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Introduction: this annotated bibliography explores three scholarly articles on expository writing.
In The effect of a socio-cognitive approach to teaching writing on stance support moves and
topicality in expository essays by Antonia Chandrasegaran, the merits of employing a socialcognitive approach to teaching grammatical accuracy and topic content are studied. In Narrative
as a springboard for Expository and Persuasive Writing: James Moffett Revisited by Barbra
Radcliffe, the work of James Moffett, noted 1960s educator, is explored in the context of a 21st
century english classroom, specifically his work on the teaching of expository writing. In The
Effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development on the Writing of Expository Essays for Adults
with Written Expression Difficulties:Preparing for the GED by Ann Berry and Linda Mason, the
teaching of expository writing to adults, earning a GED, through self regulating strategies like
(POW or pick my own idea-organize my notes, write) and (TREE or topic sentence, reasons,
explanations, ending) to facilitate essay structure/organization was studied.

August Chien
Dr. Cook
ENG 3280
May 9th, 2016
Expository Writing Annotated Bibliography
Source 1
The effect of a socio-cognitive approach to teaching writing on stance support moves and
topicality in expository essays
Chandrasegaran, Antonia1, antonia.chandra@yahoo.com. "The Effect Of A SocioCognitive Approach To Teaching Writing On Stance Support Moves And Topicality In
Students Expository Essays." Linguistics & Education 24.2 (2013): 101-111. Education
Source. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

In this article the merits of a social-cognitive approach are discussed. The authors study
sought to examine the effectiveness of a traditional focus on topic content and grammatical

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accuracy versus a new social-cognitive approach focused on improving students thinking/writing
process. The study centered on two English secondary schools in Singapore and the 137 students
(grade 9-15 years old) who volunteered for the study. Students for whom English is a second
language struggle with expository writing. The researchers focused on provided specific
expository writing examples, group activities focused on composing decisions, practice in
thinking skills i.e. writing supporting claims during the 14 weekly classroom lessons. Instead of
relying on traditional lecture and then work to practice the topic the researchers used group work
and peer activity to enforce and practice concepts. To determine if the new curriculum worked
the students were assigned pre and post essays. The essays were analyzed for their topicality and
the number of stance support moves. The analyses showed the effectiveness of the researchers
socio-cognitive approach by a value of 2.5.
This study shows the effectiveness of a new approach to teaching writing! The current
dogmas and approaches are woefully inadequate, 18th century techniques in a 21st century
classroom. As educators we must embrace and seek the most effective ways to teach, thats why
this study is so important, it actually works.

Source 2
Narrative as a springboard for Expository and Persuasive Writing: James Moffett Revisited
Radcliffe, Barbara J.1. "Narrative As A Springboard For Expository And Persuasive
Writing: James Moffett Revisited." Voices From The Middle 19.3 (2012): 18-24.
Education Source. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

In this article by Barbra J. Radcliffe, the assertions made by James Moffett are explored
through the lens of the 21century classroom. Moffett in 1965 theorized that one kind of discourse
evolves and shifts into another. This theory was tested in an eight grade class room when the
teacher gave her class specific writing prompts designed to move students from informal to
formal, personal to impersonal, and lower to higher abstraction. These written prompts centered
on: teen violence. Students had to write expository paragraphs on the subject in the style
predicated by the individual prompts. These scaffolded writing task had a two fold impact on the

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students, 1. Increased their awareness of genre conventions and audience, 2. Students increased
their usage of transition and comfort in multiple writing modes. The teacher found that these
scaffolded assignments which fostered complex multifaceted writing increased the students
writing ability and their confidence in that ability.
This article provides a different perspective in regard to teaching expository writing.
Rather then hand her students a prompt and leave them to their own devices, this teacher instead
provided a unique framework for they're writing. Through the switching provided by the various
prompts she fosters complexity. By fostering complexity she makes her students better, more
confident expository writers. Increasing the students confidence in their writing is a critical
aspect of teaching English and will be a central focus in my class room.

Source 3
The Effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development on the Writing of Expository Essays for
Adults with Written Expression Difficulties:Preparing for the GED
Berry, Ann Bassett1, and Linda H.2 Mason. "The Effects Of Self-Regulated Strategy
Development On The Writing Of Expository Essays For Adults With Written Expression
Difficulties: Preparing For The GED." Remedial & Special Education 33.2 (2012):
124-136. Education Source. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

In this article by Ann Bassett Berry and Linda H. Mason the teaching of expository
writing to adult students with or without disabilities is explored. The researches focused
improving the writing skills of students earning their GEDs. The study was composed of four
adults 20-40 years of age in an eastern state, some had learning disabilities. SRSD or selfregulated strategy development techniques were taught to the participants. Students were taught
(POW or pick my own idea-organize my notes, write) and (TREE or topic sentence, reasons,
explanations, ending). These provide an explicit structure in which the student can write.
Students aren't forced to plan their essay in this fashion but they are encouraged to in class.

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Through this they learn for themselves the value of planning and organization by implementing
these plans. The participants wrote pre/post essays which were graded on number of essay parts,
number of transition words, number of descriptive words, and essay length. The prompts for the
essays were specifically designed to mirror the prompts used in the GED writing test. The
students expository writing improved in all measured categories, one of the participants, Sonia,
before the study couldn't write a complete sentence and after the study she was able to write
whole essays.
While this article focuses on adult students it still deserves consideration and the teaching
style advocated here will be a part my class room. The failure of the clever devices teachers have
concocted to teach writing are evident. Instead of putting the onus on rigid structures this study
suggest teachers should focus on empowering the students to self regulate their writing. Through
self regulation the students is given the opportunity to learn the importance of organization and
structure on their own. They see how their ideas fit tougher, they see how they're writing
improves. Putting the onus on the student and improving their consciousness of how they learn/
regulate their learning will be a major focus of my class room.