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The role of the outline in second language composition.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Few language teachers would deny the recent surge in, and the benefits of, process- (as opposed to product-) oriented writing instruction. An essential ingredient in process-oriented writing instruction is the pre-writing activity. This study investigates the role of the outline as a pre-writing activity for second language compositions. Results suggest that the static a priori nature of the typical outline may stand in opposition to the fluid essence of the composing process.

Introduction

According to Nancy Lay (1990), language teachers "should not be satisfied only with what students write, the finished product, but how they arrive at it; in other words, the process" (p. 406). To this end, process-oriented writing instruction has become the philosophical aim of many first- (L1) and second- (L2) language classrooms (Barnett, 1989; Flower and Hayes, 1981). At least in theory, the L2 teaching profession now accepts composition as being less of a linear, "tidy, accretive affair" (Emig p. 22), and more of a recursive process (Omaggio Hadley, 1993; Matsuda, 1997). Practice, on the other hand, does not appear to be as tolerant of this shifting vision of composition. An essential yet diverse ingredient in process-oriented writing instruction is the pre-writing activity. Whereas the L2 classroom certainly embraces the notion of pre-writing or idea-generation phases, it is the unremitting role of the outline as one of the most traditional and pervasive of all L2 pre-writing tools that is object of the following pages.

Process-Writing

Prior to the process bandwagon, L1 and L2 composition instruction was unquestionably linear in nature. Students were encouraged to compose a detailed outline, a first draft, and a revised final draft for each writing assignment (Emig, 1971; Omaggio Hadley, 1993). L1 research by Flower and Hayes (1981) involving think-aloud protocols provided a critical impetus for a shift from a linear to a recursive theoretical vision of the composing act. By observing writers in action, as opposed to analyzing the static final product, many L1 researchers concluded that there was a need for:

1) a greater focus on the strategies involved in "real-time" writing;

2) a consideration of the mental processes involved in composing; and

3) a vision of writing as complex and recursive.

In 1989 Marva Barnett served as an important conduit in the transfer of process-oriented ideas from the realm of L1 and ESL to that of the L2. Indeed, Barnett encouraged L2 teachers to become "writing" teachers as well as "language" teachers (p. 31) by considering the mental processes involved in composition. Clearly, the composing process is cognitively complex as writers must move their thoughts through the information stored in long-term memory to writing...

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