Gert Rijlaarsdam, PhD.,
University of Amsterdam
Gert Rijlaarsdam received two Masters, one in Linguistics and one in Educational Sciences while he was teaching Dutch Language and Literature since 1972 at secondary level. His PhD Thesis was on the Effects of Peer Response on Text Quality, Writing Processes and Writing Apprehension Factors (1986). In 1988 he became head of the Language Education section of the Graduate School of Teaching and Learning of the University of Amsterdam. There he holds a chair in curriculum innovation. He was appointed as a part-time professor to Antwerp University (2013-2018; 50%), Umea University (2015-1018, 10%), and Trondheim University (since 2021, 5%).
Dr. Rijlaarsdam’s main expertise is in the learning and teaching of writing, as a learning device and as a communicative device. Most prominent is the focus on the relation between task processes, outcomes, task characteristics and learner characteristics.
He supervises a dozen PhD candidates, mostly on learning and instruction on writing, creativity and literary fiction. His lab team Innovative Education in Language, Literary Fiction and Arts has strong working relations with labs in Madrid and Leon (Spain). He has contributed to the APA Handbook of Education, the Handbook of Language and Literacy and the handbook of Writing, Research. He set up and edited since 1996 the book series Studies in Writing (until volume 28), the Journal of Writing Research, and is consultant editor for the Journal of Educational Psychology, editor-in-chief of Learning & Instruction, a member of editorial boards of international research journals, and a reviewer for various international journals.
Rijlaarsdam, G., Van den Bergh, H., Couzijn, M., Janssen, T., Braaksma, M., Tillema, M., Van Steendam, E., Raedts, M. (2010). Writing. In Graham, S., Bus, A., Major, S., & Swanson, L. (Eds.). Application of Educational Psychology to Learning and Teaching. APA Handbook Volume 3, 189-228.
Rijlaarsdam, G., Jansen, T., Braaksma, M., Van Steendam, E., Van den Branden, K., & Verheyden, L. (2013). Learning and Instruction in Writing. In C.A. Stone, E.R. Silliman, B.J. Ehren, & G.P. Wallach (Eds.), Handbook of Language and Literacy, Second Edition (pp. 545-566), New York: Guilford Press.
Van den Bergh, H., Rijlaarsdam, G., & Van Steendam, E. (2015). Writing process theory: A functional dynamic approach. In C.A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research. Second edition. [57-71]. New York/London: The Guilford Press.
All Sessions by Gert Rijlaarsdam, PhD.,
Creative Writing: from Process Analyses to Testing Course
In this presentation we will share the results of two studies on creative writing, nowadays a neglected element in the language curriculum in The Netherlands. The first study is on the differences and commonalties of writing creative and argumentative texts. Data were the writing processes of about 20 students (age 15-17) who wrote four argumentative and four creative text. We related the process features to text quality and students' creativity scores. Dominant findings were the indirect and direct effects of affective variables and fluency of writing. In the second study we tested the effect of a creative writing course (six weeks) on writing processes and text quality of creative and argumentative tasks. We found positive effects on creative texts, and transfer effects on argumentative writing.
Ten Peze, A., Janssen, T., Rijlaarsdam, G., & van Weijen, D. (2021). Writing creative and argumentative texts: What's the difference? Exploring how task type affects students' writing behaviour and performance. L1-Educational Studie in Language and Literature, 21, 1-38. https://doi.org/10.17239/L1ESLL-2021.21.01.11
Ten Peze, A., Janssen, T., Rijlaarsdam, G., & van Weijen, D. (submitted). Effects of a course in creative writing on text quality and writing processes.
