An investigation of the process writing approach as a curriculum innovation in local junior secondary classrooms: three case studies

Abstract

An investigation of the impact of the implementation of the curriculum innovation, the process writing approach (PWA), in the teaching and learning of writing may have on the beliefs of teachers and students in the area of writing was conducted. Using a collective case approach of three junior form English teachers, their beliefs about the effective teaching of writing, the usefulness and implementation of the PWA and its effects on their beliefs and practices post-implementation were investigated. Students of low, average and high linguistic ability and their beliefs about the effective teaching of writing were explored and the impact, if any, on students’ approach to writing post-implementation were investigated. A multi-dimensional methodology, which drew on both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques, was employed.

Findings showed that those teachers’ beliefs about the effective teaching of writing included aspects of genre and process approaches. These in turn affected their perceptions towards the top-down implementation and its usefulness in the classroom, raising issues such as teacher understanding, increased marking workload and feasibility prior to this year’s implementation. Other factors that affected the successfulness of the innovation reported post-implementation by teachers included the PWA’s time-consuming nature and students’ abilities, raising awareness of the importance of providing teacher autonomy in adapting the PWA to meet students’ needs across ability levels. In addition, though students held their own beliefs about the effective teaching of writing that included aspects of the genre approach as well as the importance of receiving teacher feedback, findings reported that the implementation of the new writing approach was positively well received by them regardless of their linguistic ability, as it not only increased their self-confidence in their writing skills but also their interest in learning from and sharing of writing. However, such were achieved at the expense of the reported increased pressure at the pre-writing stage as well as the difficulties faced in the peer editing and feedback stages. Causes of these findings were explored with a discussion on related pedagogical and research implications for similar contexts like this, with particular reference to the context of Hong Kong.