Problems in organizing the information in a given genre

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre Fellermaier, Mara Jos Instituto Privado Carlos Linneo

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre

Abstract This research topic involves the problems in organizing the information in a given genre. Research was conducted in a preparatory class in a tertiary institute, with 15 students of an average age of 17 years old. The data recollection device was an anonymous survey with structured questions with multiple choice answers by the same students. The aim was to identify why students have problems in the skill mentioned and why it is so difficult for them to organize the information in a piece of writing.

Keywords: organization, problems, information, genre.

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre

Introduction In order to communicate effectively, we need to order our words and ideas on the page in ways that make sense to a reader. We name this requirement in various ways: grammar, logic, or flow. While we would all agree that organization is important, the process of lining up ideas is far from simple and is not always recognized as writing. We assume that if a person has ideas, putting them on the page is a simple matter of recording them, when in fact the process is usually more complicated. As weve all experienced, our ideas do not necessarily arise in a linear form. We may have a scattering of related ideas, a hunch that something feels true, or some other sense that an idea is right before we have worked out the details. It is often through the act of writing that we begin to create the logical relationships that develop the idea into something that someone else may receive and perhaps find interesting. The process of putting ideas into words and arranging them for a reader helps us to see, create, and explore new connections. So not only does a writer need to have ideas, but the writer also has to put them in linear form, to write them for a reader, in order for those ideas to be meaningful. As a result, when we are writing, we often try to immediately fit our choices into linear structures Working on a recent observation of students of an average of 17 years old and paying attention to the most significant problems they have, I could realized that students have problems in organizing the information in a given genre. The most relevant factor is that they do not read a considerable number of samples of that genre.

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre

Writing Writing is not language. Language is a complex system residing in our brain which allows us to produce and interpret utterances. Writing involves making an utterance visible. Our cultural tradition does not make this distinction clearly. (Henry Rogers, Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach. Blackwell, 2005)

Although how writing fosters critical thinking is not clear (Applebee), theoreticians and practitioners alike agree that writing promotes both critical thinking and learning. As Toby Fulwiler and Art Young explain in their "Introduction" to Language Connections: Writing and Reading across the Curriculum:

Writing to communicate means writing to accomplish something, to inform, instruct, or persuade. Writing to learn is different. We write to ourselves as well as talk with others to objectify our perceptions of reality; the primary function of this "expressive" language is not to communicate, but to order and represent experience to our own understanding. In this sense language provides us with a unique way of knowing and becomes a tool for discovering, for shaping meaning, and for reaching understanding.

In "Writing to Learn Means Learning to think," Syrene Forsman makes the same point, but she directs her attention not to a theoretical justification but a practical rationale for writing to learn:

As teachers we can choose between sentencing students to thoughtless mechanical operations and facilitating their ability to think. If students' readiness for more involved thought processes is bypassed in favor of jamming more facts and figures into their heads, they will stagnate at the lower levels of thinking. But if students are encouraged to try a variety of thought processes in classes, they can,

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre regardless of their ages, develop considerable mental power. Writing is one of the most effective ways to develop thinking.

Some contemporary psychologies such as Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner did research into this skill, and they concluded that in the analysis or in the synthesis of any text, writing plays a heuristic role; that is to say, it is based on discovering and experiencing things ourselves. There are a great number of approaches that teachers could follow in the classroom. First, it is important to determine whether they are going to focus on the process or the product. Many authors convey that the best idea is to pay more attention to the end product. Opposing to that, some educators advocate a process approach to writing, where the procedure of putting together all the pieces of the writing is considered. In this case, there is a highlight of all the stages that have a piece of writing, where re-writingre-vision seeing with new eyes has a central role to play in the act of creating text (Ron White and Valerie Arndt; 1991).

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre Considering this view, we have to pay attention that it could take a lot of time doing all these stages: time to collect ideas, time to make maps, time to draft a piece of writing, time to revise it with the teachers help, and so on. Apart from that, they involve discussions, more researchers, new ideas, etc. Genre A form of writing related to a purpose. According to Mark Applegate, Genre represents the norms of different kind of writing.

