Annotated Bibliography: Exploring the Effectiveness of Templates

Askov, E. N., Brown, E. J. (1989). Templates for literacy: Manual evaluation. The
  Pennsylvania State University:  University Park, PA.  Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

This study was conducted by Eunice N. Askov, Ph.D and project director of the
Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy; a subsidiary of the College of Education
at Pennsylvania State University as well as Emory J. Brown, Ph.D and
consultant.  Research was done to determine the effectiveness of using
templates, specifically the Templates for Literacy Manual, to improve reading and
writing, as well as other computer skills.  Although this research was conducted
in 1989, the data is still valid and could easily belong to populations tested today.
The three 18-week studies were conducted at adult literacy programs in New
York City; Salem, Oregon; and Weirton, West Virginia.  Findings of these studies
indicate that students reported that their reading and writing skills had improved
at least in part due to the use of word processing templates designed to improve
writing.


Benay, P. (2008). They say, "Templates are the way to teach writing"; I say, "Use
  with extreme caution.". Pedagogy, 8(2), 369-373. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.


Phyllis Benay, who earned her Ph.D from the University of Massachusetts, is a
professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Director of the Center for Writing at
Keene State College; she is also a 15-year teacher of Expository Writing classes.  
The intended audience of this article is educators and administrators in writing curricula.  
This article was published in 2008 and therefore weighs in on current, heated research
regarding this topic.  Her background information was collected while teaching at Keane
State College.  Benay reviewed Gerald Graff’s recent academic text They Say, I Say,
which strongly advocates for the use of writing templates to teach students complicated
elements of writing.  Benay finds this text “useful and seductive,” because it highlights the
maneuvers skilled writers use but makes them seem overly simple.  Benay also insists
that writers need to intrinsically acquire these skills through the development of their
processes; many fledgling writers will not learn to make these key intellectual moves on
their own.


Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2010).  They say I say:  The moves that matter in
  academic writing (2nd ed.).  New York, NY:  W.W. Norton & Company.


Graff, an English and Education professor at the University of Illinois Chicago,
 has served as the President of the Modern Language Association and has
published several books for educators.  Birkenstein, an English lecturer at the
University of Illinois Chicago, is co-director of the Writing in the Disciplines
 program and has also published essays on writing.  This text was written for
educators and administrators in an attempt to reform the acquisition of writing
skills.  The second edition of this academic text was published in 2010 and
thus offers timely information on this controversial issue.  Background design
and implementation of these methods were piloted at the University of Illinois
Chicago.  This scholarly text offers a number of useful templates applicable to
a variety of writing situations that are intended to elevate students’ writing.  
Graff originally wrote this text in an effort to invite students into the written
discourse surrounding them and teach them several formulaic devices designed
to make their writing more sophisticated.


Street, B. (2004), Academic literacies and the “new orders”: Implications for
  research and practice in student writing in higher education, Learning and
  Teaching in the Social Sciences 1(1), 9-20. doi: 10.1386/ltss.1.1.9/0


A Professor of Language in Education at King’s College, London, Brian Street is
an established figure in his field.  His intended audience consists of researchers,
educators, and curriculum specialists, and policy makers at the higher education
level.  This research was published in 2004 and therefore is relevant to the
ongoing debate rethinking the instruction of writing at Universities.  A research
project was conducted in the UK that measured student perceptions of the writing
process using the New Literacy Studies proposed by the author.   Research findings
indicate that due to the large numbers of “non-traditional” students enrolling in
Universities, our society needs to shift the paradigm of education to include new
academic literacies.  In order for this to occur, we need to expand our definition of
literacy to redefine it as a social practice in use rather than in theory.


Sun, Y. (2007). Learner perceptions of a concordancing tool for academic writing.
   Computer Assisted Language Learning, 20(4), 323-343.  
   doi:10.1080/09588220701745791


Yu-Chih Sun, a professor at National Chaio Tung University, Taiwan, has
published other academic papers regarding the importance of linguistics in
technology and education.  The intended audience is the larger academic
community of educators, writers and policy makers at the university level.  This
study was published in 2007 and adds more data to the ongoing debate
scrutinizing the use of scholarly templates.  The research followed a group of
twenty graduate students at a research-oriented university in Taiwan.  The
author believes that academic templates can effectively scaffold complex
rhetorical maneuvers in writing and make them more attainable. Findings
indicate that participants had a positive reaction to the use of the Scholarly
Writing Template and that the academic template had varied effects on the
level of writing.


Using templates to promote SOSE. (2000). Ethos Annual, 8, 39. Retrieved 
  from EBSCOhost.


The Primary English Teaching Association (PETA) is a national collective group
 based in Australia that supports primary school educators in teaching English
and literacy across all areas of the curriculum. PETA published the book Writing
in the Curriculum: Frames to Support Learning, which is the focus of this article.
The text was written by Maureen Lewis and David Wray, who have written
several books about literacy and literacy teaching.  The intended audience of this
article is probably primary school educators given that the featured templates
were of elementary school level.  This article was published in 2000, but the
information discussed therein is still relevant to current debate.  Presumably, the
 templates discussed have undergone trials in Australia.  Authors argue
that the hardest part of writing is getting started, and that templates provide
support for this specific problem. Emphasis is also placed on templates designed
to foster critical thinking and inquiry.