scholarly journals Educational Turning Point in Albania: No More Mechanic Parrots but Critical Thinkers

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Mirela Dubali Alhasani
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Educational Transformation ◽  
Critical Writing ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Shed Light

<p>Since 2004 Albanian academics have been making efforts to establish the best Western practices of academic writing associated with critical thinking and writing skills for university students. In this article, I will shed light upon the special challenges and peculiarities the establishment of Academic Writing discipline has encountered in Albania over the years of educational transformation in the broad framework of democratic political transition. I argue that the socio-political indoctrination of the society during five decades of communist dictatorship has delayed the cultivation of critical thinking, reading and, consequently, critical writing skills for academic and occupational opportunities. Moreover, the research will not be limited only to causal factors of delay, instead, it will pave the way to recommendations that accelerate the successful acquisition and possession of such crucial academic writing skills for Albanian university graduates and academia in general.</p><p>First, I provide literature on definition of critical thinking and its improvement through writing courses; next I depict the typical political indoctrination of students during communist dictatorship tracing the legacy of mechanic reading and the huge lack of critical discourse even among the academic staffs themselves; later on I discuss the contemporary academic focus being placed upon the need of critical academic writing to prepare independent thinkers successful to face the democratic transition. Finally, and most importantly, I offer substantial suggestions and recommendations how to implement successfully the Western Academic writing tradition in the higher education curricula by taking into consideration Albania’s educational legacy.</p>

One step up and two steps back? The Italian debate on secularization, heteronormativity and LGBTQ citizenship

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 591-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Bellè ◽  
Caterina Peroni ◽  
Elisa Rapetti
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The Family ◽  
One Step ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Shed Light

The aim of this article is to furnish insights of the Italian public debate on the recognition of LGBTQ rights, which can be understood as an interesting case study of the complex relationship between (multi)secularisation processes and re/definition of citizenship models. More specifically, the article analyses two political events related to this debate that took place in Rome in June 2015. The first is the Family Day demonstration, promoted by conservative Catholic groups; the second is the LGBTQ Pride parade, promoted by various gay, lesbian and transsexual/gender associations. We analyse the official statements issued by the two organising committees of the demonstrations, adopting the framework and methods of the Critical Discourse Analysis. Above and beyond an evident political conflict between the two discourses, we try to shed light on their mutual construction on the basis of what we call ‘naturalization’ and ‘universalization’ processes.

scholarly journals Postmodernism as a Nationalist Conservatism? The Case of Zhang Yiwu

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Strafella
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Modern China ◽  
The Political ◽  
Chinese Studies ◽  
Political Stance ◽  
Peking University ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractThe adoption of postmodernist and postcolonial theories by China’s intellectuals dates back to the early 1990s and its history is intertwined with that of two contemporaneous trends in the intellectual sphere, i. e. the rise of conservatism and an effort to re-define the function of the Humanities in the country. This article examines how these trends merge in the political stance of a key figure in that process, Peking University literary scholar Zhang Yiwu, through a critical discourse analysis of his writings from the early and mid-1990s. Pointing at his strategic use of postmodernist discourse, it argues that Zhang Yiwu employed a legitimate critique of the concept of modernity and West-centrism to advocate a historical narrative and a definition of cultural criticism that combine Sino-centrism and depoliticisation. The article examines programmatic articles in which the scholar articulated a theory of the end of China’s “modernity”. It also takes into consideration other parallel interventions that shed light on Zhang Yiwu’s political stance towards modern China, globalisation and post-1992 economic reforms, including a discussion between Zhang Yiwu and some of his most prominent detractors. The article finally reflects on the implications of Zhang Yiwu’s writings for the field of Chinese Studies, in particular on the need to look critically and contextually at the adoption of “foreign” theoretical discourse for national political agendas.

The effect of critical viewing on the critical writing skills of the translation studies students

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 88-113
Author(s):  
Dilara Demirbulak ◽  
Kübra Bodur
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Hard Copy ◽  
Critical Writing ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Main Component ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Essay Test

Developing translation students’ critical writing skills is an important issue in academia since they are expected to be critical thinkers and contribute to the field of study. The most important precursor of critical writing is critical reading which is an active, probing, and recursive approach to interpret and use the information and ideas from the text. Meanwhile, keeping in mind the vast explosion of mass media products and technology, critical viewing is unavoidable serving the same purpose of hard-copy texts. Moreover, in recent years, the role of literature as the main component and material of its original texts has accelerated as a teaching of critical thinking and writing rather than a final goal. This paper aims to examine the effect of critical viewing and reading of literary texts on the critical writing skills of undergraduates of the Department of Translation and Interpreting. “Ennis - Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test”, designed by Ennis and Weir in 1985, was used to identify the impact of critical viewing and reading on critical writing skills. In this quasi-experimental study ANOVA, Kruskal- Wallis, and T-test were used to analyze the impact of critical viewing and reading on the critical writing skills of the 30 undergraduates.

