Making the transition from writing short essays to long research papers

Authors: Steve Cornwell and Tonia McKay

Conventional wisdom holds that reading, writing, and grammar are emphasized more than speaking and listening in Japanese secondary education (Aiga, 1990). However, when one begins to look in detail at students' writing experience, we find that students' Junior and Senior High School writing experience has been mainly at the sentence level (Okada, et al, 1995) and such sentence level experience mainly deals with spelling and grammar (Yamada, 1993). In a recent study on writing apprehension, over 75% of recent high school graduates (n= 372) reported that they had little or no writing experience beyond the sentence level while in high school (Cornwell & McKay, 1997). Students enter university English programs with little or no experience in producing paragraphs or essays, let alone extended research papers. Japanese Universities which emphasize academic writing must take students through the long and difficult process of first producing paragraphs in English, then short essays, and finally longer, documented research papers. This is not an easy process.

At our college, Osaka Jogakuin Junior College (OJJC), writing plays an important part in the curriculum and students are taken through this process in two years. We have identified particular problems that students have in making the transition from first-year paragraph and short essay writing to the writing necessary for second-year extended, documented research papers. This paper will examine these problems before suggesting ways that teachers can help students make the transition. By drawing from the writing component at OJJC, specific examples will be provided on which to focus our comments. There are, of course, many approaches to teaching writing. This paper looks at academic writing.

OJJC's Program

At OJJC, first year students take a year-long composition class that meets twice a week for 50 minutes each class. There are approximately 30 students in each section. Composition is integrated with the Oral and Reading classes; this means that each class studies the same thematic material and the same rhetorical pattern at the same time. Over the course of one year, six patterns are studied (see Table 1).

Table 1: Overview of OJJC's Integrated Units themes and Rhetorical Patterns

Unit	Theme	Rhetorical Pattern	First Year Composition Assignment
One	Introduction/People and Places	Illustration	One paragraph
Two	Women's Issues	Process	One paragraph
Three	Internationalization	Definition	One paragraph
Four	Human Rights	Classification	Short Essay
Five	Media and Consumer Society	Compare/Contrast	Short Essay
Six	Social Responsibility	Persuasion	Short Essay

By the end of their first year, students turn in for evaluation three paragraphs and three short essays. "Short essay" refers to a basic, five-paragraph composition with one introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and one conclusion paragraph. Before turning in final drafts, students do practice assignments such as pre-writing exercises, first and second drafts, journals, and some grammar and vocabulary work relating to the topic and rhetorical pattern. It is important to note that only during the last unit are students required to use sources in their short essay.

During their second year (1), students take two required content-based courses in English, Topic Studies I and Topic Studies II. Students choose from among approximately 26 courses. The content of these courses varies from medical ethics to literature; from the British legal system to child language development. These classes have between 25 to 32 students, meet three hours a week and require students to write a 7 to 10 page, documented research paper in English. In addition to covering all the content necessary, teachers in both classes cover various skills necessary to write a research paper. The transition from first year paragraphs/essays to second year research papers rests primarily with the Topic Studies teachers. The authors teach courses entitled "The Pacific Century," a course covering economic and social issues in Pacific Rim countries, and "American Short Stories," which covers some major 20th century authors. These courses will be referred to throughout the following discussion.

Problems in Making the Transition

This section will look at five particular problems we have noticed students have in making the transition to longer, documented research papers. These problems are more conceptual than mechanical in nature. In other words, most of them arise from students having trouble applying the "set" rules they learn in first year composition. Three of the problems look at how students deal with what they understand about rhetorical patterns. Another problem examines the over application of the principle that one idea equals one paragraph. The final problem discussed looks at the difficulty students have in drawing conclusions and expressing their own point of view.

1. Training primarily in rhetorical patterns

One of the major problems we've found when students approach the writing of an extended research paper is that they do not know where to begin. This is a reflection of receiving training primarily in rhetorical patterns during their first year. Writing assignments for a content-based ESL/EFL class, or university classes in general, usually do not require one rhetorical pattern in particular. In fact, most assignments may require a combination of patterns. As an example, the following assignment was given in the American Short Stories course.

Discuss the cultural gap between Maria, an immigrant to the US from Guatemala, and her children, who grew up in America in Lucy Honig's story "English as a Second Language." (Honig, 1995)

Students often ask, "which pattern should I use?" They don't realize that they may need to combine several patterns. To successfully address this assignment, students should consider the following:

1. An illustration of the cultural gaps and/or misunderstandings evident in the story.
2. A comparison of Maria's attitudes and her children's attitudes toward the Spanish language and Guatemalan culture, and towards the English language and American culture.
3. The causes for the tendency of second generation immigrants to prefer US customs and culture over their parents' customs and culture, and its effect on family relationships and roles.

Thus we see that illustration, comparison, and cause and effect all are necessary to address the question completely. Students need to learn how to combine rhetorical patterns in order to cover topics thoroughly. Patterns are tools to help them express themselves, not rules to be followed rigidly.

