scholarly journals The development of, and response to, an academic writing module for electrical engineers at the University of Bath

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda Armstrong ◽  
Jackie Dannatt ◽  
Adrian Evans
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Principal Direction ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Electrical Engineering ◽  
Electrical Engineers ◽  
The University

The academic writing module for electrical engineering students, offered at the University of Bath, is the result of collaboration between the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) and the English Language Centre (ELC) and is currently designed to deliver academic writing support to undergraduate students embarking on their engineering studies at Bath. The need for the course arose from subject tutor recognition of the students’ lack of awareness of the genre within which they were expected to write, suggesting that not only the subject content but also the expression of that content needed input and support. This paper presents details of the academic writing input provided by the University of Bath English Language Centre, the background to the module and ongoing development based on feedback from students, academic staff and EAP (English for Academic Purposes) tutors. Feedback indicates that the course succeeds in supporting students in their writing. The principal direction for future development lies in tailoring the course to fit the modular nature of students’ degrees, addressing issues connected to language proficiency and the nature of assessment.

scholarly journals How recorded audio-visual feedback can improve academic language support

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 71-90
Author(s):  
Michelle Cavaleri ◽  
◽  
Satomi Kawaguchi ◽  
Bruno Di Biase ◽  
Clare Power ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
Language Support ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Quality Feedback ◽  
The Impact

Providing effective, high quality feedback that students engage with remains an important issue in higher education today, particularly in the context of academic language support where feedback helps socialise students to academic writing practices. Technology-enhanced feedback, such as audio and video feedback, is becoming more widely used, and as such, it is important to evaluate whether these methods help students engage with the feedback more successfully than conventional methods. While previous research has explored students’ perceptions of audio-visual feedback, this paper seeks to fill a gap in the literature by examining the impact of the audio-visual mode on undergraduate students’ engagement with feedback compared to written-only feedback. Evidence from an analysis of feedback comments (n = 1040) and corresponding revisions as well as interviews (n = 3) is used to draw conclusions about the value of providing audio-visual feedback to help students revise their writing more successfully. In line with multimedia learning theory (Mayer 2009), it is argued that the multimodal format, conversational tone, verbal explanations and personalised feel of audio-visual feedback allows for a more successful engagement with the feedback, particularly for students with a lower level of English language proficiency.

scholarly journals Investigating the Relationship between English Language Proficiency and Academic Performance of Engineering Students in Mehran University Jamshoro, Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bibi Sadia ◽  
Shumaila Memon ◽  
Habibullah Pathan
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
The Relationship

The present study investigated the relationship between language proficiency and academic performance of students at Mehran university Jamshoro, Sindh. The study employed quantitative correlational research design to measure the variables. The researchers adapted English language test to measure the language proficiency of the learners. And CGPA (cumulative grade point average) to measure the academic performance of the research participants. The researchers collected data from 100 undergraduate students by doing simple random sampling. The data was collected in two phases: first pilot study and then main study. The pilot study was done before the actual research to measure validity and feasibility of the adopted English language proficiency test. The cronbach alpha was used to check reliability of the data. SPSS version 26 was used to perform the Pearson correlation analysis. The findings revealed that data was reliable with alpha value. 702 and the correlation was highly positive with a value of .826 at the significance value .000. The study confirms that the language has played a pivotal role to improve academic performance of the students studying in Mehran university of science and technology.

Management Response to Improve the Educational Performance of Engineering Students

2013 ◽  
pp. 91-110
Author(s):  
Bassam Hussein ◽  
Ali Hage-Diab ◽  
Mohammad Hammoud ◽  
Anwar Kawtharani ◽  
Hisham El-Hage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Private University ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Hands On ◽  
One Year ◽  
The University

This case presents the managerial techniques applied to improve the quality of engineering education at the largest private university in Lebanon, the Lebanese International University (LIU). As the university grew rapidly since its inception 10 years ago, it faced serious challenges in fulfilling a key objective of its mission, which is to empower students to be culturally engaged to achieve innovative outcomes. A team was put together to identify cultural factors affecting quality of education, students’ achievement, assess their impact, and propose a plan of action. The findings led to a series of actions aimed at improving English language proficiency, smoothing high school/college transition, encouraging hands on laboratory experience, establishing industrial COOP program, and preparing for international accreditation. The new programs have been in effect for approximately one year. Quantitative evaluation of the programs is not yet fully available. Nevertheless, there are already some tangible indicators that suggest successful outcomes.

Can-Do descriptors – Realigning English Language Curriculum at Higher Education Institution to CEFR

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Erda Wati Bakar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
The Common ◽  
The University

The Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) has become the standard used to describe and evaluate students’ command of a second or foreign language. It is an internationally acknowledged standard language proficiency framework which many countries have adopted such as China, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. Malaysia Ministry of Education is aware and realise the need for the current English language curriculum to be validated as to reach the international standard as prescribed by the CEFR. The implementation of CEFR has begun at primary and secondary level since 2017 and now higher education institutions are urged to align their English Language Curriculum to CEFR as part of preparation in receiving students who have been taught using CEFR-aligned curriculum at schools by year 2022. This critical reflection article elucidates the meticulous processes that we have embarked on in re-aligning our English Language Curriculum to the standard and requirements of CEFR. The paper concludes with a remark that the alignment of the English curriculum at the university needs full support from the management in ensuring that all the stakeholders are fully prepared, informed and familiar with the framework.

scholarly journals Using Rubrics in A University EFL Process Writing Program: An Exploratory Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yamin Qian
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Process ◽  
Writing Programs ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Peer Reviews ◽  
Reflection Data ◽  
Student Cohorts

