scholarly journals Assessing learning transfer and constraining issues in EAP writing practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abebe Yitbarek Wubalem
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Learning Transfer ◽  
Disciplinary Writing ◽  
Content Area Writing ◽  
Writing Processes ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Thinking Strategies ◽  
Carry Over

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate what learners carry over from a general academic writing course to disciplinary writing settings and the variables constraining the quality of the outcome. Seven EFL university writing teachers and 58 students were selected using purposive and stratified sampling techniques. Data were generated using in-depth interview and document analysis. Thematic analysis and non-parametric statistical tools were employed to analyze the data. The findings showed that the students made limited learning transfer from the writing course to their writing settings across academic discourses. While surface level knowledge of grammatical features show better transfer, skills of discourse level writing processes, thinking strategies and vocabulary showed very poor transfer. A number of reasons are identified for the failure of learning transfer in the study setting. Among others, EAP teachers’ failure to bridge the EFL writing and content area writing practice contributed to this problem. The other variable causing this problem is students’ failure to make significant moves to adapt skills of writing processes and thinking strategies to new situations. Based on these evidences, alternative ways of improving the carryover impact of such courses have been put forward.

scholarly journals Digital Writing, Word Processors and Operations in Texts: How Student Writers Use Digital Resources in Academic Writing Processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Sofia Hort
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Digital Writing ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Writing Processes ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Academic Genre ◽  
Word Processors

This study explores the use of digital technologies in the writing of an academic assignment. Fine-grained studies on student writing processes are scarce in previous research. In relation to the increasing demands on students’ writing, as well as the debate on students’ poor writing (Malmström, 2017), these issues are important to address. In this study, screen captures of five students’ essay processes are analyzed. The results show that students handle text at different levels: they make use of one or more word processors, arrange texts spatially on screens and use resources to operate directly in texts. Above all these actions seem to meet the need to move and navigate within one’s own text, an aspect that could be especially important in relation to the academic genre and for handling texts as artifacts in activity (Castelló & Iñesta, 2012; Prior, 2006). The results of the study point to the importance of making digital writing practices visible, especially those that could create possibilities to intertwine digital texts, thereby enhancing potentials for academic writing and meaning-making.

scholarly journals An English for Research Publication Purposes Course: Gains, Challenges, and Perceptions

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 198-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Giraldo
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Positive Perception ◽  
Research Publication ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Writing Course

Academic writing for scholars wanting to publish in English has gained considerable research attention in academic writing circles. This article reports the findings of a case study on the gains, challenges, and perceptions about writing in English that a group of scholars had while taking an academic writing course. Two questionnaires, an in-depth interview, and a teacher-researcher’s journal were used for data collection. The findings emphasize gains emerging from genre-based pedagogy as a holistic approach to academic writing and usefulness of teaching strategies for writing. The study reports time, discipline, and language proficiency as challenges to overcome. Finally, the participants report differing views towards peer feedback and a predominantly positive perception of English as the language for scientific writing.

scholarly journals An Investigation of Transfer of Learning in an English-for-Specific-Academic Writing Course: Teaching for Transfer

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-184
Author(s):  
Kalthoum Kassab
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Transfer Of Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Learning Transfer ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Near Transfer ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Transfer Principles

Despite its importance, transfer of learning is still an under-explored area of research in EAP contexts. The few EAP studies that investigated this phenomenon were mostly conducted in EGAP contexts. Studies conducted in ESAP contexts and informed by learning transfer theories are still rare. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of a teaching-for-transfer ESAP writing course on students’ ability to transfer their new learning to their subject-specific courses in a Tunisian university. The ESAP course design drew on SFL genre theories and teaching-for-transfer principles. Perkins and Salomon’s (1988) hugging and bridging strategies were blended into instruction in order to maximize the chances for learning transfer to occur. In addition, elements of Barnett and Ceci’s (2002) transfer taxonomy were used to distinguish between near transfer and far transfer. A longitudinal quantitative research design, using repeated measures, was followed. Students’ authentic written exams from the ESAP writing course and from three content subjects were analyzed in order to investigate the impact of instruction on learning transfer overtime. Results showed that near transfer occurred quite frequently while far transfer occurred in a constricted manner. The findings suggest that an ESAP writing course that blends teaching-for-transfer principles increases the chances for learning transfer to occur. However, the success of such courses depends on the close collaboration between the writing teachers and the disciplinary lecturers.

