scholarly journals Cultural Transfer as an Obstacle for Writing Well in English: The Case of Arabic Speakers Writing in English

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruwaida Abu Rass
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Impact ◽  
Cultural Transfer ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Muslim Students ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Teacher Trainees ◽  
Arab Muslim ◽  
English Writing Instruction ◽  
Target Culture

This paper reviews and strengthens the data on cultural transfer by Arab Muslim students writing in English and adds the significant element of the cultural impact of Islam on such writing. This qualitative study examines the writing of 18 teacher trainees at an Arab language teacher training college in Israel. Results point to a strong cultural influence appearing in the students' writing. It is suggested that greater consideration should be given to the first and the target culture when designing the curricula for writing classes for Arab L1 students in English writing instruction.

scholarly journals The Use of Portfolio Assessment in English Writing Classes

2020 ◽  
Vol 485 ◽  
pp. 012093
Author(s):  
R F A Hudori ◽  
Z Tasnim ◽  
A E Fardhani ◽  
D P Sari
Keyword(s):  
Portfolio Assessment ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
English Writing

scholarly journals Co-constructing the assessment criteria for EFL writing by instructors and students: A participative approach to constructively aligning the CEFR, curricula, teaching and learning

2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882094845
Author(s):  
Huahui Zhao ◽  
Beibei Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Assessment Criteria ◽  
Local Context ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
English Writing Instruction ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Writing Instructors

The current assessment in language classrooms prevailingly utilizes the criteria provided by instructors, regarding learners as passive recipients of assessment. The current study drew upon sustainable assessment and the community of practice to highlight the importance of involving learners in co-constructing the assessment criteria and argued that using the criteria provided by instructors could lead to discrepancy between assessment, teaching, and learning. It adopted a participatory approach and investigated how to involve learners in co-constructing the assessment criteria with instructors in tertiary English writing instruction in China, based on the European Language Profile (ELP), an evolved version of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Two writing instructors and 146 tertiary students played different, yet interactive roles in adapting the assessment criteria in the local context. Instructors drafted the criteria in line with curricula, teaching, learning and learners. Learners utilized the draft criteria in a training session and suggested possible modifications to the criteria in a survey. Suggestions were used to revise the descriptors alongside teachers’ reflections via reflective logs. A follow-up survey explored students’ perceptions of the feasibility and usefulness of the modified descriptors to investigate the effectiveness of co-constructing the assessment criteria for learning and reveal further improvement if necessary. Vigilant decision-making processes were thickly described regarding how assessment descriptors were selected, arranged, and modified to constructively align them with curricula, teaching, and learning. Statistical and thematic analyses were conducted to examine the accessibility, feasibility, and usefulness of the assessment descriptors prior to and after the modifications. Results substantiated the effectiveness and thus the importance of co-constructing assessment criteria for enhancing the quality of assessment criteria and developing learners’ cognitive and metacognitive knowledge of writing and assessment. Implications for language tutors regarding co-constructing assessment criteria in local contexts were deliberated on at the end of the article.

scholarly journals A Study of University Students in Japan: Learning and Application of Academic English Writing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Graham McKinley
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Social Constructivist ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Writer Identity ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
The Rich

<p>This study investigated Japanese first and second year undergraduate students learning English academic writing in their compulsory English composition courses in a Japanese university. The thesis takes a social constructivist approach to investigate the aspects of critical argument and writer identity in these students’ classes and their writing.  The data for the study include classroom observations and teacher and student interviews, all conducted monthly throughout the academic year-long course. In total there were six courses, four teachers, and sixteen student participants. The observations were analyzed using an adapted version of Ivanič’s (2004) Discourses of Writing framework, which focused on aspects of identity construction in the writing classroom. The linguistic data included a selection of one major piece of writing from each student, analyzed using an adapted Appraisal framework within Systemic Functional Linguistics (Martin, 1997; 2000). In order to maintain a focus on writer identity in the analysis, Clark and Ivanič’s (1997) selves were identified through this analysis. In addition, the texts were analyzed for use of Casanave’s (2002) writing game strategies, in order to further establish the students’ approaches in writing their texts. The objective was not to generalize about how Japanese students learn to write academic English, but rather to provide, from a social constructivist, Western researcher’s perspective, an analysis of what happened in these students’ writing classes and how it affected their writing for those classes.  Teachers’ general practices in the observed courses mainly focused on two aspects of writing: 1) as a communicative act (writing for a reader), and 2) as an exercise in critical thinking (developing a thesis). These two aspects emerged from the observation and interview data collection. The four teachers used very different approaches in designing their courses, and the students in the same classes responded in different ways, mostly depending on their ability to understand their teachers’ intentions and to form appropriate academic identities in an attempt to meet their teachers’ expectations. The analysis of the students’ written texts revealed that students often did not meet the teachers’ expectations of writing objectively and using a genre-appropriate voice as students often resorted to the same authorial voice to push their thesis.  This investigation was designed to inform pedagogic practices for university teachers of academic English and curriculum designers in Japan to establish effective English writing courses. The rich description of classroom practices and resulting written texts and the focus on differences in cultural expectations between teachers and students provide significant contributions to this area of inquiry. The main pedagogical suggestions are standardizing course objectives and goals, assigning more reading as a part of writing, and teaching students how to write authoritatively.</p>

scholarly journals LESSONS FROM CRITICAL THINKING: HOW TO PROMOTE THINKING SKILLS IN EFL WRITING CLASSES

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojgan Rashtchi ◽  
Babak Khoshnevisan
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Efl Writing ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Modern Education

<p>Critical thinking as an issue with on-going importance has an immense influence on modern education. However, it is not a natural disposition but is a potential that needs cultivation. Training individuals to become critical thinkers is not an easy task, but by adopting appropriate strategies and classroom practices, it is attainable. The present article aimed to show how English writing classes in EFL settings could facilitate the practice of critical thinking skills. This paper suggests that critical thinking can be implemented as a classroom practice in writing courses by using several tasks that integrate writing and thinking skills. The article starts with an introduction to the definitions of critical thinking. Then, it underlines the classroom procedures, which can be implemented by teachers. Following this, some sample tasks and writing topics are proposed to help teachers employ critical thinking practices in their classes.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0663/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

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