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- Ahlin, Lena, 1966-, et al.
(author)
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Going forward with feedback : On autonomy and teacher feedback
- 2014
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In: Text analysis. - Kristianstad : Kristianstad University Press. - 9789187973000 ; , s. 42-58
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Language teachers often complain that they are becoming “composition slaves” (Hairston 1986) spending an inordinate amount of work on giving feedback on students' texts. This might be particularly true of L2 teachers as several studies indicate that students prefer teacher feedback to peer feedback, particularly in L2 learning (Zhang 1995; Ferris 1995; Hyland 1998). While the ultimate goal of teacher-written feedback is a student who is able to assess her own work critically and successfully edit her own text, there is an obvious risk that the “over-dependence on teacher feedback [will] lower the students’ initiative and lead to fewer self-initiated corrections” (Miao, Badger and Zhen 2006). This paper probes the limits and implications of teacher feedback focusing on the question of whether teacher feedback generates dependent students. When does feedback go from being constructive to impeding development of independence? The idea of dependence is further considered in relation to current debates about the rise of “therapeutic education” in which students are discussed in terms of “vulnerability” (Füredi 2004; Ecclestone and Hayes 2009). To what extent should not only the cognitive but also the emotional needs of the students shape the nature of teacher feedback? The paper concludes by suggesting that the challenge for teachers is not to assume the role of therapists but to encourage reflective education through clarity about academic goals, and a sense of progression throughout the various stages of education.
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| 2. |
- Ahlin, Lena, 1966-
(author)
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(Re-)examining the essay : alternative approaches to writing assessment
- 2016
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As teachers of English, we guide our students through various courses in which the essay is often a privileged form of examination. Building on previous work (Freij & Ahlin 2014) in which we have argued for the importance of indirect feedback as key to encouraging critical thinking about and engagement with the text, as well as an important aspect of the acculturation into academia (see Freij and Ahlin 2014, 2015), we explore here non-traditional ways of examining skills pertaining to critical writing and -thinking. We have previously, inspired by the work of Diane Pecorari on the sequencing of micro-objectives (“Reverse engineering an essay,” 2014), argued that lecturers may find it increasingly important to structure tasks and assessment items in a manner that takes into account the multiple skills needed to complete them successfully, in order to avoid becoming what Hairston, already in 1986, called “composition slaves”. We see the teaching of transferable skills as crucial for the creation of autonomous students. In addition, central to the process of essay writing and the acquisition of transferable skills are clear identification and sequencing of the micro-objectives involved. Thus, students may practice the skills that they need, while building on gradually acquired/previous knowledge.This paper continues our previous work, and takes the first steps toward creating a bank of exercises that train the subskills of critical writing and -thinking. By moving away from the essay as the be all and end all of assessment, we are taking further steps towards identifying common ground: the hope is that our suggestions are not limited to the humanities, but can be used across the curriculum to strengthen the base on which students’ knowledge is built.Notably, as we are not merely concerned with students’ completion of individual tasks, but in their meta-cognition, which includes “reflection, self-knowledge of strengths and weaknesses, learning strategies, and monitoring learning” (Billing 2007, p. 486), the exercises presented here are not to be seen as a ‘remedy’ or a ‘quick fix’; rather, they are to be used as stepping stones and preferably integrated into a context that allows for progression over a substantial period of time.In other words, we argue that student autonomy and metacognition should be developed from the very beginning of our study programs. To reach this goal, our approach includes teaching students the “third language” from the bottom up (Freij and Ahlin 2015), which means viewing the tertiary experience as manifold. Returning to our adaptation of Wenger’s theory, we will discuss academic language not just from a point of view of producing the end result, but academic language as the key to 1) belonging in the academic community; 2) becoming a writer with a scholarly identity; 3) understanding writing as a meaning-making practice; and 4) performing scholarly practice and -identity (adapted from Wenger 1998).
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| 3. |
- Ahlin, Lena, 1966-
(author)
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The myth of colorblindness in contemporary Korean American adoption narratives
- 2017
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the first decades of the 21st century, a range of autobiographical narratives dealing with adoption from Korea to the U.S. have been published, such as Katy Robinson’s A Single Square Picture (2002), Jane Jeong Trenka’s The Language of Blood (2003) and Fugitive Visions (2009), and Soojung Jo’s Ghost of Sangju (2015). These texts all share one or more of the following motifs characteristic of the transracial/transnational adoption narrative: the search for roots and a return to Korea, including the reunion with parents and siblings; the revelation of hidden facts or distorted truths surrounding the adoption; and a critical look at the patriarchal structure of Korean society. In addition, color is an important theme and this paper discusses how the myth of colorblindness and the discourse of rescue—two common adoption myths—are debunked in the narratives.My analysis shows that while well intentioned, the notion of colorblindness rests on the erasure of racial identity which, as Eng and Han (2000) have shown, may lead to “racial melancholia.” Furthermore, rather than invalidating the significance of the color line, colorblindness has often served to reinforce racial divisions (see for example Arissa Oh, 2015). In other words, the denial of the adoptee’s difference hinges on upholding the ideal of whiteness. The paper concludes by considering how these observations relate to the adoptees’ negotiation of an Asian American identity and sense of belonging.
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