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.

scholarly journals EFL Students’ and Lecturer’s Perceptions on Collaborative Writing

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Ade Ismail ◽  
Ninuk Lustyantie ◽  
Emzir Emzir
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Positive Perception ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Efl Students

The study aims to explore in-depth students' and lecturer’s perceptions of collaborative writing. There are four perceptual focuses; conceptual understanding, forms of cooperation, writing skills, and classroom atmosphere. This study used a qualitative method involving 31 students who took academic writing courses and an English Lecturer. The research data were collected through questionnaire and analyzed descriptively. The results showed that students and lecturer had a positive perception of the collaborative writing model in terms of understanding concepts, forms of cooperation, writing skills, and a pleasant learning classroom atmosphere. One of the most dominant aspects of students' perceptions about collaborative writing is the development of cooperation between them in the learning process (Storch 2018), which improves their writing abilities and skills (Zhang 2018).  

BEYOND CRITICAL THINKING IN ACADEMIC WRITING: A DISCOURSE PERSPECTIVE

JURNAL BASIS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Misdi Misdi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Education ◽  
Private University ◽  
Research Proposal ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Critical Writing ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
Proposal Writing

The phenomenon of critical thinking, as one aspect of learning experiences, is challenging. Yet, it reflects students’ ideas and understanding of particular matters, especially in academic writing among the English education institutions. Thus, this study was aimed to investigate how undergraduate students fashioned their understanding of being self-driven in writing research proposal relating to reading skills. The research questions drop into two big areas: 1) How is critical thinking reflected in research proposal writing, 2) What are evidences of being critical in addressing research proposal? Having three sessions of in-depth interview, fifty seven students of English department of a private university in West Java, Indonesia were involved in the reflection of their writing and reading experiences during the study. The data were collected through interview and document observation. The findings suggest that first, the critical writing is reflected by such citation and elaborative sentences as the distinctive writing features of academic writing. Second, the extended description and elaboration are made due to reading constraint. Books are mainly the sources, whereas research journal articles are still less appreciated. Thus, reading is defines as the evidence of being critical. The results of the study play significant contribution in building critical thinking, critical reading, and critical writing as self-awareness manifesto among the students of English education.

scholarly journals "I can't say it any better": Critical reading as a threshold concept in helping postgraduate Arab students become critical and original writers

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Radhika Iyer-O'Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Critical Writing ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Threshold Concept

Many studies on plagiarism issues across the globe have arrived at the consensus that in dealing with plagiarism, universities need to do more than provide students with policies and procedures. Education, via academic support classes, has been touted as the way forward in teaching students to develop academic writing skills and avoid plagiarism. Teaching postgraduate students to produce academic writing that is analytical while retaining their individual expression has been a challenge at the British University in Dubai (BUiD). Most of the students at the university come from mainly Arab educational backgrounds. This could mean that their education may not have been in English but more importantly, that they may also have been entrenched in different learning and teaching styles. Previously encouraged to rely on restating exactly what they have read may contribute to students' inability to express critical thought through their writing. Based on analysis of students' critical writing through faculty feedback, samples of student writing and Turnitin reports, this paper seeks to demonstrate that teaching critical reading skills as a threshold concept that translates into critical thinking skills will help students adopt a different approach to reading, which will subsequently help develop critical writing skills. This paper will show how pedagogy was developed to enable students to read critically and produce coherent and thoughtful critical writing while retaining academic integrity.

scholarly journals EAP alignment in EFL writing courses towards developing student’s academic writing skills

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-144
Author(s):  
Melaku Bayu Workie ◽  
Zelealem Shitahun Haregu
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Basic Writing ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Efl Writing ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Descriptive Survey ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

The objective of the present study was to assess the prevailing alignment of English for academic purposes (EAP) in EFL writing courses vis-à-vis the development of academic writing skills of students in public universities of Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) in Ethiopia. The study used a descriptive survey that involved quantitative and qualitative methods. A questionnaire, focus-group discussions, and syllabus and materials survey were used to gather primary and secondary data, respectively, for the study. The descriptive statistics were employed in analyzing the quantitative data. The qualitative data were analyzed and reported thematically. The results showed there were existed a comparable horizontal (cross-department) distribution pattern of common writing courses among the three universities; all learners in taking the common course 'Basic Writing Skills' in each university learnt with the same syllabus and material regardless of their fields of study. So, there was a poor alignment of writing courses with the target students' mainstream discipline (i.e., learning and discourse) both in terms of content and genre. 

scholarly journals Promoting EFL students’ critical thinking and self-voicing through CIRC technique in Academic Writing courses

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 917-934
Author(s):  
Andi Susilo ◽  
Restu Mufanti ◽  
Aris Fitriani
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Education ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Efl Students

Critical thinking and self-voicing are two demanding skills that facilitate students to produce concise, authorial academic texts. While most writing programs and research have paid much attention to improving students’ writing achievement, less attention is given to promote these two skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classrooms. This article reports a classroom-based study investigating the use of the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) technique to promote EFL students’ academic writing skills. It particularly examines how the CIRC technique helps to foster students’ critical and self-voicing stance in developing argumentative texts. A participatory qualitative study was employed, involving 64 undergraduate students majoring in English Education. Data were generated from the participants’ writing portfolios, observations, and the teacher’s reflections. The collected data were managed, classified, and analyzed using NVivo 12 to elicit the emerging themes. Drawing on the qualitative content analysis, the results showed that the CIRC technique helped to shape the participants’ critical thinking and self-voicing skills which were consistently demonstrated during the student-centered activities and their writing results. The participants could engage in productive writing processes, such as critical reading, note-taking, summarizing, drafting and revising composition, peer-reviewing, and other related collaborative skills. The findings indicated that the development of students’ critical thinking and self-voicing skills simultaneously affected the quality of their academic writing texts.

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