Writing Skills Course Research Articles

İngilizce Yazma Öğretiminin Ters Yüz Bir Sınıf Modelinde Öz-Düzenlemeli Öğrenme Üzerine Bir Araştırma

This study explores the effect of flipped classroom on the self-regulation of learners in the Academic Writing Skills course at a state university in Turkey. The intervention lasted ten weeks within one academic term. Participants in the study were sophomores assigned to experimental (n=25) and control (n=26) groups. The study adopted a pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design, wherein the control group was taught in a traditional method while the experimental group received flipped instruction. Writing Strategies for Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire was adapted to apply in a different cultural context (Turkey), and the data from a sample (n=430) were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis. As pre- and post-tests, the adapted version of the questionnaire was conducted for both groups. The findings revealed that the experimental and the control groups significantly differed from each other in overall writing self-regulation favouring the experimental group. Relevant implications are discussed.

A study on the teaching reform of the course of teacher writing skills for teacher trainees in colleges and universities

To promote the art of calligraphy and inherit the excellent traditional Chinese culture, it is necessary to strengthen calligraphy education in primary and secondary schools, expand the influence of Chinese character writing education, and comprehensively improve students' writing literacy. However, studies have found that primary and secondary school students' ability to write Chinese characters has weakened, which is naturally related to the weakening of pen-and-paper writing in the information age, but also to the insufficient understanding of calligraphy education in school education and the lack of effective guidance from teachers for students. Teachers' writing level has a profound impact on students, and the demand for teachers to teach calligraphy in basic education poses a challenge to the writing skills of teacher trainees in colleges and universities. However, the current writing skills courses for teachers in colleges and universities have problems such as unclear positioning of the curriculum, the overall quality level of teachers needs to be improved, the skills training of the courses is not prominent enough, and the assessment system is not sound. Accordingly, the path of teaching reform of teachers' writing skills course is proposed: first, adjusting teaching objectives; second, reconstructing teaching modules; third, improving assessment methods; and fourth, carrying out diversified teaching activities.

Development of Short Story Writing with Religious Values through Problem-Based Learning

This research is about post-pandemic learning that changes online learning patterns to hybrid or offline. As a material for developing creativity, reading materials that are easy to understand and easy to use as references in writing are needed. Writing skills in stringing words are needed to produce quality writing. For most, writing in accordance with the Improved Spelling is not necessary. This is not justified and needs to be reviewed further, especially for students who choose the Indonesian Language and Literature Education Study Programme. Writing skills are needed in the learning process, especially in the Popular Writing Skills course. This research uses research and development. Students can start from the type of fiction story to make it easier to write it. There are various kinds of fiction stories such as novels, fairy tales, short stories, and others. Short stories are easier to make because the problems that occur are around.

Application of data mining model in English text writing training system

Abstract The big data era of “data-driven schools, educational analytics and transformation” has arrived and information technology has emerged in education. As the social demand for English writing in universities increases, the research of English writing becomes important, and the use and study of big data and information will only become the new standard for teaching and learning English. This study uses the GBDT model to extract and analyze teaching materials prepared by an English university writing skills course, select materials tailored to students’ characteristics, and produce student test scores. Learning models for predicting, analyzing and analyzing students’ writing scores, information technology can accurately predict students’ scores, which ensures the correct use of information technology in English university academic writing and the impact of GBDT. model for predicting outcomes, which has a positive role and value in student academic writing and teacher training.

The Effect of Authorship and Writing Skills Course on Secondary School Students' Writing Attitudes and Writing Self-Efficacy

ÖZ: Seçmeli Yazarlık ve Yazma Becerileri dersinin ortaokul öğrencilerinin yazma tutum ve yazma öz yeterliğine etkisinin araştırıldığı bu çalışma nicel araştırma yöntemlerine bağlı olarak durum saptaması desenine göre yapılmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemi bir devlet okulunda öğrenim gören 75 (45 kadın, 30 erkek) 6. ve 8. sınıf öğrencilerinden oluşturulmuştur. Araştırmada verilerin toplanmasında Can ve Topçuoğlu Ünal (2017) tarafından geliştirilen “Ortaokul Öğrencilerine Yönelik Yazma Tutum Ölçeği” (OÖYYTÖ) ile Demir (2014) tarafından uyarlanan “Yazma Öz Yeterlik Ölçeği” (YÖÖ) kullanılmıştır. Ölçekler öğrencilere dönem başında ilk derste (ön test) ve dönem sonu son derste (son test) olmak üzere iki kere uygulanmıştır. Elde edilen verilerin analizinde basit ikili korelasyon testi ile bağımsız örneklem t testi kullanılmıştır. Öğrencilerin hem ders öncesi hem ders sonrası yazmaya yönelik tutum ve öz yeterlik algı düzeyleri arasında orta düzeyde pozitif anlamlı bir ilişki vardır. Öğrencilerin yazmaya yönelik tutumları ile yazma öz yeterlik algılarının ön test ve son test sonuçları kendi içlerinde cinsiyet ve sınıf düzeyleri bakımından anlamlı bir farklılık göstermemektedir. Ön test ve son test sonuçları arasında anlamlı bir farkın ortaya çıkmaması ortaokullarda okutulan seçmeli Yazarlık ve Yazma Becerileri dersinin etkinliğinin sorgulanması gerektiği sonucunu ortaya çıkarmıştır. 
 Anahtar Kelimeler: Yazma, yazma tutumu, yazma öz yeterliği

