Breaking up the writing process: how wikis can support understanding the composition and revision strategies of young writers

Understanding how best to support immature writers in the development of their understanding of the writing process is an important concern for researchers and teachers. Social technologies have become key features of leisure and work place writing, yet knowledge about how to design educational settings that take full advantage of the affordances of web 2.0 technologies to support early writing is scarce. This paper presents a small scale study that investigated how writing in a wiki environment might facilitate and support students’ use of composition and revision strategies. Our findings show that wiki can enlarge young writers’ experience of the process of composition and revision both through their own efforts and by observing the process in others. In this study students employed a wide range of types of revisions both surface and text based changes. These revisions took place during the process of composition as well as at the end. It is argued here that writing in a wiki not only provides young writers with experience of a mode of composition prevalent in the contemporary work environment, but breaks up the process of writing in a way that may support students’ understanding of the processes of composition and revision.

Re-writing and Its Pedagogical Value: A Case Study

Tenint en compte el temps i la energia que els mestres i professors dediquen a la correcció de redaccions i produccions escrites i el poc efecte que aquestes semblen tenir en altres produccions dels aprenents, es va dissenyar la recerca que es presenta en aquest article. Els resultats de l'estudi semblen suggerir que les correccions no faciliten l'aprenentatge. Com presentem aquesta activitat de retroalimentació a l'alumnat i la posició que li donem dins d'un enfocament basat en el procés de l'escriptura seran clau per fer que les correccions siguin facilitadores de l'aprenentatge de la producció escrita.

Using narratives to study the impact of social networks on the educational paths of immigrant students

This paper presents the qualitative data collection process aimed at the study of the impactsocial relations and networks have on educational paths of immigrant students. In theframework of a R & D longitudinal study funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation(2012-2014), the research team tracked the path of 87 immigrant students, from whom only 17successfully achieved the transition through the first and second year of Post-16 Education.A vast range of literature notes that relationships are an important part of migration process andsocial integration analysis, as well as school history in terms of success or failure. Through thefieldwork researchers collect the personal networks of all immigrant students from 3 highschools who were at that time attending last course of compulsory school. The network structureinfluences their social capital and therefore determines the resources, goods and types of supportindividuals can access. All these aspects are influential elements in the configuration anddevelopment of academic trajectories of immigrant students.At the end of the second year of Post-16 Education (two years later), the study captures personalnetworks of these students again, analyses and discusses their evolution and influence on theirpaths through qualitative interviews. Such interviews facilitated the discussion of theirrelationships while providing interesting narratives that are presented in the text. In order to do so, the biographical interpretive narrative method of interviewing is implemented.

Using narratives to study the impact of social networks on the educational paths of immigrant students

This paper presents the qualitative data collection process aimed at the study of the impactsocial relations and networks have on educational paths of immigrant students. In theframework of a R & D longitudinal study funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation(2012-2014), the research team tracked the path of 87 immigrant students, from whom only 17successfully achieved the transition through the first and second year of Post-16 Education.A vast range of literature notes that relationships are an important part of migration process andsocial integration analysis, as well as school history in terms of success or failure. Through thefieldwork researchers collect the personal networks of all immigrant students from 3 highschools who were at that time attending last course of compulsory school. The network structureinfluences their social capital and therefore determines the resources, goods and types of supportindividuals can access. All these aspects are influential elements in the configuration anddevelopment of academic trajectories of immigrant students.At the end of the second year of Post-16 Education (two years later), the study captures personalnetworks of these students again, analyses and discusses their evolution and influence on theirpaths through qualitative interviews. Such interviews facilitated the discussion of theirrelationships while providing interesting narratives that are presented in the text. In order to do so, the biographical interpretive narrative method of interviewing is implemented.

