Writing Gravity: International Female Graduate Students’ Academic Writing Experiences

Academic writing is a difficult task for many post-secondary students in the U.S. However, it is particularly challenging for ESL students due to linguistic and cognitive factors. This challenge may lead to second language writing anxiety (SLWA), as a result of which some students may perform poorly on writing assignments and eventually fail the course. Although previous research studies offer instructional strategies to address SLWA, they are insufficient in their theoretical basis and practical application. Thus, this paper fills that gap by situating those pedagogical recommendations within their theoretical foundations and includes a sample writing assignment with a student self-regulation checklist.

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The Writer, the Text and the Reader: An Exploration of Identity in Second Language Academic Writing

10.26686/wgtn.16968484.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Kirsten Reid

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Second Language Writing ◽

English For Academic Purposes ◽

Linguistic Features ◽

Student Writers ◽

Language Writing ◽

The Relationship

<p>Students studying in university contexts often find learning to write English for academic purposes especially challenging. Some of the challenges reside in acquiring the necessary skills and strategies to be successful academic writers. A less tangible consideration which has received recent attention from first and second language writing researchers is the relationship between writing and identity. How do student writers become part of a situated community in which some discourses may be privileged over others? While all writing can be a potential site of struggle, this may have particular significance for second language students who bring their own unique backgrounds and literacy histories to their academic writing and may find becoming part of a new and heterogeneous discourse community profoundly unsettling. Using case study methods, this dissertation explores the experiences of four undergraduate students as they become academic writers in a second language. It also carries out an analysis of some of the linguistic features one particular student essay to examine how writers simultaneously construct their texts and are constructed by them.</p>

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Portuguese Higher Education Graduates’ Views on Academic Writing

International Journal of Education ◽

10.5296/ije.v12i1.16625 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 75

Author(s):

Maria L. Cabral

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Higher Education ◽

Graduate Students ◽

Academic Writing ◽

English Language ◽

First Language ◽

Language Choices ◽

Language Writing ◽

Humanities And Social Sciences ◽

Portuguese Higher Education

This paper examines the language choices and the process of academic writing of a group of 35 Portuguese graduate students in the fields of humanities and social sciences with the aim of illustrating their language preferences, as well as the aspects they take into consideration while writing either in Portuguese or in English.Results of this study indicate that the participants prefer to write their papers in Portuguese, their first language, and that they use similar approaches when writing in both languages. However, findings also reveal they are concerned with slightly different process aspects when composing and revising their texts in Portuguese and in English. These differences seem to be associated with acquired discourse traditions in Portuguese language, as well as with the participants’ lower competence in English language writing.

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Reading and writing

Language Teaching ◽

10.1017/s0261444803231931 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 120-157

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Second Language Writing ◽

Language Models ◽

Self Assessment ◽

Writing Revision ◽

Language Writing ◽

Language And Education

03—335 Bacha, Nahla N. (Lebanese American U., Byblos, Lebanon; Email: [email protected]). Developing learners' academic writing skills in higher education: A study for educational reform. Language and Education (Clevedon, UK), 16, 3 (2002), 161—77.03—336 Bimmel, Peter (U. van Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Strategische lessen lernen in der Fremdsprache. [Learning strategic reading in foreign languages.] Zeitschrift für Fremdsprachenforschung (Berlin, Germany), 13, 1 (2002), 113—41.03—337 Bloch, Joel (The Ohio State U., USA; Email: [email protected]). Student/teacher interaction via email: The social context of Internet discourse. Journal of Second Language Writing (Norwood, NJ, USA), 11, 2 (2002), 117—34.03—338 Kobayashi, Hiroe (Hiroshima U., Japan; Email: [email protected]) and Rinnert, Carol. High school student perceptions of first language literacy instruction: Implications for second language writing. Journal of Second Language Writing (Norwood, NJ, USA), 11, 2 (2002), 91—116.03—339 Lee, Icy (Hong Kong Baptist U.; Email: [email protected]). Teaching coherence to ESL students: A classroom inquiry. Journal of Second Language Writing (Norwood, NJ, USA), 11, 2 (2002), 135—59.03—340 Lindgren, Eva and Sullivan, Kirk P. H. (Umeå U., Sweden; Email: [email protected]). The LS graph: A methodology for visualizing writing revision. Language Learning (Malden, MA, USA), 52, 3 (2002), 565—95.03—341 Schindler, Kirsten (Universität Bielefeld, Germany). Gemeinsames Schreiben in der Fremdsprache: Muster, Kreativität und das Glück des Autors. [Writing together in a foreign language: Models, creativity and the happiness of the author.] Glottodidactica (Poznán, Poland), 28 (2002), 161—84.03—342 Sullivan, Kirk and Lindgren, Eva (Uméa U., Sweden; Email: [email protected]). Self-assessment in autonomous computer-aided second language writing. ELT Journal (Oxford, UK), 56, 3 (2002), 258—66.

