Internal and external appraisals of analytical writing. A proposal for assessing development and potential improvement

This paper introduces Developing analytical writing (DAW), a model of text analysis aimed at capturing how social expectancies of analytical writing become part of students’ linguistic literacy. DAW proposes a multilayer analysis of text features on repeated text production prompted by the same and...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Tolchinsky, Liliana, Rosado, Elisa, Aparici Aznar, Melina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/220690
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/220690
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Anàlisi del discurs
Anàlisi de contingut (Comunicació)
Ensenyament
Discourse analysis
Content analysis (Communication)
Teaching
Descripción
Sumario:This paper introduces Developing analytical writing (DAW), a model of text analysis aimed at capturing how social expectancies of analytical writing become part of students’ linguistic literacy. DAW proposes a multilayer analysis of text features on repeated text production prompted by the same and different topics, control for pedagogical input, and researcher- and reader-based evaluations of text quality. We revise DAW previous implementations that delved into lexical, syntactic-discursive, and structural aspects of analytical essays as indexes for developing writing proficiency. We focus thereafter on a current application of DAW to assess content-related dimensions: explicitness of a central standpoint, flexibility of writers’ positioning, and expression of reflective thinking. Analyses revealed that the probability of explicitness and reflexiveness increases from elementary to higher levels of schooling, while the probability of flexible positioning appeared conditioned by text topic and pedagogical input. The three dimensions showed stronger effect of instruction on high schoolers’ than on elementary and university students’ texts. Regression analyses support a foundational role of development and a significant contribution of the assessed dimensions to an appraisal of text quality. DAW facilitates distinguishing analytical text features that improve in the course of development from those sensitive to pedagogical scaffolding.