Joint Construction Writing Strategy

Abstract

Joint construction writing strategy occurs when a teacher and students work together to construct a text. In this process, the teacher begins by preparing a set of questions, and then talks students through what the text should include. This allows students to think most about the way that the text will be constructed, and to piece together different parts of the text while the teacher takes notes and gives immediate feedback. Joint Construction Writing Strategy can be used for large groups but it works best in small groups or with individuals. This teaching method is particularly helpful for ESL students.

Overview

There are several ways in which instructors introduce a new writing project, or help to complete a lesson. Joint construction writing strategy is useful because it helps students to model the best forms of writing. With the teacher in charge of the writing and revision, students can think of themselves as supporting writers, offering advice and information, but in a low-stakes environment. This allows students to think through the structure of their writing, ensuring that all steps are in the right order, and the details are correct, and they can gain immediate feedback from their teacher if anything has gone askew. Working on a joint construction writing project also provides scaffolding for students through which they learn to complete their own projects in groups or individually. Often, after working on one writing project as a class, students are asked to work individually on a similar project. This allows students to produce a more successful individual project because they have already walked through all of the steps collectively and have envisioned what a successful project would look like. Joint construction writing strategies can be particularly helpful for students that do not like to write.

A joint construction writing project requires that the teacher first envision the entire project, from start to completed text, and then break the assignment down into pieces. The teacher does not want the students to produce an identical text, but instead wants to guide the student through the production of their own text informed by the joint text. To do so, the teacher should think of leading constructive questions that will allow students to provide the necessary information, narrative structure, vocabulary, and other relevant skills needed to complete the writing project independently in the future.

After designing the project, the teacher is ready to present the activity to the class. When doing so, the teacher must begin by explaining what the class or group will be writing about and the format that will be used. The students often need to understand what the end result will be so that they can see where the teacher’s questions are headed and why their input is important. There should not be any surprises for students once they begin working on the assignment; rather, they should feel like well-informed and empowered participants.

Once the assignment has been described, the instructor asks for suggestions from the students, guiding them to think through what information should be included in the text. At this time, the instructor should ask questions, prompt students to think through ideas, and reflect on prior assignments. This is an appropriate time to remind students of facts and information they have already learned or mastered. It is also appropriate for the teacher to reflect on individual student contributions—such as asking a student to provide information from prior individual projects or activities that the class has participated in as a group.

As students provide information, the teacher works with the students to craft a text. This can happen in several different forms. The teacher might take notes as the students are speaking, or they might wait until all feedback has been collected. In a computer supported classroom, collected notes might be shown in a text document, or notes may be taken on a blackboard, allowing all students to take part in the conversation. However, in some classrooms, especially large ones, the teacher may choose to take notes on paper in order to continue facing the class and keep a watchful eye over all students.

As they move toward the writing of the text, students can continue to contribute information, and they should be encouraged to debate about what information should be included and how that information should be worded. In these debates, students might reflect on the clearest way to present information or they might step out of the conversation for a moment to consult a resource and then re-enter the conversation to report their findings. They may also take time to consider their word choice, thinking through what is the clearest way to present their main ideas and how different wording is necessary to reach different audiences. This is a great time for a teacher to discuss the differences in formal and informal writing, as well as to answer questions about the use of slang in a writing project

After a preliminary text has been written, the students will work with the instructor to edit, proofread, and revise the document until the educational goal has been achieved. Sometimes this goal is a published document. Other times, the goal is to create a model for future assignments. The teacher needs to be clear from the start about what the finished document will look like. This allows students to feel successful as they know that they are nearing the end of a project. Additionally, this lets students know that even though a document might not be of publishable quality, it has served its purpose of creating a model for future work.

Applications

Joint construction writing is used in many classrooms. For ESL learners, joint construction is particularly effective. This strategy builds on the student’s knowledge of a subject while encouraging language mastery. To best facilitate language skills, the teacher might provide students with a glossary or vocabulary sheet of terms, which could then be included in the completed assignment. Or, the instructor might begin the activity by asking students to brainstorm the terms they have recently learned. Then, those terms could be used in the jointly constructed text.

