The process-oriented writing workshop and nonnative speakers of English: A teacher-researcher study

This teacher-researcher study describes the development of sixteen non-native student writers in a process-oriented writing workshop. It sought to depict the contextual factors involved in students\u27 development as writers and the impact of the process-approach on their writer\u27s identity. It also sought to explore the effect of the researcher\u27s stance on the teacher\u27s development as a writing teacher. Data were collected in a naturalistic study over a sixteen-week period. Ethnographic methods included an ongoing teacher-researcher process log, teacher\u27s and students\u27 journal entries, interviews with students, students\u27 process logs, and writing portfolios. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The study indicated that (1) the students\u27 development as writers involved shifts in their conceptualization of the multiplicities of the writing act, and (2) the teacher\u27s growth as a writing teacher was linked to a rethinking of the hierarchical roles embedded in the teaching of English to non-native English speakers and her redefinition of teacher-research and knowledge-making. These shifts in thinking created a sense of community for both the teacher and the students that further contributed to the reconsideration of the students\u27 and teacher\u27s roles in the writing classroom. The findings of this study underscore the powerful impact of writing as an act of self-engagement on students\u27 development as writers. The study also stresses the importance of teacher-researcher studies in the growth and change of writing teachers, and the significance of classroom contexts in language learning and teaching. From a theoretical viewpoint, this study, a characterization of the writing experiences of a community of non-native English speakers, challenges the traditional assumptions and expectations of the writing needs of non-native English students and teachers. It also points to the limitations of current composition theories on the language needs of non-native English speakers. Recommendations include (1) reconceptualizing the pedagogy for non-native English student writers and writing teachers; (2) making the teacher an integral part of the research process and promoting the teacher\u27s growth and change through greater adoption of teacher-researcher studies; and (3) focusing on the emotional, social, cultural and political complexities of English learning in a pluralistic world