The Investigating the Implementation of Process Approach to the Teaching and Learning of Writing Skills: The Case of Madda Walabu University

The main objective of this research was to investigate the perceptions of Madda Walabu University writing skills teachers and students about writing skills. To achieve this, a descriptive research design through quantitative questionnaires for students and qualitative semi-structured interview for the teachers was employed. While quantitative data were analyzed using a descriptive SPSS analysis, qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic analysis. The population for this study were 1st year 5 male and 15 female and 2nd year 5 male and 8 female totally 33 undergraduate English as a foreign language students and their 2 writing instructors. This was because 1st year undergraduate English as foreign language students take the writing course i.e. Basic Writing Skills and 2nd year undergraduate English as a foreign language students take the writing course i.e. Advanced Writing Skills. First, a questionnaire was distributed to elicit student’s perceptions and then the 2 teachers were interviewed. The overall results demonstrated that although, the instructor’s perceptions about themselves as writing skills course instructor was high, the teaching of writing skills in Madda Walabu University undergraduate English language and literature department was found to be insufficient and thus hampered the enhancement of the students writing ability. The findings of the study also revealed that majority of the students have positive perception about the importance of learning writing skills. Finally, recommendations were forwarded based on the conclusions so as to promote the teachers and students perceptions and maximize the practice of teaching and learning writing at university level.

Türkçe dersi yazma becerisinin öğretim programları çerçevesinde karşılaştırmalı değerlendirmesi

Yazma, 2019 Türkçe Dersi Öğretim Programı’nda belirtildiği üzere dört temel beceriden biridir. Programda yazma becerisine yönelik kazanımlar yer almaktadır. Ayrıca ortaokullarda seçmeli bir ders bulunmakta bu dersle ilgili ayrıntılar 2018 Yazarlık ve Yazma Becerileri Dersi Programı’nda yer almaktadır. Tarihsel sürece bakıldığında ise dönemin öğretim programı niteliğinde olan Salname-i Nezaret-i Maarif-i Umumiye (Maarif Salnamesi) eğitim yıllıklarında Türkçe dersi ve çeşitli başlıklar altında yazma becerisine yönelik dersler yer almaktadır. Bu çalışma doküman incelemesi yöntemiyle 1316 H Maarif Salnamesi ile 2019 Türkçe Dersi Öğretim Programı ve 2018 Yazarlık ve Yazma Becerileri Dersi Programı’nın, Türkçe dersi yazma becerisi açısından incelenmesiyle oluşturulmuştur. Çalışmada önce 1316 H Maarif Salnamesi günümüz Türkçesine aktarılmış; sonra burada yer alan Türkçe dersleri ve yazma becerisine yönelik dersler tespit edilmiştir. Ardından da programların karşılaştırmalı incelemesi yapılarak yazma becerisinin programlardaki değişimi ve gelişimi değerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Sonuç olarak görülmektedir ki 1316 H Maarif Salnamesi’nde yer alan ders cetvellerinde yazma becerisine yönelik lügat ve imla, imla, kıraat ve imla, kitabet, hüsn-i hat gibi dersler yer almıştır. Derslerin açıklamalarında ise dersin işleniş aşamaları, metnin özellikleri, öğretmenin rolü, öğrencilere verilecek konu ve ödevler gibi ayrıntılar verilmektedir. Güncel ders cetvellerinde Türkçe zorunlu ders iken; yazarlık ve yazma becerileri dersi, seçmeli derstir. 2019 Türkçe Dersi Programı’nda yazma kazanımı ve açıklamalarına yer verilip; yöntem ve teknik açısından ayrıntılara yer verilmez iken; 2018 Yazarlık ve Yazma Becerileri Dersi Programı’nda süreç daha da ayrıntılandırılır. Ölçme değerlendirme bakımından ise programlarda benzer bir yaklaşımın benimsendiği görülür. Buna göre süreç temelli değerlendirmenin tercih edildiği belirtilmekte ve yapılacak sınavlarla öğrencilerin bir üst kademeye geçme başarısı ölçülmektedir.

