapter 15 by examining “Writing from sources,
plagiarism and textual borrowing.” Her review shows how these three elements
are “inextricably intertwined, and are central concerns in second- and
foreign-language writing, an area which has traditionally placed a strong
emphasis on academic writing” (p. 329).

Christine Tardy, in Chapter 16, explores the relationships between “Voice and
identity.” She joins these two concepts into a single discussion because they
“have been particularly useful in understanding the mediation of the social
and individual” aspects of L2 writing scholarship (p.  349).

Multicompetence and multilingual writing” comprise Chapter 17. Here, Carol
Rinnert and Hiroe Kobayashi review “key issues for researchers and
multilingual writers focusing on how writing ability develops across
languages” (p. 365). Authors include useful figures that model text
construction, sources and kinds of writing knowledge, and evolving repertoire
of writing knowledge.

In “Collaborative writing,” Chapter 18, Neomy Storch focuses on the production
of a written text. Her review provides a rationale for implementing
collaborative writing in L2 contexts, drawing on constructionist theories of
learning but focusing mainly on Swain and “the importance of producing
language for language learning” (p. 387).

In Chapter 19, Making use of teacher written feedback,” Lynn Goldstein
examines research over the past 30 years that gives a “nuanced look at written
teacher feedback on content and rhetoric and student revision” (p. 407). With
respect to rhetoric, Goldstein reports on “studies that focus on written
teacher feedback on and student revision of discourse level issues” (p. 407).

Chapter 20, “Key issues of debate about feedback on writing,” introduces Part
IV: “Teaching and assessing writing.” Fiona Hyland, Florentina Nicolás-Conesa,
and Lourdes Cerezo focus on  (a) key areas of debate and discussion in
feedback research, (b) the value of written corrective feedback and its links
to second language acquisition research, (c) the expansion of contexts for
research on feedback, and (d) the role of computer-mediated feedback (p. 434).

In Chapter 21, “Writing centers and second and foreign language writers,”
Carol Severino and Jane Cogie examine two significant issues in the literature
on tutoring second language writers: that is, “how directive or nondirective
tutoring should be and whether higher-order concerns…such as content,
organization and argument should always be addressed before lower-order
concerns…such as syntax, vocabulary, and grammar” (p. 453).

In Chapter 22, Sara Cushing Weigle reviews “Second language writing
assessment.” Her discussion looks at how the topic has been conceptualized by
applied linguistics and composition before an historical overview, current
research trends, and future directions (p. 473).

Part V, “Researching writing,” is introduced by Christine Pearson Casanave in
Chapter 23, “Qualitative inquiry in L2 writing.” Her discussion of particular
studies exemplifies several types of qualitative inquiry that may overlap,
pertaining to both L1 and L2 writing.

In Chapter 24, Rosa Manchón reviews representative quantitatively-oriented L2
writing research. Like Casanave’s review in the previous chapter, Manchón’s
“Quantitive inquiry in L2 writing” centers on L2 English writing. Mixed
methods research, she reminds us, “are only ‘marginally mixed’ in that the
research approach in its origin will be either quantitative or qualitative,”
(Teddlie, 2003, p. 533).

Part VI, the final section, deals with “Interdisciplinary relations.” It is
introduced by Chapter 25, “Second language writing and culture,” where Dwight
Atkinson reviews L2 writing studies that attempt to conceptualize culture. He
takes a “loosely historical-chronological approach” followed by a review of
current issues in L2 writing research, giving prominence to critical studies.

In Chapter 26, “L2 writing and SLA studies,” Rosa Manchón and Jessica Williams
explore two SLA-L2 writing interfaces: (1) the role of language proficiency in
developing L2 writing expertise, and (2) the role of writing and instruction
in the acquisition of L2 competencies. They mention “three areas of inquiry
where writing research can and should overlap with SLA research: how written
language develops, the role of general proficiency in writing ability, and the
potential role of writing and written feedback in L2 acquisition” (p. 579).
Authors believe that this last area “has the most potential to inform writing
instruction as well as general language instruction” (p. 579).

Finally, Alan Hirvela and Diane Belcher end the volume with Chapter 27,
“Reading/writing and speaking/writing connections: The advantages of
multimodal pedagogy.” The authors explore research that integrates these three
skills needed to develop academic literacy. Although authors chose to separate
the reading-writing and speaking-writing connections for this text, they
conclude “that still more will be gained by examining reading-speaking-writing
interactions together” (p. 606).

EVALUATION

The Handbook of Second and Foreign Language Writing is a “must have” for
researchers, teachers, and their graduate students globally who want to know
more about the many facets of learning, teaching, and researching writing in
L2 English, “featured most prominently in empirical research and pedagogical
thinking” (p. 4). Throughout this text with its comprehensive references,
readers will know more about what theoretical developments to pursue, what
research/ applications to explore, what research methods to apply, and what
disciplinary boundaries to cross in second and foreign language (L2) writing
scholarship.

The Handbook of Second and Foreign Language Writing meets its goals by
providing (i) foundational information on the emergence and subsequent
evolution of L2 writing, (ii) state-of-the-art surveys of available
theoretical and research (basic and applied) insights, (iii) overviews of
research methods in L2 writing research, (iv) critical reflections on future
developments, and (iv) explorations of existing and emerging disciplinary
interfaces with other fields of inquiry. 

It is a highly coherent volume that illuminates the past and opens up future
research potential: empirically and theoretically. It does as editors intended
by being both (a) a retrospective critical reflection that situates L2 writing
research in historical context with past achievements, and (b) a prospective
critical analysis of future directions in terms of theory, research, and
applications. It is an indispensable resource for all critical students and
practitioners of applied linguistics L2 writing research.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Donna Bain Butler, Ph.D., teaches at Delaware State University (2016-present).
Her research publications focus on multilingual writers crossing cultures of
learning, teaching, and assessment. Her book, Developing International EFL/ESL
Scholarly Writers, Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton (2015), contains valid, reliable
tools for learning and assessment.





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