Exploring learning transfer in L2 writing education

1
Exploring learning transfer in L2 writing
education

• Mark Andrew James
• Arizona State University
• Mark.A.James_at_asu.edu
• http//www.public.asu.edu/mjames6/index.html

2
What is learning transfer?

• Learning transfer occurs when learning in one
  context or with one set of materials impacts on
  performance in another context or with another
  set of materials (Perkins Salomon, 1994,
  p.6452). For example ...
• ... knowing how to ride a bicycle ? learning how
  to ride a motorcycle
• ... learning math in school ? shopping outside
  school.

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... a topic of widespread interest

• Psychology Learning transfer has been actively
  studied for over a century in psychology
  (Haskell, 2001).
• Education When students cannot perform tasks
  only slightly different from those learned in
  class, or when they fail to appropriately apply
  their classroom learning in settings outside of
  school, then education is deemed to have failed
  (Marini Genereux, 1995, p.1).
• Human resources development (HRD) U.S.
  corporations spent 58.5 billion on workplace
  training in 2007 (Training, 2007), with the
  obvious expectation that the results of this
  training would transfer to the workplace.

4
Learning transfer is a fundamental goal of L2
writing education

• One of the most important aspects of an EAP
  reading/writing class (or any ESL/EFL class) is
  the development of transfer of learning (Johns,
  1993, p.283) (emphasis mine).
• The goals of most English for academic purposes
  (EAP) writing classes are transcendent. That is,
  the usual purpose is to enable students to write
  better not for EAP writing classes but for
  academic purposes (Leki Carson, 1997, p.39)
  (emphasis mine).

5
How far learning transfers is important to
discussions of writing and L2 writing pedagogy
Far transfer ... -- Cognitive perspectives on
writing (e.g., Flower Hayes, 1981) --
Process-oriented approaches to writing
instruction (Zamel, 1976) -- General writing
skills instruction (GWSI) (Petraglia, 1995) --
English-for-general-academic-purposes (EGAP)
instruction (Jordan, 1997) -- Language-for-specif
ic-purposes education (Widdowson, 1984).
Near transfer ... -- Sociocultural perspectives
on writing (e.g., Russell, 1995) --
Genre-oriented approaches to writing instruction
(e.g., Swales, 1990) -- Writing-in-the-discipline
s (WID) programs (Bazerman et al., 2005) --
English-for-specific-academic-purposes (ESAP)
instruction (Jordan, 1997) -- Language-for-specif
ic-purposes training (Widdowson, 1984).
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There is a need to understand how learning
transfers in L2 writing education

• Positive findings of transfer, near and far,
  suggest that whether transfer occurs is too bald
  a question. It can, but often does not. One needs
  to ask under what conditions transfer appears
  (Perkins Salomon, 1994, p.6455) (emphasis
  mine).

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There is a need to understand how learning
transfers in L2 writing education

• The most important question about the validity
  of genre-based instructional approaches is
  "whether, to what extent, and under what
  conditions skills acquired within one genre are
  transferable to another" (Swales, 1990, p.233)
  (emphasis mine) this is "a highly significant
  investigative issue" (p.234).
• It is assumed that students will transfer
  skills from the EAP class to the content class
  examination, and then ultimately to their other
  content classes. But we do not know what
  conditions must exist for this positive transfer
  to take place. (Snow, 1993, p.45) (emphasis
  mine).

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What do we know about learning transfer in L2
writing education?

• Learning transfer can occur, but it is not
  inevitable (e.g., Leki Carson, 1994 Leki,
  1995 James, 2006).
• There is no guarantee that skills and strategies
  learned in an ESL program actually will be
  applied in new situations (Spack, 1997, p.50)
• Transfer from one domain to another is, at the
  very least, difficult for learners (Tardy, 2006,
  p.92).

