Exploring learning transfer in
L2 writing education
Mark Andrew James
Arizona State University
Mark.A.James@asu.edu
http://www.public.asu.edu/~mjames6/index.html
What is learning transfer?
Learning transfer occurs “when learning in one
context or with one set of materials impacts on
performance in another context or with another
set of materials” (Perkins & Salomon, 1994,
p.6452). For example ...
... knowing how to ride a bicycle  learning how to ride
a motorcycle;
... learning math in school  shopping outside school.
... a topic of widespread interest
• Psychology: Learning transfer has been actively studied
for over a century in psychology (Haskell, 2001).
• Education: “When students cannot perform tasks only
slightly different from those learned in class, or when they
fail to appropriately apply their classroom learning in
settings outside of school, then education is deemed to
have failed” (Marini & Genereux, 1995, p.1).
• Human resources development (HRD): U.S. corporations
spent $58.5 billion on workplace training in 2007
(Training, 2007), with the obvious expectation that the
results of this training would transfer to the workplace.
Learning transfer is a fundamental
goal of L2 writing education
• “[O]ne of the most important aspects of an EAP
reading/writing class (or any ESL/EFL class) is the
development of transfer of learning” (Johns, 1993,
p.283) (emphasis mine).
• “The goals of most English for academic purposes
(EAP) writing classes are transcendent. That is, the
usual purpose is to enable students to write better not
for EAP writing classes but for academic purposes”
(Leki & Carson, 1997, p.39) (emphasis mine).
How “far” learning transfers is important to
discussions of writing and L2 writing pedagogy
Far transfer ...
Near transfer ...
-- Cognitive perspectives on
writing (e.g., Flower & Hayes,
1981);
-- Process-oriented approaches to
writing instruction (Zamel, 1976);
-- General writing skills instruction
(GWSI) (Petraglia, 1995);
-- English-for-general-academicpurposes (EGAP) instruction
(Jordan, 1997);
-- Language-for-specific-purposes
“education” (Widdowson, 1984).
-- Sociocultural perspectives on
writing (e.g., Russell, 1995);
-- Genre-oriented approaches to
writing instruction (e.g., Swales,
1990);
-- Writing-in-the-disciplines (WID)
programs (Bazerman et al., 2005);
-- English-for-specific-academicpurposes (ESAP) instruction
(Jordan, 1997);
-- Language-for-specific-purposes
“training” (Widdowson, 1984).
There is a need to understand how
learning transfers in L2 writing education
“Positive findings of transfer, near and far, suggest that
whether transfer occurs is too bald a question. It can, but
often does not. One needs to ask under what conditions
transfer appears” (Perkins & Salomon, 1994, p.6455)
(emphasis mine).
There is a need to understand how
learning transfers in L2 writing education
The most important question about the validity of genrebased instructional approaches is "whether, to what
extent, and under what conditions skills acquired within
one genre are transferable to another" (Swales, 1990,
p.233) (emphasis mine); this is "a highly significant
investigative issue" (p.234).
“[I]t is assumed that students will transfer skills from the
[EAP class] to the content class examination, and then
ultimately to their other content classes. But we do not
know what conditions must exist for this positive transfer
to take place.” (Snow, 1993, p.45) (emphasis mine).
What do we know about learning
transfer in L2 writing education?
Learning transfer can occur, but it is not inevitable
(e.g., Leki & Carson, 1994; Leki, 1995; James,
2006).
• “There is no guarantee that skills and strategies
learned in an ESL program actually will be applied in
new situations” (Spack, 1997, p.50);
• “[T]ransfer from one domain to another is, at the very
least, difficult for learners” (Tardy, 2006, p.92).
