The Reading-Writing Relationship in a Multiple-case Study at Universidad Nacional de Villa María: A Transverse Nature

Abstract

This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of how reading and writing are intertwined in reading-to-write tasks, a requirement in most L2 academic contexts. Even though writing from sources is part of students’ academic lives, they tend to have difficulties in source-based writing assignments. The purpose of this research study is to explore the relationship between reading and writing in the process of summary-analysis writing of English Language IV students at the Teacher Training College at the National University of Villa María, Córdoba, Argentina. To that aim, a mixed research design was adopted and data were collected by means of participants’ reading comprehension tests, summary-analysis essays, a survey, written reports, and interviews. Findings reveal that the participants’ perceptions and behaviour are correlated and that reading is put to extensive uses when students carry out writing assignments viz., to develop ideas, to include sound arguments, and to proofread. Results also indicate that the evidence for the correlation between the students’ perceptions and their writing performance is insufficient. Similarly, this study does not confirm the impact that reading comprehension may have on learners’ written performance as other research studies have shown. Writing from sources proved to be challenging for these EFL undergraduates at an advanced level of language proficiency, especially as to how to establish connections between different source texts. Other problems that summary-analysis essays posed arose from the selection, organisation and flow of ideas, rhetorical control, summarisation, proofreading, and language use. The joint undertaking by reading and writing is necessary if L2 students are to acquire academic literacy.