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Learner
Learning task
Transfer task
Learning context
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations (from
James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux,
1995)
10
Learner
Learning task
Transfer task
Learning context
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations (from
James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux,
1995)
11
Learner
Learning task
Transfer task
Learning context
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations (from
James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux,
1995)
12
Transfer context/task

• In studies of ESL students' interactions with
  instructors and classmates, ESL students have
  described
• a wall between themselves and native
  English-speaking (NES) classmates due to
  different background knowledge and values
  (Harklau, 1994)
• NES classmates lack of interest in ideas put
  forth by ESL students during collaborative group
  work (Cheng Fox, 2008 Leki, 2001)
• relatively little effort by NES classmates to
  complete assignments (Leki, 2003)
• instructors desire to deceive students, refusal
  to provide information to students, or lack of
  understanding of students questions (Leki,
  2006).

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Transfer context/task

• Transfer climate is the support for learning
  transfer that an individual perceives in the
  target context of instruction (Burke Baldwin,
  1999).
• ... for example, in EAP writing instruction,
  transfer climate involves students perceptions
  of support for learning transfer from instructors
  and classmates, and perceptions of outcomes
  (e.g., grades, work efficiency) of learning
  transfer.

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Transfer context/task

• Researcher How do you think your professors in
  mainstream courses feel about freshman writing
  courses?
• Participant Some I would say, my math teacher,
  she doesn't feel too good about it, kind of
  negative, being in math and all.
• Researcher How do you know that?
• Participant I remember when she said, the
  writing, she said, this is the only writing,
  I'm sorry, this is the only writing you will ever
  have to do in math. I was never good in
  writing. She was explaining the course. She
  said, in this part of the course, you'll have to
  do a little bit of writing, and I'm sorry for
  that.
• (Participant 23)

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Learner
Learning task
Transfer task
Learning context
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations (from
James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux,
1995)
16
Learner

• Significant and general transfer is primarily
  the consequence of personality and other
  dispositional characteristics such as attitude,
  motivation, and feeling (Haskell, 2001, p.116)
  (emphasis mine).
• L2 education researchers have suggested that
  learning transfer is influenced by
  motivation-related factors like student effort
  (Leki Carson, 1994), value students place on
  skills (Hansen, 2000), and students
  socio-cultural attitudes (Waters, 1996).

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Learner
Desire to transfer

Transfer motivation
Favorable attitude toward transfer


Effort to transfer
18
Learner

• Participant I hate doing, I hated doing in the
  EAP writing course, doing the visual arguments
  assignment. I hated it. It was bad. It was
  complicated. Way complicated. And of course if
  I'm going to apply visual argument in another
  class, I'm going to feel stressed. I'm going to
  feel tension, I'm under pressure. I didn't like
  it the first time, why should I do it again. I'm
  doing it again, am I doing it right? Should I do
  it in another way? What should I do?
• (Participant 25)

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Learner
Learning task
Transfer task
Learning context
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations (from
James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux,
1995)
20
Learning context/task

• Learning transfer can be enhanced by
• the integration of academic tasks in an EAP
  writing course (Braine, 1988 Carson, 2000
  Meyer, 1996)
• the provision of a range of conceptual activities
  in an EAP writing course (Currie, 1993)
• having students use disciplinary portfolios
  (Hirvela, 1997)
• training students in ethnographic methods (Johns,
  1988 1990)
• having students compare and contrast a variety of
  texts in familar and unfamiliar genres (Johns,
  1997 1999)
• having students reflect on strategies they use to
  complete writing tasks (Johns, 1997 1999).

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Learning context/task

• Teaching-for-transfer techniques (Perkins
  Salomon, 1988)
• Hugging designing learning tasks/context to
  appear similar to target tasks and contexts
• Bridging designing learning tasks/context to
  stimulate abstract thinking

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Future directions?

• How can we most effectively identify learning
  transfer?
• Where should we look? (all writing vs. some
  writing)
• When should we look? (immediately vs. delayed)
• How should we look? (low-road vs. high-road)
• How do various learning outcomes in L2 writing
  education compare/contrast in terms of learning
  transfer? (e.g., near vs. far low-road vs.
  high-road)
• How do elements of transfer situations interact
  with actual learning transfer? (e.g., transfer
  climate transfer motivation teaching-for-transfe
  r techniques)

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References (1 of 5)

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