Improving Foreign Language Writing with Learner Analysis of Authentic Spanish Texts
The experiential module serves as a culminating project for the MAFLT program. For my project I chose to conduct a research study on the topic of authentic texts and writing with guidance from my research facilitator, Dr. Amanda Lanier. The main question for the study was whether the reading and analysis of authentic texts would have an effect on student writing, as measured on Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2) writing samples before and after exposure to authentic texts. These writing samples were analyzed with Corpus Analysis tools to look at word frequency, sentence complexity, and more. I also looked at genre (or text type) and whether analysis of a certain text type (in this case, blogs) resulted in better student application of target text structures, language, and more on their T2 writing. The full research paper can be found below, as well as a flyer with a summary of basic information from the research study.
Research Paper
The paper is still being edited, so the version you see below is a draft. Stay tuned for the final product!