scholarly journals The Effects of Task-Based Process Writing Approach on the Academic Writing Skills among Second Language Tertiary Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siti Katijah Johari
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Process Writing ◽  
Group Project ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Higher Institution

Academic writing occupies a very important place in the English language syllabus at tertiary level. Where higher institution writing is concerned, it is not enough that students have to write in traditional essay or report formats; their writing must be appropriate to the discipline – yet deal with the multitude of genres expected of them. Additionally, academic writing skill is considered an essential skill for academic success and a requirement for many occupations and professions. However, it is a skill that a number of second language tertiary students find most difficult to acquire and only a few of them fully master it. This study, therefore, embarks on the theory that task-based approach together with the exposure of process writing would have a significant influence on the development of students’ academic writing skills. In this study students were made to work in groups on real-life tasks which relate to their field of study or future employment. In the midst of pursuing the group project, the students will have to write their group proposal and individual writing assignment. This will be the stage where the process writing techniques are put into practice. This paper will illustrate an eclectic pedagogic intervention in the teaching of academic writing skills to second language tertiary students.  Keywords: academic writing, task-based approach, process writing approach, tertiary learners

scholarly journals Enhancing Academic Writing Skills through “Reading to Learn” Strategy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Listyani
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
First Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Writing Class ◽  
Learn Strategy ◽  
Reading To Learn

Writing in a second language is different from writing in one’s mother tongue. Writing in a second or foreign language is undeniably more difficult than writing in the first language. Therefore, it is imperative for teachers to understand that there are many differences between first language (L1) and second language (L2) writing. Second language writing is complexified by the addition of new resources and norms (new structural elements of the new language, new rhetorical conventions, and some other things). On that ground, teachers should select the most appropriate teaching methods and strategies in their writing classes, one strategy that teachers can apply in their academic writing class is Reading to Learn strategy. This study presented information on a teaching strategy named Reading to Learn applied to one group of Academic Writing class. One group was taught using Reading to Learn teaching strategy, with the hope of helping students improve in both their reading and writing skills. This study was conducted in a writing course consisting of 20 students. Academic Writing is the highest writing class before students go to thesis proposal writing at the English Department of UKSW Indonesia. One central question to be answered is: How effective is Reading to Learn strategy when it is used to teach Academic Writing students? Instruments used were pre-test, post-test, direct as well as video-recorded observations, weekly journals, and interviews. In Indonesia, not many studies dealing with Reading to Learn have been done. One study was conducted by Samanhudi and Sugiarti (2013). This study reports the effectiveness of using Reading to Learn program in teaching critical writing to teacher candidates in English Language Teaching Department, Sampoerna School of Education, Jakarta. From the statistical analysis as well as from students’ perceptions, several conclusions can be drawn. First, Reading to Learn is effective to teach Academic Writing. Secondly, not all tertiary students like working cooperatively. Some prefer working individually. The next conclusion is students perceive peer review as an important part of their essay writing.

scholarly journals Dynamic Transfer and Relations between First Language (L1) Proficiency and Second Language (L2) Writing Skills Performance

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulelah Alkhateeb
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Arabic And English ◽  
L1 And L2

This study investigates the transfer relationship between first language (L1) (Arabic) proficiency and second language (L2) (English) performance in writing skills of a Saudi bilingual graduate student. Several studies have discussed the transfer issues in language learning, yet a few of them focus on the transfer relationships between Arabic and English language writing skills. Regardless of the huge linguistic distinction between the English language and Arabic language, it is presumed that Arabic and English writing skills positively, negatively, and neutrally transferred in a dynamic relationship. The researcher has conducted observations and interviews with Fatimah, the participant of this study, and analyzed her texts in both languages to illustrate how dynamic relationships between L1 and L2 in the composition skills is and what the effects of language transfer in the composition skills between L1 and L2 are. The data were collected and analyzed in January 2018. The results demonstrate effects of L2 on L1 as the following; first, a reverse or backward transfer implemented in three ways; positive, negative, and neutral transfer. Second, they indicate that there is a dynamic relationship between second language performance and first language proficiency in composition particularly. It is hoped that this knowledge will assist students in being aware of the effects of L2 on L1 specifically in composition and taking the advantages to accelerate the rate of language learning. It is recommended for future research to conduct studies in bilingual writings to investigate how L1 could be a resource and advocate of language development.

