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

Argumentative writing is an important skill expected of all students from the institutions of higher learning. These tertiary students are often required to state their opinions and put forward their arguments in their written essays, assignments, and projects. As Shannon (2011) points out students are required to write to fulfill their academic course requirements. Hyland (2005) also emphasises the importance of writing which involves interactions between writers and readers. The ways that the writers express their opinions to the readers are very much related to the choices of their language use. Therefore, this study explores how undergraduate writers state their stances in English argumentative essays. The analysis of the argumentative essays for stance was based on the framework proposed by Biber (2006), focusing on the lexico-grammatical features. The findings of this study were obtained from the argumentative essays of thirty undergraduate writers from a public university in Malaysia. The findings of this study have provided a more in-depth understanding of how stance-taking can be identified through the use of particular linguistic features such as modal verbs, stance adverbs, and stance complement clauses in argumentative writing by these ESL undergraduate writers. Further, the findings from the analysis of the use of linguistic features in English for stating stances can then be used to guide these writers improve their abilities to write for academic purposes, specifically in argumentative writing. INTRODUCTION Writing is an important skill expected of all the undergraduates from the institutions of higher learning (IHL). It is often the case that these undergraduates need to do some forms of writing like essays, assignments, projects or theses. The writing skills that are required of them are often to state their stances and put forward their arguments. As Shannon (2011) points out, the students are required to write to fulfill their academic course requirements. As writing is considered important to the undergraduates, it is essential for them to be aware of how they express their stances in their academic writing, particularly in their argumentative writing. According to Hyland (2005), when the writers state their stances, they show how they convey their opinions, judgments, and commitments to the propositions. To him, stating a stance in writing involves interaction with the readers. The competency in stance-taking can establish writer-reader dialogue, and relationships between people and ideas.

- by
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- Argumentative Writing, Stance, Writing Performance, Malaysian undergraduates

The present study is conceptualized to determine the usefulness and effectiveness of sentence combining strategy as method for helping students produce and construct more syntactically mature sentences. This is initiated to help the students improve their writing performance in English and make sentence construction in writing more automatic and less labored. After conducting the pretest and posttest, evaluation was made on the gathered data using T-test. This was used to determine if there is a significant difference between the means of two groups, which may be related in certain features. Moreover, a t-test is used as a hypothesis testing tool, which allows testing of an assumption applicable to a population. There are four stages and levels of writers such as 11.25-15.00 Advanced, 7.50-11.24 Proficient. 3.75-7.49 Developing, and 0.00-3.74 Beginning. The findings revealed that majority of the respondents are female with the frequency of 20 or 66.6% of the total respondents, while 10 or 33.3% are male. 50% of the respondents are proficient in their performance in writing in terms of grammar. 26.6% are developing and 13.4% are advanced. Based on the pretest result, no students are classified to be beginning in their grammar skills relative to their writing performance. In terms of the mean score performance in grammar, 8.53 with 2.46 standard deviation is classified as proficient. This infers that the students are grammatically proficient, can identify simple grammatical errors, and can express themselves with simple grammatical accuracy. The standing of experimental students before and after instruction is 86.7% of the respondents garnered a score classified as advanced level. 13.3% are in the proficient level and 0% for both developing and beginning level. This means that there was statistically significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the respondents in their writing performance before and after using sentence combining strategy in terms of grammar. The mean performance score of the respondents is 13.67 with the standard deviation of 1.35. The mean revealed that the students have an advanced or exceptional performance in their grammar-related writing performance. In terms of grammar a computed t-value of 11.631 and a pvalue of 0.000 shows a significant difference on the pretest and posttest performance of the respondents. Therefore, it could be assumed that Sentence Combining Strategy is a great tool to improve the writing performance of the selected grade 9 students in Sta. Catalina Integrated National High School. Its positive impact on the writing performance of the respondents affirmed that there is a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the respondents in their writing performance before and after using sentence combining strategy. Thus, the null hypothesis is "accepted". The following recommendations were drawn based from the results of the study. Sentence combining strategy will be endorsed to English teachers as their reference to help their students improve their writing performance in English. English teachers should teach their students to use a variety of sentences in their writing. As an
educator, strengthen the foundation of grammar lessons to enhance the writing performance of the
students in English. Students are encouraged to practice sentence combining strategy in writing
composition. Future researchers may use this as their reference when doing another research work about
Sentence Combining Strategy and Writing Performance of grade 9 in English. Further relevant studies may
be conducted to make an improvement on the weaknesses of this research to conduct a better study.

