English Language Writing Research Articles

Students’ Perspectives on the Services Offered by a Writing Center to Improve English Language Writing among Students in Saudi Arabia

The study aims to encourage universities in Saudi Arabia to develop their existing writing centers or establish a new writing center through understanding the English language writing needs of Saudi pharmaceutical university students. The study is conducted by involving a group of pharmaceutical students in a survey to highlight what they do to improve their English writing without having a writing center, which English linguistics writing issues they have, what benefits they will obtain if their English writing improves, and their expectations of writing centers. The study was administered through a survey that was distributed to male students in the second semester of the academic year 2023/2024. The survey included 23 closed ended questions, distributed to 71 participants in the survey. The results of this study show that owing to the dearth of writing centers, students find it difficult to find appropriate sources to help them with their writing. The study recommends that the writing center should be the appropriate place to accommodate the challenges the students encounter in their writing, and it emphasizes the importance of involving students in deciding upon the type of writing center consultation services that they expect to receive from a trained writing tutor who understands their specific major’s requirements. The study also shows that when using a writing center services, the participants can feel more confident to continue studying their academic major and achieve their goals due to the improvement in their English writing.

Wen, Literature, and Belles Lettres: Reconfiguring Chinese Literature in Nineteenth-Century English Sinology

ABSTRACT This article examines the fluid nature of literature as exemplified both semantically and conceptually in the English-language studies of Chinese literature conducted by Western Sinologists in the nineteenth century. If Chinese literary modernization of the early twentieth century is seen as shaped by the contact with foreign literary theories, Sinologists in the nineteenth century had already engaged actively with English literary concepts to reconfigure Chinese literature in their English-language writings. This article contends that, regardless of their impact on Chinese literary modernity, the Sinologists’ conceptions underlined the aesthetic and generic concerns that are fundamental to the modern understanding of literature and thereby fostered a renewed imagination of Chinese literature in the English-speaking world. Examining a wide range of primary materials, including dictionaries and Sinological writings, this article aims to unfold their transcultural naming and legitimizing process that gave rise to the knowledge category of Chinese literature through contingent English and Chinese literary terminology, narrative frameworks, and categorization schemes. This article traces the unnoticed history in comparative literary history to offer a genealogical understanding of the Western conception of Chinese literature. It also provides a new dimension for reviewing and analyzing the dialogue and interplay between Western and Chinese literary ideas within the Sinologists’ writings prior to the overwhelming influence of Western literary ideas during the period of Chinese literary modernity.

Teaching four Skills of English Language Writing, Reading, Speaking, and Listening through Literature

English is considered one of the most challenging languages in the world due to its complex structure and rich grammar, which significantly impact the teaching and learning process. Additionally, globalisation's influence has increased the importance and widespread use of the English language, especially in educational and professional fields. English literature opens the gate to all aspects and structures of the English language. It is written coherently, enabling students to learn the language successfully. English literature is written to educate audiences on how to navigate the world around us, regardless of differences in positions and jobs. It helps the audience, especially students in intermediate schools, learn how to read, write, listen, and speak, as their age allows them to absorb a wide range of topics. Literary texts are composed of poetry, prose, etc., characterised by artistic beauty that influences both the listener and the reader. They serve as a vessel for good literary heritage and can be used to develop linguistic, expressive, stylistic, and aesthetic skills among students. As cultural and humanistic material, studying them helps learners understand human nature. Literary texts represent a learning process aimed at intentionally changing learners' cognitive, psychological, social, and perceptual behaviours. Additionally, as linguistic material, they aim to contribute to proper pronunciation, effective performance, eloquent delivery, accurate understanding of what is heard or read, and enriching the learners' vocabulary, which leads to achieving the goal.