Improving Process Writing with the Use Authentic Assessment

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 200
Author(s):  
Muhammad Noor Bin Abdul Aziz ◽  
Nurahimah Mohd Yusoff
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Authentic Assessment ◽  
Study Data ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Process Writing ◽  
Interview Session ◽  
Language Classroom

<p>The paper discusses on how process writing is improved with the use of authentic assessment in an English Language classroom. Eleven primary school children from Year 4 in a rural school in Sabah are the participants of the study. Data were collected by observing them during the English Language lessons and at the end of the series of observations, an interview session was conducted. The results of the study revealed thatusing authentic assessment to assess young learners’ writing skills is beneficial and effective in helping them to write better in the English Language classroom. The presentation will therefore provide suggestions for the use of more authentic assessment in the classroom, particularly in English Language teaching and learning.</p>

scholarly journals STUDENTS’ PROBLEMS IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE AMONG MDAB STUDENTS AT UITM MALACCA

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 01-12
Author(s):  
Khalijah Mohd Nor ◽  
Masliza Mohd Razali ◽  
Nashrah Talib ◽  
Nurbarirah Ahmad ◽  
Siti Rosnita Sakarji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Office Management ◽  
Learning Institutions ◽  
Learning English

This study examined students’ problems in learning English as a second language in higher learning institutions. This paper reports on the results of an interview of 30 randomly selected MDAB students of Diploma in Office Management and Technology at UiTM Melaka. The aim of this paper is to identify the factors that contribute to the decreasing of students’ achievement in the English language. The discussion revealed the different reasons that students face in speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. In learning a second language, it is of utmost importance that learners receive maximum support in terms of a supportive and conducive learning environment as well as an adequate and meaningful language experience. This research hopes to enlighten students in learning the English language so that they may strive to improve their English skills, thus making language teaching and learning more effective and meaningful for both lecturers and students.

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of the Challenges and Solutions of ESL Students‟ Academic Writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5C) ◽  
pp. 1169-1171
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Esl Students ◽  
Learning Collaborative ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Malaysian Students

Research studies on ESL writing are more interested in providing operational writing strategies for academic writing. However, there are not many studies on challenges faced by students and their solutions. The main aim of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review of academic writing studies which focused on investigating students’ academic writing challenges and their solutions. The papers used in this study were published from 2010 until 2019. A systematic search of literature proposed in this paper employs the exploratory approach for identifying and evaluating twenty-seven articles published in the authentic Journals. The themes of the review are divided into two categories, one which is related to ESL Malaysian students and another category is regarding non-Malaysians, this is due to the context of the study which will be conducted in Malaysia and therefore a review of studies done on Malaysian student academic writing is justified. The review shows there is a broader context of ESL students’ academic writing challenges and factors influencing students’ academic writing skills. In addition, as mentioned above, the review clearly shows the highlight of previous studies was on strategies which help improve students writing skills. As a conclusion, the review signifies that there are three major enormous challenges faced by ESL students in academic writing, such as teaching methods, students’ attitude towards English, and language ability. And the solutions to the challenges are to employ active learning English language teaching methods, for example, Task-Based learning (TBL), Blended learning, Collaborative learning and cognitive approach, in teaching writing.

scholarly journals Graphic Organizers Support Young L2 Writers’ Argumentative Skills

2018 ◽  
pp. 6-33
Author(s):  
Carl Edlund Anderson ◽  
Carlos Andrés Mora González ◽  
Liliana Marcela Cuesta Medina
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Graphic Organizers ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Argumentative Writing ◽  
Group A ◽  
Grounded Theory Approach