- by IOER International Multidisciplinary Research Journal ( IIMRJ) and +1
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- Writing Performance, grammatical accuracy, grammar skills

This study focused in determining the effect of using Creative Worksheets in the Students' Writing Performance in English. Intermediate pupils in Cabay Elementary School, in Tiaong II District, Tiaong, Quezon were chosen as the respondents of the study. The writing assessment was used as the main datagathering instrument, consists of two parts: pre-assessment on the students' writing performance in English and post assessment on the use of Creative Worksheets. Preparatory measures were conducted before the implementation of the study; some permission letters were also prepared. The writing assessments have been validated and corrected by external and internal experts. The result of the variables showed no significant difference between the creative worksheets and the students' writing performance in English in terms of content, sentence structure, vocabulary and grammar. However, the result of the study may be affected by modular way of learning, wherein pupils are being guided by parents or tutors at home. Despite of this result, as for the recommendations, the teachers may use and modify these creative worksheets to be used effectively in the teaching of writing in English among the pupils, the pupils may also use these creative worksheets as supplementary activities to improve and enhance their writing performance in English through practice and mastery, and the future researchers may conduct similar or more complex study in line with this.

This study examines the potential effect of mind mapping strategy on developing Jordanian students' writing performance. The researchers claim that mind mapping strategy has the potential to improve Jordanian students' writing performance. The study follows a quasi-experimental design in which an experimental group and a control group were purposefully chosen from eleventh grade students at Al Hashymiah School for Boys, Zarqa in Jordan during the second semester of the academic year 2016/2017. In the experimental group, 20 students were taught by mind mapping strategy and 20 students of control group were taught by the conventional teaching method as outlined in the Teacher's Book. To collect the data, a pre-test and a post-test was utilized. ANCOVA was used to measure statistical differences in the mean scores of the participants of the study. The findings reveal statistically significant differences (at α≤0.05) between the two mean scores of experimental and control groups in the post-test in favor of experimental group. The study recommends an integration of the mind mapping strategy into the English as a foreign Language (EFL) curriculum in Jordan as it facilitates developing students' writing skill. The study also recommends to examine the effect of using mind mapping strategy on EFL students' achievements in other language skills and sub skills. Teachers are also advised to use the mind mapping strategy to increase students' interest and motivation to write more often.

- by Arab World English Journal (AWEJ)
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- Jordan, Mind Mapping, Writing Performance, EFL Students

The study aims at finding out the effect of process-based writing teaching supported by students' reflection on their performance in, and attitude toward writing. It hypothesizes that there is no statistically significant difference between the mean score of the experimental group taught writing according to the reflection-supported process-based approach and the control group taught writing according to the process-based approach in the writing performance test and writing attitude scale. To achieve the aims of the study, two second year sections in the Department of English of the College of Education/ Ibn Rushd for Human Sciences are randomly assigned as the experimental and control groups with 43 and 45 students respectively. The experiment in this study lasts for 15 weeks during which both groups are taught writing according to the process approach and given one writing assignment per week. Only the experimental group students are required to reflect on their writing performance in every writing assignment by using a reflection sheet prepared for this purpose. At the end of the experiment, the two instruments of the study, i.e., a writing performance test and attitude toward writing scale are administered on both groups. The statistical manipulation of the results achieved shows that supporting the process orientation to writing teaching with a phase of students reflection on their writing performance is effective in developing their writing performance and helping them formulate positive attitude toward writing. In the light of the results and conclusions achieved, a set of recommendations is put forward. Keywords: attitude toward writing, reflection on learning, writing as a process, writing performance