Learner
Learning task
Learning context
Transfer task
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations
(from James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux, 1995)
Learner
Learning task
Learning context
Transfer task
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations
(from James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux, 1995)
Learner
Learning task
Learning context
Transfer task
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations
(from James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux, 1995)
Transfer context/task
In studies of ESL students' interactions with
instructors and classmates, ESL students have
described:
• a “wall” between themselves and native English-speaking (NES)
classmates due to different background knowledge and values
(Harklau, 1994);
• NES classmates’ lack of interest in ideas put forth by ESL
students during collaborative group work (Cheng & Fox, 2008;
Leki, 2001);
• relatively little effort by NES classmates to complete assignments
(Leki, 2003);
• instructors’ desire to deceive students, refusal to provide
information to students, or lack of understanding of students’
questions (Leki, 2006).
Transfer context/task
Transfer climate is the support for learning
transfer that an individual perceives in the target
context of instruction (Burke & Baldwin, 1999).
... for example, in EAP writing instruction, transfer
climate involves students’ perceptions of support for
learning transfer from instructors and classmates, and
perceptions of outcomes (e.g., grades, work efficiency)
of learning transfer.
Transfer context/task
Researcher: How do you think your professors [in mainstream
courses] feel about freshman writing courses?
Participant: Some I would say, my math teacher, she doesn't feel
too good about it, kind of negative, being in math and all.
Researcher: How do you know that?
Participant: I remember when she said, “the writing”, she said,
“this is the only writing, I'm sorry, this is the only writing you will
ever have to do in math. I was never good in writing.” She
was explaining the course. She said, “in this part of the course,
you'll have to do a little bit of writing, and I'm sorry for that.”
(Participant 23)
Learner
Learning task
Learning context
Transfer task
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations
(from James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux, 1995)
Learner
“[S]ignificant and general transfer is primarily the
consequence of personality and other dispositional
characteristics such as attitude, motivation, and feeling”
(Haskell, 2001, p.116) (emphasis mine).
L2 education researchers have suggested that learning
transfer is influenced by motivation-related factors like
student effort (Leki & Carson, 1994), value students place
on skills (Hansen, 2000), and students’ socio-cultural
attitudes (Waters, 1996).
Learner
Desire to transfer
+
Transfer
motivation
=
Favorable attitude
toward transfer
+
Effort to transfer
Learner
Participant: I hate doing, I hated doing in [the EAP writing
course], doing the visual arguments [assignment]. I hated it. It
was bad. It was complicated. Way complicated. And of course
if I'm going to apply visual argument in another class, I'm going
to feel stressed. I'm going to feel tension, I'm under pressure.
I didn't like it the first time, why should I do it again. I'm doing it
again, am I doing it right? Should I do it in another way? What
should I do?
(Participant 25)
Learner
Learning task
Learning context
Transfer task
Transfer context
Elements of learning transfer situations
(from James, 2007, adapted from Marini and Genereux, 1995)
Learning context/task
Learning transfer can be enhanced by:
• the integration of academic tasks in an EAP writing
course (Braine, 1988; Carson, 2000; Meyer, 1996);
• the provision of a range of conceptual activities in an EAP
writing course (Currie, 1993);
• having students use disciplinary portfolios (Hirvela, 1997);
• training students in ethnographic methods (Johns, 1988;
1990);
• having students compare and contrast a variety of texts in
familar and unfamiliar genres (Johns, 1997; 1999);
• having students reflect on strategies they use to complete
writing tasks (Johns, 1997; 1999).
Learning context/task
• Teaching-for-transfer techniques (Perkins &
Salomon, 1988):
• Hugging = designing learning tasks/context to appear
similar to target tasks and contexts
• Bridging = designing learning tasks/context to
stimulate abstract thinking
Future directions?
• How can we most effectively identify learning transfer?
• Where should we look? (all writing vs. some writing)
• When should we look? (immediately vs. delayed)
• How should we look? (low-road vs. high-road)
• How do various learning outcomes in L2 writing education
compare/contrast in terms of learning transfer? (e.g., near
vs. far; low-road vs. high-road)
• How do elements of transfer situations interact with actual
learning transfer? (e.g., transfer climate; transfer
motivation; teaching-for-transfer techniques)
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