By Renske Bouwer, Marije van Braak, Chiel van der Veen
Original article: LINK
Many pupils can find it hard to express their ideas in writing. Often, they aren’t given enough time to think about how their reader(s) will understand and react to their writing [LINK]. Instead, the focus is usually on how the writing looks. Getting feedback from classmates can help students see how their writing comes across to others and can make improvements in response [LINK and LINK]. However, without guidance, these feedback sessions tend to be short and focus mostly on grammar and spelling, leading to only minor changes in the writing.
In this article, Bouwer and their colleagues suggest that having more in-depth conversations between writers and readers can help. These discussions involve asking open-ended questions and working together to understand the text better [LINK]. This approach might help students become more aware of how their writing is perceived by others and give them ideas on how to improve it.
The importance of considering their reader when writing
In writing education, it’s crucial for students to learn to consider their readers’ perspectives [LINK]. Unlike experienced writers, beginners often don’t review their compositions from the reader’s point of view [LINK]. To help students make more meaningful revisions that enhance their writing’s effectiveness, they need to better understand their audience and learn how to revise their work accordingly [LINK].
Peer feedback can be helpful in showing students how readers might react and interpret their ideas, and why some of their text ‘communicates’ better than parts. However, in typical classrooms, students often engage with peer feedback superficially, focusing only on grammar and spelling rather than content, not seeking feedback actively, rarely asking questions, and using only a small portion of the feedback for revisions. This is in stark contrast to Writing For Pleasure classrooms where this happens continually [LINK].
Talking about your writing especially important for multilingual students, who face additional challenges (and opportunities) in both speaking and writing [LINK]. Teachers need to provide targeted support to help multilingual students develop the skills to write effectively, considering the reader’s perspective. Research suggests that strategies like providing specific phrases or feedback during peer discussions can be helpful.
Dialogic peer talk in the writing process
Conversations between peers about their writing can greatly enhance their final manuscripts. These discussions help students become more aware of their audience and assist in the revision process [LINK, LINK and LINK]. During these peer conversations, students explore ideas, clarify meanings, listen actively, and reflect on each other’s thoughts.
The study
The study involved four classes of 11-12 year old students. Two classes were randomly assigned to receive the dialogic writing intervention, which included a conversation card to guide discussions and professional development for teachers. The other two classes served as the control group. The students wrote four persuasive/opinion texts. The researchers recorded peer feedback conversations for each writing task. They then evaluated the peer discussions and analysed the children’s texts to examine the level and quality of children’s revisions.
Results
Findings highlighted the crucial roles of both the teacher [LINK] and conversation cards in fostering meaningful peer discussions. The approach encouraged children to comment on higher-order aspects of writing and resulted in children making more effective revisions.
Implications
Dialogic conversations don’t happen automatically; they need a supportive classroom environment [LINK and LINK]. Teachers should encourage students to discuss their drafts in small groups using conversation cards and/or revision checklists with guiding questions to foster meaningful dialogue. These in-depth discussions may take more time than typical peer feedback sessions but are more beneficial.
Teachers should model how to ask open-ended, thought-provoking questions about students’ texts, promoting a classroom culture of shared reasoning and high-level feedback [LINK]. This approach helps students focus on how well their texts communicate their intended message, providing more opportunities for effective revisions.