Joint construction writing is helpful for ESL students in that it improves their mastery and knowledge of the English language. It helps clarify the required aspects and completion of a writing assignment. ESL students may be far along in their mastery of the collegial language and in academic terms, but may still need assistance reading the directions and meeting the expectations of their assigned work. For example, Firkins, Forey, and Sengupta (2007) found that for Hong Kong students with low levels of English mastery, joint construction writing was a successful way to draw students in and enable their success in the classroom. Working with the teacher on a joint construction writing project that serves as the foundation for a new project will ensure that the student fully understands the entire writing process and what the finished project will look like. Even if the student cannot fully articulate each step, he/she may understand the steps that need to be accomplished on the way to a finished project.

Joint construction writing is not confined to learning English or writing in English. Alwaleedi , Gillies and Obaidul Hamid (2018) have examined the ways that joint construction writing can be used to teach Arabic writing. In this study, sixty-four language learners were given assignments to work on either individually or in joint construction groups. Those in joint construction groups performed significantly better than those that worked individually. These successes occurred because each student can contribute their own knowledge and can help others out when there is a matter of confusion or unpreparedness.

Similarly, many studies address the use of joint construction writing in the K-12 classroom, but that is not the only place where it is used. Aunurrahman, Hamied, and Emilia (2017) have observed the ways that Indonesian universities use joint construction writing in their classrooms. In this project, the researchers examined the work of thirty-six students, who participated in three different sessions of joint construction writing. The researchers collected the written texts after each joint construction writing session and evaluated those texts focusing on student writing, the way that they used grammar, and the logical progression of their texts. They report that the writing skills of first-year English students greatly improved through the work involved in joint construction writing. They also found that this process improves the critical thinking skills of students. This team also found that online courses could use joint construction writing, but that face-to-face interactions produce better results.

In addition to single location international studies, researchers are trying to understand the ways that joint construction writing can be used in online teaching, reaching students from around the world, and encouraging them to work together. Scholars have responded to this use of online platforms by focusing on the ways that they evaluate joint construction writing strategies. Bradley and Thouësny (2017) have examined the ways that students are able to peer review one another’s works across online platforms. They focused specially on technical writing, which follows many specific formatting, grammatical, and linguistic norms, making it a perfect place for joint construction writing. For this project, the students used Google Drive to exchange their papers and provide feedback about the ways that the text could better fit the assignment and writing style. In addition to having better written projects, the researchers found that the students improved their use of language through this activity, and the research report contains many quotes from students expressing their enjoyment of the process.

Other online platforms have been used for joint construction writing activities, many successfully utilizing peer review and commenting. Ebadi and Rahimi (2017) examined the ways that Google Docs can be used to provide automatic feedback, as well as prompt discussion in the margins about word choice and text construction. In a study that compared the success of using Google Docs and face-to-face review, the researchers found that students worked best when using Google Docs. The utility, and free cost of online platforms will most likely ensure their continued and increased usage in all classrooms, including those that teach writing. Therefore, researchers are looking into new ways to adapt online tools and to combine those new tools with traditional yet innovative teaching methods such as joint construction writing strategies.

Issues

Some instructors are eager to adopt these online learning tools, while others are skeptical of findings reported by researchers such as Ebadi and Rahimi (2017). This skepticism is caused by the limited amount of research which has occurred and the often small sample size of groups that have participated in these studies. These skeptical instructors ask if a researcher’s sample set of sixty or one hundred students can really predict how their own students will respond to a scenario or utilize an online resource. Additionally, some teachers are very willing to use joint construction writing strategies in the face-to-face classroom, but they do not want to use them online. This hesitancy may be directed to online teaching in general or to the specific limitations of group work and discussions across online platforms. To address this skepticism, as well as survey the field of research that has emerged from the study of online teaching tools that can be used for joint construction writing projects, Chen (2016) examined all of the academic articles published about joint construction writing between 1990 and 2010. The resulting article provides an overview of all the collected studies in that time period, as well as identifies the gaps in this literature base. One of the largest gaps in knowledge is caused by the small number of studies that have been done. Further, technological problems that are neither the instructor’s nor the student’s fault lead to negative reviews of the use of online tools for joint construction writing.