The main concern of this study was to identify Iranian intermediate EFL learners' problems in cohesion and coherence of writing performance as well as the extent to which they utilized cohesion and coherence in their writing. The ability to compose a piece of descriptive text is important for EFL and ESL learners. Despite its significance, there is a gap in the literature about how Iranian EFL learners write essays in this genre, which this study intends to fill. The research design involved the utilization of mixed research method in addressing the research questions. The study addressed a corpus of 40 intermediate language learners' descriptive essays, 10 experienced teachers teaching at the intermediate level as the questionnaire respondents, and the answers of four interviewees' from those volunteer experienced teachers. The results of the study revealed that lack of cohesion and coherence in the participants' essays and their writing performance in terms of these two variables was not acceptable. Therefore, the obtained findings, by implication, indicated that they had neither some aspects of cohesive and coherent writing, nor had enough support, practice and feedback on their written text in terms of cohesion and coherence. Some pedagogical implications of this study would be applicable to the language learners' writing in terms of these two aforementioned variables. Moreover, the results were expected to aid in setting the writing sections of classes for improvement of language learners' written texts, particularly in terms of cohesion and coherence.

Peer assessment (PA), a process by which students' oral or written work is assessed by peers, has received a lot of attention recently (Hansen Edwards, 2014; Harris et al., 2015). Using data collected from a secondary school in Cyprus, the current study investigated whether PA could improve the writing skills of 60 adolescent EFL students. The results showed that PA had a significantly positive impact on students' writing performance. The article discusses the important role of PA in the development of students' writing skills and offers research and practical recommendations for the implementation of PA in EFL contexts.

- by Dr. Eleni Meletiadou
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- Peer Assessment, Secondary Education, Writing Performance

In the last two decades, teachers, researchers and educational authorities express their concern for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students’ poor writing performance and failure in formal tests (Lee, 2009; Meletiadou, 2013; Pavlou et al., 2005; Tsagari & Meletiadou, 2015). Research has indicated that peer assessment (PA) can be successfully employed as a tool for improving writing skills and supporting a better integration of teaching/instruction with assessment of progress in learning (Falchikov et al., 2000). However, the use of PA and teacher assessment (TA) in secondary education has not yet been widely investigated (Tsivitanidou et al., 2011). More specifically, the present dissertation investigates the use of PA as a dynamic learning tool which can enhance EFL students’ writing skills in secondary education. It aims to develop a PA implementation model for secondary school classes and investigate into the effects of PA on learning, which is often characterized as consequential validity, (Boud, 1995; Sambell et al, 1997). The overall aim is to enable teachers to improve students’ performance and motivation, particularly in the field of EFL writing. The present dissertation focuses on a study which employed a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design and focused on PA of EFL writing skills in the Cypriot secondary education. It aimed to explore: (a) the effect of PA and TA on EFL students’ writing performance as this was indicated by their pre-test and post-test essay marks in contrast to TA only; (b) the impact of PA and TA on EFL students' writing quality as opposed to TA only; (c) EFL students’ attitudes towards PA, and (d) EFL teachers’ perceptions of PA. Participants of the study were: (a) twenty groups of ten Cypriot intermediate adolescent EFL students (200 students in total); (b) 20 qualified EFL teachers, and (c) an external assistant. All participants received adequate training in PA methods. Data were analysed using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods. The study outcomes indicated that PA and TA can have a moderately positive impact on students’ writing performance affecting all aspects of writing (mechanics, organization, content, vocabulary, genre and language use) and a similarly significant impact on EFL students’ writing quality (lexical complexity, fluency, accuracy, grammatical complexity). The impact was more profound on low-achievers who are in greater need of the benefits that PA can provide them. These results contribute to linguistic theory by suggesting that language learning grows and skills may be adequately developed in the appropriate learning environment in which PA is used as a dynamic learning tool. PA is anticipated to make a significant contribution to the field of education if: (a) sufficient training and support is provided to all participants, (b) carefully designed tools are employed to familiarize learners with the PA process, (c) PA is introduced gradually and used on a regular basis as early as possible that is even in primary education, and (d) the emphasis is on the formative use of PA as a dynamic learning-oriented tool employed by teachers to enhance students’ skills. The study provides recommendations for training teachers and students in PA skills, for conducting research in PA and other alternative assessment methods and for implementing PA successfully in secondary EFL writing classes. Directions for further research are also discussed.

