The Effect of Negotiating Pedagogies in Saudi College EFL Writing Classrooms

Abstract

Studies on the application of centre applied linguistics circles’ writing pedagogies in EFL settings have placed great emphasis on the agency and innovativeness of local teachers. Local teachers often exercise absolute power over students’ learning processes by transplanting Western approaches to writing into their local contexts. However, the active roles of student-writers in negotiating, constructing and transforming these pedagogical imports to suit their needs have been overlooked in the literature. This study examined how my students’ negotiations with writing pedagogies that I imported from the USA helped them to move from writing to display knowledge to writing in order to construct and transform knowledge, at levels such as self, content and form. It was found that these pedagogies helped me critically reflect upon my position as an EFL writing tutor as well as scaffold my students’ learning accordingly. They also helped my students to assume active roles in writing classes.