Perusall Encourages Critical Engagement with Reading Texts

Perusall, a collaborative reading tool, was introduced in an advanced reading and writing skills course in Hong Kong to increase engagement with texts and encourage critical discussion during the COVID-19 face-to-face class suspension. Students were asked to use the Perusall platform to complete pre-class readings, highlight and annotate text and critically discuss and answer questions. In this innovation in practice article, we describe why we adopted Perusall and the pedagogical implications of doing so. We aim to assist L2 teachers in encouraging active reading and critical discussion to enhance motivation in language learners.

The effect of multilingualism on the writing skills of Moroccan students learning Turkish as a foreign language (A1-A2)

As in teaching other languages, the most difficult of the four basic skills in teaching Turkish as a foreign language is writing; it includes very different strategies from sequencing to analysis and synthesis. In addition, foreign language learners tend to transfer the forms and meanings of their own culture and language to the target language and culture. Transfer means mutual benefit to be taken from their mother tongue as well as the other language(s) at the students’ disposal and it can be observed more in bilingual or multilingual individuals. In this sense, interfering negative transfer is a type of transfer that can exhibit itself as words, affixes/suffixes and syntax, while bilingual or multilingual individuals learn Turkish. The primary purpose of this study is to identify the mistakes caused by interfering negative transfers, show the effect of multilingualism on students, and help the instructors of Turkish as a foreign language. The study group consisted of 115 Moroccan students at the level of A1-A2 who learnt Turkish in the second and third course period of the 2021-2022 academic year at the ULUTÖMER language teaching center of Bursa Uludağ University. The writing skills course papers of these students at the A1-A2 level the end-of-course exam were chosen as samples. The research model was qualitatively patterned, and the research data were obtained through document analysis. The writing skills course examples included in the study were examined using the scanning technique. As far as the goals of this study are concerned, it was found that the participant students benefited from their mother tongue as well as the other languages at their disposal in their writing skills the end-of-course exam papers. The writing skills of the end-of-course exam paper of the students were evaluated within the framework of the titles of words, affixes/suffixes and syntax. This study is significant in the sense that it reveals which languages at their disposal the Moroccan students benefit from when they use Turkish in their writing skills course. After identifying the interfering negative effects of the languages that the students knew over the target language, suggestions were offered about how to eliminate those negative effects.

The Effects of Writing in a Class Blog on Saudi EFL Students’ Attitudes towards Writing in English

This case study aimed to explore Saudi EFL students’ attitudes towards learning writing by using blogging in practicing their writing activities and tasks. It also sought to measure the effectiveness of blogging as an effective approach to enhance student’s writing abilities. The participants in this study were five students second-year undergraduate EFL students studying in the Department of English in Saudi university. The participants had completed a writing skills course as a compulsory course in their study program. A semi-structured interview was used to acquire data for this case study in order to learn about learners’ blogging experiences. The semi-structured interview data were analyzed thematically. The findings showed that the learners’ attitudes were positive toward using the class blog as a beneficial approach in EFL writing classes. Furthermore, they confirmed that their English writing skills improved as a result of blogging. Additionally, they mentioned that blogging enabled them to build an interactive learning environment in which they could share their experiences and perspectives with their peers and learn from one another. Finally, the study, emphasizes the importance of using blogging in EFL writing classes and recommends that blogging to be part of writing teaching curricula at the university level.

ENGLISH FOR MARKET RESEARCH REPORT WRITING: COURSE DESIGN

At undergraduate and postgraduate levels in business schools, lecturers often provide students with a suggested structure for a market research report assignment. Thereafter, the students are left to independently master the appropriate register and the technique of writing for this genre. While many students may learn to be good at business studies, they might fall short in writing despite having to produce several reports at university level. One of the reasons for this shortfall may be that some of the students may lack the confidence to produce reports which meet academic or professional standards in the English language. A short English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course that addresses the technical writing needs of business students as an option or add-on course to undergraduate and postgraduate business curricula could provide the simple solution. It could even be formalised as a credit bearing course to motivate students to undertake it.With a view to the above, as a pilot ESP module, a 15-hour English for Market Research Report Writing Skills course was designed to try and meet the specific needs of undergraduate market research students at the Warwick Business School (WBS). It was intended to be taught under the auspices of the Warwick Skills Certificate Programme at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom (UK).

