The effectiveness of task-based language teaching on the writing skill: a systematic research synthesis

Introduction. This systematic research synthesis investigated the effectiveness of Task-based language teaching interventions on L2 writing performance of intermediate level students. Objective. The main aim was to determine the effects of independent variable manipulations of task-based language teaching on different modes of writing measured holistically and by means of CALF constructs. Methodology. The integration of qualitative and quantitative data was carried out by means of a systematic literature search and retrieval of published articles from 2010 until September 2011. Substantive and methodological features of the studies were coded and compared for the identification of commonly used practices and trends within the Task-based language teaching and L2 writing research domain. Results. The results indicate 3 major types of task-based interventions: TBLT framework, task complexity manipulations and task planning conditions have prevailed as treatments. Task complexity treatments have had beneficial effects on measures of fluency and lexical complexity while strategic planning and planning time also favored fluency in L2 writing. In turn, TBLT framework lesson treatments yielded large effects measured as Cohen’s d. Conclusion. In spite of the wide variety of treatment conditions and outcome measures for different modes of L2 writing, support is given to the importance of the pre-task cycle stage management of TBLT for intermediate level learners.

The Story of Writing: From Classical Rhetoric to Rhetoric and Composition

Written to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the rubric “Academic Writing and Research Competences” established by the journal’s late editor-in-chief Mikhail Sapunov, the paper focuses on the origins of academic writing and traces its development in terms of rhetoric. The five stages of classical rhetoric are interpreted as five key components of academic writing: research, logic, culture, knowledge, and language. This approach helps visualize academic writing as a wholesome model composed of cognitive and linguistic elements, describe the impact of this model on the rhetorical and publishing conventions of the global academic discourse, and define the problems in knowledge construction as deviations from the model’s unity in various sociocultural contexts. The study concludes that the low quality of an academic text may result from either losing the predominance of the first two stages of rhetoric (invention and arrangement) or of the other three (style, memory, and delivery). The former signifies an ideological pressure on researchers to substitute their own rhetoric with quotes from canonized sources, whereas the latter provokes them to disregard language and style as inferior to research, because of which texts diminish in clarity. In either case, communication lacks in efficiency. The study of academic writing in the historical perspective contributes to better understanding of the latest trends in its development and elicits the problems which impede the quality of Russian scholarly and academic texts.

Sosialisasi Ilmu Statistik dalam Penelitian Bagi Mahasiswa Di Kota Palembang

Statistics and research are two things that cannot be separated. Although there are types of research that do not require the dominant role of statistics (qualitative research), but to be able to produce conclusions that can be generalized to a wider population, statistics is needed. Such research is quantitative research with a positivistic paradigm, ie a phenomenon is real if it can be seen, measured, and classified. The application of statistical science which is generally needed by students in writing research such as theses and theses, will have a positive impact, especially in improving the quality of the research. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to conduct socialization to students. The socialization was carried out to several students from both state universities and private universities in the city of Palembang. The socialization was done by introducing and giving tutorials on how to use statistical applications such as SPSS and Eviews, because several lecturers at several universities in Palembang complained about the poor quality of research and some said that their students did not really understand how to use SPSS and Eviews. The first result of this service is that students' understanding of SPSS and Eviews can be seen from discussions and questions and answers, second, namely the ability of students to apply the use of SPSS and Eviews in research.Keywords: research; socialization; statisticsAbstrak: Statistik dan penelitian merupakan dua hal yang tidak bisa dipisahkan. Meskipun ada jenis penelitian yang tidak membutuhkan peranan statistika yang dominan (penelitian kualitatif), namun untuk dapat menghasilkan kesimpulan yang dapat digeneralisasikan ke populasi yang lebih luas diperlukan ilmu statistika. Penelitian yang demikian adalah penelitian kuantitatif dengan paradigma yang positivistik, yakni suatu gejala itu adalah nyata jika bisa dilihat, diukur, dan diklasifikasikan. Penerapan ilmu statistik yang umumnya dibutuhkan mahasiswa dalam penulisan penelitian seperti skripsi dan tesis, akan berdampak positif terutama dalam meningkatan kualitas penelitian tersebut. Untuk mencapai tujuan tersebut maka perlu diadakan sosialisasi kepada mahasiswa. Sosialisasi dilakukan pada beberapa mahasiswa baik dari perguruan tinggi negeri maupun perguruan tinggi swasta di Kota Palembang. Sosialisasi dilakukan dengan cara mengenalkan dan memberikan tutorial bagaimana penggunaan aplikasi statistic seperti, SPSS dan Eviews, karena beberapa dosen di beberapa universitas di Palembang mengeluhkan buruknya kualitas penelitian dan ada juga yang mengatakan bahwa mahasiswa mereka tidak begitu mengerti cara penggunaan SPSS dan Eviews. Hasil dari pengabdian ini yang pertama adalah pemahaman mahasiswa mengenai SPSS dan Eviews dapat dilihat dari diskusi dan tanya jawab, kedua yaitu kemampuan mahasiswa dalam menerapkan penggunaan SPSS dan Eviews dalam penelitian.Kata Kunci: penelitian; sosialisasi; statistik

COMPUTING NUMERICAL IMAGES OF STUDENT WRITING

With the rapid increase in the number of available digital texts in schools, new methodological approaches to studying writing development in education are now emerging. However, with new methodological approaches follow new epistemological challenges. In this article, I examine some of these challenges and discuss how they affect the role of computational linguistics within the field of educational writing research. The article is structured around three main sections. First, I position computational linguistics within the wider field of educational writing research with particular focus on L1 writing and K12 education. Second, I discuss to what extent methods from computational linguistics can provide us with new insights into different aspects of educational writing. Third, I discuss the potential of the concept of affordance to bridge between technology-centered and human-centered methodological approaches, and I relate this idea to recent theoretical developments in the digital humanities. Based on this discussion, I conclude the article with suggestions for possible directions in future writing research.

