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SelfStudy:ThinkAloud

SylQualaBright
ProfessorWolcott
English1101
16September2014

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SylQualaBright
ProfessorWolcott
English1101
16September2014

SelfStudy:ThinkAloud

Howdoeslackofsleepaffectwriting?Withinwritingtheresalotoffactorsthatneed
tobeconsideredlikethetopic,theformofwritingrequired,thetacticsyouusetoaccomplish
writing,andofcoursethegrammaticalcorrectness.InthispaperyouwillfindthepatternsI
exhibitedwhilereadingandwriting.WhatIfoundconsistedofyawning,distractions,criticism,
andcommentsofuninterestbutthatsjustonesideoftheequation.Theotherpatternscontained
thisauraofseriousness,planning,editing,andinscribingallatonceaswellasbrainstorming,
mumblingsofsentencestructuresandmore.
WithintheEnglishcommunity,thecompositionprocesshasbeenthepiqueofinterest.Paul
PriorandacclaimedprofessorattheUniversityofIllinois,didananalyzationofthewritingprocess
entitledHowTextscomeintobeing(Prior,2004493).Withinthisdocument,hediscussesthe
importanceoftakinginaccounteverythoughtandideawhengoingthroughthecompositionprocessto
fullyunderstand,howyouwrite.Tocompletethisstudy,heexpressedthedifferentaccountsthatwere
usedtocollectdataonthewritingprocess.ConcurrentaccountsorThinkAloudProtocolsis
basicallythinkingaloudwhilereading,writing,oreditingapaperandretrospectiveaccountswhichare
accountsprovidedafterwriting(Prior,2004505).
AnotherstudyinductedbySondraPerlrenownedprofessoratLehmanCollege,involvedthe
analysisofunskilledwriterscompositionprocesses.Themajorquestionsconsistedof:(1)Howdo
unskilledwriterswrite?(2)Cantheirwritingprocessesbeanalyzedinasystematic,replicablemanner?

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(3)Whatdoesanincreaseinunderstandingoftheirprocessessuggestaboutthenatureofcomposingin
generalandmannerinwhichwritingistaughtinschools?(Perl,1978616)Sheconductedthe
experimentusingThinkAloudProtocols,eachstudentmetwitharesearcherandhad90minute
sessionsinvolvingreading,writing,editingandallatthesametimethinkingaloudtoseetherelationship
withyourthoughtsandyourwritingprocess(Perl,1978616).
RoseanEnglishauthor,wroteanarticletitledRigidRules,InflexiblePlans,andtheStiflingof
Language:ACognitivistAnalysisofWritersBlock,itwascomprisedofanexperimentthatinvolved
BlockersandNonBlockers,itestablishedtheimportanceofacknowledgingthedifferencebetween
aheuristicandanalgorithm(Rose,1980389).Healsoquestionswhichofthetwotypesofrules
preventandenablepeopletowrite.
Theseauthorsprovidedresearchthatfocusedonamultitudeofcomponents,butnever
explainedthesignificantcomponentswithinthecompositionofreadingandwriting.Themultiple
participantcasestudies,usingcodenameslikeunskilled,Blockers,andNonBlockersdoesnot
defineeverywriter.Whatdoesthetermunskilledmean,howdoesthistermdefineaperson,being
unskilledinoneareaofcompositiondoesntcategorizethemasunskilled.Usingalotofwilling
volunteers,doesntrepresentallthepossiblecharacteristicsandperformingthesestudiesinvolving
otherpeoplerecordingthethoughtsofothersarentthatvalid.Iftheexperimentwasperformedbythe
writerthemselvestherewouldbemorehonestyprojectedwithinthedatacollected.Therehasyettobe
aresearchpapercomprisedofawriterstudyingtheirownwritingandreadingpatterns.

ThisresearchwillbeconductedbyastudentofUniversityofCentralFlorida,whoiscurrently
undertheinstructionofadistinguishedprofessoritwillestablishthedifferenceofacasestudyversusa

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selfstudyandhowtheresultsvarybetweenthetwo.Thecomponentthatsetsthisresearchfromothers
isthatwithineverycommentorthought,ithasanunderlyingmeaningthatonlythewritercouldknow.
Theconceptofthisstudyistostudymywritingandreadingpatternsandhoweachpatterneither
benefitsorhindersmyprocess.Lackofsleepcancauseamajorchangeinwriting,itrangesfrom
persontopersonbuteacheffectcangooneoftwoways.Anotherfactorthatsinvolvedismyinterest
inthesubjectandhowitcorrelateswithmyreadingandwritinghabits.
ThisstudytookplaceattheUniversityofCentralFlorida,itiscomposedofthecollected
thoughtsthatoccurredwhilereadinganarticleandduringthecompositionofananalysisofthepassage.
DuringthisstudyIutilizedtheThinkAloudProtocolsonmyselfandusedavoicerecordingappoffof
myphonetogatherdata.Ibrokeupeachrecordingintotwosegments,thefirstwasofthereading
processandthesecondwasthecompositionprocess.Aftercompletingbothrecordings,Iwentback
andanalyzedeachaudiorecordinglistingeverythingfromyawningtocomplaining.Ithenorganized
eachvocalizedportionintoaseparatethoughtandcategorizeditusingcodes.
Thecodesconsistedof:
(A)Assessing
(C)Commenting
(Cr)Criticizing
(Ds)Distractions:Singing
(Dt)Distractions:Tapping
(E)Editing
(I)Interest
(Ins)Inscribing/Typing

