Enhancing Students’ Fluency in Writing: Learning to Use Transition Words

Yoshihito Sugita

doi:10.4236/ojml.2012.21003

Abstract

This study uses experimental and control group data to investigate whether learning to use transition words results in enhancing students’ fluency in writing. Common sentence connectors, such as moreover, however, thus, etc were chosen in order that students learn the use of transition words in text and improve their writing fluency. 36 first-year university students were placed in an intermediate class: 18 control group students and 18 experimental group students. Over a 12-week period, both groups received equal amounts of writing assignments. During the first half of the period, both groups were given content and form feedback, but the experimental group was given additional marginal comments on the use of sentence connectors. After six weeks, both groups were given identical types of feedback and comments. Fluency was measured by the number of words written and successful connections (SCs). These results were analyzed to determine if there was a significant difference in fluency between the two groups. Findings suggest that writing teachers should teach students the effectiveness of using transition words in EFL writing classes, and this may in part help to improve students’ fluency.

Highlights

English education in Japan has traditionally emphasized teaching sentence patterns, vocabulary and grammatical rules, and has focused mostly on accuracy in teaching English
As an example of the information revealed in this table, it can be seen that as for the number of words written in Assignment 3 (Week 3), participants who received feedback and comments (Experimental group) had a mean score of 51.1 and a standard deviation of 16.3
The effect on the amount of writing was marginally significant and it can be presumed that students need a certain experimental period for the acquisition of transition words, so that they will succeed in more significantly increasing the number of words

Summary

Introduction

English education in Japan has traditionally emphasized teaching sentence patterns, vocabulary and grammatical rules, and has focused mostly on accuracy in teaching English. A survey conducted to examine 786 Japanese university-level writing teachers’ view on the instruction resulted in structure and expression practice (31.7%), translation from Japanese to English (31.2%), free composition (17.6%), item replacement (6.6%), and others (JACET, 1993). It is quite likely that Japanese students will have to learn and use English for the purpose of international communication In accordance with such social needs, the importance of developing students’ practical communication abilities has been emphasized, and many researchers and educators in Japan have proposed a paradigm shift from accuracy-oriented to fluency-oriented writing instruction (e.g., Iseno, 1991; Kurihara, 1994; Oi, 2004). The objective of “Writing” is a good example to illustrate the fluency-oriented instruction: To further develop students’ abilities to write down information, ideas, etc. in English in accordance with the situation and the purpose, and to foster a positive attitude toward communicating by utilizing these abilities (MEXT, 1999)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion