scholarly journals The Analysis of Argument-Counterargument Structure in Chinese EFL Learners’ Argumentative Writing

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fangyuan Du
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Claim Data ◽  
The Other ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Writing Evaluation ◽  
Automated Writing Evaluation ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Essay Quality

This study aims to analyze argument-counterargument structure of English argumentative essays written by Chinese EFL university students, based on the adapted Toulmin’s (2003) model of the argument structure constituting four elements (i.e. claim, data, counterargument and rebuttal). It also measures whether there is a correlation between the use of counterargument structure and the participants’ overall essay quality assessed by an online AWE (Automated Writing Evaluation) program. Three hundred and ninety students with various majors in a Chinese university submitted their argumentative essays in English online. The results demonstrated that half of the participants developed a one-sided model of argumentation while the other half of them used argument-counterargument structure in their essays. The participants’ use of counterarguments affected the overall quality of their essays. Pedagogical implications of these findings are also discussed.

scholarly journals Focus and Effects of Peer and Machine Feedback on Chinese University EFL Learners’ Revisions of English Argumentative Essays

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-98
Author(s):  
Meihua Liu
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Method ◽  
Peer Feedback ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
Powerful Predictor ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
Argumentative Essays

The present mixed-method study examined the foci and effects of peer and machine feedback on the revisions of Chinese university EFL learners’ English argumentative essays. The data included Draft 1, peer feedback (PF), PF-based Draft 2, machine feedback (MF), MF-based feedback, questionnaires, and interview recordings. The main findings were: (a) peer feedback was primarily concerned with content errors, while machine feedback mainly involved non-content errors, (b) significant differences occurred in errors of most types between Draft 1, PF and PF-based Draft 2, and between Draft 1, MF, and MF-based Draft 2, (c) the intake of ‘introducing a new topic in Conclusion’ was a powerful predictor of PF-based Draft 2 scores, and (d) the participants generally moderately considered peer and machine feedback to be useful. Based on the findings, some implications are discussed on how to better implement and enhance the quality of peer and machine feedback.

scholarly journals INTERACTION IN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS: THE CASE OF ENGAGEMENT

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-110
Author(s):  
Hesamoddin Shahriari ◽  
Farzaneh Shadloo
Keyword(s):  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Essay Quality ◽  
Frequency Counts ◽  
One Way Anova ◽  
Insight Into

Given the importance of interaction in academic discourse, researchers have investigated the use of stance and engagement markers in written academic texts. However, few of these studies have analyzed engagement features in a genre such as the argumentative essay. Employing Hyland’s (2001) engagement framework, this paper examined the use of five engagement markers in a corpus of argumentative essays written by EFL learners across three levels of essay quality. All features of engagement were manually coded and normalized and a one-way ANOVA was subsequently run for analyzing the frequency counts. The findings showed a disassociation between the presence of engagement markers and the overall quality of EFL learners’ essays. The current study offers insight into the interactional nature of argumentative essays. We conclude with a discussion of some of the implications so that educators may provide EFL learners with more adequate support in order to write in a more persuasive way.

scholarly journals Exploring the Feedback Quality of an Automated Writing Evaluation System Pigai

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 322
Author(s):  
Jianmin Gao
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation System ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Writing Evaluation ◽  
Automated Writing Evaluation ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Feedback Quality ◽  
Lexical Errors ◽  
Daily Writing

The study made an exploration of the feedback quality of an Automated Writing Evaluation system (AWE) Pigai, which has been widely applied in English teaching and learning in China. The study not only focused on the diagnostic precision of the feedback but also investigated the students’ perceptions of the feedback use in their daily writing practices. Taking 104 university students’ final exam essays as the research materials, the paired sample t-test was conducted to compare the mean number of errors identified by Pigai and professional teachers. It was found that Pigai feedback could not so well diagnose the essays as the human feedback given by the experienced teachers, however, it was quite competent in identifying lexical errors. The analysis of students’ perceptions indicated that most students thought Pigai feedback was multi-functional, but it was inadequate in identifying the collocation errors and giving suggestions in syntactic use. The implications and limitations of the study were discussed at the end of the paper.

