Task Representation in an ESL Multimodal Writing Activity

Abstract

This research was carried out in a US university in the Midwest in an English composition class for international students as part of a larger study on digital literacy. The focus of this article is on the task representation in a remediation assignment. The purpose of the article is to show the ways in which an assignment can be understood and carried out by the students. In order to do this, we employed a qualitative case study design. We focused on one student, chosen for her investment in the class and the fact that she decided to do a team project alone. Studying task representation is important for composition classes because knowing how students understand and assignments can help teachers improve the teaching of rhetorical concepts and the teaching of writing itself.