The Use of Scaffolding Theory in the Teaching of Writing

"English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School (2017)" puts forward higher requirements for the writing ability of students: students can use the language knowledge and cultural knowledge they have learned to create new texts according to different purposes and audiences. Writing is a difficult point. However, the current domestic English writing teaching effect is not satisfactory. English writing teaching has not been paid enough attention, and students lack the initiative to learn English writing. Scaffolding theory encourages teachers to follow the "student-centered" classroom teaching model and build scaffolds based on the students' recent development areas, so as to promote students' knowledge construction and meaningful learning, stimulate students' interest in English learning, and improve their English writing level. This article analyzes the teaching of English writing from the perspective of scaffolding theory. First, it introduces the research background, expounds "Zone of Proximal Development" and scaffolding theory, and discusses in detail the five steps of scaffolding theory applied in high school English writing classrooms. Finally, three teaching inspirations and suggestions are provided in order to improve the teaching effect of high school English writing.

THE DILEMMA OF REPLACING TRADITIONAL CALLIGRAPHIC SKILLS WITH TECHNOLOGY IN THE TEACHING OF WRITING

A dilemma concerning the replacement of calligraphy with technology to teach how to write was posed to 312 pre-service Spanish infant and elementary school teachers (PSTs). A series of arguments of a different nature taken from educational professionals were provided to provide the decision-making stage with a solid ground. 60% of PSTs defended their decision on the basis of opinion rather than scientific sources. Pearson’s chi-squared test did not show any significant differences when comparing qualification and age with the decision adopted or the nature of the argument. Differences were found in women exhibiting lesser preference for change. As conclusion, we found that there is no consensus amongst PSTs with regards to change. This reinforces the need for the educational community to make an effort to try to improve decision-making and the argumentation skills in PSTs.

THE PECULIARITIES OF TEACHING WRITTEN TRANSLATION IN THE FIELD OF LAW

The article also considers theoretical concepts: translation texts of different branches, the substance of legal translations, the concept of “complex of exercises”, types of exercises for teaching of writing translation. The significance and role of the field of law in translation studies were also formulated. The article considered and formulated what competencies need to be developed by future translators to work in this field. After studying the theoretical aspects, the most successful and optimal complex of exercises was selected according to all the principles, which are necessary for teaching of written translation in the field of law. It consisted of three groups, but this classification was supplemented by another group of exercises, so a total of four groups were obtained. It should be emphasized that these exercises should be performed clearly in the order in which they are presented in the article, as it is necessary to follow the principle of consistency. The article presents a complex of exercises, which is designed to teach a written translation in the field of law. It is divided into four groups: preparative exercises, exercises for formation of skills, exercises for development of skills and exercises for improvement of skills and abilities. This complex of exercises is designed according to the principles of structure and consistency, exercises are arranged according to the level of difficulty, from the easiest to the most difficult. Through the use of this complex of exercises, students will acquire the basic concepts of the field of law, gain background knowledge about the legal systems of Germany and Ukraine and will be conversant in this field. In addition to knowledge, students will be able to develop the skills and abilities they will need for their future profession. This complex of exercises is aimed at the formation and development of such competencies as information within the competence approach, lexical and translation competencies. Exercises are not presented in full, only partially. All of them are described in detail and have a clear goal, examples of most exercises are shown in the article. Exercises are made in German, although in the whole complex they are also duplicated in Ukrainian. You can follow this example of exercises for development of exercises for other profession. Key words: information competence, lexical competence, complex of exercises, legal translation, written translation, principles of consistency.

THE PROCESS APPROACH TO THE TEACHING OF WRITING: FOCUS ON PROCESS RATHER THAN PRODUCT

Composition writing has always been an integral part of the English Language curriculum in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Malaysia, yet being the most difficult of the four skills in English as a Second Language; the teaching of writing has often been neglected. Process writing, as distinguished from ‘Product Writing’, is playing a large role in ESL classes. Writing is seen as a communicative act with an intended purpose and audience. The teacher and other learners help the writer find a topic and revise drafts of a written piece until it conveys the intended meaning. While working to make their meanings clear, learners are assumed to acquire competence using the style, syntax, grammar and surface features of the language. During the writing process, students engage in pre-writing, planning, drafting and post-writing activities. However, learners do not necessarily engage in these activities in that order because the writing process is recursive in nature. Language rules are taught in teacher-led- mini-lessons but always in the context of expressing the learners’ own ideas. This paper reports on a study that explores how a process-oriented approach to writing influences a group of university ESL students.

THE EFFECT OF JOURNAL WRITING TECHNIQUE ON STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY

This quasi experimental research aims at looking at the effect of Journal Writing technique on students’ ability in writing a paragraph. Specifically, the research answers the research questions about the students’ ability in writing, the effect of Journal Writing technique on the students’ ability in writing, and the students’ attitude toward Journal Writing technique applied in their Writing class. The sample are one class from the second semester of English Department students in 2017-2018 academic year. The data were collected through writing test and the distribution of a set of questionnaire. The results show that nearly 60% of students’ ability ini writing is at Average to Good level before the treatment. After the treatment, 56.76% of their ability is at Good to Excellent level. To test whether the increased score is statistically significant or not, the data were analyzed using t-test. Having t-obs (8.26) which is higher than t-table (2.030), it can be said that the teaching of writing using Journal Writing technique significantly effects the students’ ability in writing paragraph. The data from questionnaire support the previous findings where nearly 64% students have ‘high’ attitude toward Journal Writing technique applied in their class.