Argument structures in Chinese university students’ argumentative writing

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-87
Author(s):  
Xinghua Liu ◽  
Clare Furneaux
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Chinese University Students ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Linguistic Approach ◽  
Chinese Writing

Situated within a Systemic Functional Linguistics genre paradigm, this study adopted a function-based linguistic approach to examine the argument structures in English writing produced by Chinese university students of English as foreign language (EFL). Their English writing was contrasted with three other sets of argumentative essays in order to explore differences and similarities in the use of argument structures. The four sets of essays were produced by three groups of university students: native English- and Chinese-speaking university students and Chinese university EFL students. Participants’ interviews and questionnaire responses were also collected. The study found that most native English-speaking participants used an analytical arguing strategy, while most Chinese-speaking university participants preferred a hortatory argument structure both in their English and Chinese writing. It was also found that Chinese participants’ English writing was influenced by both English and Chinese.

scholarly journals The Effect of Individualized Technology-Mediated Feedback on EFL Learners’ Argumentative Essays

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Soltanpour ◽  
Mohammadreza Valizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Experimental Treatment ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Paper Form ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Argumentative Essays

This quantitative quasi-experimental study, which followed a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design, was aimed at investigating the effect of individualized technology-mediated feedback (henceforth, ITMF) on the overall quality of Iranian EFL learners’ argumentative essays. The effect of ITMF, as the experimental treatment, was compared with the common written corrective feedback (henceforth, CWCF) strategies as the control treatment. 57 learners, studying at general EFL courses at upper-intermediate level, formed the participants. They were assigned to two groups: ITMF and CWCF, which, in this study, is meant as the pen-and-paper form of direct and indirect feedback. Each group received six sessions of treatment. The writing tasks and tests were all of argumentative type. First, whether there was any significant difference between the ITMF and CWCF in the overall quality of the essays was investigated. The ITMF group significantly outperformed the CWCF one. Then, whether the difference between the groups varied over time was explored, and it was revealed that the ITMF was still significantly superior over the CWCF. Next, whether there would be any significant change in the ITMF in the long term was examined, and no change was seen. The study supports the advocates of screencasting feedback, revision and teacher-learner negotiation following the feedback.

scholarly journals How Well Can Arab EFL Learners Adequately Use Discourse Markers?

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Written Compositions ◽  
The University

Discourse markers are words or phrases used in both speech and writing to signal relationships between discourse segments, including clauses, sentences and even larger portions of texts such as paragraphs. Their proper use in writing effectively contributes to textuality standards, particularly cohesion and coherence. On the other hand, learners’ misuse, underuse or overuse of these markers may negatively impact the quality of the texts that these learners produce. This paper examined the ability of a group of Arab learners of English as a foreign language (ALEFL) from the University of Sharjah to recognize and produce discourse markers in written compositions. Using two elicitation techniques, the researchers collected data for this research from a sample of one hundred Arab learners studying English at the University of Sharjah. A test consisting of four parts was specially designed to evaluate participants’ ability to recognize and produce discourse markers in context. In addition, two hundred compositions written by ALEFL were analyzed to investigate their ability to produce discourse markers. The data analysis revealed that the participants’ ability to recognize and produce discourse markers was relatively low and their ability to recognize the functions of discourse markers in context was below expectations.

scholarly journals The Effect of Using Conjunction as Cohesive Device on the Undergraduates’ Quality of Writing in Argumentative Essays of Jordanian EFL Learners

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rawhi Yousef Salman Al Shamalat ◽  
Che An Binti Abdul Ghani
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Mu'tah University

The goal of this research was to investigate the effect of use conjunctions on the overall quality of argumentative writing of Jordanian English as foreign language (EFL) learners. This mixed-method research included sixty (n=60) undergraduate students at the Department. of English Language and Literature at Mu’tah University in Jordan. The participants of the research were selected using purposive sampling method. The data of the research were collected using written essays and interviews. The data was analyzed using SPSS. The data was collected using analytical scale Jacob et al., (1981) to measure the quality of argumentative essays. The result of this research showed that there was a weak negative but irrelevant correlation between writing quality and the frequency of conjunctions as cohesive devices. This correlation indicates that the frequent and general use of devices in the writing of Jordanian students did not contribute to the quality of the writing under any conditions. Also the finding revealed that there is an extremely negative but irrelevant correlation between the use of conjunctions devices by Jordanian EFL students and their writing quality. Therefore, the correlation was negative and insignificant for Jordanian EFL students. More specifically, the result shows that the frequencies of conjunctions were not found as an indicator of good writing quality for Jordanian EFL students. This research is significant for providing a considerable number of pedagogical implications for further research that will offer great contribution to the field of teaching writing in EFL setting in Jordan in particular and English as second language (ESL) context in general. Moreover, the research has shown a better understanding of cohesive devices / conjunctions by Jordanian EFL students at Mu’tah University.

