Investigating the impact of modeling on the teaching of process writing in a primary class

This paper reports how a teacher educator attempts to effect change in the practice of serving teachers through modelling process writing with a real class of ESL children aged at about ten. The process of teaching was observed by two in-service teachers. Three research questions were put forward: first, whether the teacher educator’s espoused theory will be modified by the theory in action gained through practice; second, the impact of modelling on the observer teachers and whether their theory in action will be modified by the modelling. Third, what impact does process writing have on the learning of the students? To answer these questions, the teacher educator employed qualitative research tools. It is found that the educator’s espoused theory on process writing is enhanced by the practice in a real class. The modelling process increases the observers’ motivation to try out the new practice through the successful demonstration of strategies in the same classroom context, which has eased the teacher’s concerns over student responses and constraints of classroom resources. Young learners have learnt metacognitive skills through process writing but they also exhibit some misunderstandings in the approach in their initial experience with this process. Copyright © 2007 The Asian Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language.