Since written communication was created at least 6000 years ago, writing has changed greatly from primitive pictographic word-pictures on clay and wood to the plethora of types of writing we now enjoy. Writing today comes in dozens of types and styles depending on what the purpose of the writer is, not to mention coming in hundreds of languages. One way to examine writing is to break writing into specific types, or genres. There are five broad genres that most subcategories of writing can be placed into, although much of writing can spill into more than one. Writing to Explain

One of the most practical types of writing is writing to explain things. This explanatory form is commonly employed in school in the form of standard five-paragraph essay, research papers and comparisons. Also in this category is expository writing such as biographies, "how-to" pieces and character sketches. The purpose of this genre is to explain and examine a person, place, thing or idea in a way that gives the reader a more thorough understanding of the topic. Writing to Communicate

Writing to communicate is an early writing style that has undergone changes in the so-called Information Age. This sometimes less formal method of writing includes letter writing, email, text messaging, personal and professional journals, blogging and business or personal written

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre communication. This writing genre tends to focus on the individual personality and intent of the writer more than merely explaining something and is more personal than other. It is also more likely to be written in first person than other genres. Writing to Tell a Story

Another early yet still important writing genre is the story. Since the days of primitive communication such as cave paintings and hieroglyphics, humans have attempted to document what has happened in their lives. These stories may or may not be true as they are told from the writer's prospective. Narrative or story-telling writing catalogs events for current and future readers to explain the events from a specific prospective. Examples of this genre are short stories and narrative works as well as autobiographies and histories. Writing to Persuade

Sometimes writing has a more pointed purpose. Writing to persuade involves offering not only facts but a slant that directs the reader to make a commitment or decision. While spanning many diverse subgenres, this writing always attempts to lead the reader to do what the writer requests. Examples of this genre include promotional and political advertisements, merchandise or other reviews, propaganda and letters in the editorial section of a newspaper. Writing as Art

Sometimes writing is performed simply to express emotion, display feelings or merely for fun. Writing as art encompasses many topics and may or may not have a deep meaning or purpose. The value, appreciation and translation of this work can vary greatly by who reads it. Poetry is the classic example of this genre, although fiction, nonsense writing and text-message emoticons can also fall into this category. This category can spill into the other genres but will typically look much different in the process. 7

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre Organizing the writing Making sense out of the observations about a text is a difficult task. Even once you have figured out what it is want to say, the writer is left with the problem of how to say it. With which idea should it begin?. Writing papers in college requires to come up with sophisticated, complex, and even creative ways of structuring the ideas. Accordingly, there are no simple formulae that can be offered that will work for every paper, every time. A paragraph is generally understood as a single "unit" of a paper. What the reader expects when he enters a new paragraph is that he is going to hear a declaration of a point and then offer support for that point. If the writer violate this expectation - if the paragraphs wander aimlessly among a half dozen points, or if they declare points without offering any evidence to support them - then the reader becomes confused or irritated by your argument. He won't want to read any further. Equally important to the idea of a paragraph's development is the matter of the paragraph's arrangement. Paragraphs are arranged differently for different purposes. For example, if you are writing a history paper and wish to summarize a sequence of events, you of course will arrange your information chronologically.

Paragraph coherence Coherence in a paragraph is the technique of making words, phrases, and sentences move smoothly and logically from one to the other. In other words, the ideas are so interwoven and "glued" together that the reader will be able to see the consistent relationship between them. 8

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre It is obvious that if a paragraph is not unified, does not have a logical order, and does not have a consistent point of view, the reader is unlikely to grasp the point of the paragraph. In addition, there are other devices and techniques that will help you achieve coherence. In general, the coherence devices most helpful for making your communication clear for the reader are transitional words and phrases, repetition of key words and phrases, pronoun reference, and parallel sentence structure. One of the most common methods of establishing coherence in a paragraph is the use of transitional words and phrases. These devices indicate to the reader the specific relationship between what was said and what will be said.

Within a sentence, the coordinate conjunctions provide a coherent link to indicate relationships between parallel elements. The word and indicates a comparable idea; but and yet indicate a contrasting idea; or and nor indicate an alternative idea; for indicates a reason for a result already stated; and so indicates a conclusion from reasons already stated.

