Reader-Writer Codes and Relationships : Qualities of Power in Current-Traditional and Expressivist Pedagogies

Abstract

This study aims at investigating qualities of power in current-traditional andexpressivist pedagogies in Thai studentsû writing. It focuses on qualities related towriting power that affect relationship building between the reader and the writer aswell as its characteristics, reader-writer codes, and strategies and techniques forempowering writing. In addition, a survey of student problems in writing and aninvestigation of levels of inter-rating correlations concerning writing power instudentsû writing are conducted. The subjects were 20 students taking a compositioncourse in the first semester of 2010 at Srinakharinwirot University. The researchinstruments were 1) teaching materials aimed at explaining writing power, readerwritercodes and relationships, and strategies and techniques for empoweringwriting, 2) an article on writing power, reader-writer codes and relationships, andtechniques and strategies for empowering writing for three guest readers, and 3)an evaluation form for the three guest readers and the researcher to assess writingpower in the studentsû writing. Four readers, including the researcher, read 40 papersfrom the 20 students and looked for the techniques and strategies for empoweringwriting by using the evaluation form. The researcher also used codes to find moreempowering qualities, strategies, techniques, and reader-writer relationships andcodes. It was found that students did not express the qualities of power systematically,resulting in unidentifiable or unclear reader-writer relationships. They failed tounderstand or make use of reader-writer codes in an effective manner. The studyfound 29 empowering quality techniques related to grammar and sentence skills(9%), organization (19%), and reader connection (or mental relation) (72%). Thestudy found 13 problems concerning inabilities to write grammatically and in goodsentences (32%), inabilities to organize ideas (21%), and inabilities to mentallyconnect with readers (47%). Finally, the readers gave high levels of inter-ratingcorrelation to qualities related to grammar, sentence skills, and organization and lowlevels to those related to subjective judgments. While this research implies apossibility of combining current-traditional and expressivist pedagogies, it revealsthat teachers and students need to learn more about writing power, reader-writercodes and relationships, and techniques for empowering writing.Key words Writing Power, Writing Assessment, Reader-Writer Code, Reader-Writer Relationship, Empowering Writing, Current-Traditional Pedagogy, ExpresivistPedagogy