scholarly journals A Flipped Writing Classroom: Effects on EFL Learners’ Argumentative Essays

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Soltanpour ◽  
Mohammadreza Valizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Flipped Instruction ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Significant Change ◽  
Argumentative Essays

According to the literature, flipped teaching is a relatively new pedagogical approach in which the typical activities of classroom lectures followed by homework in common teaching practice are reversed in order, and most often integrated or supplemented with some types of instructional materials, such as instructional videos or PowerPoint files. This experimental study, using a pre-test-treatment-posttest-delayed posttest design, was aimed at investigating the effect of flipped instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ quality of argumentative essays. The participants were 55 students, who were assigned to two groups: the flipped classroom (FC) and the traditional classroom (TC). Each group received 3 sessions of treatment. First, whether there was any significant difference between the FC and TC in the overall quality of the essays was investigated. The FC group significantly outperformed the TC one. Then, whether the difference between the groups varied over time was explored, and it was revealed that the FC was still significantly superior over the TC. Next, whether there would be any significant change in the FC in the long run was examined, and no significant change was seen. The promising results found in FC group can be attributed to not only the flipped instruction but also the process of actively engaging the learners in their learning in addition to incorporating different techniques, such as the video screencasting, collaborative writing, as well as in-class teacher-learner interaction and negotiation because it is argued that the crucial point in flipped instruction is how teachers best use in-class-time with students.

scholarly journals Modeling the Continuance Intention to Use Automated Writing Evaluation Among Chinese EFL Learners

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110607
Author(s):  
Rui Li
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Continuance Intention ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Writing Evaluation ◽  
Automated Writing Evaluation

Despite the growing attention being paid to the use of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) in China, it is still uncertain what factors lie behind EFL (English-as-a-foreign-language) learners’ continuance intention to use it. To this end, by adding two external factors (i.e., computer self-efficacy and perceived ease of use) to the expectation confirmation model (ECM), we surveyed 345 Chinese EFL learners and tested a number of proposed hypotheses using their response data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results demonstrated that four factors directly influenced EFL learners’ continuance intention to use AWE, of which perceived ease of use was the most significant factor. Furthermore, confirmation was the most important factor impacting on EFL learners’ satisfaction and perceived ease of use of AWE. Perceived ease of use of AWE played an important role in influencing EFL learners’ perceived usefulness of AWE. Implications regarding the findings were also discussed.

Assessing Foreign Language Narrative Writing Through Automated Writing Evaluation

2020 ◽  
pp. 100-119
Author(s):  
Chia-An Lin ◽  
Yen-Liang Lin ◽  
Pei-Shan Tsai
Keyword(s):  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Feedback System ◽  
Narrative Writing ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Writing Evaluation ◽  
Automated Writing Evaluation ◽  
Lexical Richness ◽  
Writing Task ◽  
The Web

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) has become increasingly popular in the assessment of writing. The study in this chapter examines the extent to which EFL learners' overall narrative writing performance improves through the AWE feedback system (i.e., Pigai). Eighteen university participants were required to write one paragraph narratives on the web-based Pigai system every week over the course of a month. Findings show a significant improvement in overall scores between the first and last writing task. The analysis of lexical profile further shows a significant improvement in lexical richness, clause density, and paragraph length between the first and last narrative task. The study also reported that the primary error types that occurred in learner narrative writing were lexical, mechanical, and syntactic errors. Results of post-writing interviews also showed a positive attitude towards Pigai. Finally, a positive correlation was observed between automated Pigai scores and human rating scores, supporting the reliability of the AWE system.

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