Writing Class Research Articles

Cascading a New Knowledge: The Implementation of Reference Management Software in The Academic Writing Class

College students should meet numerous requirements to produce a well-written academic paper. One of those requirements is constructing correct references. Nonetheless, based on the phenomenon spotted in the author’s academic writing class, arranging references manually is not an effortless task. Time-consuming and style memorizing are the two main obstacles faced by the students. To answer the preceding problems, the author, the teacher in charge in class, proposed a solution by implementing EndNote as reference management software. It enables students to write references automatically. Seventy students were involved as the participants while EndNote was administered. To cascade the knowledge of the mechanism of implementing EndNote, this paper aimed to describe the steps involved. Video recording and checklist form were utilized as research instruments. The results revealed four steps of implementing EndNote used by the teacher. They are planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. By explaining those steps, it is expected that the mechanism of implementing EndNote can be explained and adapted by other teachers and students facing the same problems.

A Challenge of Online Teaching and Learning Pedagogy: Fundamental English Writing Class in a Thai Context

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic during 2019-2021, most teaching and learning classes in Thailand were conducted through online platforms, including the fundamental English writing course for the non-English-majoring undergraduate students. This paper aims to shed light on how the undergraduates perceive themselves while experiencing the online fundamental English writing class. In addition, this study explores students’ learning performance through results drawn from writing assignments and tests, including the learners’ reflections on their improvement in English writing. The research also examines specific factors that fostered students’ satisfactory learning outcomes throughout the online learning period. A mixed-method approach, comprising quantitative and qualitative strategies, was applied in seeking answers to the research questions. The analysis and interpretation of research data involved transforming qualitative themes or codes into numbers to triangulate the quantitative outcomes and interpreting them to explain phenomena emerging from the study. The findings suggest that students were content with the teaching and learning strategies employed throughout the course. They perceived they could improve their English writing skills and earn additional benefits from the designed online course compared with traditional in-class learning. The results of this research on the first-hand experience could be utilised as a guideline in preparing an online class, developing learning materials, and adopting or adapting helpful teaching strategies to deliver the fundamental English writing class through the online platform efficiently.

Students’ Perception on Flipped Learning Conducted in an Online Writing Class During the Pandemic: A Survey Research

Flipped learning (FL) is the approach used in this research based on two reasons: firstly, the traditional learning fails to facilitate students’ need for knowledge construction, collaboration, and sufficient practice and feedback in online learning; therefore, the teacher had to use another approach called Flipped Learning. Secondly, Flipped Learning has the potency to facilitate the students’ needs mentioned earlier. This research is a survey research and was conducted in an online Writing Class at the university of Palangka Raya and a questionnaire and interview were the instruments used to collect the data needed. The result shows that the success in implementing the FL could be achieved when the four pillars of FL integrated appropriately in the teaching and learning process. As the result, the students gave highly positive responses towards FL that it can facilitate their needs in the online writing class during the pandemic as the four pillars are accordingly implemented; therefore, the pre-learning activities, practices, small group discussions and feedbacks are adequately provided through FL.

Self-Correction E-Assessment Rubric (SCeAR) to Measure EFL Students’ Writing Ability

In writing process, students cannot measure their writing product. Otherwise, feedback is depended on teacher’s objectives. The development of the Self-Correction E-Assessment Rubric (SCeAR) in the Intermediate Writing class aims to help students measuring the relationship between using SCeAR and their writing ability. This research used quasi-experimental research method. The research subjects consisted of 50 students. The researcher gave pre-test to the students to know their innate capacity. The pre-test score was also used to be analyzed with post-test score comparison. The treatment was using SCeAR. The students do writing process by involving SCeAR. There are four classifications for SCeAR, namely organization, content, text characteristics, and language use. Post-test were taken from their writing product’s score. From the research results, the difference mean score between pre-test and post-test in table 4 is 10.24. In case of tvalue is -19.772, it shows that the mean score of pre-test is lower than the mean score of post-test. If the mean score of post-test is higher than pre-test, it can be analyzed that the used of Self Correction E-Assessment Rubric (SCeAR) in writing process gives positive effect. In case of sig. (2-tailed) value 0.000 is less than probability value (α=0.05), the mind mapping is effective to be used in writing process.

Perceptions about Learner’s Achievement in English Major Undergraduate Online Writing Classes

Perceptions about Learner’s Achievement in English Major Undergraduate Online Writing Classes

Improving ESP Writing Class Learning Outcomes Among Medical University Undergraduates: How Do Emotions Impact?