While rubrics have been widely recognized as an effective instructional tool for teachers to evaluate students’ writing products, fewer studies explored how students use it for their writing process in an EFL university academic writing classes. This study explores the application of process-oriented rubrics in two EFL writing programs, and investigates whether English language proficiency, motivation to writing, and their previous experiences with writing programs would significantly affect the use of the rubrics. The participants (N=190) were from two student cohorts, each of which had 95 participants. The data set includes students’ self-, peer- use and the instructor’s use of the rubrics, and students’ written reflection upon peer feedbacks. The data showed that the rubrics can guide students to practice a writing process, and that the 20-item rubric was statistically reliable.  The data of rubrics also showed that the participants were more critical on their peers’ writing, and the reflection data showed students’ awareness of revision strategies. The qualitative data seemed to suggest that peer reviews and reflections upon such reviews could enhance students' revision strategies. This article will conclude itself by providing some pedagogical suggestions in EFL contexts

scholarly journals A Discourse Analysis: Cohesion of the Introduction Section of Research Article

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Anis Firdatul Rochma ◽  
Sulis Triyono
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Semantic Meaning ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Research Article ◽  
English Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Competence

<em>As an effort to give contribution to the existing knowledge, it is expected for the undergraduate students to compose an engaging research article in order to convince the readers about the importance of the research article. However, there is only a little attention given to the articles written by the undergraduate students although it is considered very critical to examine whether the exposure of English academic writing has significantly enhances the writing competence of the students. Furthermore, as it is also very crucial to build a meaningful semantic meaning among the sentences in order to disclose the worthiness of the research article, it is essential to analyze the cohesion of the research article written by the undergraduate students. Henceforth, the present research is projected to investigate the cohesion of the research articles written by the undergraduate students of English Language Teaching. As the introduction section of research article is likely to be an area to portray the logical explanation of the research, the present research solely focuses on examining the cohesion of the introduction section of research article. By adopting a qualitative design and involving several steps to analyze the introduction section, it is revealed that the grammatical cohesion is considered to be the most utilized type of cohesion in writing the introduction section. Still, the lexical cohesion is also necessary to build an eloquent semantic meaning about the topic as well the importance of the research article.</em>

Academic Integrity

2017 ◽  
pp. 306-326
Author(s):  
Mingsheng Li
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Academic Dishonesty ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Academic Integrity ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Situational Variables ◽  
Student Plagiarism ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
The University

Student plagiarism is a pervasive issue at all levels of study in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) around the world. Plagiarism is considered as a cultural phenomenon and students from certain cultures are often stereotyped as ‘persistent plagiarists'. This chapter reports the findings of a research project and examines the issues of academic dishonesty reported by Chinese students in New Zealand universities. Four lecturers and six university graduates participated in the interviews and the focus group discussion. The study has identified seven forms of disguised plagiarism deriving from four interrelated variables: inadequate language proficiency, lack of discipline knowledge and conventions, issues of assessment, and situational variables. The university is morally responsible to teach the students the concept of Academic Integrity (AI) and plagiarism, discipline conventions and rules of games in academic writing, and develop their language, writing, and research skills to help them avoid the traps of plagiarism.

An exploration of the relationship between undergraduate students’ library book borrowing and academic achievement

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yakup Çetin ◽  
Vivian Howard
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
Undergraduate University Students ◽  
Library Book ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

This exploratory study examines book circulation patterns among undergraduate university students at an English-language University in Istanbul, Turkey, in order to investigate the relationship between students’ academic achievement and discipline of study, gender and book borrowing habits. Overall, this study supports the important role of the academic library’s print book collection in supporting and contributing to student success and demonstrates a significant positive correlation between undergraduate students’ level of academic achievement and the number of books they borrowed from the university library. This positive correlation was found for students in all faculties and fields of study, but was strongest for students studying qualitative disciplines and was particularly strong for students enrolled in English as a foreign language programmes.

An Empirical Study of Reading Habits and Interests of Saudi University EFL Learners

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussam Rajab ◽  
Alhasan Al-Sadi
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Academic Reading ◽  
Preparatory Year ◽  
The University ◽  
L1 And L2

<p align="left">This small-scale, quantitative study investigated the reading habits and interests of Saudi English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students at a university-level preparatory year program (PYP). The study aimed to identify certain habits and preferences of EFL learners with regard to various personal practices of the reading process in first language (L1) as well as in second language (L2). The study utilized a custom-designed, 10-item questionnaire on a Likert scale format in order to gain more insights into the manners with which students may or may not approach reading. The participants were newly-registered, male and female students (<em>n=330</em>) on the university PYP course with mixed English Language proficiency. Analysis of the data collected using descriptive statistical tools indicated several issues relating to the reading habits in general, including students’ lack of interest as well as lack of motivation towards ‘academic reading’ in both L1 and L2. However, the analysis revealed a greater level of engagement in reading in social media contexts. The study has several implications for future research and pedagogy in EFL reading as well as implications for the EFL classroom. </p>

scholarly journals Professional writing: Description of the writings of social workers in Botswana

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-402
Author(s):  
Unity Nkateng ◽  
Sue Wharton
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Professional Writing ◽  
Support Unit ◽  
University Of Botswana ◽  
The University

The main purpose of this study is to identify the professional writing needs of undergraduate students studying social work in the University of Botswana. In order to do this, it seeks to analyse the types of texts produced by social workers in their professional setting, to find out what relationship exists between the writing done by professional social workers and the writing taught in the dedicated English Language Support unit at the University of Botswana, and to explore the similarities and differences between the documents written by the students and those produced by professional social workers. It also examines current approaches to teaching writing in the University, with the aim of identifying the writing needs of social work students and exploring how these can be effectively addressed.

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