Developing English Language Writing Skills Using the Process Model in Zimbabwean Schools

Developing English Language Writing Skills Using the Process Model in Zimbabwean Schools

Assessing Feedback Strategies In English Language Writing Among Second Year Students Of English

Assessing Feedback Strategies In English Language Writing Among Second Year Students Of English

Teaching English Language Writing Skills to the Engineering Students

This research paper proposes that among four (LSRW) skills of language abilities in communication, the writing is definitely the hardest skill for bilingual students. Raimes suggested that the value of writing skills is important to keep the things in record for future. Consequently writing is very crucial for engineering students or any professional field and it represents an important component in one`s professional activity. Byrne, 1988; Hedge, 1988; Tribble, 1996; made the important points that the writing is the process of encoding (putting your message into words) carried out with a reader in mind. Hence one can think that engineers’ writing should be more effective than others moreover to enhance engineers’ writing skills, a teacher has to carefully diagnose engineers’ needs and accordingly design the syllabus with the teaching methods in order to respond. Before conducting a class, the teacher must check the students’ understanding of writing skills, fluency and their knowledge of English language and their lexical accuracy. This approach in the class will help engineers to facilitate their writing skills.

Literary Associations in Rhyme Slang: Charles Dickens and His Characters in Rhyme Slang

The article aims at describing the literary associations of rhyming slang associated with the name of Charles Dickens, a classic of world literature, whose works were included in the treasury of both English and world literature and who became the most popular English-language writer during his lifetime, to reveal how the work of the eminent writer and unforgettable colorful characters, many of whom have become recognized types in English fiction, are represented in rhyming slang. The topic is examined using rhyming slang samples of containing the names of characters and titles of Charles Dickens's works, selected by a continuous sampling method from authoritative dictionaries of general and rhyming slang. Expressions of rhyming slang that refer to some important work of a writer or are based on the names of some significant characters are cultural items that are reflected in the collective memory of the British and are thus included in the so-called “current background knowledge” and “background knowledge of cultural heritage”. The rhymes contain precedent onyms and reflect the tendency to create new onomastic rhymes built on the names of famous and popular personalities from the world of cinema, pop music, show business, sports, politics, etc. Literary associations have not yet been the subject of special analysis and undoubtedly deserve linguistic and sociocultural description. The author's attention was drawn to the little-studied area, the analysis of which sets a new vector for the study of rhyming slang, which deals with cultural and historical items that are of certain value from the point of view of culture-oriented linguistics, cross-cultural communication and the general study of culture. The results of the study may be of use and interest to specialists developing topics in intercultural communication, linguocultural studies, contrastive linguistics of the English and Russian languages, foreign (English) literature, speech culture and in the practice of teaching English.

A Life in Exile Literature: Linda Lê and the English-Language Literary World

Abstract: Linda Lê is distinctive for her intertextual engagement with global authors. Here, I examine her connections with exiled and nomadic English-language writers in her essay collections Tu écriras sur le bonheur (1999), Le complexe de Caliban (2005), and Par ailleurs (Exils) (2014). The dialogues within reveal two parallel authorial purposes: they substantiate the attitude Lê takes towards writing in exile and offer a roadmap to navigating her supplementary home in literature. I argue that Lê's reflections on English-language writers' biographies and her interpretations of their works thus had a defining effect on the construction of her life in exile literature.

Enhancing English Language Writing Skills: An Evaluation of the Efficacy of Grammarly Application

Enhancing English Language Writing Skills: An Evaluation of the Efficacy of Grammarly Application

Leveraging L2 academic writing: Digital translanguaging in higher education

Although the literature on computer-assisted language learning has demonstrated that digital tools such as online translators offer affordances to second or foreign language writers of English to solve lexical and syntactic issues, the extent to which digital technology supports multilingual students in producing academic texts has been underexplored. In this study we investigate what digital technology enables and does not enable students to do in communicating meaning by examining the writing experiences of two multilingual students. The data were derived through screen sharing and online stimulated recall interviews and analyzed using the concept of digital translanguaging, which focuses on meaning making using students’ entire meaning making repertoire. The findings suggest digital translanguaging afforded students to self-resolve their linguistic issues to varying degrees. However, it also became evident that these affordances hit a wall at a certain point beyond which no further progress could be made, constraining their ability to communicate intended ideas in L2. We conclude by providing insights into instructional and strategic support to effectively support multilingual students to offer greater opportunities to achieve their communication goals and create equitable higher education spaces.

