Lecturer’s Feedback and Students’ Writing Performance: Social Constructivism Perspective

EFL writing as the form of productive skill has been the main issue for university students in Indonesia. Therefore, to maintain EFL students to be a good writer, lecturer’s feedback is necessary. The aims of this study were to find out whether there is any relationship between lecturer’s feedback and students’ writing performance, and to find out in what ways the lecturer’s feedback given seen from social constructivism. The researcher employed mixed method which took the data from 60 third-semester students in two Essay Writing Classes, and it was collected by using questionnaire, students’ writing score, and interview guide. The findings showed that correlation coefficient was .273 which indicates that the correlation between lecturer’s feedback and students’ writing performance was positive. While, seen from the significant level, it showed the number .042 which means there was statistically significant relationship between those two variables. The qualitative finding asserted that the lecturers always gave feedback frequently in the two forms, both were oral and written feedback. Other than that, although only one of the lecturers who used elaborated feedback, they both provide the assistance and objectivity during the assessment process. Based on the results of this study the lecturers must give feedback continuously towards students’ work and it should be given together with an explanation. Moreover, the future researcher can find the similar topic from another learning theory such as behaviorism or cognitivism.

http://habibiaislamicus.com/index.php/hirj/article/view/241

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ishaq Mansoori is a prominent scholar of Arabic and Islamic studies who played a vital role in the promotion of Arabic language and literature in Pakistan. Dr. Mansoori is a great Islamic preacher, good writer, eloquent speaker, expert educationist, an excellent researcher, good mentor and reformer as well. He always strived for the understanding of the holy Quran and the teaching of the Arabic language in Pakistan. He loves Arabic language very much. He edited various textbooks to develop the expertise of the students in Arabic language and understanding of the holy Quran. His sermons, speeches, lectures, articles and scholarly writings published in Urdu language were very easy and simple. In this study, I have viewed his literery services. I adopted the method of description, analytics and historical criticism which covers all the aspects.

http://habibiaislamicus.com/index.php/hirj/article/view/198

Prof. Dr. Ihsan-ul-Haq was a prominent scholars of Arabic and Islamic studies who played a vital role in the promotion of Arabic language and literature and awaking of Muslim nation in in Pakistan. Dr. Ihsan was a great Islamic preacher, good writer, eloquent speaker, compassionate and exemplary teacher, an excellent researcher, good mentor and reformer as well. He always strived for the understanding of the Qur'an and the teaching of the Arabic language in Pakistan. He loved Arabic language very much. Listening, speaking, reading and writing Arabic was his favorite pastime. He edited various textbooks in Arabic to develop the expertise of the students in Arabic language. He was also a great admirer of Urdu language. His sermons, speeches, lectures, articles and scholarly writings published in Urdu language were very easy, simple and neat. He speaks in a common sense according to the mental level of the listener and the reader so that the right of communication can be exercised. In this study, I have viewed the impact of Arabic language in his literary services. I adopted the method of description, analytics and historical criticism which covers all the aspects.

Editorial

Welcome to the 1st and Inaugural issue of the Multidisciplinary Journal of Technical University of Mombasa (MJTUM) December 2020 edition. A long awaited dream that has finally come true. MJTUM publishes multidisciplinary scholarly articles and offers a platform for academics and researchers to contribute to current knowledge in their respective disciplines. The publishing of this 1st and Inaugural issue is envisaged to motivate and inculcate the art of writing and publishing to both inexperienced and experienced writers. There is no formula on how to become a good writer but the only way is to start writing now and allow perfection to take its course with time. In this 1st and Inaugural issue, we have featured six articles in the form of reviews and full length research papers covering disciplines in computer science, medical science and electrical engineering that are quite exciting to read and to cite in other new works. These published papers in this maiden issue will definitely contribute to new knowledge as we expect more articles to be published in the subsequent near future issues of the journal. Once again, I welcome all of you to contribute articles to MJTUM that will undergo a professional publishing process in the shortest time possible.

A Comparison of ESL Writing Strategies of Undergraduates and Postgraduates

Writing is an essential skill that needs to be mastered by students. They need to adopt some strategies in order to be a good writer, especially in fulfilling their academic requirements. This study attempts to compare the writing strategies used by undergraduate and postgraduate students. A total of 44 students participated in this study. A survey questionnaire adapted from Flower and Hayes (1981) framework was administered to the respondents. Analysis of strategies based on three factors namely task environment, background knowledge and composing process was used. The t-test results showed that there was no significant difference between the mean response of undergraduate and postgraduate students. In task environments, the undergraduate students were found to choose topic that they know while the postgraduate students tend to choose a topic that they like. Both groups tend to use their schemata or background knowledge in order to write. Furthermore, findings from composing process showed that both groups tend to have a proper plan such as a mind map or an outline to write an essay.

Interactional Metadiscourse Markers in Introduction Section of Dissertation: Differences Across English Proficiency Level

Following the concept of Interpersonal model of Metadiscourse markers proposed by Hayland and Tse (2004) then developed by Hayland (2005), this content analysis aims to find the use of interactional metadiscourse markers in the introduction sections of two dissertations written by good and poor writers of doctorate students State University of Surabaya. The interactional metadiscourse markers were categorized into Booster, Hedges, Attitude Markers, Engagement Markers, and Self Mention.The good writer used more in number and variations of interactional metadiscourse markers than those of the poor writer used. For the most frequent interactional metadiscourse markers,the good writer used Engagement Marker, while the poor writer used the Self Mention as the most frequent one. It can be concluded that the use of interactional metadiscourse markers can be used as indicators of a good writer. So, it is suggested for the English teacher/lecturer to teach explicitly the use of interactional metadiscourse markers especially when the students write in academic writing.

Best Practices in Document Design

James D. Dimitri, Best Practices in Document Design, Res Gestae, May 2014, at 24Skillful writers think very carefully about what their readers want from documents written for those readers. Often, this consideration is confined to the substance of the writer’s message to the reader — in other words, what the writer will say to the reader. But a good writer also considers how that message will be communicated to the reader. This “how” includes the appearance of the document in which the message is conveyed, including the typeface and spacing used for the text in the document.As lawyers, our readers are often “law-trained” readers, such as other lawyers and judges. Like other accomplished writers, we lawyers carefully consider what we’re going to say to these readers in the memoranda and briefs we write for them. But how often do we truly consider how we’re going to convey our message to them? How often do we ponder what an effective memo or brief should look like rather than merely what it should say?Good document design is a key skill for attorneys to learn. Long gone is the era in which document design was constrained by the limited capabilities of the typewriter. In the digital world of the 21st century, word processing applications give us the basic tools that professional typographers use, allowing us to create documents that are aesthetically pleasing and easier to read. This article will discuss basic document design principles that will allow you to more effectively convey your message to a law-trained reader.

To Study the Level of Culture Based Self Esteem among Students of Saveetha Dental College & Hospital

Aim: To measure the level of self esteem among the students of saveetha dental college. Objective: To measure the level of self esteem of an individual’s by inventory. Background: Self-esteem can apply specifically to particular dimension (for example: “I believe I am a good writer and feel happy about that”) or a global extent (for example, “I believe sociology and psychology, self esteem reflects a person’s overall subjective emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. In psychological literature the concept of self viewed in two ways. One in what is called the self as object. It refers to our capacity to stand outside of ourselves and to evaluate our attitude, feelings and behavior from a more or less detached point of view. Interest in the self humanity. It includes an active group of processes like thinking, remembering, perceiving, performing etc. Reason: This study is conducted to improve our aspiration towards self esteem and self worth which are considered to be the cornerstone of personality that influences the behavior of every individuals.