Critical Argument and Writer Identity: Social Constructivism as a Theoretical Framework for EFL Academic Writing

This article makes the argument that we need to situate student's academic writing as socially constructed pieces of writing that embody a writer's cultural identity and critical argument. In support, I present and describe a comprehensive model of an original English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing analytical framework. This article explains the interrelationship between the elements of cultural practices in academic discourse, writer identity, and critical thinking, and argues how this is influenced by the sociocultural values of academic discourse. This interrelationship is realized by viewing EFL writing through a social constructivist lens, showing how critical thinking processes are shaped by awareness of the sociocultural conventions of academic discourse, and how critical thinking arises from a writer identity aligned with the culture of English academic writing.

[1]  David Eichelberger,et al.  Speech Genres And Other Late Essays , 2016 .

[2]  Blaise Cronin,et al.  Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing , 2002, J. Documentation.

[3]  M. Bakhtin,et al.  Speech genres and other late essays , 1986 .

[4]  Paul Stapleton,et al.  Assessing Critical Thinking in the Writing of Japanese University Students , 2001 .

[5]  A. Stetsenko,et al.  Embracing History through Transforming It , 2006 .

[6]  Jim McKinley.  The impact of Western criticisms of Japanese rhetorical approaches on learners of Japanese , 2014 .

[7]  L. Vygotsky.  The Development of Higher Psychological Functions , 1977 .

[8]  J. Phelan.  On Teaching Critical Arguments: A Matrix of Understanding , 2001 .

[9]  J. Wertsch.  Voices of the Mind: A Sociocultural Approach to Mediated Action , 1992 .

[10]  Miguel P Caldas,et al.  Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches , 2003 .

[11]  Michael R. Harwell,et al.  Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods: Pursuing ideas as the keystone of exemplary inquir , 2011 .

[12]  Lindsay Miller,et al.  SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND INDIVIDUAL AGENCY IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING: EVIDENCE FROM THREE LIFE HISTORIES , 2008 .

[13]  Dwight Atkinson,et al.  Writing and culture in the post-process era , 2003 .

[14]  Ellen Barton,et al.  Contrastive and Non-Contrastive Connectives , 1995 .

[15]  Eunsook Hyun,et al.  East Asian international graduate students’ epistemological experiences in an American University , 2010 .

[16]  Sunny Hyon,et al.  Sidestepping our “scare words”: Genre as a possible bridge between L1 and L2 compositionists , 2011 .

[17]  F. H. Eemeren,et al.  Speech acts in Argumentative Discussions. A Theoretical Model for the Analysis of Discussions Directed towards Solving Conflicts of Opinion (vertaling in het Russisch) , 1984 .

[18]  Dwight Atkinson.  A Critical Approach to Critical Thinking in TESOL , 1997 .

[19]  L. Vygotsky.  Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes: Harvard University Press , 1978 .

[20]  Alan Hirvela,et al.  Coming back to voice: The multiple voices and identities of mature multilingual writers , 2001 .

[21]  James Mckinley,et al.  Displaying Critical Thinking in EFL Academic Writing: A Discussion of Japanese to English Contrastive Rhetoric , 2013 .

[22]  Ron Scollon.  As a matter of fact: The changing ideology of authorship and responsibility in discourse , 1994 .

[23]  F. H. Eemeren,et al.  Argumentation, Communication, and Fallacies: A Pragma-dialectical Perspective , 1992 .

[24]  Ryuko Kubota,et al.  Japanese Culture Constructed by Discourses: Implications for Applied Linguistics Research and ELT , 1999 .

[25]  Barbara Graves,et al.  Discourse appropriation, construction of identities, and the complex issue of plagiarism: ESL students writing in graduate school , 2006 .

[26]  R. Fawcett.  Language as social semiotic , 1984 .

[27]  Ronny Noor.  Contrastive rhetoric in expository prose: Approaches and achievements☆ , 2001 .

[28]  Patricia Bizzell.  The Ethos of Academic Discourse. , 1978 .

[29]  Stuart Greene,et al.  Expanding the Constructivist Metaphor: A Rhetorical Perspective on Literacy Research and Practice , 1995 .

[30]  S. Cotterall,et al.  Scaffolding for second language writers: producing an academic essay , 2003 .

[31]  J. Maybin.  Language and literacy in social practice : a reader , 1993 .

[32]  Alexis Wright,et al.  Politics of writing , 2002 .

[33]  Ken Hyland,et al.  Writing theories and writing pedagogies , 2008 .

[34]  Beatriz Macías Gómez-Estern,et al.  Literacy and the Formation of Cultural Identity , 2010 .

[35]  A. Stetsenko,et al.  Constructing and Deconstructing the Self: Comparing Post-Vygotskian and Discourse-Based Versions of Social Constructivism , 1997 .

[36]  M. Scardamalia,et al.  The psychology of written composition , 1987 .

[37]  P. Stapleton.  Critiquing Voice as a Viable Pedagogical Tool in L2 Writing: Returning the Spotlight to Ideas. , 2002 .

[38]  Roz Ivanǐ.  Discourses of Writing and Learning to Write , 2004 .

[39]  Ken Hyland,et al.  Second Language Writing , 2003 .

[40]  Neomy Storch,et al.  Collaborative writing: Product, process, and students’ reflections , 2005 .

[41]  Paul A Prior,et al.  Voices in text, mind, and society , 2001 .

[42]  M. Cole,et al.  Mind in Society , 2005 .

[43]  Terry Santos,et al.  Ideology in composition: L1 and ESL , 1992 .

[44]  J. Lantolf,et al.  Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of Second Language Development , 2006 .

[45]  V. Ramanathan,et al.  Individualism, academic writing, and ESL writers , 1999 .