The Blind Leading the Blind? Using Learner-Authored Texts To Foster Conceptual Change in College EFL Learners.

This paper discusses the use of learner-authored texts to encourage conceptual change in college English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, examining the process of and conditions for conceptual change and reasons to promote the use of student-authored texts. Participants were first-year accounting majors enrolled in a comprehensive EFL course that integrated listening, speaking, reading, and writing in curriculum. Texts used in discussion were from a mini-inquiry project on the concept of extracurricular activities for college students. Students worked in research groups to investigate ideas related to the topic through group discussion, consultation of reference materials, interviews, and surveys. They reported their findings and thoughts individually, then exchanged them with other group members, comparing their own interpretations with those of others. They mapped the different ideas with their prior knowledge. Each group rendered two maps regarding categorization, advantages, and disadvantages of extracurricular activities. Researchers created two collective concept maps involving the concepts shared by all class participants. Results suggest that using student-written texts to foster EFL learners’ conceptual change was an effective instructional strategy. Students reported that the insights peer texts revealed were helpful in understanding content knowledge, evoking them to reflect on the influence of reading and writing on conceptual change. (Contains 21 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.