2. Emphasis on formulaic patterns in essays and research papers

A second problem is that, in the first-year composition courses, there tends to be an emphasis or over emphasis on the use of "formulas" when writing paragraphs and essays. By formulas we mean that students learn that every paragraph contains a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. They also learn that they should use appropriate transition words and phrases. When the essay is first introduced, students learn a "pattern" for short essays. Short essays contain an introduction paragraph, with the thesis statement most likely occurring as the last sentence of the introduction; at least three body paragraphs; and a conclusion in which the theses and main points are restated. In students' minds there is not much flexibility. Writing becomes "a matter of arrangement, of fitting sentences and paragraphs into prescribed patterns" (Silva, 1990, p. 14). The assumption is that following a formulaic pattern results in the clear, well-organized presentation of ideas.

In extended papers, however, one clear pattern doesn't necessarily emerge. For example, an introduction may often require more than one paragraph. A thesis statement may be more than one sentence, and does not always occur as the last sentence of an introductory paragraph. Entire transition paragraphs may be required to provide a lead-in to a major point in the paper. In addition, a conclusion may contain more than simply a restatement of the thesis and main points. It may offer additional information than what is provided in the body of the paper.

Students need to learn that the patterns are tools to help them in their writing, not rules to be followed rigidly.

3. Emphasis on formulaic patterns within rhetorical patterns

A third problem is that there also tends to be an emphasis on using a specific formula even within one rhetorical pattern. Take for example the following passage from Evergreen, (Fawcett & Sandberg, 1996) a composition text:

Table 2: Contrast and Comparison Example from Evergreen

. . . Move back and forth between A and B. Present one point about A and then go to the parallel point about B. Then move to the next point and do the same:

Evergreen is not the only textbook to present the rhetorical pattern of compare and contrast (discussed below) as a choice between two basic patterns: a point approach (AAA BBB) and a block approach (A1B1A2B2A3B3). (Coffey, 1987; Markline, Brown, & Isaacson, 1987; Reid & Lindstrom, 1985)

However, this type of instruction can lead to a problem which is best illustrated by an example drawn from a research topic in "The Pacific Century" course. As mentioned earlier, students must chose a topic and write a 7 to 10 page, documented research paper. One possible paper might look at China's relationships with both Hong Kong and Taiwan. Students may think this is a clear cut comparison and contrast paper. However, in an extended research paper, they will soon run into trouble if they try to use the Evergreen formulas for comparison and contrast mentioned above.

Take the pattern all A and then all B (AAA BBB), for instance. In a short essay, when writing the B section, it is possible to get by with little or no reference back to A as the reader can remember what was stated. However, in a longer paper, this may burden the reader. You may read two to three pages of section A before even encountering B. It becomes very hard to see any connection between A and B.

On the other hand, the A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3 pattern may also cause difficulty. In a short essay both A1 and B1 can be described in one paragraph. But in a lengthy paper A1 may require more than one paragraph. So once again connections are lost by the time you get to B1.

To successfully write on this topic students may have to creatively manipulate or combine the different patterns. One way students could write on this topic is by first describing one issue from both Taiwan's and Hong Kong's view and then do the comparison in a separate paragraph before moving to another issue. So the format would consist of a short description of the issue from Taiwan's viewpoint, (A1), a short description of the issue from Hong Kong's viewpoint, (B1) and then the comparison (A1 B1) in one paragraph.

4. One idea equals one paragraph

When students learn the formula of a short essay, it is often emphasized that each body paragraph has its own idea. In short, one idea equals one paragraph. Students tend to transfer this way of thinking when they begin to write extended academic papers. This often results in paragraphs which are over a page long. If there are three main points the student wants to get across, there will be three extremely long paragraphs. A new concept must be learned in extended papers that each point may contain subpoints, worthy of development into separate paragraphs.

In the American Short Stories course, one student wrote an interesting paper based on the assignment "Describe the Struggle of Native Americans to maintain their traditional values within the context of modern life. How is this evident in Leslie Marmon Silko's story: "The Man to Send Rain Clouds?" She developed the paper by addressing three main points:

1. The struggle of Native Americans to maintain their language;
2. the struggle to maintain their customs and ceremonies; and
3. the struggle to maintain their own religions.

Unfortunately, she wrote each point as one long paragraph (over one page long). In her first paragraph on the struggle to maintain language she covered the following subpoints:

a. European immigrant education of Native Americans in English;
b. The relationship between language and culture; and
c. How the relationship was evident in the story.

While each subpoint successfully addresses the issue of maintaining their language (one idea), each also has a special point of view, and thus should be given its own paragraph, or series of paragraphs.

5. No analysis; No conclusions

When students are required to use sources in the extended research paper, another problem presents itself. They tend to rely too heavily on the sources without providing any personal commentary. The result is a paper that reads more like a report and lacks any analysis of the sources or a personal point of view. Of course, the cause of this problem is understandable as in a short essay students do not have time to make a detailed analysis; such essays usually end with a restatement of the thesis or a summary of the main points.

