scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Using a Deductive-Cum-Process Writing Process Approach to Teach Tone Formality

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. p21
Author(s):  
Fiona Kwai-peng SIU

This study aims to investigate the usefulness of a deductive-cum-process writing approach to raise native Cantonese-speaking ESL students’ awareness of the inappropriate use of informal language in academic writing. Achieving tone formality by incorporating appropriate syntactic and semantic elements poses great difficulties to freshmen at the City University of Hong Kong. Furthermore, the effectiveness of using a deductive approach to teach word usage has been inconclusive despite numerous studies on this issue (e.g., Alzubi, 2015; Tammenga-Helmantel, 2014; Vogel et al., 2011). In the current study, seven types of informal language expressions and corresponding formal alternatives were first taught, followed by peer review and individual teacher-student consultations to reinforce the teaching.The experimental group consisted of 19 students taking an academic writing course in the summer semester 2017-2018. The end-of-course writing examination showed that the experimental group used significantly fewer informal expressions than did the control group in three measures—the total number of informal expressions and two component measures (p?0.05). Questionnaire findings confirmed the usefulness of the current teaching approach, as perceived by the majority of the participants. Qualitative analysis revealed several types of informal expressions that were most difficult for the participants to identify and to make correction.

Author(s):  
Laleh Khojasteh ◽  
Seyyed Ali Hosseini ◽  
Elham Nasiri

AbstractWriting as a multiple-step process is one of the most complex and demanding skills for graduate students to master. Foreign or second language learners who are required to write for academic purposes at the university level may even find it more demanding to master. One of the ways of decreasing the burden of mastering this skill for learners is mediation, using scaffolding techniques to teach writing. Hence, having a good understanding of the impact(s) of adopting mediating or scaffolding techniques in writing classes is absolutely indispensable. To this end, the present study employed an experimental research design to investigate the impact of mediation in the flipped writing classrooms of the students of medicine. To peruse this goal, 47 medical students were selected through purposive sampling and put into control and treatment groups. Medical students in the treatment group watched teacher-made video content(s) before their writing classes. The students in this group experienced organized-interactive writing group activities in their classes. Unlike the experimental group, the students in the control group received all the instructions in the classroom and were assigned homework. The findings obtained through the ANOVA and t-test indicated that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the control group in terms of their writing. A probable conclusion could be that by requiring students to study in advance and take responsibility for their learning, flipped classroom can provide the opportunity for learners to actively construct knowledge rather than receive the information passively in the classroom. Flipped classroom can also cultivate interactive class time for teachers and enable them to invest in more fruitful academic practices, instead of asking students to spend a substantial amount of time each week doing homework independently.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Taufiqulloh Yuvita Imam Yuliarto

A process approach is usually employed in the classroom instruction of academic writing, particulary essay writing, in the Indonesian colleges or universities. This study investigates the role of teacher and peer feedback inserted in the steps of writing process on students’ writing achievement. It is an experimental research conducted at the English Education Department of Pancasakti University Tegal Central Java Indonesia, in the seven semester of the  academic year 2015/2016. The participants of this study are 40 students who attended essay writing class. The instrument is essay writing test which was administered before and after treatment to both experimental and control group. By using paired-sample t-test and f-test, it was found that the use of teacher and peer feedback were effective to teach essay writing. Such a technique contributed a significant improvemental to the students writing achievement in the experimental group. The result also showed that the writing achievement of the students in the experimental group was better than that of those in the control group. To conclude,  utilizing teacher and peer feedback is considered to be one of the effective ways for the students in learning essay writing. However, some drawbacks were found that need to be taken into account in the next related researches.Keywords: Teacher feedback, peer feedback, essay writing


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Veliz

The present study examined the role of awareness of metaphor in learners’ lexical learning. A total of 35 intermediate English as second language (ESL) students participated in this study. Participants were randomly divided into two small groups. One (N = 17) served as the control group and the other (N = 18) as the experimental group. Both groups were taught several metaphorically-used expressions over a period of six weeks. The groups differed in that the experimental group received systematic and explicit explanations of the source and target relationships that underlie metaphor, while the control group did not receive such instruction. Pre-tests and Post-tests were administered in order to measure lexical understanding of metaphorical items. Two journal entries were given out to students at two different intervals throughout the teaching period in order to tap into their views of how their lexical understanding of metaphor was changing, or not changing, over time. Results revealed that those students who received systematic and explicit explanations on the concrete experiential basis of metaphor showed greater understanding of metaphorical meanings, and seemed more inclined to unpacking their metaphoricity by looking at what lies behind them.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Mehdi Solhi Andarab

The recent improvements in technology and their integration in language learning have played a facilitating role invocabulary acquisition. Quizlet, an online teacher-/student-friendly tool, is one of the leading applications invocabulary acquisition. Along with the effectiveness of visualization in acquiring vocabulary, humor has been alsoextensively indicated to carry a significant role in language learning. With all its facilitating features, the integrationof technology, humor, and vocabulary can be achieved via Quizlet. In this study, the visual integration of humoraccompanying vocabulary on Quizlet was taken into scrutiny to see to what extent humor-integrated pictures onQuizlet account for the retention of vocabulary acquisition. With this purpose, this study examined the effect ofhumor-integrated pictures on vocabulary acquisition of 45 intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) learnerson Quizlet. In so doing, the experimental group received a series of unknown vocabulary items for which theintegrated pictures were humorous, while the vocabulary items assigned for the control group were identical, but innon-humorous contexts. At the end, an independent samples t-test applied on the scores achieved from a posttestindicated a significant difference in scores of the control group and that of the experimental group. In fact, thelearners in the experimental group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the control group. The resultsindicated that linking vocabulary items with humorous pictures is more effective than using non-humorous context inlearning vocabulary. Apparently, as the results indicate, the significant effectiveness of technology in vocabularylearning can be boosted with the help of humorous context. The findings shed light on the importance of technologyin language learning and its linking with humor in vocabulary learning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1175-1184
Author(s):  
Abdul Halim ◽  
Sofia Ulfa Eka Hadiyanti