INVESTIGATING TEACHERS AND STUDENTS PERCEPTION OF WRITING SKILLS: ETHIOPIAN UNIVERSITY IN FOCUS

The main objective of this research was to investigate the perceptions of Madda Walabu University writing skills of teachers and students. To achieve this, a descriptive research design through quantitative questionnaires for students and qualitative semi-structured interview for the teachers was employed. While quantitative data were analyzed using a descriptive SPSS analysis, qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic analysis. The population for this study were 1st year 5 male and 15 female and 2nd year 5 male and 8 female totally 33 undergraduate English as a foreign language students and their 2 writing instructors. This was because 1st year undergraduate English as foreign language students take the writing course i.e. Basic Writing Skills and 2nd year undergraduate English as a foreign language students take the writing course i.e. Advanced Writing Skills. First, a questionnaire was distributed to elicit student’s perceptions and then the 2 teachers were interviewed. The overall results demonstrated that although, the instructor’s perceptions about themselves as writing skills course instructor was high, the teaching of writing skills in Madda Walabu University undergraduate English language and literature department was found to be insufficient and thus hampered the enhancement of the students writing ability. The findings of the study also revealed that majority of the students have positive perception about the importance of learning writing skills. Finally, recommendations were forwarded based on the conclusions so as to promote the teachers and students perceptions and maximize the practice of teaching and learning writing at university level.

Exploring ESL Students’ Current Competency and Needs in Academic Writing Skills at University

Mastering academic writing is one of the skills to be acquired by all university students. Ability to master academic writing skills enables university students to be more competent in presenting ideas and information related to their field. Inability to master required skills in academic writing will consequently impact the students’ performance in fulfilling the graduation requirement. Generally, students in higher learning institutions (HLIs) are constantly struggling with unfamiliar styles and mechanisms in academic writing. The current situation subsequently resulted students’ incompetency in presenting their ideas and discussion. In this study, the researchers aim to discover the students’ expectation for an academic writing skills course and their current competency academic writing skills. An adapted questionnaire from Choo (1998) was used as the main instrument in this study to 65 undergraduate TESL students in public higher learning institution (HLI) in Malaysia. Analysis of data was done quantitatively using statistical software. Results from the analyses revealed that more than half of the respondents (76.9%) agreed that academic writing skills are regarded as complex skills to be acquired. In addition, the results also yielded that almost half of the respondents (46.2%) believed that literature review section is the most difficult section in an academic paper. Results from this study will be able to guide future researchers and educators in producing more teaching and learning related to academic writing mastery.

Contradictions in Learner Interactions in a Blended-Learning Writing Course in the ODL Context: An Activity Theory Analysis

This paper reports on the use of Engeström’s (1987) Activity Theory (AT) framework to gain insights into the contradictions that emerge within the activity system of the online component of an advanced writing skills course, delivered in a blended-learning mode using the Process Approach. Activity theory, with its principle of contradictions, has been used successfully to identify tensions that arise in interactions between and among participates in online environments. The focus of this mixed-method study was to identify challenges participants experienced due to externally imposed conditions when engaging in the online activities. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and the online log reports from the Learning Management System (LMS). Contradictions emerged between and among the elements of two activity triangles within the activity system of the online writing course. Implications of these contradictions were noted to take steps to improve the design of the online component of the writing course.

A Comparative Analysis of Traditional Flipping Versus Virtual Flipping

Flipped classroom approach is the most sought after neoteric pedagogical approach in the present times. This approach is clinching prodigious recognition as it employs a blend of techniques and technologies. The present study compared flipping a traditional class and a virtual class. The study aims to weigh the effects of flipping writing skills course in a traditional class and virtual class on the performance, attitudes and perceptions of English Language Learners’. The research used a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test with a control group. The group consisted of 24 English language learners attending the level four foundations program at Nizwa College of Technology. The same group was given instructions by flipping traditional class for 3 weeks and virtual class for 3 weeks. Independent and paired sample t-tests were implemented for interpreting the pre-test and post-test data. The results showed a statistically significant difference between the writing skills course's traditional flip and virtual flip. It was evident that the students in traditional flip surpassed the students in virtual flip in performance. Students in both modes showed positive attitudes towards the approach. This study would benefit educators in Oman in general and at NCT, particularly in adapting a very effective approach that would help them improve students’ performance by involving them and making them responsible for their learning. The limitations of the study were absenteeism, limited sample size. There was also a little reluctance from students towards this approach. Studies on flipped classroom approach in language learning classrooms are limited, but studies on flipping a virtual class are even more limited. Very few researchers investigated the impact of flipping a virtual class. More research is needed in this aspect. More long-term research is needed with different skills and a larger sample size to uncover the efficacy of flipping both traditional and virtual class.