Les voix des contes : stratégies narratives et projets discursifs des contes de Perrault, Grimm et Andersen

Les contes de Charles Perrault, des frères Jacob et Wilhelm Grimm, et de Hans Christian Andersen sont parmi les plus connus du genre, mais leur rapprochement masque parfois le fait qu'ils n'ont pas été écrits à la même époque, ni dans la même culture, et qu'ils comportent de nombreuses différences, notamment du point de vue thématique. Il y a cependant aussi des textes extrêmement proches dans leurs recueils : « La belle au bois dormant » raconte comme « Dornröschen » (« Rose d'épine ») l'histoire d'une princesse condamnée à dormir cent ans, puis réveillée par un prince ; « Die sechs Schwäne » (« Les six cygnes ») et « De vilde Svaner » (« Les cygnes sauvages ») relatent tous les deux l'histoire d'une princesse à la recherche de ses frères transformés en cygnes par leur belle-mère. Ces cas-là aident à appréhender les différences essentielles entre les textes, mais aussi à mieux comprendre pourquoi, en dépit des différences, ils sont reconnus comme des parangons du genre. Avec une double approche linguistique et comparatiste, cette thèse s'attache à montrer que les auteurs construisent des manières de raconter particulières. Cela concerne par exemple la place du narrateur dans le récit, la logique selon laquelle s'enchaînent les événements, ou encore l'utilisation du discours représenté. Loin de constituer de simples préférences stylistiques, ces stratégies narratives doivent être mises en relation avec un « projet discursif » : en décidant de publier un recueil de contes, comment les auteurs envisagent-ils le genre, et comment se situent-ils dans le contexte littéraire et culturel de l'époque ? Bien que Perrault, les Grimm et Andersen développent chacun un projet différent, ils exploitent tous trois un mode d'énonciation particulier, à la façon d'un discours rapporté : le conte apparaît comme un enchevêtrement de voix où un conteur relate une histoire déjà racontée auparavant, comme s'il rapportait la voix d'un autre conteur, s'inscrivant ainsi dans une tradition où l'on parle toujours à la suite de quelqu'un. L'analyse des différences entre Perrault, les Grimm et Andersen permet ainsi de construire une poétique du genre : écrire un conte, c'est convoquer une tradition populaire et, d'un point de vue énonciatif, c'est inscrire sa voix dans le concert des voix généré par le conte.

Mediating the Immediate – Endogenous meanings and simulated narratives in ludic spaces

The thesis discusses games and the gaming experience. It is divided into two main sections; the first examines games in general, while the second concentrates exclusively on electronic games. The text approaches games from two distinct directions by looking at both their spatiality and their narrativity at the same time. These two points of view are combined right from the beginning of the text as they are used in conceptualising the nature of the gaming experience. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate two closely related issues concerning both the field of game studies and the nature of games. In regard to studying games, the focus is placed on the juxtaposition of ludology and narratology, which acts as a framework for looking at gaming. In addition to aiming to find out whether or not it is possible to undermine the said state of affairs through the spatiality of games, the text looks at the interrelationships of games and their spaces as well as the role of narratives in those spaces. The thesis is characterised by discussing alternative points of view and its hypothetical nature. During the text, it becomes apparent that the relationship between games and narratives is strongly twofold: on one hand, the player continuously narrativizes the states the game is in while playing, while the narratives residing within the game space form their own partially separate narrative spaces, on the other. These spaces affect the conception the player has of the game states and the events taking place in the game space itself.

Expressive writing intervention for mothers following the birth of their premature baby.

The birth of a preterm infant is in most cases unexpected and can be a distressing experience for parents. Parents of premature babies report more stress, experience more adjustment difficulties and need for support during the first year after delivery compared to parents of infants born at term. It has been documented that parents may experience posttraumatic stress reactions, anxiety and depression following the premature birth of their baby, which subsequently may impact on the mother-baby-interactions, their attachment relationship and the cognitive, social and behavioural development of the baby. In this pilot study, we offered an expressive writing intervention to women who recently had a premature baby to alleviate their psychological distress and to improve their physical health. During the expressive writing intervention, women were asked to write down their deepest thoughts and feelings about the most traumatic aspect of their experience of having a premature baby for 15 min over three consecutive days. The aims of the study were as follows: (1) To evaluate the effect of expressive writing on psychological and physical health in women who recently had a premature baby. (2) To evaluate the effect of expressive writing on the use of healthcare services and medication in this population. (3) To evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of this intervention for this population. Forty participants were randomly allocated to either the expressive writing intervention group or a wait list control group. Pre- and post questionnaires to evaluate the effectiveness of the expressive writing intervention, as well as their acceptability and feasibility were completed. The intervention took place when the baby was 3 months of corrected age. Post-measures were completed at 1 and 3 months following the intervention. Results and their clinical implications will be discussed with regards to the implementation of this safe and cost-effective method as a preventative measure in the routine care of women who recently gave birth to a premature baby