British Students' Academic Writing

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil Sultan
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
University Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Remedial Measures ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
The North ◽  
Word Selection

The problem of poor academic writing among British university students is a major cause of concern for universities and their tutors; and it is also of concern to employers struggling to recruit individuals able to communicate clearly and accurately. This article reports on a study designed to highlight some of the reasons for the lack of writing skills, with a view to identifying remedial measures that could be taken to address the problem. The object of the study is an Academy (secondary school) in the North of England, referred to as Northland Academy (NA), one of the new Academies first introduced by the Labour Government in 2000 and now enthusiastically endorsed and promoted in England by the current UK Coalition Government. A first group of students at NA was given relatively simple tests of punctuation and word selection and essay writing; and, separately, a second group was presented with a research proposal and given the task of writing an essay on it. It is suggested that a change in Government policy is needed in order to emphasize and include the importance of academic writing for secondary and FE students intending to progress into HE.

scholarly journals Interference of First Language in Secondary School Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6S3) ◽  
pp. 675-681
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
First Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Writing Strategies ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
School Students ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Support Students

First language (L1) interference is inevitable in second language (L2) acquisition. The research was carried out to investigate types of students writing approach that relates to first language interference among upper secondary students and the level of first language interference in L2 written essays among lower secondary students in Malaysia. The participants in this research were 50 students currently studying Form Four in a state-funded school, Akademi Menara Gading, Pahang. The data was collected using the Student L1 Interference Tendency Questionnaire [SLITQ], and analysis of students’ essay writing samples. After triangulating the data, the result indicated that most students positive they have under-differentiation in their essay writing, and analysis of the student's written essays showed that there is less evidence of L1 interference. In conclusion, teachers and schools should acknowledge L1 interference in students’ writing skill and promote a variety of writing strategies to support students existing writing skills.

scholarly journals ENHANCING ACADEMIC WRITING PERFORMANCE THROUGH DIRECT INSTRUCTION OF THE ACADEMIC FORMULAS

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 850-861
Author(s):  
Nor Ashikin Ab Manan ◽  
Paramaswari Jaganathan ◽  
Ambigapathy Pandian
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Direct Instruction ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
Before And After ◽  
And Control

This paper discusses the results of a study on formula instruction conducted among mixed-ability diploma level university students. The main objective of the study was to investigate whether incorporating direct instruction of academic formulas (DIAF) into an academic writing class would encourage the use of the target academic formulas (TAF) in the post academic essay writing (AEW) test, and improve the subjects’ academic writing performance. Two intact groups of diploma level university students enrolled in an academic writing course employing a process-oriented writing approach participated in the study. Both groups consisted of forty students and were assigned as the experimental and control groups. DIAF was incorporated into the existing academic writing course’s syllabus and was conducted two hours per week over six out of the fourteen-week semester. Pre and post AEW tests were used to assess the subjects’ academic writing performance before and after the treatment. The results of the study are discussed by addressing three research questions: 1) What are the effects of DIAF on the TAF use in the post AEW test? 2) What is the effect of TAF use on the post AEW test scores? 3) What are the effects of DIAF on the subjects’ academic writing performance? It was concluded that DIAF encourages the use of more TAF and a more varied selection of TAF in the post AEW test. There is a significant but weak positive linear relationship between the number of TAF used in the post AEW test and the post AEW test scores (r=0.473), and the number of TAF used is a significant predictor in estimating the scores for all the three AEW test components. DIAF is also beneficial at enhancing the subjects’ academic writing performance with a large effect size of 0.98 for ‘language’ component, 0.86 for ‘organization’ component and a small effect size of 0.45 for ‘content’ component.

scholarly journals Coherence Problems of EFL Students’ Writing in Light of the Gricean Maxims

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-313
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Khonamari ◽  
Ehsan Hashemi ◽  
Martina Pavlikova ◽  
Bozena Petrasova
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Basic Problem ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Cooperative Principle ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Gricean Maxims ◽  
Efl Students