Experiencia de gamificación para la enseñanza de un segundo idioma

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo principal presentar las experiencias generadas mediante la intervención de la gamificación para el desarrollo de la motivación y la participación de los estudiantes en una materia de francés escrito de la Licenciatura en Didáctica del Francés como Lengua Extranjera en la Universidad de Guadalajara en México. Este artículo contribuye a la comprensión de las implicaciones de la estrategia de gamificación en el aula y sirve de referente para la elaboración de nuevas propuestas bajo este enfoque. A través de un estudio mixto, este trabajo muestra las experiencias docentes y la perspectiva final del estudiante mediante la triangulación de la información obtenida a partir de las observaciones en clase y los resultados de un cuestionario sobre los aspectos esenciales de la estrategia de gamificación. Los resultados muestran que la gamificación en el aula favorece las interacciones del grupo, aumenta la participación de los estudiantes y permite atender las necesidades educativas de la materia.

Academic Summarization via “Twitter” in a College EFL Context

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effect of the limitation of 140-character in Twitter versus the free writing on the skill of the summary of senior level female students of the Department of English at Jouf University. The participants of the study consisted of 60 female students who were enrolled in writing skills course (ENGL122) the participants were distributed into two groups, each of 30 students according to their scores in TOEIC, test of English for International Communication. After that, the pre-test was administered to the two groups. Both groups had the same instructor but each group was instructed in a separate class. The study was conducted in eight sessions (experimental semester). Pre-test and post-test were administered over the study sample to evaluate the significant effect on participants’ summary writing in both groups. The study results indicated that participants in both experimental and control groups achieved higher mean scores in their performance of summary writing in terms of content comparing to their mean scores in terms of coherence. Also, the results show that the performance of Twitter group in summary writing score higher results in favor of coherence compared to the control group. Therefore, new technology and social media means such as twitter contributes to solve many of the problems EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners could face. This study aims to increase the motivation of Institutions of higher education to integrate Twitter with the educational process.

Open and Distance Learner Engagement with Online Mediation Tools: An Activity Theory Analysis

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to ascertain the extent to which participants studying in an open and distance learning context utilized the mediation tools provided in an Advanced Writing Skills course, conducted in a blended-learning mode in Sri Lanka. Sixty-four participants engaged in the online component of the writing course using the Process Approach. The course consisted of seven sessions; four addressing the stages of the Process Approach to writing an essay, and three practice sessions. Data were gathered from log-files of the Learning Management System, questionnaires, and interviews related to five mediation tools provided to learners. The data were analyzed utilizing Engeström’s activity theory framework (1987); with focus on the contradictions that emerged in the use of each tool. First, the contradictions that emerged in participants’ engagement with the tools is presented, secondly, the factors that need to be taken into account to ensure greater engagement.

Effects of using inquiry-based learning on EFL students\u2019 critical thinking skills

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of using inquiry-based learning on students’ critical thinking skills. A quasi-experimental design which employed time series design with single group participants was used. A total of 20 EFL undergraduate students who took advanced writing skills course were selected using comprehensive sampling method. Tests, focus group discussion, and student-reflective journal were used to gather data on the students’ critical thinking skills. The participants were given a series of three argumentative essay writing pretests both before and after the intervention, inquiry-based argumentative essay writing instruction. While the quantitative data were analyzed using One-Way Repeated Measures ANOVA, the qualitative data were analyzed through narration. The findings of the study revealed that using inquiry-based argumentative writing instruction enhances students’ critical thinking skills. Therefore, inquiry-based instruction is suggested as a means to improve students’ critical thinking skills because the method enhances students' interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation skills which are the core critical thinking skills.

Methods to Enhance Technological Innovation Ability of Grassroots Technology Leading Personnel in Power Enterprises

In order to accelerate the establishment of a world-class power grid and world-class enterprises to provide talent support, this paper developed the science and technology periodical thesis writing skills course aiming at the needs of the leading talents of State Grid Power Company. Based on the actual writing cases, the quality and ability possessed by innovative, engineering and international forward-looking science can provide an effective way to systematically and rapidly enhance the overall quality of grassroots technology leaders in power enterprises.