Investigating Reformulation as a Practical Strategy for the Teaching of Academic Writing

Bibliographic Data

ID22871892
AuthorsRichard Allwright (Lancaster University Ghana), R L ALLWRIGHT, M-P WOODLEY (University of Manchester), J M ALLWRIGHT, Joan Allwright (Lancaster University Ghana)
Year1988
Volume9
Issue3
Pages236-256
Publication date1988-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueApplied Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0142-6001 • E-ISSN: 1477-450X
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/applin/9.3.236
OpenAlexW2024260832
LanguageEN
Citations received14

This paper is about the use of reformulation as a strategy for the teaching of academic writing, but more especially about the exploratory investigation of the use of reformulation for such purposes. Its main aim, therefore, is to add to our understanding of the workings of such a strategy. In the first part of the paper the reformulation strategy is itself described, as it has been developed and used with non-native writers of English in a British university setting. The strategy generates a rich database of writing samples which permits the pursuit of a number of precise research questions. In the second part of the paper the selected text measures are described, and the third part then reports the preliminary application of these text measures to the data from two case studies, in response to the research questions already established. In conclusion it is emphasized that although the results are consistent with a generally positive interpretation of the strategy's effects they should be seen as helping us understand the reformulation strategy rather than as attempting to prove its validity. In particular they suggest that the class discussion that follows the provision of the reformulated version may be crucial to the strategy's successful operation, and perhaps more influential than the reformulation itself.

Academic writing · Applied linguistics · Library science · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Media studies · Pedagogy · Sociology · Computer Science · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Philosophy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching

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