Chapter 4. Case Study and Ethnography

The other day, I read an article written by Ruth Spack, an expert of L2 writing development informed mostly by sociocultural theory. A case in focus was one Japanese student who struggled with her academic reading and writing as she transitioned to the U.S. academic context. The researcher followed her for three years, with specific focus on what resources that she draws on from her surroundings to assist with her writing. What fascinated me most about this type of research was that not only the final written product was considered as evidence for writing development, but the process was described in great detail. For instance, classroom interactions with the professor and classmates, writing center experiences, etc., provided insights into how the participant organized her ideas and thoughts in preparation for the actual writing. Most product-oriented research, as is the case in L2 writing assessment, tends to be predominantly fixated on describing the current developmental status of the L2 learner, missing out on the developmental trajectory that he or she has proceeded over time. I thought case study and ethnography, with their strength on thick description and participation, have the potential to complement postpositivism-oriented L2 writing assessment.

My interest in this line of research lies in the development of English L2 writing proficiency of professionals who are required to write English on a regular basis, such as employees at multinational corporates or Korean journalists working for English-mediated newspapers in Korea (e.g. Korea Herald), over a prolonged period of time. I believe that this research has a lot to reveal about L2 writing development in general, as the potential participants are outside the educational contexts. Considering that they will have to be more proactive and aggressive in pursuing the support they need in order to get their high-stakes business complete, different aspects of cooperation are expected to arise from what we have observed of educational settings.