scholarly journals Rhetorical Situation and Academic Writing for the Master’s Program in English: A Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 74-82
Author(s):  
Hem Lal Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Rhetorical Situation ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Archival Collection ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Term Papers ◽  
Writing Culture

This paper reflects on what writing practices are taking place in the M.A. English Curriculum in Tribhuvan University. Along with some theoretical discussions on the rhetorical situation and writing process, it observes and makes a review of firsthand experience of the teachers and students’ in classes of the Academic Writing course. Here, through this paper, my attempt is to bring three issues together: illustrate the objective of academic writing course implemented in the M. A. English Program; reflect on the students' real experience with it; and present some ways to help students overcome 'writer's block' while preparing different term papers and final thesis that they are required to write. Obviously, the targeted audience of my paper are the students; fellow colleagues (since I have collected genuine classroom experience of the students and my own and have presented them with a purpose) and the authorities of TU as well (because students who are required to write need support of the library, the online sources and publishing forums). As a faculty exposed in both the annual and semester systems, I have also highlighted some differences that I have observed and noticed between the goals of curriculum of annual and semester. The small size classroom, easy access to the online databases and opportunity to publish best papers, serious efforts and perseverance of the instructors and the students, regular seminars and workshops, and remedial classes on language and editing are some immediate exigencies for making students adept in academic writing. Only after meeting these requirements and the management of archival collection of students' writing to verify originality and plagiarism, we can really stimulate students' interest in writing and institutionalize the academic writing culture in the university..

Seeking transformation: how students in nursing view their academic writing context – a qualitative systematic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim M. Mitchell ◽  
Laurie Blanchard ◽  
Tara Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Education ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Professional Identity Development ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Qualitative Systematic Review ◽  
Transformative Writing

AbstractWriting practices in nursing education programs are situated in a tension-filled context resulting from competing medical-technical and relational nursing discourses. The goal of this qualitative meta-study is to understand, from the student perspective, how the context for writing in nursing is constructed and the benefits of writing to nursing knowledge development. A literature search using the CINHAL, Medline, ERIC, and Academic Search complete databases, using systematic methods identified 21 papers and dissertations which gathered qualitative interview or survey data from students in nursing at the pre-registration, continuing education, and graduate levels. The studies provided evidence that writing assignments promote professional identity development but overemphasis on writing mechanics when grading have a deleterious effect on learning and student engagement with writing. Relationship building with faculty should extend beyond what is needed to maximize grades. Suggestions for writing pedagogical reform are identified to facilitate a change in focus from mechanical-technical to transformative writing.

Instruction of Nominalization by Applying Enabling of POA

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-358
Author(s):  
Hao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Academic English ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Learning Journals ◽  
English Majors ◽  
Chinese English Learners ◽  
Oriented Approach

AbstractIt is noticeable that the academic papers written by Chinese English learners are lacking in academic features largely due to their poor ability to use nominalization. Therefore, the instruction of nominalization in an academic English writing course is badly needed. The author conducted one-semester-long instruction of nominalization to 90 non-English majors under the guidance of the production-oriented approach (POA). This research demonstrated how to apply POA, specifically, the enabling procedure to the teaching of nominalization. By triangulating the data of students’ interviews, learning journals and written output, and the data of 4 teachers’ class observations and interviews, this study found that the accurate application of the three criteria of effective enabling contributed to the improvement of the quantity and quality of nominalization in academic writing.