Comparative Analysis of Syntactical Errors in the Writings of ESL Students at Secondary Level in Pakistan

In this comparative study, the researchers analyzed the syntactical errors in English writings of secondary-level Pakistani ESL students; though syntactical errors are commonly found in each language, it is mostly committed by ESL students in English language writings. The present study was formed on the quantitative method. The population of the study was one government and one private secondary school in the district of Lahore. Due to ethical considerations, the schools' names were not mentioned. The researchers selected 60 students’ sample from both schools; the G-group 30 students represent government schools and P-group 30 students represent private schools; the questionnaire was divided among these students as a research instrument for data collection. The data was analyzed in statistical charts, and mentioned in numbers and percentages. The findings of this comparative study disclosed that private school students committed fewer syntactical errors than government school students justifying the role of medium of instruction.

Evaluating an English Language Writing Course through Logic Model: Links between Outcomes and Activities

Evaluating an English Language Writing Course through Logic Model: Links between Outcomes and Activities

Women's Narrative in Alice Munro's Short Story Runaway

Alice Munro, the contemporary Canadian English-language writer who proved the importance of the short story as a genre by receiving the Nobel Prize in 2013, is undoubtedly an interesting author in terms of researching women's narrative. Although most of Munro's stories are set in the Harron Country, by using those regional features, customs, and traditions, Munro creates universal texts just like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor of his time. Like Faulkner and O'Connor, Munro's characters often confront deep-rooted and time-worn customs or traditions, but Munro's characters' reactions are generally less severe than those of his Southern counterparts. In addition, Munro's male characters are of one type, monotonous and boring, while female characters are more complex, peculiar and distinctive. The present paper analyses Alice Munro's short story collection Runaway (2004), paying particular attention to the title story. The collection consists of eight short stories. The main unifier of the stories about women of seemingly different ages and statuses is the desire to escape, which is caused by various reasons (unhappy marriage, family problems, running away from a provincial town in search of adventure). It is also interesting that the second, third and fourth stories of the collection tell about the same character, Juliet, and different episodes and stages of her life, which Pedro Almadovar even made into a movie in 2016. While Munro divides the story of "Juliet" into three independent stories, but united by the main character, the eighth story of the collection is in five parts and covers the life of the main character, Nancy. This decision of Munro is not accidental, and with this action, he once again emphasizes the innovations he brought to the genre of the story.

A Contract Learning-Based Strategy for Developing Essay Writing and Attitudes towards English Language Writing among Pre-Master Degree in Education Students

A Contract Learning-Based Strategy for Developing Essay Writing and Attitudes towards English Language Writing among Pre-Master Degree in Education Students

Motivations for Patronage: Early Modernist Literature as a Case Study

Patronage of early modernist English-language writers is investigated, drawing upon biographical source material. The process of identifying patrons started with Imagist poets in the first decades of the twentieth century followed by a search for their social connections with fellow writers and patrons. Fifteen patrons were identified who brought new money into the network of connections, twelve of them women. Analysis of their personal characteristics reveals a distinctive pattern of substantial, inherited financial resources, education, literary interests and unorthodox lifestyle, notably for the women in the sample. Explanations of motivation in terms of social identity, gift exchange and co-creation are discussed.

Rus, Russia and Ukraine between Fairy Tales and History: Alternative Slavic Fantasy by English-Language Writers

This is the second part of the paper (for introduction and the first part which addresses Medieval Rus in Peter Morwood’s and Katherine Arden’s trilogies see Studia Mythologica Slavica 24 (2021): 13–32). Alternative Slavic fantasy is defined as fantastika (speculative fiction) created by English-language writers on the basis of real or assumed Slavic folklore, separate from Slavic fantasy per se. The focus of the current part is the logic of interaction between Slavic and/or quasi-Slavic folk plots and characters with Russian and Ukrainian history of the 19th–20th centuries in Evelin Skye’s dilogy and Catherynne Valente’s and Orson Scott Card’s novels.

