COGNITIVE STRATEGIES EMPLOYED IN WRITING

Eva Smetanová

Abstract:

The aim of the paper is to present some of the findings of the research conducted at University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia. The goal was to determine what cognitive strategies would students employ and how their usage would be reflected in the quality of the students´ written output.

Key words: case study, cognitive strategy, skill, student, writing

The research was carried out within the framework of seminars focused on development of writing skills. The students who participated in the seminars were not beginners in English. In the beginning it was necessary to create a model of the writing process. After studying a variety of literary sources (Eliášová, 2011; Harmer, 2004; Brown & Hood, 1993 and many more), a basic three-stage model - consisting of the following stages: preparatory, procedural and final – was created. Each stage has its own substantiation for both – the teacher and the learner (writer). The preparatory stage allows the writer to focus on the given topic and generate relevant ideas. It gives the space to the teacher to elicit motivation. In order not to lose the enthusiasm and ideas for the topic, the stage should not last long.

In the second, procedural stage, the writer focuses mainly on processing the ideas. An outline or scheme can be very helpful. In this part, reviewing and correction of the existing text begins; aspects such as changes, modifications, and finally rewriting the text in the final form take place in the procedural stage as well. Here, the teacher has also its place and roles: he/she may advise, assist and direct writers.    

The final stage, as the name suggests, is the one when the draft turns into the final product. However, it still may pass through final checking and modifying (for example alignment margins, line spacing and so on) to the part when the author decides to end all the adjustments. At the end of this stage, the author could present his/her text. The final stage is at the same time the stage of evaluation: the teacher, classmate or even the author himself/herself may comment on the process of writing as well as on the final text. It is important to note that to evaluate and assess such a process as writing is, requires a sensitive approach and pedagogical tact as possible criticism may be de-motivating and frustrating for the writer. The final stage could also represent a very good opportunity for self-evaluation of the learner. Evaluation and self-evaluation may significantly affect the use of individual learning strategies. The learner may therefore identify not only his/her weaknesses but at the same time his/her strengths and capabilities. This will significantly influence the learner´s motivation to study English as well as to writing as an activity. Thus it will strengthen a positive relationship towards expressing his/her ideas or creating interesting texts. 

Each stage should be adequately determined in time, depending on the complexity of the task, on the maturity of writers or on their language level. The time limit may even have a positive effect – writers tend to get used to working under stress and that can also provoke increased mind activities (Eliášová, 2011). The proposed stages of writing are possible to be used when an individual processes a text and also when working in pairs or in a group.

The students were guided to use the model of writing during the two-semester seminars. That means that after entering the topic the students were asked to use all three stages and thus as many cognitive strategies as the individual stages offer. After a time interval, five students were selected as research representatives. They were asked to write a short composition on a given topic. The aim of the research was to determine what cognitive strategies the students would use and how the application would be reflected in the quality of their written (processed) texts. The design of case study was chosen. Data were collected using the method of verbal statements, the method of text documents analysis, and semi-structured interviews.

To evaluate the quality of the students´ text, the focus was not on the use of correct spelling or grammar. The researchers were inspired by Gavora (1992) who defines the text as a coherent language speech, which is characterised by certain properties such as the following: communication intention, cohesion and coherence. Therefore the emphasis was put on the goal the author intended to achieve, the cohesion of the sentences and thematic coherence of the text. These three features were considered the criteria of evaluation of the text quality. 

Cognitive strategies are related to intellectual abilities and skills, or in other words to the cognitive domain. Cognitive strategies the students/writers were supposed to employ may have included organising thoughts and ideas, deciding (how to do something), summarising, guessing the meaning of words from the context, searching key words in a text, detailed reading or fast reading, listening comprehension, creating conceptual maps, using imagination or visualisation to remember a new word, association and many others. All these strategies support the conscious manipulation of language and are different from other types of learning strategies.

The research findings are as follows: cognitive strategies were targeted and developed by the students during their seminars focused on practising writing skills in English. The students were motivated and encouraged by the teacher to employ them as much as possible. The text of those students who applied cognitive strategies consciously and deliberately reached a higher quality level in comparison with those who did not apply them at all or only to a minimal extent. This answers the question how the employment of cognitive strategies affects the process and the quality of student´s writing. On the other hand, the research shows that despite the fact the students were trained to use cognitive strategies in seminars, they have not acquired them and do not use them in their practical lives. There is a lack of concentration on the conscious and focused application. They also lack the ability to connect a variety of disciplines – to transfer information received within one subject or area into the work in another area or in practice. Therefore, it is necessary to appeal to English teachers so that they encourage their students in the deliberate use of cognitive strategies within individual stages of the writing process. The research results confirm that the teacher – even in the current era of advanced technologies – has his/her irreplaceable position in the process of education, regardless the age or level of language learners. The important role of the teacher is to motivate learners, mobilise and direct them in order to achieve gradual automation of writing processes. Therefore it is essential for a foreign language teacher apply certain teaching methods that would allow practising writing skills and thus will strengthen the independence of ideas, action and evaluation of the learner. This is the way to shape learner autonomy: the aim is to form a student independent from his/her teacher and who understands the necessity to be responsible for his/her own education and training.        

Bibliography

BROWN, K. & HOOD, S. 1993. Writing Matters (Writing skills and strategies for students of English). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

ELIAŠOVÁ, Viera. 2011. Tvorivé písanie a možnosti jeho využitia v edukačnom

procese. Bratislava: UK.

GAVORA, P. 1992. Žiak a text.  Bratislava: SPN.

HARMER, J. 2004. How to Teach Writing. London: Longman.