Does Altering the Writing Instructions Influence Outcome Associated With Written Disclosure?

The discrepancy between students’ preferences and teacher practices for feedback on writing has created difficulty on the side of teachers and confusion on the side of the students. What teachers believe and practice as effective feedback for students may not be the one that students perceive as useful and effective feedback for them. This paper investigates the types of written feedback preferred by the students and the types of feedback provided by the teachers on students’ writing. This study employed a survey design which involved 54 students and 22 teachers using convenience sampling technique. The instrument used in collecting data was a questionnaire in the form of Feedback Scale. The results showed that there were some points of compatibility between students’ preferences and teachers’ practices and some other points were incompatible. The data showed that both students and teachers preferred to have or to give direct feedback but the data also indicated that students liked to have more direct feedback than the teacher could provide. It was also found that the teachers provided more indirect feedback than the students expected to have. The students also preferred unfocused feedback to focused feedback. The findings of the study have crucial implications on writing instruction. There is a need to design writing instructions which accommodate both teachers’ practices and students’ preferences for written feddback. Based on the profile of students’ preference and teachers’ practices, a model of feedback provision in teaching writing is proposed. This model is called preference-based feedback on writing instruction.

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Neutralizing Trade-off Effect between Accuracy and Fluency in EFL Writing by Mentor Text Modeling: Cognitive Complexity in Focus

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ◽

10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.7n.2p.134 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 134 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Reza Biria ◽

Farahnaz Liaghat

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Complexity ◽

Teaching Writing ◽

Approaches To Teaching ◽

Trade Off ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Writing Instructions ◽

Mentor Texts ◽

Improving Accuracy ◽

Traditional Approaches ◽

Writing Competence

The present study sought to explore the efficacy of a brand-new approach to teaching writing called mentor text modeling in neutralizing trade-off effect between accuracy and fluency in writing tasks with different levels of cognitive complexity. To this end, a total of 60 (30 male and 30 female) Iranian EFL learners were randomly selected and assigned to three groups of comparison, each containing 20 (10 male and 10 female) learners. Employing a pretest/posttest experimental design, learners of the three groups received instruction on advanced writing during an 11-week course. At the commencement of the course, the learners’ fluency and accuracy in writing were gaged through three writing tasks with high, moderate, and low levels of cognitive complexity. Having been exposed to the same instructional input, the learners of each group underwent writing instructions based on one of three approaches to teaching writing, namely, mentor text modeling, product-based approach, and process-based approach. At the end of the study course, the learners’ writing performance was assessed on three tasks parallel to the pretest measures. Results of running correlation analysis indicated that contrary to the two traditional approaches to teaching writing, mentor text modeling was capable of improving accuracy and fluency simultaneously and, as a result, was found to be effective in neutralizing the trade-off effect between accuracy and fluency in writing tasks with high, moderate, and low cognitive complexity levels. The study’s finding may urge EFL teachers to include mentor texts while teaching writing to realize a balanced improvement in EFL learners’ writing competence.

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Writer Identity Construction in MSc. Students of Engineering

International Journal of English Language Teaching ◽

10.5430/ijelt.v8n2p22 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 22

Author(s):

Masood Monjezi

Keyword(s):

Identity Construction ◽

Research Papers ◽

First Semester ◽

Academic Paper ◽

Writing Instructions ◽

Writing Course ◽

Writing Research ◽

Before And After ◽

Student Researchers ◽

Researcher Identity

Writing in academia is not only a way for students to acquire knowledge and skills, but also a process through which they construct author/researcher identity. This study aims to explore how twenty MSc. students construct their identity as writers of research papers. The students in this study received genre-based writing instructions on writing research papers during their writing course in the first semester of university. They wrote four papers during the semester, and the researcher provided feedback to their papers. Then, they were interviewed individually in order to find out how they reacted to the instructions, the writing process, and the feedback provided by the teacher. In addition, they were requested to write a reflective piece of writing about what they experienced including their emotions, thoughts and opinions about writing an academic paper before and after the course. Two types of analyses were made. Firstly, their sample research papers were examined during the course to see if there were improvements in the areas where feedback was provided. Secondly, the interviews and reflective pieces of writing were subjected to content analysis in order to extract themes. The examination of the papers revealed that the feedback provided by the teacher was effective as the writings improved in the areas where feedback was given. The thematic analysis resulted in two major themes of Affect and Attitude and the Need for Adaptation. An important implication of this study was the role feedback played in helping student/researchers to develop their identity in writing.