- by Dr. Eleni Meletiadou
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- Peer Assessment, Student Motivation, Peer Assisted Learning, ESL/EFL Writing

Despite the increasing support for the use of e-portfolios, research on its utility is just beginning to emerge. In terms of the current study, 200 students were asked to create digital portfolios with Padlet, share their e-portfolios via their Virtual Learning Platform (VLE), and ask for peer and lecturer feedback every time they completed a written task. Using a diagnostic test and their final assignment, students had to write a reflective report at the beginning and the end of an academic term. They also interacted every week using a forum created by their lecturer to enhance collaboration and peer support. At the end of each interactive feedback session, they had to reflect on their work and the feedback they received and post their selfreflections on the forum. Findings indicated that students managed to improve their writing performance significantly and enhance their motivation towards writing and learning in general due to this innovative alternative assessment method. This was evident from their final reflective reports, their focus group discussions, and the anonymous feedback they provided through Mentimeter. Students reported that they enjoyed this interactive experience which was both engaging and rewarding. However, students expressed their wish for more support when using IT tools and e-portfolios and asked to be guided to develop their writing and reflective skills and engage even more with their e-portfolios.

- by Dr. Eleni Meletiadou
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- E-learning, Higher Education, Employee Motivation, Online Learning

Anahtar Kelimeler tersyüz edilmiş model EFL yazma performansı öğrenci algıları Öz Bu çalışmada, temel olarak tersyüz edilmiş sınıf modelinde İngilizce yeterliliği alt orta düzeyinde olan birinci sınıf öğrencilerinin yazma becerileri açısından algılarında ve onların yazma performanslarında önemli bir gelişme olup olmadığını tespit etme amaçlanmaktadır. Çalışma, aynı zamanda tersyüz edilmiş model uygulamasında cinsiyete göre, hem öğrencilerin algılarında hem de yazma performanslarının iyileştirilmesinde anlamlı bir fark olup olmadığını tespit etmeye çalışmıştır. Bu amaçla, öğrencilere yazmayı öğrenmelerini sağlamak için on hafta süren tersyüz edilmiş bir öğrenme modeli uygulanmıştır. Model, öğretici videolardan ve çevrimiçi öğrenme materyallerinden oluşmaktadır. Araştırmaya Türkiye'nin doğusunda yer alan bir devlet üniversitesinden 101 öğrenci katılmıştır. Yazmadaki performanslarını tanımlamak için iki ön test ve son test ve algılarını incelemek için de hem anket hem de öğrenci günlüklerini tamamlamışlardır. Yazmadaki test puanları, SPSS 22 üzerinde puanlama değerlendirme tablosu ile ölçülmüştür. Ayrıca, anket sonuçları da SPSS 22'de hesaplanmıştır. Öte yandan, öğrenci günlükleri dört kategori kodlama sistemi ile ölçülmüştür. Bulgular, öğrenciler lehine ortalama puanlar arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılıklar göstermiştir. Aynı zamanda, elde edilen sonuçlar, yazma performansındaki bu gelişmenin, büyük ölçüde tersyüz edilmiş sınıf modeli metoduna atfedildiğini göstermiştir. Öğrencilerin tersyüz edilmiş modele ilişkin algılarının olumlu olduğu belirtilmiştir. Buna rağmen, tersyüz edilmiş sınıf modelinde cinsiyet konusunda, öğrencilerin algıları ve yazma performanslarının gelişimi açısından anlamlı bir fark bulunamamıştır. Abstract This study mainly aims to find out whether there is any significant change in freshman students' perceptions and any significant improvement in their writing performances whose proficiency of English is at the pre-intermediate level, in terms of writing skills in flipped classroom model. The study also sought to identify whether there is any significant difference in both students' perceptions and improvements of their writing performance in the flipped model implementation by gender. To this end, ten-week long flipped model learning was implemented to instruct students to learn writing. The model consisted of instructional videos and online learning materials. 101 students from an urban university located in the eastern part of Turkey participated in the study. They completed two pre-tests and post-tests to identify their performances in writing, and both a questionnaire and student diaries to examine their perceptions. The test scores in writing were measured with a human scoring rubric on SPSS 22. Also, the results of the questionnaire were computed on SPSS 22. On the other hand, student diaries were measured with a four-category coding system. Findings showed statistically significant differences between the mean scores in favor of the students. Furthermore, the results showed that this improvement in writing performance is largely attributable to the flipped model method of learning. Students' perceptions towards the flipped model were stated to be positive. However, no significant difference was found in terms of both the perceptions of the students and the improvement of their writing performances regarding the flipped classroom model by gender. Keywords flipped model EFL writing performance perceptions of students Başvuru Tarihi/

