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In this paper, we explore how participation and participatory writing can be enhanced through Appraisal theory and reader awareness. Democratic participation by the means of writing is a crucial and powerful tool. Through an intensive writing intervention, we explore the effects of scaffolding on two key aspects of participatory writing, expressing interpersonal meaning (one’s own thoughts) and awareness of readers (by argumentation and interaction in rhetorical structures) and how this can enhance participatory writing. We focus on middle-school pupils and thusly address a critical developmental stage where foundational writing skills can be significantly enhanced. Results show that the intervention based on scaffolding techniques had an impact on some aspects of the pupils’ writing. For example, some pupils responded more to counter arguments, thereby including more discussion in their texts. Also, even though the intervention did not include the rhetorical structure of a letter, pupils did include more leave-taking after the intervention. Further, the intervention had an impact on pupils’ attitude and graduation; they used more of both after the writing intervention than before.

Previous research has highlighted the limitations encountered in representing the dynamism of language use and contacts. Here, linguistic landscapes from five towns in Northern Sweden are the point of departure for investigating novel perspectives through the geovisualization of multilingualism, with the ultimate aim of understanding how languages in our surroundings help construct public spaces. As an outcome, a web GIS application, based on 6865 thematically analyzed photographs, was developed as an interactive resource for visualizing and sharing the data and enabling new modes of analysis and new research questions. The article describes the data collection and curation processes, app development using GIS software and software-as-a-service, the eventual app design and interaction, and the update and maintenance plans, as well as discussing challenges and considerations related to temporalities, spatialities, and technicalities. The web GIS has potential applications in spatial analysis, research communication, and education.

In democratic societies, exchange of written opinion is fundamental, but since the 1990s, public debate has gradually moved away from print media platforms to digital media platforms. In order to understand how a shift from print to digital media in opinion-oriented writing may have consequences for interaction and participation, it is relevant to investigate interpersonal aspects of opinion-oriented texts situated in digital and print media. The aim of the study is to explore and compare writers’ attitudes and the construction of the writer-reader-relationship in digital media (represented by Twitter) and (traditionally) print media (represented by letters to the editor, LEs). Bakhtinian dialogism and appraisal theory form the theoretical backdrop of the study. Results show that in the LEs, writers tend to take a negative general value position, but in the tweets, the writers’ attitude is more often either positive or negative, making Twitter a more diverse platform. Furthermore, attitudinal meaning is more transparent in the LEs, indicating that tweets are more often specialized, and readers who are not familiar with the context and interactional style of specific writers may be excluded from the communication. Another result is that a shift from print to digital media platforms seems to turn the focus of discussion more towards attitudes and perspectives in general, and less towards writers’ own attitudes. Therefore, digital media opinion exchange can be understood as a meta-discussion of attitudes, while print media rather transmit writers’ personal attitudes.

I demokratiska samhällen har åsiktsutbyte i skriftlig debatt en grundläggande funktion, men sedan 1990-talet har den offentliga debatten gradvis rört sig från tryckta medieplattformar till digitala medieplattformar. För att förstå hur detta skifte i opinionsorienterat skrivande kan få konsekvenser för interaktion och delaktighet, är det relevant att undersöka interpersonella aspekter av opinionsorienterade texter i digitala och tryckta medier. Syftet med studien är att utforska och jämföra författares attityder och konstruktion av relationen mellan skribent och läsare i digitala medier (representerade av Twitter) och (traditionellt) tryckta medier (representerade av dagstidningars insändarbrev). Dialogism i Bakhtins tradition och appraisal-teori utgör den teoretiska bakgrunden för studien. Resultaten visar att skribenter tenderar att inta en allmänt negativ attityd i insändarbrev, men i tweets är skribenters attityd mer heterogen, vilket gör Twitter till en mer skiftande och diversifierad mediaplattform. Dessutom uttrycks attityder i insändarbrev nästan uteslutande explicit, medan attityder i tweets oftare uttrycks implicit eller indirekt, vilket gör att läsare som inte är bekanta med sammanhanget och interaktionsstilen hos specifika skribenter riskerar bli utestängda från kommunikationssituationen. Ett annat resultat är att en övergång från tryckta till digitala mediaplattformar tycks flytta diskussionsfokus bort från skribenters egna attityder, till förmån för andras attityder och allmänna perspektiv. Därför kan digitala mediers åsiktsutbyte förstås som en metadiskussion av attityder, medan tryckta medier snarare förmedlar författares personliga attityder.