Samoświadomość metakognitywna w kształceniu sprawności pisania na studiach neofilologicznych. Na przykładzie italianistyki Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego

The paper presents the results of a survey conducted in the academic year 2018/2019 among students of Italian Studies at the University of Wroclaw on metacognitive self-consciousness concerning Italian writing proficiency. The questions concerned the students' practice of written forms of expression in their private lives; the contribution (actual or anticipated) of writing proficiency in their current and future professional career; and the evaluation of the teaching of writing proficiency within the university curriculum of Italian Studies. The study was qualitative and conducted from an emic perspective, involving students in metacognitive reflection. The results of the study indicate limited metacognitive self-consciousness on the part of the students of Italian Studies, who are not, however, devoid of any criticism of the practical Italian language course curriculum.

Strategies of Teaching Writing at Saudi Tertiary-Level Institutions: Reality and Expectations

Teaching writing in English is a particularly daunting task for EFL teachers. Much of it concerns teaching accuracy in text production, development and thought expression which is usually not the teachers’ stated aim. Thus, teachers’ perceptions to the teaching of writing and the actual classroom practices need examination, which is the aim of this study, a prerequisite to recommending pedagogical changes to bridge the gap that exists between educational aims and outcomes so far as the teaching of writing to EFL learners in Saudi tertiary level educational institutions is concerned. The study applies a quantitative approach via a survey conducted with one hundred EFL teachers at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMBSIU, henceforth), Qassim University and King Khaled University, Saudi Arabia. Results suggest that inadequate English resources and inefficient teaching methods are, in general, the main causes of poor writing skills. Further, the teachers perceive limited lexis, irregular sentences, and orthographical differences with the mother tongue as impediments in the learners’ ability to write well in English. The study concludes with some pertinent recommendations to remedy the situation.

Plágio na construção do texto de alunos de Secretariado Executivo?

Devido ao desconhecimento de algumas normas e até mesmo pela falta de habilidade com a escrita, muitos alunos cometem plágio nos trabalhos acadêmicos. Frente a isso, esta pesquisa, de base qualiquantitativa, objetiva verificar se e, se sim, de que forma o plágio acadêmico está presente nos textos dos alunos de Secretariado Executivo de uma universidade pública do Paraná. Para isso, entrevistaram-se alunos e professores do curso para verificar as principais dificuldades em relação à escrita dos relatórios de estágio. Além disso, realizou-se uma intervenção pedagógica que possibilitou acompanhar o desenvolvimento das habilidades de escrita de paráfrases e citações na turma de formandos de 2019, além de confirmar o problema do plágio. Analisou-se, ainda, um conjunto de oito relatórios de estágio, os quais são o trabalho de conclusão de curso desses alunos. Para auxiliar na detecção de plágio desses textos, utilizou-se uma ferramenta on-line, o DOCxWEB, a qual faz uma comparação do texto a ser analisado com as informações disponíveis na internet, a fim de encontrar similaridades na escrita ou possíveis cópias. A partir disso, foram classificados os tipos de plágio encontrados nos textos conforme o seu grau de gravidade. Esta pesquisa está fundamentada na abordagem dos Letramentos Acadêmicos proposta por Lea e Street (1998), a qual preconiza que o ensino de escrita na universidade deve oportunizar o domínio de habilidades tanto textuais quanto sociais. Além disso, está em consonância ao que preconiza o discurso de Ivanič (2004) em relação à escrita como norteadora de práticas sociais e nos ensinamentos de Krokoscz (2011, 2012), Swale e Feak (2012), Coughlin (2015), Svincki e Mackeachie (2015) e Seide (2018) acerca de plágio e paráfrases. ABSTRACT On account of the lack of knowledge of some norms and even the lack of writing skills, many students commit plagiarism in academic work. Faced with this problem, this qualitative and quantitative research aims to verify if and in what way academic plagiarism is present in the texts of students from a Secretarial Science Undergraduated Course at a public university in Paraná. For this, students and teachers of the course were interviewed to verify the main difficulties in relation to the writing of the internship reports. In addition, a pedagogical intervention was carried out that made it possible to monitor the development of paraphrase and quote writing skills in the 2019 undergraduate class, in addition to confirming the plagiarism problem. A set of eight internship reports was also analyzed, which are the work of completing these students' course. To assist in detecting plagiarism in these texts, an online tool, DOCxWEB, was used, which compares the text to be analyzed with the information available on the internet, in order to find similarities in writing or possible copies. From this, the types of plagiarism found in the texts were classified according to their degree of severity. This research is based on the approach of Academic Literacies proposed by Lea and Street (1998), which advocates that the teaching of writing at the university should provide the domain of both textual and social skills. Furthermore, it is in line with what Ivanič's (2004) discourse advocates in relation to writing as a guide for social practices and in the teachings of Krokoscz (2011, 2012), Swale and Feak (2012), Coughlin (2015), Svincki and Mackeachie (2015) and Seide (2018) about plagiarism and paraphrases.

The Use of Technology in Teaching of Writing Among Malaysian ESL Secondary School Teachers

The application of technology in education has become a significant option for a more efficient and interactive approach, particularly in language teaching. However, few studies have investigated the use of technology in the teaching of writing in English language classrooms, especially in the Malaysian context. The present study investigates the teaching of writing practices and technology tools employed by English as a second language teachers when teaching writing skills. Using Technology Acceptance Model as the underpinning theory, this study also examines the effectiveness of the use of technology in the teaching of writing by collecting data from forty secondary school English teachers in Malaysia using a set of questionnaires. The findings indicated that technology is an important tool to improve students’ writing skills, assist teachers as a teaching aid and promote student engagement in the classroom. However, the lack of technical support hinders some teachers from using technology because it takes a lot of time which disrupts the teaching and learning process. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that technology plays an important role in helping teachers to improve students’ writing skills. Significantly, the findings of this study provide evidence to improve the application of technology in language teaching and learning.