This paper reports findings from two empirical studies on students' reported use of self-regulatory writing strategies and the relationships with their writing performance in a secondary school English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Study One adopted a factorial design using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to validate the inferences and uses of a Self-Regulatory Writing Strategy Questionnaire; Study Two explored learner individual differences in developing self-regulatory writing strategies and the predictive effects of these strategies on students' writing performance. Participants were two convenience samples of 669 and 239 students, who were young EFL learners in junior secondary schools in China. Results provided evidence of the construct validity of responses to the questionnaire. Students in higher grade levels reported more frequent use of self-regulatory writing strategies than those in lower grade levels, and female students reported using self-regulatory writing strategies more than male students. The six strategy factors (i.e., writing planning, goal-oriented monitoring, goal-oriented evaluation, emotional control, memorization, and metacognitive judgment) each had significant predictive effects on secondary school students' writing performance. These findings suggest the importance of self-regulatory writing strategies to young learners' writing performance.

- by Mark Feng Teng and +1
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- Metacognition, Regulation, Writing Performance

Developing writing proficiency is complex as students need to master specific rules and acquire certain skills. This complexity often obstructs students’ interest and eventually affects their comprehension and performance in language learning. Research has highlighted the significance of English as a Second Language (ESL), particularly in the Malaysian context. This study, therefore, aims to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning in developing English writing skills, particularly among ESL learners at a Polytechnic in Malaysia. The study adopted quasi-experimental analysis in which pre-test and post-test were used as data-gathering instruments. The data were gathered from a purposive sample of 60 ESL students separated into an experimental group and a control group. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings showed that blended learning is significantly effective in developing writing performance ...

- by Isyaku Hassan
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- Psychology, Blended Learning, Argumentative Essay, Writing Performance

Among all the learning strategies, metacognitive strategy is a higher-order executive skill. Once learners have a good command of a metacognitive strategy, they will become more independent and autonomous and will be more capable of planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning process and thus become efficient learners. This research aims to investigate whether secondary students at the Almazar Schools use metacognitive learning strategies (MLS) in their writing performance and they are aware of them; also, to find out whether their teachers provide the development of MLSs in the classroom. In a class of 22 students, just 10 volunteered to respond the interview questions. The findings showed that only less than half of the participants used were aware of MLS. This paper, therefore, intends to introduce metacognitive instruction in order to raise English as a Foreign language writing instructors' awareness in teaching and in order to train students to become self-regulated learners.

