scholarly journals An investigation of Thai students’ English language writing difficulties and their use of writing strategies

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Writing Strategies ◽  
Writing Difficulties ◽  
Thai Students ◽  
Language Writing

scholarly journals Coherence in Thai Students’ Essays: An Analysis using Centering Theory

MANUSYA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-130
Author(s):  
Saranya Pathanasin
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Discourse Coherence ◽  
Word Repetition ◽  
Thai Students ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Centering Theory ◽  
Published Research

The contributions of centering theory (CT) have been widely accepted in linguistics, but there has not yet been much published research applying the theory to first language (L1) interference. This study applies CT to investigate L1 interference in discourse coherence in essays written in English by Thai university students. A corpus compiled from 50 essays is analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Statistical results suggest that CT is more reliable than human raters in measuring coherence, since the data shows no influence of subjective measurement. Further analysis by CT shows that word repetition is the most common form of Cb (focus of attention) in the continuation states (56.6%), and pronouns are the second most frequent form (39.6%). These findings conflict with the predictions of CT, which assert that pronouns are usually preferred over noun phrases. Results of qualitative analysis pointed out that this discrepancy is caused by L1 interference in writing, since word repetition is commonly used in Thai discourse. The Thai students’ English-language writing abilities were at pre-intermediate levels of competence. However, this aspect is not considered negative L1 interference since the use of repetition in the students’ compositions helped the raters follow the ideas in the writing. The results also show that the students were not aware of issues of cohesion and were not confident in using pronouns. The L1 interference in discourse coherence, specifically word repetition, was recognized by Thai raters but not by native English-speaking (NES) raters.

scholarly journals An Action Research on EFL Writing Dilemmas: A Case of Saudi Students and Instructors

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Alkubaidi
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Perceptions And Expectations ◽  
Writing Competence ◽  
Writing Curricula

Learning to write in a second language is a great challenge for students; however, certain factors might minimize these challenges. In general, the Saudi students face difficulty to develop the writing competence in a foreign language because they rely on instructors as a sole source of knowledge. Therefore, the study investigated the English language writing in a university in Saudi Arabia. It implemented an action research design based on three main phases; namely, exploration, intervention, and reflection stage. The main questions asked include how the instructors view the writing style of students within the setting and how they perceived the English language writing curricula among the students. The data drew several conclusions that provided insight into the Saudi Higher Education concerning English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. The first is the spoon-feeding of Saudi learners throughout their educational years; therefore, they find it challenging to gain hold of their learning. Second, writing in English is a challenging task for Saudi students. Third, some of the students memorize writing passages to pass their English course. Fourthly, teaching to write was done by focusing on form, writing mechanics, rather than communicative aspects of writing and genre. This study has contributed towards the understanding of Saudi learners in university language classrooms analyzing their perceptions and expectations.

scholarly journals Rhetorical Reading for Writing Strategies

2019 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Irena Kuzborska
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Writing Strategies ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Rhetorical Reading ◽  
Reading Texts

This article is based on the plenary talk given at the inaugural UHAMKA International Conference on English Language Teaching (ELT) and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) (UICELL 2018) in Jakarta, Indonesia, 23 November 2018, and focuses on the explanation of reading as a communicative rhetorical act. Outlining the key features of such reading, it then considers the benefits of reading texts rhetorically. A specific focus is given to the role of rhetorical reading in writing. While the article acknowledges the limited research on the relationship, it provides some evidence that reading texts rhetorical can lead to both more effective reading and more effective writing. A specific technique on how to teach students to read texts rhetorically is also presented in this article.

scholarly journals Morphological Processing Difficulty of Thai Learners of English with Different Levels of English Proficiency

MANUSYA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Sorabud Rungrojsuwan
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Morphological Processing ◽  
Morphological Knowledge ◽  
Matching Technique ◽  
Thai Students ◽  
Processing Difficulty ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Difficult Subjects

English morphology is said to be one of the most difficult subjects of linguistic study Thai students can acquire. The present study aims at examining Thai learners of English with different levels of English language proficiency in terms of their 1) morphological knowledge and 2) morphological processing behaviors. Two experiments were designed to test 200 participants from Mae Fah Luang University. The results showed that students with low language proficiency (LL group) have less morphological knowledge than those with intermediate language proficiency (IL group). However, those in the IL group still show some evidence of morphological difficulty, though they have better skills in English. For morphological processing behavior, it was found that, with less knowledge, participants in the LL group employ a one-by-one word matching technique rather than chunking a package of information as do those in the IL group. Accordingly, unlike those in the IL group, students in the LL group could not generate well-organized outputs.

scholarly journals Second Language Writing and Bidialectalism: A Case for African American Student Writers

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Jason DePolo
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
African American Student ◽  
Composition Theory ◽  
American Student ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Language Writing

There has been much research conducted on second language writing. In addition, there exists a significant amount of studies conducted with African American student writers. However, the fields of Second Language Writing and Composition Studies rarely if ever dovetail in the research literature. The purpose of this article is to argue how English language learners and bidialectal (English as a second dialect) learners share similar learning experiences and how sociocultural theories of English language pedagogy can inform composition theory, specifically as it relates to African American student writers. The study of writer identity provides insights into both bilingual and bidialectal learners’ authorial identity constructions and their experiences in English language learning contexts. Based on these similarities, I argue the need for composition theory to integrate sociocultural theories of second language learning and identity to better address the needs of bidialectal learners.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Application of Writing Strategies in Writing Instruction

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 355
Author(s):  
Chenrong Han
Keyword(s):  
Writing Instruction ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Writing Strategies ◽  
Sociocultural Perspective ◽  
Strategy Research ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Writing Research ◽  
Writing Strategy ◽  
English Majors ◽  
Language Writing

Research on writing strategies has been a well-established field in second language writing research and the application of writing strategies in pedagogy has been widely acknowledged to effectively improve the process and product of English composition. This article explores how English as a foreign language learner’s writing strategy use within both traditional cognitive views and sociocultural perspective. While ESL composition research actively investigates writing strategies on English majors in university, less attention has been directed to non-English majors and their composing situations differ from those of English majors. This article attempts to begin to fill this gap. The findings from this study are concluded about the specific solutions that can be practiced in writing instruction and suggest future directions of writing strategy research.

scholarly journals A report on challenges faced by students and research scholars academic writing skill in English language

2021 ◽  
pp. 44-65
Author(s):  
DINESH K
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Common Language ◽  
Writing Research ◽  
Writing Skill ◽  
Language Writing

Singh, A. K. G., et.al. (2020) in this world every country has its own language but in the reviewer has some common language that is second language or foreign language such as English language. Writing research paper is more difficult task with use of the English language because everyone well talented in our own natural language or mother tongue. Writing a research paper main aim to identify the L2 (English Language) syntax transferred from L1 (Mother Language). The method was chosen data collection instruments were document analysis and interview.

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