The research aimed to investigate the effect of metacognitive instruction on students' self-regulated learning (SRL) writing for Indonesian EFL students to have appropriate grammar and meaningful learning experiences. The methodology used was a quasi-experimental design. The research participants were 50 students from the University of Muhammadiyah East Kalimantan (UMKT) English department who took a writing course. The participants were divided into the experimental group that was taught with metacognitive instruction. In contrast, although the same teacher taught the control group and had similar learning materials, the teacher did not use metacognitive instruction. The data was taken through pre-test and post-test and analyzed through independent t-test with statistics tool SPSS. The results showed that the experimental group has a higher SRL score with significant results in overall score even though there is one component that is different from previous studies, namely knowledge of cognition. Some suggestions were proposed.


1986 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 279
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bertoldi

This article describes a multi-faceted approach to meeting the writing needs of advanced ESL learners enrolled in an intensive, full-time ESL program lasting sixteen weeks. The students are highly-motivated francophone managers and professionals who need to write memos, letters, reports, and other specialized material in English at work. Their writing is directed to employees, colleagues and superiors within a large bureaucracy, and to the public. The article examines the theoretical and practical principles on which the writing course was based. In addition, it describes how learners' needs are met through the use of authentic documents and through individual teacher-student consultations.


Humaniora ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 845
Author(s):  
Almodad Biduk Asmani

The purpose of the research project is to investigate how far the academic writing skills of Binus University students can be developed through two conflicting CLT methods: standard and principled. The research project is expected to result in computer-animated format which can be used as one of the main tools in teaching and learning grammar at Binus University. The research project uses the qualitative approach, and thus uses verbal data. The research project involves two subject groups (experimental and control). The experimental group will receive the treatment of grammar learning by using the Principled CLT approach, while the control group receives the standard CLT approach. Survey is then conducted to the two groups so as to find out their comments on the two teaching methods. From the results of the questionnaires, it is found that Principled CLT method is favored for its knowledge and accuracy factors, while the Standard CLT is preferred for its fun and independence factors.   


Author(s):  
Fereydoon Rasouli ◽  
Omid Ahmadi

Determining the motivational impact of enhancing reading comprehension, through pictorial fictions, on the EFL students to involve them more in writing activities, is the prime purpose of the present study. The study took place in the Iranian Language Institute (ILI), the branch of Mahabad. Key English Test (KET) administrated to a hundred students to select the subjects of the present study. Finally, 60 male students were selected and randomly divided into the experimental and control groups. The experimental group received pictorial fictions as treatment, utilizing input reading comprehension enhancement through typographic elements, and direct and indirect feedback provided to them, while the control group received pictorial fiction texts without such inputs, then to collect the intended data, the "Academic Writing Motivation Questionnaire" (AWMQ) was administered to both groups separately in two stages of pre-tests and post-tests. The results showed that enhancing reading comprehension has a significant motivational impact on the writing engagement of Iranian EFL learners.


2022 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 102-109
Author(s):  
E. S. Chuikova

The article examines the controversial procedure of analyzing the learner’s professional needs. Needs analysis is generally regarded as an invaluable tool for constructing a course syllabus. It might be really informative if the target situation analysis and present situation analysis are combined. Speaking about academic writing teaching for Russian non-academic students at the Bachelor Degree level, one should admit that students have no or limited experience of functioning in an academic area in English. Consequently, their responses to the questionnaires as one of the frequently used methods of target situation analysis are merely assumptions; and the answers could not be taken as objective and valid. The author presents a system of analyzing students’ needs within the framework of Academic Writing course: namely, distinguishes the stages that precede or follow teacher-student talks about their expectations, provides more objective practice of examining learners’ needs, and discusses ways of improving question-answer sessions/ interviews. Needs analysis practice that develops learners’ professional needs involves task-based learning, reflexive activities, and teaching to ask good questions. Bringing into life the analogy between customer development theory in management and needs analysis practice in education, it is possible to work out a fruitful strategy. Conducting needs analysis pertains equally to specifying and developing students’ needs in academic communication.


Author(s):  
Mehrak Rahimi ◽  
Seyed Shahab Miri

In this chapter the impact of using a leaning management system (LMS) to manage homework assignments on students' achievement in a letter writing course was investigated. Additionally, the relationship between students' attitudes toward the online system and their motivated strategies for learning was investigated. Two groups of students participated in the course. The experimental group used the LMS as the homework assistance to submit their homework for one semester. The control group did and delivered their homework using paper-and-pencil approach. The result of the data analysis revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the writing post-test. Further, the students were found to have positive attitudes toward using technology to manage their homework and this attitude was found to be related to their motivated strategies for learning. The motivated strategies were found to be related to achievement in writing, while attitudes towards the system were not.


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