Aim. In academic writing, lack of coherence is thought to occur mostly due to the lack of necessary linguistic skills and knowledge in L2. Thus, the analysis of a written text is concerned with understanding the local relations among the ideas conveyed in a text. Concept. As is usually the case, students writing in a second language generally produce texts that contain varying degrees of grammatical and rhetorical errors. Most of the studies have been conducted with only one criterion for the analysis of coherence and they reported different results. Also, most of them have been conducted on a small scale in terms of the number of participants, and writing samples collected. Therefore, this study tries to investigate the coherence problems/errors of university students in their writing, if any, on a fairly large scale in light of the Cooperative principle and its maxims. Results and conclusion. The study revealed that the basic problem of the students in their essay writing was the way the text should be structured with reference to how cohesion and coherence are established. In the analysis of maxim violations, the violation of the Quality maxim was identified as making overgeneralisations or giving inadequate or no evidence/support for the claims/ideas. The violation of the Quality maxim indicates that students tend to do it due to their linguistic inadequacies.

scholarly journals NUNNIYA VAASIPPU ANUKUMURAIYAI PAYANPADUTTI KATTURAI EZUTHUM THIRANAI MEEMPADUTHUTHAL [IMPROVE ESSAY WRITING SKILLS BY USING CRITICAL READING APPROACH]

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-125
Author(s):  
M.MENU
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Standard Curriculum ◽  
Bloom’S Taxonomy ◽  
Post Test

Based on the Secondary school Tamil language standard curriculum form 2 students must eventually become capable of creating multiple forms of writing. Thus, this study has been conducted to evaluate students' writing ability through the Bloom's Taxonomy 1956 theory using a critical reading approach. This study is based on three objectives that assessing students’ essay writing quality before critical reading, assessing students' writing quality after critical reading, and examining the perspective of critical reading approach. All data were collected and analysed from a test sheets, questionnaire and essay marking scheme. The students were evaluated by a post test to determine the effectiveness of the teaching of learning about critical reading applications in essay writing at the end of this study it was realized that critical reading approach can improve essay writing.

scholarly journals Pengembangan kompetensi digital academics writing berbasis COST untuk remaja di Puri Cinere Hijau Depok

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-177
Author(s):  
Anita Diana ◽  
Reva Ragam Santika
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
School Students ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Microsoft Word ◽  
Training Content

[Bahasa]: Tujuan Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat (PKM) ini adalah untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan dan keterampilan kepada para remaja tentang membuat digital academics writing yang berbasis COST (comprehensive, objective, systematic, trusted) sehingga dapat Meningkatkan wawasan pengetahuan tentang menulis makalah atau karya tulis yang baik dan benar. Disamping itu juga meningkatkan hubungan dan kerjasama antara Universitas Budi Luhur dengan Warga Puri Cinere Hijau Depok sebagai mitra. Metode yang digunakan adalah survey, wawancara, penyampaian materi dan praktikum serta memberikan kuesioner sebagai feedback dari mitra dan evaluasi dari kegiatan PKM. Kesimpulan dari kegiatan ini menunjukkan bahwa pelatihan penggunaan aplikasi Microsoft Word dalam pembuatan digital academics writing yang berbasis COST berjalan dengan baik dan terbukti berdasarkan Analisis angket menunjukkan bahwa respon remaja terhadap Evaluasi pelatihan untuk meningkatkan keterampilan dalam Digital Academics Writing berbasis COST dengan rata-rata persentase sebesar 71%. Serta berdasarkan hasil evaluasi proses pelatihan menunjukkan 90% peserta setuju isi materi pelatihan jelas dan mudah dipahami, 80% Tutor memberi kesempatan untuk bertanya, 90% peserta sangat setuju bahwa tutor mampu menjawab pertanyaan peserta dengan jelas, 70% Peserta setuju bahwa tutor membantu dalam memahami materi yang disampaikan contoh latihan jelas dan mudah dipahami. Pelatihan ini meningkatkan kompetensi remaja  dalam bidang menulis makalah atau bentuk digital academic writing lainnya serta memiliki dampak sangat positif bagi remaja khususnya pelajar dan mahasiswa dalam menyelesaikan tugas harian sekolah atau kampus dan juga sebagai modal dalam penyusunan makalah dan skripsi nantinya. Kata Kunci: digital academics writing, COST [English]: This community service aims to increase teenagers’ knowledge and skills on how to make Digital Academics Writing based by COST (comprehensive, objective, systematic, trusted) to increase their writing quality. It also improves relations and cooperation between Budi Luhur University and the partner (Puri Cinere Hijau Depok residents). The methods used were surveys, interviews, expository, and practicum. Questionnaires were also given to the participants as an evaluation of the program. The training on using Microsoft Word application to create Digital academic Writing based on COST was running well. The questionnaire results showed that the program improved participants’ Digital Academics Writing skills based on COST with 71% average. The evaluation of the training reveals that 90% of the participants agreed that the training content is clear and understandable, 80% agreed that the tutor facilitated a discussion, 90% strongly agreed that the tutor could answer the participants’ questions clearly, and 70% agreed that tutor had helped the participants to understand the delivered lesson, and appropriately given the exercises. The program has improved the participants’ competence in writing papers or another digital academic writing form. Also, it gives a strong positive impact on school students and university students to complete their daily school or college tasks and as a preparation for writing the thesis. Keywords: digital academics writing, COST