Introduction: This study investigated the relationship between bimanual coordination and
writing skill in the elementary school children with developmental coordination disorder
(DCD) living in Urmia City, Iran.
Material and Methods: A total of 60 elementary school children, both male and female, with
DCD aged 7 to 9 years old were selected based on the Movement Assessment Battery for
Children (MABC) test and relevant questionnaires. These subjects were requested to perform
in-phase and anti-phase patterns. Writing composition scores and bimanual coordination tool
were used as measures of children’s writing performance and bimanual accuracy. Descriptive
statistics and coefficient regression were used for data analysis.
Results: The results indicated a statistically positive correlation between children’s bimanual
accuracy and their writing skill. In other words, regression indicated that bimanual coordination
accuracy test was a significant predictor for the writing skill (R2=0.331, P=0.001).
Conclusion: In general, motor control ability of children with developmental coordination
disorder and its relationship with writing performance should be considered.

Peer assessment (PA) is one of the most popular forms of alternative assessment currently used in higher
education institutions worldwide. In the current study, PA was used as an inclusive assessment tool to
enhance students’ writing skills and motivation towards writing and learning in general. Forty-two undergraduate students attended an academic writing module for one academic semester. The overall aim
was to develop their writing skills taking into consideration their individual differences and ensuring
all students had an opportunity to succeed. Students received training in PA and were then involved in
reciprocal anonymous PA. Findings indicated that learners improved their writing skills considerably
and became more independent learners. Their motivation also increased as they could better understand
the assessment criteria. However, they confessed that they needed more training and support and they
believed that PA should also be used in other modules and courses to enhance student collaboration
and reflection.

- by Dr. Eleni Meletiadou
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- Formative Assessment, Secondary Education, Peer Review, Students

- by Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi
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- Psychology, Blended Learning, Argumentative Essay, Writing Performance

Developing writing proficiency is complex as students need to master specific rules and acquire certain skills. This complexity often obstructs students' interest and eventually affects their comprehension and performance in language learning. Research has highlighted the significance of English as a Second Language (ESL), particularly in the Malaysian context. This study, therefore, aims to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning in developing English writing skills, particularly among ESL learners at a Polytechnic in Malaysia. The study adopted quasi-experimental analysis in which pre-test and post-test were used as data-gathering instruments. The data were gathered from a purposive sample of 60 ESL students separated into an experimental group and a control group. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings showed that blended learning is significantly effective in developing writing performance among ESL students in the selected institution. Further analysis revealed a slight improvement among students who learned through the traditional approach. This study highlights useful findings that could be useful in designing English curriculums, particularly in higher institutions. However, this experiment focuses on students' performance, further research may explore instructors' practices in Malaysian higher intuitions.

- by Arab World English Journal (AWEJ)
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- Malaysia, Blended Learning, ESL learners, Argumentative Essay

Lately, researchers have expressed their concern for EFL students’ poor writing performance
and exam failure. They have indicated that peer assessment (PA) can be successfully
employed to support a better integration of teaching/instruction with assessment of progress
in learning. Bearing this in mind, the current study employed a pre-test post-test quasiexperimental design and aimed to explore the effect of PA on 200 Greek Cypriot EFL
students’ writing performance. These adolescent learners attended two writing classes per
week (90 minutes) for a full school year. Teachers received training in PA skills and then had
to train their own students. Students were asked to use a PA rubric which was also devised by
the researcher but negotiated between the students and their teachers during the training
sessions. Paired T-tests were performed to investigate whether students in the control (n=100
students and 10 teachers) and the experimental groups (n=100 students and 10 teachers)
enhanced their writing performance comparing their pre- to post-test scores. The study
outcomes indicated that PA could have a moderately positive impact on students’ writing
performance. The use of PA improved students’ writing performance in 5 aspects: mechanics,
organisation, content, focus, and vocabulary and language use. In response to the need for
more experimentation, this study provides recommendations for PA implementation in
secondary school EFL writing classes which enable teachers to improve students’ writing
performance.