The Use of Genre Based Approach in Training and Mentoring for Improving Argument Skills in Research Articles Journal Writing for Social and Humanity Authors

Argumentation in writing research articles is very crucial for showing the position of authors in a certain science field, but the social and humanity authors are still lower in skill for argumentation. This research investigated the using and impact of the Genre Based Approach (GBA) in training and mentoring of Research Article writing in improving the skill of argumentation in writing RA. The aim of this study is to describe the activity of learning and teaching by using GBA in training and mentoring of writing RA for social and humanity authors and the impact of this training and mentoring on the skill of argumentation in RAs writing. The material and steps of learning and teaching activity are adapted and modified from Widodo (2006) who stated that the rule of GBA is to prepare, focus, task, evaluate and elaborate. Moreover, Ferris & Hedgcock (2005) also explained that GBA is started from joint construction and independent construction stages when students start to write. The instruments of this research were direct observation and RAs draft analysis. Direct observing is also conducted to record every side of GBA design for teaching writing articles. To find the effect of GBA in training and mentoring to improve argumentative skills, the content analysis to the draft of RAs is conducted. The Result shows that the first the activity of training and mentoring writing RAs by using GBA to improve argumentation skills can be described from prepare, focus, task, evaluate and elaborate. The second finding shows that the participants have competence in writing argumentative for each section of RAS. Thus, it can be concluded that GBA in training and mentoring to write RAs is effective to improve argumentative skills in writing class especially writing RAs class.

Webology: An Analysis of Citation Pattern

Efforts were made to analyze 5807 citations of Webology published during 2004 to 2019. The citations were classified on the basis of type of material which clearly indicates that periodicals and web resources were the most popular type of resources used by the authors for writing research papers. The study found that out of 5807 citations 2580 citations were authored by the single author and single authorship pattern was found as the most popular authorship pattern among the authors. The study founds the two oldest citations were from the books which were published before 1900. The findings of the study show the notable change in the use of type of resources being used for writing the research papers. The results of the study shoes that use the of periodicals and web resources for writing research papers was increased from 1951 and onward. The study also presented the list of the twenty five highly cited journals, ten highly cited authors, fifteen highly cited web links and five highly cited books.

Barriers to writing research papers and getting them published, as perceived by Turkish physicians – a cross sectional study

Background: Many physicians in Turkey are both clinicians and researchers, and publishing their research contributes to better patient care as well as to career advancement. Objective: To identify the barriers faced by Turkish physicians to writing research papers and getting them published. Methods: Respondents were asked, through eight multiple-choice questions, about the difficulties they faced in writing research papers and in getting them published in journals. We also searched published literature for accounts of similar difficulties and answers to the question ‘What is your purpose in writing scientific publications?’ Results: A total of 18% (155 of 871) of physicians completed the questionnaire. About the difficulties faced in writing, 82 out of the 155 participants, or 57%, reported problems in finding financial support; 58 (40%), in obtaining required permissions and clearances; 65 (45%), in acquiring relevant skills, especially those related to data analysis or statistics; and 42 (29%), in language-related skills. About the difficulties in getting their papers published in journals, 85 (60%) said that they tried to overcome the difficulties by searching for appropriate solutions on the internet; 66 (47%) sought help from experienced colleagues; and 47 (33%) needed professional help in English translation and editing. Need for financial support was reported by a significantly (p = 0.04) larger proportion of associate professors or full professors (69%) than that of residents (47%) and fellows (45%). Conclusion: The main problems that Turkish physicians face in preparing scientific manuscripts were lack of  financial  support, inadequate knowledge of data analysis and statistics, and the paperwork involved in obtaining required approvals and permissions—problems that were common to the departments of internal medicine and of surgery. The primary motivation for writing and publishing was career advancement, especially through promotion to a higher academic rank.

Is it all bad? Saudi EFL student perceptions of the role of anxiety when writing

PurposeThe study aims to ascertain the degree to which Saudi tertiary level writers experience foreign language (FL), English, writing anxiety compared with other variables known to affect writing, such as motivation, types of self-efficacy or teacher assistance, how anxiety relates to those other variables, and whether the effects of anxiety on writing are always perceived as negative.Design/methodology/approachThis study used questionnaire and interview data following writing tasks in two conditions (practice and exam).FindingsThe key findings were that, regardless of level or writing condition, writing anxiety emerged as the least strongly experienced of all the relevant variables. From factor analysis, it was found to be associated with perceived general English language proficiency and writing strategic ability and not with topic knowledge, teacher or motivational variables. Contrary to the assumption in much of the literature, many participants experienced some anxiety as having a positive effect on their English writing, in certain ways and at certain times (dependent on the writing condition) and not solely a negative impact.Research limitations/implicationsImplications are drawn for theory and for the teaching of writing.Practical implicationsDrawn towards the end of the paper.Social implicationsAny research on factors that affect writing seemingly has practical value and implications in such contexts, in addition to interest for L2 writing research and theory.Originality/valueThere remains a question that applies across the whole field of anxiety research in education and applied linguistics concerning whether anxiety is, as often assumed, always bad and so constitutes something to be removed, or whether in fact some degree of anxiety is actually helpful (Alpert and Haber, 1960). This study aims to answer.