Working with What You Know: Examining how L2 Graduate Students Negotiate Writing Knowledge

This thesis reports the results of a qualitative research study of L2 graduate students at a large public university. The primary research questions of the study sought to understand what existing writing knowledge L2 graduate students had, how their writing knowledge had expanded over the course of a semester, and if they had negotiated their writing knowledge. Through the use of Schema Theory as a methodological framework, the existing and expanding writing knowledge of the participants was segmented into the primary categories of content, formal, cultural, and linguistic schemata. Data was collected from two interviews with students and a writing sample. The data was coding using a scheme developed from existing definitions of content, formal, cultural, and linguistic schemata and validated with a co-coder. The data provides insight into how L2 graduate students expand their writing knowledge in the realms of content, formal, cultural, and linguistic schemata over the course of a semester. The results then provide implications for how institutions, departments, and faculty can further support the work of both L1 and L2 graduate students and their communications.