Neubauer research proposal

Research Proposal on Language of Email Tutoring

Introduction/Questions

In January 2008, I began working with Dr. Lynne M. Stallings, assistant professor, Department of English, Ball State University, and Dr. Dawn M. Formo, associate professor and chair, Literature and Writing Studies, California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), on their research into the language student writers use to request feedback. My assignment has been to conduct library research to inform an analysis of transcripts from online asynchronous tutoring between tutors from the CSUSM online writing lab (OWL) and area high school students between 2001 and 2006. We hypothesize that paying attention to the language students use to ask questions about their writing may allow teachers and tutors to use students’ language as a bridge, rather than a barrier, to academic writing. Specifically, I have been looking for history, theory and research methodology that will help address the following questions:

1. How does existing pedagogical research in composition studies prepare teachers, tutors, and students to bridge the cultural linguistics gap between students’ non-academic language experiences – especially those shaped by technologies such as email, instant messaging, and texting -- and the requirements of the academy?

2. How does the special genre of OWL asynchronous tutoring differ from other collaborative practices in theory and practice?

3. What can be learned from a close examination of the language between students and OWL tutors that might be helpful in fostering more effective collaboration? For example, are there linguistic cues that illustrate the level of knowledge, understanding and engagement students have in the academic writing process? To what extent do students’ questions about their writing reflect a deep understanding of academic language (and writing conventions) or a rudimentary understanding of the vocabulary used to discuss academic writing? Can linguistic cues be used by tutors in the “contact zone” of the asynchronous online tutoring session to guide their responses and to help students ask questions that result in the help they need?

4. If the students in this study are representative of incoming university students, what patterns do we see that would help make wise pedagogical use of the rhetorical agency they will bring into our classrooms in the fall?

Format

For the purposes of our research, I will prepare a qualitative research proposal as outlined in John W. Creswell’s Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 2^nd ed. including the following sections:

· Introduction/Definitions – including an outline of the research project and questions, purpose of the and significance of the study, definitions of key terms, scope and limitations, and situating our study in existing research, trends, and academic conversations.

· Literature review of the discussion of student language in requesting feedback, including a summary of those from composition research, texts and handbooks (which is minimal), but mostly from the writing center discipline, where the bulk of recent research on student language has occurred.

· Discussion of methodologies, including the population, variables, use of the SAT rubric, Peter Elbow’s “Three Ways of Revising” and “Eleven Ways of Responding” to writing, and Marzano and Kendall’s New Taxonomy.

· Works Cited