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(O)Opinion
(P)Planning
(Ps)PeriodsofSilence
(R)Rereading
(S)Summarizing
(TW)ReadingAloud
Thecodesthatappearedmostwhilereadingwere(Ds)(Dt)(C)(S)and(A)thissignaledtomethatI
getextremelydistractedwhilereadingandtrytofillupthetimedistractingmyselfratherthanabsorbing
thematerial.Althoughthisseemslikeabadpatterntohave,Ifeelitworksincorrelationwithmywriting
pattern.SoIdontfeellikeIshouldcorrectmypatternsIfeelthattheynaturallysyncandworkin
accordancewithoneanother.
Thisstudyillustratedmywritingandreadingpatternsandtheflawsthatexistsinthetwothe
significantpatternthatIobservedwithinbothmywritingandreadingisthatIbehaveoppositelywhen
engaginginthetwodifferentactivities.Inotedwithinthefirstsegment(ReadingSection),thatIwasless
responsivewhenreading.InthebeginningItriedtobeproductivebyprovidingananalysisofeach
paragraphasIreadaloud,butasImoveddeeperintothearticleIstartedtobemoredisinterestedand
yawningmorefrequently.IhavetotakeintoaccountthatIwastiredpriortoperformingthisstudy,so
thiscouldbeapotentialfactorthatcouldaltermyreadingpattern.AsIreachedtheending,Inoticed
thatIwasmoreabsorbedinthetextstartingtonoteobservationfromthetext,butIstoppedreading
aloud.Thefollowingsegment(WritingProcess),wascompletelydifferentfrommyreadingpattern,I
wasengagedimmediatelyinscribingassoonastherecordingbegan.WhiletypingImutteredwordsand
fragmentsofsentences,editingitasIwent.Gettingtothemiddleofmyanalysis,Ibegansingingand

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tappingmypencils,bytheendofmypieceIhadhummedandsangfivedifferentmadeupmelodies.
Throughoutthepaper,IplannedasIwroteandediteduntilIfoundtherightsentencestructure.
Basedonthestudy,Ifoundthatmyreadingandwritingprocessescouldntbeanydifferent.
Singingwhilereadingwasarealdistractionandtookawayfrommyabsorptionofimportantconcepts
however,duringmycompositionprocessitallowedmetobrainstormfreely.Myreadingprocess
consistedofreadingaloudthepassagetogetabetterunderstanding,butasthecomplexityincreased
myinterestdiminished.Mylevelofinterestwithinreadingcausesmetoskimandmisskeyfactors
however,becauseImconstructiveinmywritingprocessitmakesupwhatIlackinmyreadingprocess.
Sleep,wasalsoakeycomponentinmyreadingpattern,itaffectedittremendously.Ontheflipsidesleep
didntchangemywritingprocessonebit,itactuallymotivatedmetomovefastertogettherewardof
sleeping.Withinreading,Iutilizedreadingaloudwhichreallyhelped,butbecauseofmylackofinterest
andsleepitconfinedmetoboundariesthatIcouldntmovepass.Inmycompositionprocess,Iapplied
mylearnedrulesingrammar,rereadingsentencesaloud,andsentenceformattingwhichaidedme
exceedinglywell.ThepatternsIobservedwasahugedifference,withinoneprocesstheslightesthumor
tapcouldcausemetooverlookimportantdetails,fortheotherthefactorthatcauseddissarayment
createsharmony.Yes,mypatternsareverydifferentbutwhereoneisflawed,itismadeupintheother
process.

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WorkCited
Prior,Paul."TracingProcess:HowTextsComeintoBeing."WritingAboutWriting:ACollege
Reader.Eds.WardleandDowns.2nded.Boston:Bedford/St.Martins,2011.492526.Print.

Perl,Sondra."TheComposingProcessesofUnskilledCollegeWriters."WritingAboutWriting,A
CollegeReader.2ndED.Wardle,Elizabeth,Downs,Doug.Boston:Bedford/St.Martins,2014.Print

Rose,Mike."RigidRules,InflexiblePlans,andtheStiflingofLanguage:ACognitivistAnalysisof
WritersBlock."1980.WritingAboutWriting.ByElizabethWardleandDougDowns.2nded.
Boston:LeasaBurton,2014.52731.Print.