Paragraph Writing Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

PREFACE Writing is a very important skill that should be mastered properly by university students, especially pre-service language teachers (e.g. EFL student teachers). In order to present their ideas efficiently in the context of their... more

PREFACE

Writing is a very important skill that should be mastered properly by university students, especially pre-service language teachers (e.g. EFL student teachers). In order to present their ideas efficiently in the context of their academic study, they have to be trained well on how to write meaningful pieces (e.g. essays, academic reports, summaries, critical reviews, etc.). Moreover, writing is an important skill that prospective English language teachers need to develop during their pre-service education (training) programmes.

Course information based on new regulations (college bylaws, recently modified in 2013):

Level: 2nd, year- 1st Semester Course Title: Writing (2) Code: Curr213
Number of Units:
-Lecture (Theoretical Study): 1 hour
-Workshops (Practical Sessions): 2 hours
-Total: 3 hours Major: BA in Arts and Education (English Section)

This Writing II course to 2nd-year EFL student teachers complements - and builds on - the Writing I course studied in the previous year by fresh student teachers. It gradually takes student teachers further from the basic mechanical writing skills studied in Writing I at the sentence and paragraph writing levels, into the more advanced essay writing process. Thus, it aims mainly to foster EFL student teachers’ essay writing skills, and help them to identify different ways, strategies and/or techniques used for writing a standard English essay (e.g. a comprehensive five-paragraph essay).

In this regard, it provides many examples, samples and illustrations of how to write different types of essays, and how to use various techniques to develop paragraphs, and thus explore, reinforce and develop the main topic. More specifically, by the end of the course, EFL student teachers are expected to be able to:

1. Identify an English essay and its main components;
2. Write an English essay accurately and adequately;
3. Identify a topic paragraph in an essay;
4. Write a topic paragraph (and topic sentences or thesis) in an essay;
5. Identify different genres and types of essays;
6. Write different types of essays (e.g. expository, academic, descriptive, and narrative);
7. Practice essay writing skills (e.g. pre-writing strategies such as brainstorming and free writing; summarizing and skimming skills; developing ideas in paragraphs; providing sufficient/supporting details; drafting/redrafting; reflection and revision; electronic writing skills, etc.); and
8. Identify different genres of essays online (e.g. fiction and literature; factual and realistic pieces; functional products; expository essays; reflective diaries; and academic essays)

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs):
1.1 Knowledge & Understanding:
1.1.9 The student teacher recognizes the difference between the paragraph, the composition and the essay.
1.1.10 The student teacher recognizes the various modes and genres of writing, such as comparing and contrasting, cause and effect, argumentative and expository writing.
1.1.11 The student teacher recognizes how to revise and edit essays and check them for unity, order and coherence.
1.1.15 The student teacher recognizes the difference between translating the text and the context and the various stylistic devices used in social, political, medical and cultural contexts.

1.2 Intellectual Skills:
1.2.6 The student teacher produces various writing genres (explanatory, expository, descriptive and narrative) accurately and fluently.
1.2.7 The student teacher initiates and terminates paragraphs or essays accurately.
1.2.8 The student teacher uses the process and product approach to writing paragraphs and/or essays.
1.2.9 The student teacher achieves unity and coherence in his/her writing through various devices.
1.2.10 The student teacher determines the audience or the purpose of an intended writing piece.
1.2.11 The student teacher prepares writing in a format (e.g. oral presentation, manuscript, and multimedia) appropriate to audience and purpose.
1.2.12 The student teacher revises and/or edits paragraphs and/or essays.

1.3 Professional Skills:
1.3.1 The student teacher enjoys English as an international means of communication.
1.3.2 The student teacher feels that learning English facilitates travelling abroad and communicating with native speakers.
1.3.5 The student teacher thinks that studying English dispels self-consciousness.
1.3.6 The student teacher thinks that English is a worthwhile subject.

1.4 General Skills:
1.4.1 The student teacher responds to specific situations and current conditions when implementing instructions.
1.4.2 The student teacher responds to the ideas and opinions of other speakers thoughtfully before uttering.

1. Lecturing
2. Discussion
3. Collaborative learning
4. Blended learning
5. Online learning 3- Teaching and Learning Methods
1. Online tutorials
2. Private interviews
3. Self-paced learning 4- Teaching and Learning Methods for Low Learners
5- Evaluation: Both forms of evaluation (i.e. formative and summative) are employed with student teachers throughout the whole semester.

Writing tasks in workshops; oral/written presentations; formative assessment in workshops; and discussion in lectures a) Tools
-Provisional scores are assigned for each student teacher every week in each workshop based on certain tasks.
-A final total score is assigned for each one by the end of the semester based on total performance in both lectures and workshops.
-Some time is devoted to online interactions with tutors and among student teachers themselves outside the frame of the formal schedule (e.g. a Facebook group or an online Blog). b) Time Schedule
• Semester work
+ Oral production: 20 marks
• Final semester exam: 80 marks
• Total: 100 marks c) Grading System