This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Gastão Saliés, T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Reflections on the GUN CONTROL simulation: Pedagogical implications for EAP writing classes

University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, tanias.salies{at}gmail.com

This article critically reflects on the GUN CONTROL simulation (Saliés, 1994a) by retaking ideas advanced by Saliés (2002) and applying them to the context of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing classes in Brazil. It examines how controlled practice relates to learners' performance on the first draft in a simulation-based content unit designed for EAP writing courses. Specifically, it describes how fluency and controlled practice were balanced during briefing and debriefing, and it critically discusses the outcomes. Among other issues, it addresses the role of explicit instruction on learners' logical organization of thought, documentation, and use of language.

Key Words: academic writing • controlled practice • EAP • experiential learning • explicit instruction • fluency • role of ulture • role of instruction • simulation/gaming • writing pedagogy

References

• Atkinson, D. (2003). Writing and culture in the post-process era. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 49-63.[CrossRef]
• Bhatia, V.K. (1993). Analysing genre: Language in professional settings. White Plains, NY: Longman.
• Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Chandler, J. (2003). The efficacy of various kinds of error feedback for improvement in the accuracy and fluency of L2 student writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 267-296.[CrossRef]
• Corbeil, P. (1999). Learning from children: Practical and theoretical reflections on playing and learning. Simulation & Gaming, 30, 163-180.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Fukushima, T. (2007). Simulation in JFL: Business writing. Simulation & Gaming, 38, 48-66.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Gocsik, K. (2004). Teaching argument. Retrieved May 4, 2007, from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/faculty/pedagogies/argument.shtml
• Gorrell, D. (1998). The Little, Brown workbook. White Plains, NY: Longman.
• Halleck, G. (1995). Academic integrity: Description of simulation/game. In D. Crookall & K. Arai (Eds.), Simulation and gaming across disciplines and cultures: ISAGA at a watershed (pp. 37-44). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Halleck, G. (2000). From ISAGA '94 to AILA'99. Simulation & Gaming, 31, 86-92.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Hult, C.A., & Huckin, T.N. (1999). The new century handbook. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Jarvis, S. (2000). Methodological rigor in the study of transfer: Identifying L1 influence in the interlanguage lexicon. Language Learning, 50, 245-309.[CrossRef]
• Klabbers, J.H.G. (2001). The emerging field of simulation and gaming: Meanings of a retrospect. Simulation & Gaming, 32, 471-480.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Kovalik, D.L., & Kovalik, L. (2007, March) Language simulations: The blending space for writing and critical thinking. Paper presented at TESOL 2007. Seattle, WA.
• Kramsch, C. (2002). How can we tell the dancer from the dance? In C. Kramsch (Ed.), Language acquisition and language socialization: Ecological perspectives (pp. 1-30). New York: Continuum.
• Millians, D. (1999). Simulations and young people: Developmental issues and game development. Simulation & Gaming, 30, 199-226.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Moder, C.L., & Halleck, G. (1995). Solving the plagiary puzzle with role plays. TESOL Journal, 4(3), 16-19.
• Moder, C.L., Seig M.T., & Van Den Elzen, B. (2002). CIMARRON VALLEY: A simulation-based EAP composition curriculum. Simulation & Gaming, 33, 284-298.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Oliveira, L.P. (1997). Variação Intercultural na Escrita: Contrastes Multidimensionais em Inglês e Português [Intercultural variation in writing: Multidimensional contrasts in English and Brazilian Portuguese]. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Brazil.
• Saliés, T.G. (1994a). GUN CONTROL: A simulation for the ESL writing classroom. Demonstration presented at the 1994 Oklahoma Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Conference, Guthrie, OK.
• Saliés, T.G. (1994b). A thematic unit on GUN CONTROL. Workshop presented at the 25th anniversary meeting of the International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA'94), Ann Arbor, MI.
• Saliés, T.G. (2002). Simulation/gaming in the EAP writing class: Benefits and drawbacks. Simulation & Gaming, 33, 316-329.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Saliés, T.G. (2004). Texts as image schemas: A cross-linguistic study. In C. Moder & A. Martinovic-Zic (Eds.), Discourse across languages and cultures (pp. 293-319). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• Spellman, M. (2002). GLOBECORP: Simulation versus tradition. Simulation & Gaming, 33, 376-394.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Swales, J., & Feak, C. (1999). Academic writing for graduate students. Ann Arbor: Michigan University Press.
• Tomasello, M. (2001). The cultural origins of human cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Troyka, L.Q. (1973). A study of the e fect of simulation-gaming on expository prose competence of college remedial English composition students. (ERIC documents, ED 090541)
• Walsh, B. (2005). O papel da primeira lingua no desenvolvimento da escritura em segunda língua: Uma investigação das ações pedagógicas e crenças de um grupo de aprendizes na sala de Inglês para fins acadêmicos [The role of L1 in the development of L2 writing: A study of the pedagogical actions and beliefs of a group of learners in the EAP writing class]. Unpublished master's thesis, Department of Letters, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro.
• Wang, W., & Wen, Q. (2002). L1 use in the L2 composing process: An exploratory study of 16 Chinese EFL writers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 11, 225-246.[CrossRef]

This version was published on December 1, 2007

Simulation & Gaming, Vol. 38, No. 4, 569-580 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1046878107308080


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Gastão Saliés, T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?