scholarly journals The Evaluation of Monolingual and Bilingual Students’ Writing Skills in Fifth Grade of Secondary School Comparatively

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Haydar Özdemi̇r ◽  
Ömer Çi̇ftç
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Story Writing

This study was conducted to determine the writing skills of bilingual students whose mother tongue is Kurdish and monoligual students whose mother tongue is Turkish in the fifth grade of secondary school. More specifically, the story and essay writing skills of bilingual students are compared with the writing skills of monolingual students based on their reading habits and their parents’ educational backgrounds. The research is a descriptive study based on scanning model and aims to reveal the current situation as it is. The study group of the research consists of a total of 104 fifth grade secondary school students, 52 bilingual and 52 monolingual, studying in 4 different secondary schools in the central district of İpekyolu in Van, Turkey. In order to determine students’ writing skills, stories and essays were written to them at different times in one lesson hour (average forty minutes). The stories were evaluated according to the Story Writing Evaluation Form (İzdeş, 2011). The essays were evaluated according to the Written Expression Rating Scale (Deniz, 2003). According to the results of Mann Whitney-U and Kruskal - Wallis-H tests, monolingual students outperformed bilingual students in both story and essay writing. While a significant difference was found between bilingual and monolingual students’ essay and story writing skills, no significant difference was found in terms of parents› education status or the number of books their parents read. The findings have interesting implications for the researchers and teachers in the area.

scholarly journals Performance, Feedback, and Revision: Metacognitive Approaches to Undergraduate Essay Writing

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Riddell
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Assessment Criteria ◽  
First Year ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Writing Project

Abstract This paper explores ways in which frequent feedback and clear assessment criteria can improve students’ essay writing performance in a first-year English literature course. Students (n = 68) completed a series of three scaffolded exercises over the course of a semester, where they evaluated undergraduate essays using a predetermined assessment process. They were then asked to write their own essays and evaluate them using the same assessment criteria. The efficacy of the project was evaluated based upon student feedback, both quantitative and qualitative, and an analysis of their marks. The essay-writing project was informed by fundamental principles supported by research in teaching and learning: namely, that early intervention in first-year courses helps students improve their essay-writing skills, clear and transparent expectations are crucial for positive student perceptions around learning, carefully scaffolded assignment help students develop their writing skills over time, and increasing the frequency of writing opportunities and feedback leads to higher learning outcomes. Findings suggest that a metacognitive approach to essay writing can provide significant opportunities for students to improve their essay-writing skills. The essay-writing project has implications for those who plan, support, and deliver first-year university courses, particularly those courses involving academic writing assignments.

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