Learners are increasingly required to analyze critically information presented in languages other than their first to form reasoned opinions and solve problems. It is thus urgent to develop their argumentation skills, needed not only for academic success but also later professional life—and, indeed, by participant citizens in democratic societies. Although there has been some increased interest in teaching argumentation at pre-tertiary levels, this remains a relatively unexplored issue in Colombia (and, indeed, much of the developing world), certainly when considering writing in a second language. This qualitative study analyzed the influence of graphic organizers on the development of argumentative written tasks by a group of sixth-grade English learners. Data was collected through surveys, questionnaires, focus group, a teachers’ journal, and students’ written artifacts and analyzed through the grounded theory approach. Findings revealed that using graphic organizers positively influenced learners’ argumentative writing skills, specifically through supporting strategic information planning and argumentative linearization during the pre- and while-writing stages. These understandings show that younger learners can develop complex argumentative writing skills in a second language, thereby offering significant lessons for teachers of language—and content—in both the first and additional languages.

STUDENT METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS IN L2 WRITING: COMPETENCE VS. PERFORMANCE

2020 ◽  
pp. 119-138
Author(s):  
Branka Milenkovic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
L2 Writing ◽  
Metacognitive Awareness ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Essay Writing

Writing in a second language certainly embodies constraints that are not met in L1 writing due to numerous decisions L2 learners make while producing a text. Many researches have shown that L2 writing is largely based on decision-making with relation to form and search for appropriate words which make the writing process even more complex and time-consuming. Therefore, communicating with the readers through the use of metadiscourse poses an addi- tional obstacle in L2 writing. This paper is concerned with the use of metadiscourse markers in L2 student writing at the Department of English language, at the University of Kragujevac in Serbia. In essay writing research we frequently observe quantitative analysis of specific lan- guage items, however, in this research, we attempt to juxtapose the quantifiable metadiscourse items in student writing with their thinking processes and decision-making while composing. Thus, the research correlates three insights, one being the students’ liability to deep writing, which relies on their metacognitive awareness in writing, established through the modified questionnaire of the Inventory of Processes in College Composition (Lavelle and Zuercher 2001) and based on previous research (Milenkovic & Lojanica 2015). Students’ responses are then correlated with the analysis of 33 student essays on behalf of the use of metadiscourse mark- ers based on A model of metadiscourse in academic texts established by Hyland and Tse (2004). Finally, the students’ metacognitive awareness in writing is analyzed through an introspective questionnaire with the aim to yield qualitative responses in relation to their cognitive ability to reflect upon their writing. The results of the study confirm the common belief that using metadiscourse features is a constraint in L2 writing. Evidently there is a disproportion between the metadiscourse items students use in writing with relation to what they believe that they use and students have displayed more metacognitive awareness in relation to interactive resources as opposing to the interactional resources in academic writing. Implications of the results may establish a basis for a modified teaching practice in second language writing instruction with the aim to enhance students’ communicative competence in writing.

scholarly journals An Error Analysis of Research Project Abstracts Written by Thai Undergraduate Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Wirada Amnuai
Keyword(s):  
Error Analysis ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Word Choice ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Sentence Level

Errors in writing are unavoidable while students are trying to develop their writing skills. There have been several studies on identifying writing problems or errors in students’ writing. It is believed that identifying students’ written tasks is an effective tool to explore the difficulties involved in learning language. This helps teachers’ awareness of the serious problems which occur in students’ writing and allows them to pay closer attention to their errors. The aim of the present research study is to pinpoint writing errors in English abstracts written by Thai undergraduate students. Forty abstracts of research projects were collected and analysed. The error analysis was conducted at the sentence level, word level, and mechanics aspect. The five most frequent error types ranking from the most frequent to least frequent were word choice, preposition, sentence construction, singular or plural forms and quotation marks. The findings of the present study have shed light on the students’ writing ability and give an insight into what the problems students face when writing their abstracts. Also, the errors found in the abstracts in the present study have pedagogical implications concerning English language learning, particularly with writing courses. The findings will be helpful for teachers to develop teaching materials to assist their students from committing errors when writing English abstracts and to improve academic writing skills.

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