Writing prompt: Discuss the ways in which you’ve used the, “Three ‘R’s’ of Inquiry,” in the ongoing process of completing your MRP?

The first “R,” reading, continues to play an essential role in the process of my MRP completion. For instance, I can’t count how many scholarly journal articles and lengthy reports I’ve read throughout this research process. If I wouldn’t have taken notes in the margins of the articles, highlighted important sections of the text, and circled unfamiliar words, I am certain that my understanding of the articles would have been greatly decreased. I agree with the author of this article when he stated that, “Vocabulary is vital to the operation,” of reading proficiently. It just makes sense that a reader’s comprehension of the text’s content is hindered if he/she keeps struggling to understand the vocabulary used by the author. Another efficient technique I used when reading my source information was to use the surrounding context of an unfamiliar words to get the gist of its meaning until I could look it up later. I don’t immediately look up unfamiliar words unless they are abundant, because that tends to extend the reading process considerably and I become less focused. I also prefer to print computer articles off of the internet because I find it harder to read from a computer screen than from a paper (maybe because computer reading is less familiar to me).

For the purpose of the MRP, I have used , “Writing as Inquiry,” as a means to better format drafts of different genres and other related writings. I found that writing linearly when drafting an initial draft failed to really match my internal thoughts. Personally, I think in a rather haphazard manner, so it works much better if I can instantly write down ideas/thoughts in this form and later put them into a precise, linear format. In this article, the author says, “Throughout the writing process writers plan, revise, anticipate, and review, moving back and forth among the different operations involved in writing ‘without an apparent plan.’” Since I changed my essential question and foundation questions, I have planned new ideas for my project, revised old pieces of writing, and constantly reviewed my writing so that improvements could be made. I guess that the author’s aforementioned statement really does make sense because I have shifted in between these writing processes without ever really formulating a plan about which ones to use and in what order.

Although I have never done an activity such as the op-ed piece (mentioned in the article), I have been exposed to discourse analysis. A few of the CD. 315 weekly assignments dealt with learning how to judge webpages and articles based upon criteria such as, audience, authority, currency, and then noting where sources should be cited or where supporting evidence is needed in the text. Completion of these assignments greatly helped me to now be able to judge and analyze my research-related sources. I now feel confident that I can distinguish a scholarly article from one that is not, and this is a crucial skill when conducting MRP research (although most of our sources are required to be scholarly publications). Throughout this research process, I have kept an online journal that allows me to tell about the various processes I’ve used in completing research and why I have used them. This journal is similar to the student oral presentations that the author talks about in the article, in that they both require the student (me) to clarify personal thoughts/ideas, and then explain them to others.

Assignment 2.3.1: Library Search 2

Here are five more sources I’ve recently acquired.

Resource: Academic Search Elite
Keywords: ESL and workplace
Buttaro, Lucia. (Spring 2001). Understanding Adult ESL Learners: Multiple Dimensions of Learning and Adjustements Among Hispanic Women. Adult Basic Education, 11. Issue 1, p. 40. Retrieved on October 9, 2002 from EBSCOhost database (Academic Search Elite) on the World Wide Web:
http://www.marshall.edu/library/databases.htm#A .

Resource: Academic Search Elite
Keywords: foreign language learning
Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J., & Bailey, Phillip. (March 2000). The validation of three scales measuring anxiety at different stages of the foreign language learning process: The input anxiety scale, the processing anxiety scales, and the output anxiety scale. Language Learning, 50. Issue 1, p. 87. Retrieved on October 9, 2002 from EBSCOhost database (Academic Search Elite) on the World Wide Web:
http://www.marshall.edu/library/databases.htm#A .

Resource: Academic Search Elite
Keywords: foreign language learning
Moody, Raymond. (Winter 1988). Personality preferences and foreign language learning. Modern Language Journal, 72. Issue 4, p. 389. Retrieved on October 9, 2002 from EBSCOhost database (Academic Search Elite) on the World Wide Web:
http://www.marshall.edu/library/databases.htm#A .

Resource: ERIC
Keywords: multiple intelligence theory and ESL
Schmidt, Laura M. (July 1994). Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory advocates personalized education. Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter, 10. Issue 7, p. 1. Retrieved on October 9, 2002 from EBSCOhost database (ERIC) on the World Wide Web:
http://www.mashall.edu/library/databases.htm#E.

Resource: ERIC
Keywords: foreign language learning approaches
Sparks, Richard L., & Ganschow, Leonore. (Summer 1995). A strong inference approach to causal factors in foreign language learning: A response to MacIntye. Modern Language Journal, 79. Issue 2, p. 235. . Retrieved on October 9, 2002 from EBSCOhost database (ERIC) on the World Wide Web:
http://www.mashall.edu/library/databases.htm#E.

Resource: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Keywords: ESL and social identity
Miller, Jennifer M. (2000). Language Use, Identity, Social Interaction: Migrant Students in Australia. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 33. Issue 1, p. 69. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Academic Search Elite on October 4, 2002.

Resource: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Keywords: ESL and social identity
Clement, Richard, Deneault, Bernard, Noels, Kimberly A. (Fall 2001). Interethnic Contact, Identity, and Psychological Adjustment: The Meditating and Moderating Roles of Communication. Journal of Social Issues, 57. Issue 3, p. 559. Retrieved from EBSCHost Academic Search Elite on October 4, 2002.

Resource: Academic Search Elite
Keywords: second language learning and social identity
Belz, Julie A. (2002). Second Language: Play as a Representation of the Multicompetent Self in Foreign Language Study. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 1. Issue 1, p. 13. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Academic Search Elite on October 4, 2002.

Resource: Academic Search Elite
Keywords: second language learning and social identity
Kobayashi, Yoko. (June 2002). The Role of Gender in Foreign Language Learning Attitudes: Japanese female students’ attitudes towards English learning. Gender and Education, 14. Issue 2, p. 181. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Academic Search Elite on October 4, 2002.

Resource: Academic Search Elite
Keywords: second language learning and social identity
Tseng, Yueh-Hung. (January 2002). A lesson in culture. English Language Teachers Journal, 56. Issue 1, p. 11. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Academic Search Elite on October 4, 2002.