In the Pacific Century course, students often research overpopulation in China. They do a good job summarizing the issues, such as why the one child policy came about, how rural areas attempt to side-step the policy, and how the policy has increased female infanticide. However, the conclusion they draw is often "This is a very bad problem; China should do something about it." What they do not do is provide an analysis of what this problem will mean for China in the future. There is no evaluation of alternative methods of population control. There is no suggestion of exactly what the students think "China should do about it." Students need to learn to analyze and evaluate what they have learned through their research, and then present a personal view.

This section has looked at five problems students have in making a transition to research papers. The next section will list specific activities we have begun trying in an effort to help students make the transition. These activities are by no means exhaustive, but serve as a starting point in helping students (and teachers) see how to go from short essays to extended research papers.

Making the Transition

The following activities have been developed in an attempt to help students make the transition. These activities address the five problems listed earlier which are basically conceptual in nature. Therefore the activities attempt to help students "see" differently, and to become flexible in applying first-year writing skills to second-year writing assignments. Many of the problems have aspects that overlap, so the following activities do not attempt to address the problems one by one.

One problem identified was confusion over which rhetorical pattern to choose. Students need to be shown that the question shouldn't be "Which pattern should I chose" but rather "Which pattern or patterns best present this topic." Even in the early stages of paragraph and essay writing, this problem can be addressed. A first step can be to show first-year composition students that one topic can be written about in many different ways. For example, students can be made aware that the topic "internationalization" can be written about using different rhetorical patterns such as definition, "What is an International Person?" or process, "How does a person become international?" Showing students many samples of paragraphs and essays on the same topic, but using different patterns will help create an awareness of the choices that are possible. The end goal is to enable students to choose the pattern(s) appropriate for their specific topics.

In order to address this problem with second-year students, the teacher can put a research paper topic on the board and have the students make a list of questions they would need to answer to address the topic completely. Then have the students decide what combination of rhetorical patterns might be used. Depending on the topic, students will become aware that there are elements of all, some, or none. In "American Short Stories" students were asked to address the following:

Discuss Hemingway's influence on 20th century literature. How is this influence evident in the story "Hills like White Elephants?"

Students then came up with the following:

Questions	Rhetorical Patterns
In what specific ways did Hemingway influence 20th century literature?	Illustration
What is Hemingway's method of characterization , and how does it appear in this story?	Definition, Illustration
How are Jig and her boyfriend different?	Compare and Contrast, Illustration
What changes does Jig go through over the course of the story?	Process
How was Hemingway's style different from other writers of his time, and how does this style appear in the story?	Compare and Contrast, Illustration

Another problem concerned paragraphs that were too long. In "The Pacific Century" we did the following activity. Students were provided with examples of faulty paragraphing (i.e. over one page long ) and asked to work in groups to divide the paragraphs into smaller, logical units, adding transitions as appropriate. Then the whole class looked at each groups' work and discussed why certain choices were made. It is likely that paragraphs can be divided differently; when they are and the groups can justify their decisions to the entire class, everyone begins to see that there is not just one way to do this. By repeating this type of activity periodically through the semester, students begin to be able to discern between broad topics and subpoints worthy of individual paragraphs.

Another way to address the paragraphing problem is through outlining. This paper cannot begin to address how to teach outlining, but when students work on longer, more detailed outlines, they can see how one broad idea can be broken down into subpoints or paragraphs. This is not unlike the example mentioned earlier from "The Man to Send Rain Clouds" in the American Short Stories class.

A very challenging problem to deal with is the lack of commentary or point of view on the part of students. How this problem can best be addressed varies depending on the nature of the class. In the American Short Stories class, it was effective to assign specific detailed research questions such as the examples mentioned earlier for the story "English as a Second Language." To successfully address detailed questions, students must go beyond just quoting sources and include an analysis and commentary.

In the Pacific Century course the teacher had students brainstorm on the topic "Okinawa and the Security Force Agreement." This topic was chosen because in the past many students only echoed the view that the U.S. should just leave Okinawa. This time, instead of just saying that the situation in Okinawa is bad and that the U.S. should leave, students were encouraged to list what questions they would need to ask to discuss the topic objectively. They were told not to worry about the answers--just generate a lot of questions. Students then proceeded (with some guiding from the teacher) to generate a list of questions, some of which are listed here:

• Do military bases all over the world have higher crime rates?
• How are bases in Germany dealt with (since Germany also lost World War II)?
• In what other situations does the government ignore the wishes of citizens?
• Why does the U.S. want the bases?
• Are there threats to Japan which make a US military presence necessary?
• From which countries? North Korea? China?

Asking these questions served as a starting point by which to shift the students' thinking from a mere "reporting" of facts to a consideration and analysis of many issues.

Some of the above activities may seem quite simple in nature and perhaps they are. What is important in the design of transition activities is to come up with assignments that make the students see the choices they must make, actually have them make some choices, and, finally, have them justify their choices.

Conclusion

Other academic writing issues such as documenting sources, paraphrasing, summarizing, quotations, or revisions are beyond the scope of this paper. What this paper has attempted to do is list some of the problems associated with making the transition from writing essays to longer research papers and offer some activities the authors have found helpful in addressing the problems. The paper has framed the problems as being basically conceptual in nature, and has suggested that activities that cause students to make and defend choices are helpful in teaching students how to make the transition from short essays to extended research papers.

References

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