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Performing Argumentative Writing in English: Difficulties, Processes, and Strategies

TESL Canada Journal ◽

10.18806/tesl.v19i1.918 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 34 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Wei Zhu

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Data Analysis ◽

Language Learners ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Second Language Writing ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Argumentative Writing ◽

Individual Interviews ◽

Language Writing ◽

Writing Task

Argumentative writing constitutes an important part of second-language learners' academic writing experience in North America. This study examined the difficulties a group of Mexican graduate students encountered when engaged in an argumentative writing task as well as their writing processes and strategies. Data were collected from individual interviews with the participants and from participants' written essays. Data analysis indicated that most participants perceived the rhetorical aspects of English argumentative writing as difficult. Data analysis also indicated that participants mainly used cognitive, social, and search strategies, whereas metacognitive strategies were used infrequently. Potential implications of the study for second-language writing instruction are discussed.

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Extending the flipped classroom model: Developing second language writing skills through student-created digital videos

Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning ◽

10.14434/josotlv14i5.12829 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 12-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Marion Engin

Keyword(s):

Academic Writing ◽

Flipped Classroom ◽

Second Language Writing ◽

Academic English ◽

Digital Videos ◽

English Writing ◽

Video Tutorial ◽

Model Research ◽

Writing Course ◽

Language Writing

Abstract: This paper describes a project which aimed to leverage the students’ interest and experience of technology and multi-modal environments in an academic English writing course. Students were expected to follow a model, research a topic, and craft a digital video tutorial on an aspect of academic writing which would form part of the established flipped classroom model. Evaluation from students suggests that student-created videos can promote deeper understanding of the topic through the activity of teaching, as well as encourage students to monitor their English and strive for accuracy. However, it was also noted that students prefer a teacher explanation than a peer explanation and there were concerns over the “trustworthiness” of a peer-produced video tutorial.

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The Writer, the Text and the Reader: An Exploration of Identity in Second Language Academic Writing

10.26686/wgtn.16968484 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Kirsten Reid

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Second Language Writing ◽

English For Academic Purposes ◽

Linguistic Features ◽

Student Writers ◽

Language Writing ◽

The Relationship

<p>Students studying in university contexts often find learning to write English for academic purposes especially challenging. Some of the challenges reside in acquiring the necessary skills and strategies to be successful academic writers. A less tangible consideration which has received recent attention from first and second language writing researchers is the relationship between writing and identity. How do student writers become part of a situated community in which some discourses may be privileged over others? While all writing can be a potential site of struggle, this may have particular significance for second language students who bring their own unique backgrounds and literacy histories to their academic writing and may find becoming part of a new and heterogeneous discourse community profoundly unsettling. Using case study methods, this dissertation explores the experiences of four undergraduate students as they become academic writers in a second language. It also carries out an analysis of some of the linguistic features one particular student essay to examine how writers simultaneously construct their texts and are constructed by them.</p>

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Do Wikis Affect Grammatical Aspects of Second Language Writing

IALLT Journal of Language Learning Technologies ◽

10.17161/iallt.v41i1.8487 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

pp. 90-107

Author(s):

