1.1 Background
Writing is a key competence in the English subject in Norwegian education. Writing can both be a way for students to practice language skills, or a way to express themselves. Learning to write in English also prepares students for participation in a global society where much is based on writing. However, in teaching and learning contexts, writing can mean different things. A central distinction often made is between writing to learn and learning to write (Lund & Villanueva, 2018). While the former can involve both writing to learn
language and writing to learn content (Manchón, 2011), the latter emphasizes learning writing as a skill in itself.
In the upcoming revised curriculum (LK20) that will take effect from August 2020, a main emphasis is put on communication. It is designated as one of the core elements of
English, meant to be learned both in written and oral form, using different media, and exploring the language. The new curriculum emphasizes that communication
entails conveying meaning in a way that is appropriate to the situation, and that students should learn in authentic situations (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2019). Consequently, students must learn how to communicate clearly and appropriately in writing. Writing in the new curriculum is about planning, constructing, and revising texts that communicate, and to adapt the language according to purpose, audience, and situation and choosing suitable writing strategies (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2019, p.4). After grade 10, students are expected to know how to write well-structured, coherent texts of different lengths for both formal and informal purposes (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2019). With LK20, there is clearly an emphasis given to developing writing as a skill – or learning to write.
To some extent, the distinction between writing to learn and learning to write is an artificial one. In actual writing situations, the different dimensions could well be worked with
simultaneously, since L2 writing entails an “interaction of purposes” (Manchon, 2011, p.4). Nevertheless, there appears to be a tendency among teachers to focus on one purpose at the time. Blikstad-Balas, Roe, and Klette (2018) found that either students were writing with an explicit purpose of demonstrating content knowledge, or they were writing
specifically to improve their writing skill. The distinction is therefore important from an analytical viewpoint, since it makes the different purposes of writing visible and allows an explicit focus on what it means to learn to write in a second language.
With the exception of teacher education, where Lund (2014) found that very little emphasis is given to learning to write for different EFL purposes, learning to write seems to be generally attended to in all levels of education. Horverak (2016) found that teachers in upper secondary school focus on teaching students how to write argumentative texts, or 5-paragraph
essays. The practices of the teachers she studied were in line with a genre pedagogy approach, as most of them reported outlining the stages of essays and focused on using appropriate formality of language. Blikstad-Balas, Roe and Klette (2018), visited 48 classrooms in
Norwegian lower secondary schools for four consecutive lessons, and found that in more than half of the classrooms, students were given sustained writing opportunities during this period.
Similar to what Horverak found, these were often process oriented and genre specific, and teachers focusing on how to adapt writing to different audiences or genres.
Exams seem to play an important role in how writing in English is taught.
In Horverak’s study, the explicit focus on practicing writing argumentative texts was stated as due to preparation for exams (Horverak, 2016). As confirmed
by Ørevik (2018), expository and argumentative genres are the most prevalent production tasks in current English subject exams. After the introduction of LK06, narrative genres almost vanished from exams, constituting less than 10% of exam tasks, while expository genres constitute over 45 percent (Ørevik, 2018).
English textbooks are one of the main influences for how English classes in Norway are structured and seem to focus on technical aspects of learning to write. Textbooks are very important for teachers, especially in primary school, whether they use them directly or expand upon the tasks that are outlined there (Gilje, 2016, p.48-51). English textbooks reflect
the publishers’ views of the curriculum. In Gyldendal’s Explore 7, for example, there are regular diagrams to help with structuring a text. Beside every text are new words for the students to expand their vocabulary and the tasks range from listing words you know, and writing sentences using a specific grammatical structure as practice, to writing full texts such as biographies or stories (Edwards, 2017, p. 1-90). In Gyldendal’s Enter 9, the same lists of words appear beside the texts, but no diagrams for text structure. Writing tasks are related to
the text the students have just read and can be either to write a very similar text, or to write a text based on the topic they just read about. In addition, there are several tasks where the students get to practice writing skills, like grammar, vocabulary, and spelling (Diskin
& Winsvild, 2016). These might also be contributing to how teachers focus on text structure and writing skills.
While some research attention has been directed toward how writing is practiced, less focus has been on the motivational side of this question. It seems that when teachers focus
on students learning to write, they focus on genre specific skills, as well as adapting writing to different audiences and contexts. They also seem to direct their teaching toward preparing students for exams by teaching them genres which are most prevalent in exam
tasks (Horverak, 2016). We know less about whether teachers have room for
efforts toward promoting motivation and passion for writing as an activity. As this being a specified goal for all aspects of the Norwegian educational system, it is something which should be investigated.
Motivation is elevated as a goal in and of itself in government documents about education.
Motivation is mentioned as a factor in personal development, completing education, and better learning (NOU 2015: 8, p. 21-22, 74, 98). LK20 also mentions
that education should further students’ motivation, attitudes and learning strategies, and lay a foundation for learning throughout their lives (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2017, p.11).
There has been little research on how motivation is used for learning to write in Norwegian schools, especially on a micro level. Teachers are the connection points between theoretical perspectives and classroom practices, and it is therefore important to investigate their views. Focus on the individual that operates within a larger context is valuable as it shows how individuals are affected by larger-scale factors, which again has an impact on how these individuals work together at a macro level.
1.2 Research questions
The research questions for this thesis are:
1: How do Norwegian teachers of English view motivation as a factor for learning to write in English?
2: How do these views affect their practice?
In order to examine these research questions, I interviewed three teachers situated in different levels of Norwegian education. When referring to teachers’ views I was interested in what the teachers believe motivation is, how they believe it affects students in writing, how much they value it, and how they perceive their own efforts in promoting it.
1.3 Outline
After this introductory chapter, Chapter 2 provides the thematic and theoretical background for this study. Chapter 3 accounts for the methodological considerations, describes
the procedures for collecting and analyzing the interview data, and discusses research quality and ethical considerations. Chapter 4 presents and discusses findings in the form of excerpts and statements from the teacher interviews and discusses these in light of relevant theory on writing and on motivation. A conclusion and suggestions for further research is presented in the final Chapter 5.