Also within a sentence, correlative conjunctions are used to establish relationships between parallel elements. The conjunctions either/or, neither/nor, and whether/or (not) are used to indicate parallel alternatives. The conjunctions not only/but (also) and both/and indicate parallel similarities.

The cohesive devises make a connection between sentences and phrases through the use of references (anaphoric, cataphoric, endophoric and exophoric), conjunctions (but, also, however), repetition, parallelism, synonyms, etc. According to Halliday and Hasan, while you deal with coherence you should take into account the writing quality and it depends mostly on factors outside the text: exophoric, or outside-texts, references. It is necessary to cope with those factors, which may include the writers purpose and the 9

Problems in organizing the information in a given genre context, during the class development. The audience previous knowledge and their preferences are also important; everything is connected and will interfere in the childrens learning. On the other hand, there are some Linguistics such as Joseph Grimes that limit coherence as an explicit mechanism in the text, arguing that students only need to deal with vocabulary and grammar for producing a piece of writing. Final words It would be grateful take into account some of the given tips and concentrate in the organization of the information in a given genre. It is a very good idea to considerate the use of grammar, vocabulary, cohesion and the structure. Every piece of writing should be contextualized in a significant context.

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Problems in organizing the information in a given genre

Data Recollection Device The data collection device will be made in a class of 15 students. (Preparatory class). Interview: Students will be given a semi-structured set of questions with choices to find out their opinion as regards their problems / difficulties in writing. It will be made anonymously. Questionnaire: 1) Do you like reading? Yes____ no_____ sometimes_______ 2) Which types of texts do you read most? Magazines articles______ Newspaper articles_______ Novels ______ Short stories_____ others________ 3) Which of the following type texts is the hardest to write for you? Magazines articles______ Newspaper articles_______ Novels ______ Short stories_____ others________ 4) Which part of writing a text is the more difficult one for you? (Choose 3 options) Finding the suitable words _____ Conjugation verbs correctly______ Imagining and creating a story ______ The organization of information______ The structure of the text type__________

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Problems in organizing the information in a given genre

Results of interviews

1) Do you like reading?

2)Which types of texts do you read most ?

Magazine articles

27%

40%

Yes No Sometimes

33% 47%

Newspaper articles Novels Short stories 13% Others

33%

0%

7%

3)Which of the following types texts is the hardest to write for you ?
Magazine Articles Newspaper Articles Novels 53% Short stories Others

4) Which part of writing a text is the more difficult one for you?
Find suitable word 9% 15% conjugate verbs Imagination 27% 20% Organization of information the structure of text type

0% 7% 7% 33%

29%

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Problems in organizing the information in a given genre

In the analysis of the results of the interview, in the first question Do you like reading? we can see that the major percentage was for the yes answer rather than for the no and sometimes. So we can say that students like reading. In the second question Which types of texts do you read most?, the result is very clear, magazine

articles is the biggest percentage. In this case we can see that magazines are the most common type of text read by these students. In the third question, Which of the following type texts is the hardest to write for you? , we can
identify that the hardest type of text to write is the novel. Students have many difficulties when they have to read this type of genre. In the last question, Which part of writing a text is the more difficult one for you?, the most notable was the organization of information in a given genre. Followed by the conjugation of verbs. So, we can say that the most difficult part in writing a text is the organization of information.

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Problems in organizing the information in a given genre

Reference

A Fuller Definition of Writing to Learn

http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop4a.cfm

Genres of research writing

http://mason.gmu.edu/~cwallac7/TAP/TEST/writing/3.html

Cooperative Learning Techniques

http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/cooperative/techniques.html How to Structure & Organize Your Paper http://depts.washington.edu/owrc/Handouts/How%20to%20Structure%20and%20Organize%20 Your%20Paper.pdf A discourse analysis. Halliday and Hasan; 1976

The Writing Center http://writingcenter.unc.edu/faculty-resources/tips-on-teaching-writing/what-is-goodwriting/

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