This study explored writing processes in two languages (L1-Swedish and L2-English) and in two text types (argumentative and narrative) of 158 upper-secondary students by analysing keystroke logging data. The main aim of this study was to identify effective writing processes of argumentative and narrative tasks in L1 and L2. First, results of the mixed effects model analysis showed that students' typical writing processes displayed differences in timing, higher and lower order pauses, production speed, and revision depending on the language in which they wrote and the type of text they wrote. Secondly, using regression model analyses we explored which writing process patterns were positively related to text quality. By combining a reduced set of process measures, we identified effective writing process patterns. These patterns explained a rather substantial part of the variance in text quality, more precisely, between 56.1 % and 69.3 %. This study contributes to the current field of writing process studies by expanding our knowledge of typical and effective writing processes in argumentative and narrative writing in upper-secondary students' L1 and L2. These insights can be used to further shape writing education to support students’ writing across languages and text types.

Conventional teacher education is often seen as predominantly theoretical, raising a challenge in effectively blending theoretical knowledge with practical application (Darling-Hammond, 2014). To equip student teachers with the skills to teach writing effectively, teacher education programs must help them grasp the essence of writing as a phenomenon and understand the practical realities of teaching writing (Bomer et al., 2019; Winzell, 2018).

This presentation outlines an ongoing project titled “Skrivdidaktik i lärarutbildning och skola i Finland och Sverige” (2022–2024), a collaborative research endeavor between the Teacher Education departments at Åbo Akademi University in Finland and Umeå University in Sweden. Within this project, we conduct lectures and interactive reflective seminars on writing didactic theory (Ivanic, 2004, 2017), utilizing a reflective observation model (Sturk, 2022). This model involves linking various supportive elements in the course structure with teacher candidates' observations of writing instruction in school settings. We employ a framework that encompasses various discourses of writing and learning to write. Ivanič (2004) presents a holistic view of writing across layers: text, cognition, events, and social contexts, identifying seven key discourses: skills, creativity, thinking and learning, process, genre, social practices, and sociopolitical factors. A total of 135 student teachers participated in the project, with data collection comprising 234 questionnaires, 237 observed lessons spanning school years 1–6, 47 student teachers’ exams, 2 focus group interviews, and 3 researchers’ notes.

The overarching goal of the project is to investigate how student teachers integrate theoretical concepts of writing and teaching writing into practical contexts, examining the process of recontextualizing a framework for writing and teaching writing within the context of teacher education. To achieve this, three primary research questions are posed:

·       How do student teachers translate theory into practice?

·       How do student teachers apply writing theory in practical settings?

·       What characterizes the interaction between researchers and student teachers during seminars on teaching writing theory and practice?

Various methods have been employed to analyze the data, including deductive discourse analysis for identifying writing discourses, thematic content analysis to explore student teachers' reflections (Braun & Clarke, 2006), and a post-humanistic approach to investigate interactions during seminar discussions between students and researchers.

Preliminary findings suggest both opportunities and challenges in translating theoretical insights on writing into practical teaching strategies, particularly concerning the dimensions of writing as text, cognition, and social practice. The seminars appear instrumental in fostering a deeper understanding of the intricacies involved in teaching writing.

 Bomer, R., Land, C. L., Rubin, J. C., & Van Dike, L. M. (2019). Constructs of Teaching Writing in Research About Literacy Teacher Education. Journal of Literacy Research, 51(2), 196–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X19833783

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. 

Darling-Hammond, L. (2014). Strengthening Clinical Preparation: The Holy Grail of Teacher Education. Peabody journal of education, 89(4), 547-561. 

Ivanic, R. (2004). Discourses of writing and learning to write. Language and Education, 18(3), 220-245.

Ivanic, R. (2017). Round table on discourses of writing, and writer identity. Paper presented at the LITUM symposium, 4-5 June, Umea, Sweden.

Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. Routledge.

Sturk, E. (2022). Writing across the curriculum in compulsory school in Sweden [Doktorsavhandling, Umeå universitet]. 

Winzell, H. (2018). Lära för skrivundervisning : en studie om skrivdidaktisk kunskap i ämneslärarutbildningen och läraryrket. Diss. Linköping.