As English plays a significant role in most professions, improving the English for Specific Purpose (ESP) writing competence allows individuals to participate in the global professional community, which makes ESP writing important for research. However, research on ESP writing is reported to be insufficient, and how factors such as emotions affect ESP writing is rarely and marginally studied. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating how induced emotions influence the learning outcome in ESP writing classes with an emphasis on a particular rhetorical choice among medical university undergraduates. A total of 63 medical university undergraduates were recruited. After the emotional inducement, they were taught with materials selected and adopted from the BioCauses corpus and with an explicitly inductive teaching approach. Results revealed that positive emotions positively correlated with better learning outcomes, while negative emotions hindered participants in their learning. The results shed light on the impact of emotional states on ESP/medical research article (MRA) writing, learning, and teaching. Further study implications were provided accordingly.

A Study of Teachers’ Strategies in Providing Feedback in English Writing Class

Feedback is a crucial aspect of the writing process. Feedback includes comments and suggestions to facilitate students to revise their assignments. The comments and suggestions can guide the students to revise and also support students in improving their ability, especially in writing. This study aims to find out the teacher's perspective about feedback in the writing activity in writing class and how teachers provide feedback on the student's writing activities in the writing class at an English Education Department in a university Jakarta. The method used in this research is the descriptive qualitative method. The subject of this research was the three lecturers who taught writing classes. The instruments used in this study were interviews and documents. The result shows that the role of feedback on the writing activity in writing class is important based on the data obtained. Lecturers use the combination of indirect-direct feedback and also the combination of oral and written feedback. Teachers use the feedback according to the class’s condition and the goal of the level of writing. The combination of oral and written, direct, and indirect feedback complements each other.

Major Writing Difficulties Faced by Kurdish Learners of EFL in Academic Writing Classes

Abstract Writing in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) contexts has been claimed to be one of the most challenging tasks required from EFL learners. Many Kurdish learners of EFL face difficulties producing well-developed paragraphs and essays in their courses of study in higher education. This study aims at investigating such difficulties that could hinder students’ overall progress and success. A mixed-method research design was used to explore the issue under investigation fully. The data collection tools used are a (5-point Likert Scale) questionnaire and semi-structured in-depth interviews. Two hundred English major students from four public universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq answered the questionnaire. Also, ten EFL university instructors were interviewed. Analysis of the findings revealed that Kurdish learners of EFL faced various difficulties such as writing anxiety, mechanics of writing (grammar, punctuation, spelling), word choice, and negative language transfer in their writing courses. Discussions and implications of these findings are presented.

A Case Study of Indonesian Interference Towards English in Student Essays in The Writing Class

Contacts of two different languages often lead to some grammatical errors, especially if the source language and target language are from different language families. This study deals with the interference of Indonesian to English found in student essays in the Writing class. The purpose of this study is to uncover cases of language interference carried out by students. The research data is in the form of sentences containing grammatical errors caused by Indonesian interference to English. Data were collected from 35 essays written by students participating in The Writing Course 03 (Class A) from August – December 2021 in the English Literature Department - Faculty of Humanities - Jember University. Once collected, the data are classified and analyzed using an error analysis framework and a sociolinguistic perspective. The results show that there are nine types of grammatical interference which comprise: plural noun forms, the conformity of the subject-verb form, tenses, word forms, prepositions, article, conjunctions, word pairs (mismatch), passive form. These grammatical errors prove the interference of Indonesian to English because students are still very strongly influenced by the rules of their native language (Indonesian) when they write essays in English.

Hearing Your Feedback Loud and Clear: Students’ Voices of Audio Feedback in Virtual Writing Class

There are many growing types of research about technology-supported feedback in English language teaching. Meanwhile, the study investigating audio feedback in virtual writing class during emergency remote teaching is still underexplored. In order to fill the gap, this research aims at investigating students’ perceptions towards audio feedback in virtual writing class. It employs a qualitative research design. Six students were voluntarily interviewed in this study. Furthermore, their writing was also observed. The findings of this study revealed that students view audio feedback positively. They admit that audio feedback is clear, personal, and detailed. Furthermore, students can feel the teaching presence because of the audio feedback. The further implications are discussed in this paper.

EFL Students’ Experience of Online Writing Class during Covid-19

This qualitative descriptive research discussed students' experiences during an online writing lesson. This research focuses on the questionnaire and reflection writing experience of second-semester students of English Department during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study used two indicators namely interaction and environment during online writing learning. The researcher found the experience of students affected by their environment is the constraints of the internet network and the cost of purchasing quotas. It caused by some student residential areas are still in remote areas. Positively some students feel it is facilitated by online learning because it can be done flexibly. In the interaction indicator, some students find it difficult if they are not taught directly, while others find it easier to understand because they can access wider learning.Keyword: Covid-19; EFL Students’ Experience; Online class; Writing.