Scholars generally support the use of joint construction writing, but caution that it is an activity that requires a good deal of preparation on the behalf of the teacher. To be successful that teacher needs supportive frameworks, courses, and updated materials. Parr, Glasswell, and Aikman (2007) provide several small case studies of the ways that this training can occur successfully. The effects of failing to provide clear instruction are apparent in Bradley and Thouësny (2017), who discuss how their first set of poor instructions and leadership for the joint constructing writing project failed and left students very confused. They caution that teachers need to be especially well trained if they will be working with foreign language learners, who are working to master many different skills at one time and may become easily confused by the assignment. Provided with the necessary training and support, many teachers are able to carry out joint construction writing activities, leading to greater student success in both writing and language mastery.

Terms & Concepts

Co-construction: The writing or speaking of a narrative by a group of individuals at one time. This can occur when several students shout out the same phrase or idea at the same time, or when they work together to develop a detailed narrative.

English as a Foreign Language (EFL): Sometimes used interchangeably with English as a second language; EFL is more commonly used in the United Kingdom. EFL students are native and fluent speakers of another language who are learning English.

English as a Second Language (ESL): The term more commonly used in the United States for students who are native and fluent speakers of one or several other languages and are now adding English to their skillset.

Group Narrative: These are true stories written by a group, sometimes describing an activity and other times describing the ways that they have come to be together for a class or event. The production of group narratives can be a joint construction writing project that encourages everyone to participate in the writing strategy because they have participated in the activity which is being discussed.

Low Stakes Assignment/Activity: A low stakes assignment is one in which the student has little or nothing to lose by participating. The assignment is either not graded or is graded on a pass/fail basis and is designed to reward participation and effort.

Scaffolding: A teaching method of providing a support structure that assists students in learning a new skill or technique. This support structure can easily be removed after the student has mastered the new task.

Bibliography

Alwaleedi, M. A., Gillies, R. M., & Obaidul Hamid, M. (2018). Collaborative writing in Arabic as a second language (ASL) classrooms: A mixed-method study. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 1–16.

Aunurrahman, A., Hamied, F. A., & Emilia, E. (2017). A joint construction practice in an academic writing course in an Indonesian university context. Celt: A Journal of Culture, English Language Teaching & Literature, 17(1), 27–44.

Bradley, L., & Thouësny, S. (2017). Students’ collaborative peer reviewing in an online writing environment. Themes in Science and Technology Education, 10(2), 69–83. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=127182810&site=ehost-live

Chen, T. (2016). Technology-supported peer feedback in ESL/EFL writing classes: A research synthesis. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 29(2), 365–397. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=112335914&site=ehost-live

Ebadi, S., & Rahimi, M. (2017). Exploring the impact of online peer-editing using Google Docs on EFL learners’ academic writing skills: A mixed methods study. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 30(8), 787–815. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=126136446&site=ehost-live

Firkins, A., Forey, G., & Sengupta, S. (2007). Teaching writing to low proficiency EFL students. ELT Journal, 61(4), 341–352. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=508004032&site=ehost-live

Parr, J. M., Glasswell, K., & Aikman, M. (2007). Supporting teacher learning and informed practice in writing through assessment tools for teaching and learning. Asia‐Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 35(1), 69–87. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=24154422&site=ehost-live

Pletcher, B. C., Bryars, L., & Johnson, R. D. (2018). Fourth graders can share the pen, too! Interactive writing in the intermediate grades. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 46(4), 14–27. Retrieved January 1, 2019 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=131250905&site=ehost-live

Suggested Reading

Caplan, N. A., & Farling, M. (2017). A dozen heads are better than one: Collaborative writing in genre-based pedagogy. TESOL Journal, 8(3), 564–581. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=124833852&site=ehost-live

Family, N., Durus, N., & Ziegler, G. (2015). Grammar as a joint achievement: Co-constructions in L2 interactions. Novitas-ROYAL, 9(1), 30–45. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=102651157&site=ehost-live

Hawe, E., & Parr, J. (2014). Assessment for Learning in the writing classroom: An incomplete realisation. Curriculum Journal, 25(2), 210–237. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=95904328&site=ehost-live

Humphrey, S., & MacNaught, L. (2011). Revisiting joint construction in the tertiary context. Australian Journal of Language & Literacy, 34(1), 98–115. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=58548855&site=ehost-live