scholarly journals Face-to-face to online: PhD academic writing @Maastricht University

2020 ◽  
pp. 13-19
Author(s):  
Neill Wylie
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Innovative Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
The Face ◽  
Language Needs

Maastricht University (UM) has a distinct global perspective and a strong focus on innovation. UM offers an array of PhD courses to distance and campus based students who have access to elective, credit bearing modules and the language needs of these students are catered for by the Language Centre. Many PhD candidates choose to take an academic writing course in their first or second year of their degree. In recent years, demand for a more student focused, flexible academic writing course has grown. In line with UM’s policy of supporting innovative teaching practices, the Language Centre’s face-to-face PhD academic writing course, PhD Writing 1, has been transformed into a fully online course containing eight interactive webinar sessions named Online PhD Writing, which runs in addition to the face-to-face rendition. On the back of the success of this course, coupled with increased demand for a follow up course, this author was tasked with creating an advanced online PhD academic writing course to cater for global students with diverse time zones and schedules. This paper evaluates the challenges posed and the advances made in constructing both online courses and explores the technologies used in implementing them.

scholarly journals Critical Thinking and Debiasing: Experimentation in an Academic Writing Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 (1) ◽  
pp. 443
Author(s):  
Guy Smith ◽  
John Peloghitis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Judgment And Decision Making ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
And Training

In the last two decades, interest in cognitive biases has rapidly grown across various fields of study. The research so far has shown that cognitive biases have significant and sometimes adverse effects on decision making. Thus, it is increasingly being argued that classroom teaching of critical thinking needs to include instruction and training that help students understand cognitive biases and reduce their negative effects on judgment and decision making. Teaching students to be aware of biases and to develop and maintain strategies to reduce their influence is known as debiasing. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of cognitive biases and a framework for debiasing proposed by Wilson and Brekke (1994). Two approaches, modifying the person and modifying the environment, are discussed to help teachers introduce activities and strategies to mitigate biases. 認知バイアスへの関心は、この20年で様々な領域で急激に高まってきた。認知バイアスが、意思決定に対し有意な影響、時には逆効果を及ぼすことが、これまでの研究で明らかになった。そのため、教室で批判的思考を教える場合も、学生の認知バイアスへの理解に役立ち、認知バイアスが判断力や意思決定に対して及ぼす、時には有害な影響を弱める思考法を教える練習ないし訓練を組み込む必要があるのではないだろうか。学生がバイアスを認識し、その影響を払拭ないし弱める思考法を身につけてそれを維持するよう教えることは、デバイアスという名称で知られている。本稿では、認知バイアスとWilson and Brekke (1994) が提案するデバイアスのプロセスを概観する。教師がバイアスを和らげるための活動と戦略を紹介できるように、人間を修正し、環境を修正するという二つの取り組みについても検討する。

scholarly journals Adapting to a Disciplinary Discourse: A Redesigned Course for MA History Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-170
Author(s):  
Iuliia Evgenievna But
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Traditional Teaching ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Disciplinary Discourse ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
History Texts ◽  
Writing Instructors

For most MA programs, it is common to enroll students with different BA degrees. The MA students who have changed their discipline are required to adopt a new disciplinary discourse and learn to write academic texts in line with appropriate genres and conventions. This study exemplifies an attempt to redesign the academic writing course for MA History programs at the Ural Federal University in order to ease the difficulties faced by students with non-history backgrounds. The essence of the redesign was to enhance the traditional teaching by demonstrating fundamental dissimilarities between history and other disciplines in terms of writing conventions. Teaching academic writing in that manner was supposed to facilitate students with both a history and non-history backgrounds to master the effective conventional writing of history texts. The efficiency of the redesigned course was estimated on the basis of students’ performance and feedback. This teaching practice can be of use for academic writing instructors who seek to help students from different backgrounds develop skills and competences that are necessary for a specific professional community.

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