PBL Writing Lessons and Guidance through a Critical Biography Writing Class

The purpose of this article is to analyze the actual operation cases of the PBL writing task conducted during a class at Sejong University and to clarify the PBL nature and the meaning of this task. Among the problems given in Sejong University's Writing and Presentation for Problem Solving in the first semester of 2018, the students were assigned with the following PBL writing task: “Write a review of ordinary neighbors around us.” This problem tackled genre literature, such as existing reviews and autobiographies, and attempted to approach it anew through new subjects. It had a project-based element in that team activities were necessarily premised in the process of performing the task. Moreover, it had a subjective-based element suitable for the PBL task in that it had an unstructured characteristic to it. At the same time, the fundamental meaning of writing can be found through expressive writing, which has recently been somewhat neglected in college. In addition, the goal was for the students to reflect on the lives of ordinary people in our society, compared to those of the elites who succeeded in describing existing reviews and autobiographies. Interviews with subjects that had to be conducted during the writing process were meaningful in that the students had the experience of enhancing their inter-generational communication skills and constructing data that ended up creating a sort of Korean micro history. Furthermore, from this study we can see that all processes, from data research to actual writing, have improved the students' intellectual abilities and allowed for a degree of reflection and discussion that they were unable to experience from their major courses.

Pendampingan Pelatihan Penulisan Artikel Populer Berbasis Manuskrip Jawa bagi Anggota Komunitas Jangkah Nusantara

The Jangkah Nusantara Community is one of the manuscript-loving communities that has successfully launched a website with the address Jangkah.id. The site has several menus in the form of news, popular articles, information about scriptoriums, manuscript researchers, etc. This web is certainly useful, for the community itself and also for people in general, as a source of information that can distribute knowledge related to ancient manuscripts and their contents. However, since its launching, not many posts have been accessible in it. The approach to community stakeholder results in finding the problem that the members of the community still find it difficult to write popular article on the website. At the same time, they also have difficulties in reading Javanese sources. For these reasons, community service activities are conducted in two forms of training, namely: (1) Translation Class; and (2) Popular Writing Class, by inviting competent speakers/presenters. The objectives of these activities are (1) to develop the potential of the members of the Jangkah Nusantara Community as actors in the recontextualization of Javanese manuscript studies to wider community; and (2) to initiate internal community activities that aim at increasing the knowledge and capacity of its members.

Using Environmental Issues for Essay Writing Class: The Students’ Views and Challenges

Environmental degradation is real and presents threats to all living habitat on earth. Thus, the inclusion of environmental issues for a language class is close to a must. This paper is intended to describe 1) the students’ perspective on using environmental topics for essay writing class, and 2) their problems when writing essay. The study uses a case study design. There were 17 students participated in the research. The instruments were interview and chat documentations. The data were collected in June 2021. All data are in the form of words and sentences. The result shows that 1) most of the students said that the environmental issues are informative, important, useful, needed, effective, real, and educative. The use of environmental issues helps them to enhance their environmental awareness; 2) almost all students have psychological problems when writing an essay, such as anxiety, nervousness, the feeling of pressure in timed writing, self- demand of perfect work, and low self-confidence. Yet, the psychological problems might be triggered by the demand of more readings about environmental issues to make the essay convincing. The result implies that content-based material discussing environmental topic should be incorporated into EFL writing class.
 Keywords: environment, essay, issues, problems, views

Directing and Differentiating First-Graders’ Historical Reading, Thinking, and Writing about Abraham Lincoln

First-grader students engaged in a guided historical inquiry about Abraham Lincoln. The teacher carefully intertwined historical content, close reading, critical thinking, and text-based writing during Reading, Writing, and Social Studies classes. Students scrutinized secondary sources, which were largely biographies of Lincoln, to build their historical schemas. The first-graders analyzed primary sources—which were intentionally selected to mitigate historical gaps within secondary sources—in order to establish historical significance and make intertextual connections. Students formulated emerging historical understandings through extemporaneous text-based writing, which were later used to draft, revise, and resubmit expository essays. Students’ verbal contributions were far more nuanced than written communications, which their budding fine-motor writing skills limited. Children exhibited critical and historical thinking during whole-class classroom dialogue, small-group discussion, and individual interactions, such as when asked to clarify their writing. Students completed an age-appropriate adaptation of informed action. Teachers and research can gain rich, nuanced understandings from close examinations of students’ reading, writing, and thinking.

Schoology-based Blended Learning in Academic Writing Class during the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 is a global disease that significantly impacts almost all fields, including education. The shift from face-to-face learning to blended learning during the COVID-19 pandemic requires technological devices to support the learning process. Therefore, this study aims to explore the application of Schoology as a learning management system in academic writing classes during the COVID-19 crisis. The sequential mixed method was applied in this study by analyzing the data qualitatively and quantitatively. All students in the academic writing class were selected as participants using a total sampling technique. The methods used to collect data are observation, interviews, and questionnaires. Furthermore, the research instrument consisted of guided interviews and closed questionnaires distributed using a google form. The technique used to analyze the data is descriptive qualitative, and quantitative analysis. The results showed that Schoology is beneficial to be infused with blended learning. The Schoology platform stimulates students who have adequate online learning readiness to experience their learning positively using Schoology-based blended learning. However, institutional interventions must be implemented to provide training to students to improve digital competence, strategies to become independent learners, and time management.