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Move analysis and their lexical verbs of research article abstracts of Filipino and American writers

Journal of Modern Languages ◽

10.22452/jml.vol31no1.3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 44-63

Author(s):

Abdul Wahid Ibrahim Tocalo

Keyword(s):

Cultural Differences ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Applied Linguistics ◽

Future Research ◽

Research Article ◽

Writing Instructions ◽

Native Speakers Of English

Rhetorical move analyses of research article (RA) abstracts have established variations across disciplines and cultures. However, there is still a need for more explorations on Applied Linguistics discipline. Comparing native and other group of non-native speakers of English, such as Filipino users of the language, has also been a neglect in research as far as the researcher’s knowledge is concerned. Hence, this study investigated the rhetorical moves in the RA abstracts of American and Filipino writers who are published in two journals related to Applied Linguistics field. The study also explored the lexical verbs underlying each move in all the abstracts. Each abstract was then segmented into moves. Findings revealed that the moves Situating the Research (STR), Presenting the Research (PTR), and Discussing the Research (DTR) were obligatorily used by both groups of writers, while the moves Describing the Methodology (DTM) and Summarizing the Findings (STF) were obligatory only among Filipinos and optional among Americans. Filipino writers appear to develop their own conventions deviating from Americans who are considered native speakers and norm providers. The results also amplify the existence of cultural differences even in abstract writing. Further, the study details lists of lexical verbs that may be used to realize a rhetorical intent of each move. Hence, academic writing instructions may be informed by the rhetorical and linguistic realizations unveiled in this study. Directions for future research are likewise provided.

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The Effects of Written Stuttering Disclosure on the Perceptions of a Child Who Stutters

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/2021_lshss-20-00119 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Greg Snyder ◽

Ashlee Manahan ◽

Peyton McKnight ◽

Myriam Kornisch

Keyword(s):

Personal Characteristics ◽

Personality Characteristics ◽

Control Group ◽

Written Disclosure ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Self Advocacy ◽

Self Disclosure ◽

College Age ◽

Perceptual Differences ◽

Disclosure Statement

Purpose This study measured between-groups differences in perceived speech skills and personality characteristics of a 12-year-old male child who stutters (CWS) as a function of a written factual stuttering disclosure statement, delivered by the CWS, his “mother,” or his “teacher.” Method Four hundred twenty-four college-age adults were assigned to one of four groups, including three experimental groups (i.e., written self-disclosure, mother-written disclosure, and teacher-written disclosure) and a control group (no written disclosure). Participants in the control conditions viewed a brief video of the CWS. In the experimental conditions, participants read a brief written disclosure statement for 30 s, followed by the same video used in the control condition. After viewing the video, all participants completed surveys relative to their perceptions of the CWS speech skills and personality characteristics. Results Results reveal that a written stuttering disclosure statement provided by the mother correlated with select significant desirable perceptual differences of the CWS, while a written disclosure statement provided by the CWS yielded insignificant or even undesirable perceptual differences of the CWS. Written stuttering disclosures provided by a “teacher” did not yield any significant between-groups differences in the perception of a CWS. Gender affiliation was found to be a source of covariance in a number of perceived speech skills and personality characteristics. Conclusions Written stuttering disclosure statements provided by the “mother” correlated with select favorable perceptual differences of speech skills and personal characteristics of a CWS. Clinically, the application of novel methods (written and oral disclosure statements) and sources (i.e., CWS advocates such as “mother” and “teacher”) of stuttering disclosure statement can be integrated into a systematic therapeutic program, creating an innovative approach of scaffolding self-advocacy via stuttering disclosure in CWS. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.15505857

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Writing Instructions and How-to-do Manuals across Cultures

Intercultural Rhetoric and Professional Communication ◽

10.4018/978-1-61350-450-5.ch010 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 283-317

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Instructional Materials ◽

Units Of Analysis ◽

Writing Instructions ◽

The World ◽

Assembly Instructions

This chapter demonstrates how culture structures and is embedded in instructional manuals around the world. It examines two car repair instructions from Japan and the United States and two charcoal grill assembly instructions. It provides key units of analysis for professional communicators writing instructional materials for intercultural contexts.

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