Ulf Schuetze

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Word Order ◽

Second Language Writing ◽

Control Group ◽

First Year ◽

Writing Assignments ◽

Complex Syntax ◽

Language Class ◽

Language Writing ◽

Writing Task

This paper reports on a study that investigated the use of wikis in a first-year German as a second language class. The focus of the study was to analyze students’ use of grammar. Three classes of 24 students each participated in the study: one class using wikis and one class not using wikis to collaborate on two writing assignments; and one control group. Descriptive statistics as well as ANOVA were used to analyze the assignments as well as the writing components of two tests. Results showed the class using wikis benefited in their writing assignments regarding complex syntax (word order) but encountered problems with the same structures in a test. In addition, a short survey was carried out, asking students of the class using wikis about their experience, attitude and anxiety towards such a technology. Most students felt comfortable participating in a shared online writing task and thought that it helped their writing.

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Promoting Academic Writing Students’ Skills through “Process Writing” Strategy

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ◽

10.7575/aiac.alls.v.9n.4p.173 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 173

Author(s):

Listyani

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Second Language Writing ◽

Teaching Strategy ◽

Video Recording ◽

Process Writing ◽

Writing Class ◽

Writing Students ◽

Writing Strategy ◽

Language Writing

Writing in a second language is complex, and complicated, mainly because of by the addition of new resources and norms (new structural elements of the new language, new rhetorical conventions, and some other things). Teachers therefore, whether they like it or not, have to select the most appropriate teaching methods and strategies in their writing classes, one strategy that teachers can apply in their Academic Writing class is Process Writing strategy. This study shows information on a teaching strategy named Process Writing which was applied to one group of Academic Writing class in Semester II, 2016-2017. Research took place from January to April 2016. This group was taught using Process writing teaching strategy, with the hope of helping students improve in both their reading and writing skills. There were 20 students altogether in this group. One central question to be answered in this study is: How effective is Process writing strategy when it is used to teach Academic Writing students? Instruments used were pre-tests, post-tests, direct observation, video-recording; and weekly journals that students had to write every time they passed a stage of the Process Writing. From the statistical analysis as well as from students’ perceptions, one main conclusion can be drawn, that is, Process writing is effective to teach Academic Writing. Another conclusion which is not less significant is that Process Writing can be used to teach any level of education, not to mention in tertiary education, provided that lecturers adjust the materials as well as level of difficulty. One last conclusion is that every strategy that teachers will apply in their classroom is very context-dependent. That is, it depends on the class situation, which varies from one class to another. The context, atmosphere, as well as situation of the class became the factors that contribute to the effectiveness and success of a strategy. This piece of research is hoped to benefit both lecturers as well as students of second language writing. Pedagogically, this research can enrich another source of literature in terms of teacher strategy in teaching second language writing.

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The Effects of Direct and Indirect Corrective Feedback on Accuracy in Second Language Writing

English Language Teaching ◽

10.5539/elt.v11n6p33 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 33

Author(s):

Abbas Mustafa Abbas ◽

Hogar Mohammed Tawfeeq

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Second Language Writing ◽

Corrective Feedback ◽

L2 Writing ◽

Grammatical Accuracy ◽

Language Writing ◽

Post Test

The effectiveness of providing Corrective Feedback (CF) on L2 writing has long been a matter of considerable debate. A growing body of research has been conducted to investigate the value of various types of CF on improving grammatical accuracy in the writing of English as a second or foreign language. This article is mainly concerned with the role of Corrective Feedback (CF) in developing the L2 writers’ ability to produce an accurate text, and argues that CF is considered to be one of the fundamental techniques in teaching second language (L2) writing. Bearing this in mind, it attempts to maintain the effectiveness of CF on the L2 students’ abilities to develop the accuracy of their written output. This topic has recently produced a significant interest among both teachers and researchers in the areas of L2 writing and second language acquisition. A key issue to be addressed is the degree to which CF effectively helps the second language writers obtain long-term accuracy. Currently, the author of this paper has been conducting a PhD study on the effect of direct and indirect corrective feedback on the academic writing accuracy of Kurdish EFL university students, and the data was collected from writing testing samples (pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test) produced by105 undergraduate students of English department from two public universities. The results could be obtained from the study should have important implications for L2 writing practitioners and researchers.

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