INDONESIAN EFL STUDENTS’ WRITING ANXIETY IN POST-PANDEMIC ONLINE CLASSROOM CONTEXT: A SURVEY

ESL and EFL students consider writing as challenging in both cognitive and affective aspects. In ideal circumstances, they may suffer from difficulties during the writing process, including anxiety or even tension. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic condition has made the teaching and learning writing more complicated due to limited time and space to meet, to discuss, to collaborate, and to give as well as take feedbacks for their writing. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the types of writing anxiety experienced by EFL students in online Creative Writing class during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia context. The research utilizes a quantitative method, specifically a survey technique. The online survey is administered to 124 participants of English Education Department at the fourth semester. To assess the levels and types of writing anxiety, the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) established by Cheng (2004) was utilized in this study. The SLWAI was the first reliable instrument for assessing writing anxiety, particularly in a second or foreign language context. The results of this study show that the most common type of participants' writing anxiety is Avoidance Behavior (66.13%) then followed by Cognitive Anxiety (20,97%), and Somatic Anxiety (12.90%) as the minor type. The Avoidance Behavior type includes behavioral components of anxiety, such as the avoidance of writing. In conclusion, students of Avoidance Behavior type with have a normal level of nervousness since they seek to avoid writing situations. This study suggests that school teachers be more prepared to create online writing classroom atmosphere.

Students’ Predominant Learning Style in EFL Writing Class

Many studies had examined writing strategies in ESL context. However, very few studies examined writing strategies by university students within foreign language learning contexts in Indonesia. Considering that reason, the researcher conducts a survey in EFL context focusing on writing strategies mostly used by 126 students enrolled in essay writing class. This study was conducted by using quantitative method, survey design, and English Writing Strategies Inventory (EWSI) questionnaire as the instruments. The result of this study shows that the predominant learning style of the students are determining the purpose and reading some materials related to the topic before start to write, checking the logical flow through paragraph when writing, and reviewing the writing to look for and correct grammatical errors after writing. It also found that the tendency of students to use EWSI is categorized as high since the frequency of strategy use in each category is high.

The Students’ Perception On Writing Tools Application For Essay Writing Class

The purpose of this study is to describe the students’ opinion 1) about writing in general, 2) the type of writing tools application used by the students in writing, 3) the most preferable writing tools application. The research uses a cross-section design. In this design, quantitative data collection and analysis are followed by qualitative data collection and analysis before the results are interpreted. The subject of this research was 32 fourth-semester students in English Education Study Program, Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology of the University of PGRI Wiranegara, Pasuruan. The instruments used in this study were a questionnaire, interview, and documentation. The result reveals that half of the participants feel writing is difficult, while the other half feel writing is easy. Almost half of the students (47%) state that language/grammar is the most difficult element in writing. The types of writing tool applications used by the students are Grammarly (55%), U_Dictionary (24%), and Goggle Translate (21%). These writing tools help the students to solve the writing problems, such as in language, vocabulary, idea development, and drafting. The students think that writing tools application is practical and timesaving (74%). The students also believe that the writing tools application is beneficial and helpful to improve the quality of their essay. Interestingly, the students confess that they are uncertain if they can write well without writing tools application. Some of them feel that they cannot write well without the help of the application. The implication of the finding is discussed.

Exploring EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Peer Assessment in External Exam-Dominated Writing Classes

Several studies on peer assessment (PA) have highlighted significant benefits for the learning process such as increased student motivation, enhanced collaborative learning (especially in terms of EFL writing) and improved reflection skills. Research on secondary school teachers’ perceptions of PA is lacking, particularly in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) external-examination-dominated contexts. The current study presents an in-depth exploration of 40 EFL Greek Cypriot teachers’ perceptions of the use of PA in secondary education to address adolescent learners’ poor writing performance, low motivation, and exam failure. Teachers used PA of writing for one whole school year with more than 400 students after receiving training in PA methods and continuous support throughout this implementation. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to explore EFL teachers’ attitudes towards PA after implementing it in their classes. Findings indicated that teachers were initially reluctant to use PA with their students but changed their minds during its implementation and reported that PA facilitated learning by making the educational process easier for learners. Given teachers’ favourable attitudes towards PA after experimenting with it for a whole year and the benefits that they believe students (especially low-achieving) may gain from the implementation of PA of EFL writing in their classes, this study suggests that PA is a promising inclusive assessment method that caters to diverse learners’ needs and fosters autonomy.