English Language Writing Anxiety among Diploma Engineering Students in Uitm

Over the past decades, researchers are becoming increasingly interested in the writing skills of second language (L2) learners. Although writing has been recognised as a complex skill, it is a crucial skill that (L1) and (L2) learners must master due to its widespread use in academic studies. Numerous scholars (Jennifer and Ponniah,2017; Altukruni,2019) believe that the writing process is influenced by cognitive, cultural, and social aspects, making it a difficult endeavour. All of this may cause the students to feel a great deal of concern and anxiety. In Malaysia, many studies were conducted in order to investigate anxiety in L2 classrooms, with the majority of them focusing on speaking skill (Sim et.al., 2020; Kamal et.al., 2020; Nurul Fatinah et.al., 2020). There are also studies on writing anxiety in first and second language but more detailed investigation and in-depth research on this needs to be done so both instructors and learners will be more aware of the perturbing issues involving writing anxiety in L2 classroom. Due to the complexity and multidimensional phenomenon of writing anxiety, a sequential explanatory mixed-method approach will be used in this investigation (Creswell, 1998). The outcomes from this research project are expected to assist L2 educators better understand how to teach writing. Next, it may aid the researcher in developing a mediated learning environment in the classroom, allowing learners to feel more at comfortable in approximating basic knowledge to create good essays and become less worried while writing essays autonomously.

Bakha’s Identity Dilemma in Mulk Raj Anand’s <i>Untouchable</i>: An Exploration of Dalit Psychology


 
 
 The Indian English-language writer Mulk Raj Anand depicts psychological crises of the subaltern through the character of Bakha in his masterpiece, Untouchable (1935). He attempts to portray the psychological vulnerability of the outcastes of society through the depiction of the Dalit community. This study explores the true nature of Dalit psychology through discussing Bakha’s equivocal status as a result of social discrimination and racial binary. It analyses the multifaceted dominations that the so-called elite class imposes on the subordinates who have taken these appalling social conditions for granted. Although not drawn from Dalit literature, a theoretical and critical reading reveals that William Shakespeare’s Shylock, Othello, and Caliban, Emily Bronte’s Heathcliff, Khaled Hosseini’s Ali, Hassan, and Sohrab bear significant resemblance to Bakha in terms of identity confusion. Using analytical methods drawn from post- colonialism and psychoanalysis, this article seeks to discuss Bakha’s psyche as a representation of the plight of the oppressed and Dalit people.
 
 

Effect of Dictation on Upper Basic Education Students’ English Language Writing Skill in Billiri LGA, Gombe State

This study was on the effects of dictation on upper basic education students’ English language writing skill in Billiri LGA, Gombe state. The study was guided by two research questions and the quasi-experimental research design involving two groups (Dictation and the other Non-Dictation) was used. The population of the study comprised upper basic education students of public Secondary Schools in Billiri LGA from a sample of 127 students from two intact classes selected by the simple random sampling technique to participate in the study. One validated instrument tagged: Upper Basic Education Dictation Writing Skill Test (UBEDWST) with reliability coefficient of 0.81 was used to collect data. The research questions were answered using the mean and standard deviation statistics and computed by the aid of the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS version 23). The results obtained showed students exposed to dictation had improved spelling ability and achieved more in writing skill. The study concluded that dictation can positively influence Upper Basic Education Students’ Spelling and writing skill. The study recommended that Upper Basic Education students should be introduced to dictation activities in English language classrooms by their teachers to enhance their spelling ability and texts formation. Also, teachers of English language should make dictation a basic part of their teaching of writing and essay development. The paper recommends that teachers of English language should adopt dictation strategies such as dicto-comp and split dictation by exposing their students to interact and discover ways of constructing different sentences.

Impact of Creative Writing Techniques as the Pedagogical Intervention on English Language Writing Skills of Undergraduate Students in Pakistani Universities

This study unfolds the impact of creative writing technique on improving the writing skills of a public sector university’ fifty undergraduates studying English language-related course, but their writing skills' proficiency is not up to the mark because of their use of L1 in learning other courses. The researchers held a pre-test to know grammatical, spelling, and overall syntactical errors. Later on, a series of lectures on how to minimize errors in English by using L2 was organized and eventually, a post-test was taken to know the results of the creative writing technique as a pedagogical intervention on learners’ writing skills. The findings reflect that the creative writing technique as a pedagogical intervention in L2 improves writing skills of the students at the undergraduate level if the use of L1 is minimized. In the light of the results, the study suggests that this approach is helpful in improving undergraduates’ English Language writing proficiency.