- by Dr. Eleni Meletiadou
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- Education, Peer Assessment, Academic Writing, ESL/EFL Writing

In this study, the researcher attempted to investigate the effect of computer-mediated collaborative learning on Iranian advanced female English Learners' critical thinking and writing performance. In order to do this, initially 90 participants were chosen. To assure the homogeneity regarding language proficiency, they participated in a TOEFL exam which was used to select 60 out of 90 students whose scores fell between +1 and-1 SD for this study. Participants were then randomly assigned to two 30-member control and experimental groups. In this study, Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal-Form A (Watson & Glaser, 1980) was used as a pretest to see to what extent the participants think critically. A writing test was also administered to assess the writing performance of the learners as writing pre-test. This writing was adapted from TOEFL Writing section and the results were scored by 3 raters. Then, two groups participated in ten sessions. The experimental group was provided with 15 laptops as well as with internet access so as to be able to extract the necessary information for completing their writing. Finally, the critical thinking questionnaire was administered again. Also, a post-test writing was administered to investigate the effect of treatment on the writing performance. The results of data analysis indicated that computer-mediated collaboration led to better writing performance of the learners. Computer-mediated collaboration also proved to have a statistically significant effect on critical thinking level of the participants.

- by Ahmad Mohseny
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- Psychology, Coherence, Cohesion, Writing Performance

- by Isyaku Hassan
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- E-learning, Blended Learning, Argumentative Essay, Writing Performance

In Turkey, first-year preservice English teachers learn L2 writing in at least two compulsory courses throughout their undergraduate ELT programs. This study, conducted in this context, intends to investigate preservice English teachers’ perceptions about L2 undergraduate writing difficulty and their causal attributions for these difficulties. It also aims to examine the relationship between density/variety of perceived difficulty in L2 writing and writing scores. For these purposes, the case study approach was adopted. In order to answer three research questions, in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 first-year preservice teachers studying in the ELT department of a Turkish state university, and their first- midterm writing scores were collected. According to the findings, firstly all the interviewees agreed that students in the program had difficulty while writing in L2. Secondly, the correlational analyses revealed a negative relationship between density/variety of perceived L2 writing difficulty and writing scores. Lastly, three main sources of perceived writing difficulty were identified: 1) student-based sources, 2) educational practices and tendencies and 3) lecturer-based sources. After all, the related inferences, discussions and suggestions about learning and teaching of L2 writing have been addressed based on the current findings.

- by Seray TANYER
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- L2 writing, Undergraduate Students, EFL writing, ESL/EFL Writing

Learning as a retrospective phenomenon can make learners transmit their past as an ingredient while they are (re)structuring their present and future. Previous and present experiences can form a basis for cognitive, behavioral and motivational factors which can create a cognitive load for learners and affect their learning process. In this regard, current study aims to investigate first-year undergraduates’ beliefs about writing and relation of these beliefs to writing performance in essay writing. A total of 147 students studying in ELT department of a Turkish university participated in the research. Their domain-specific beliefs about writing were determined through the Beliefs about Writing Survey (BAWS). Writing performance was measured on an essay writing task by calculating both overall grade and six component grades. As a result, multiple regression analysis affirmed that beliefs about writing accounted for writing performance independently. Pearson correlation values showed that some beliefs about writing were adaptive and associated with higher writing scores (e.g. “Adapt to the Audience”). Also, some belief subcategories were associated with each other. The results of the present study have been discussed along with the related literature on beliefs about writing and writing performance. Implications/suggestions related to the coursework, writing practices and future research have been presented.

Peer assessment has recently attracted the attention of educators who stress the need for further research into its effectiveness as a pedagogical and assessment instrument. This study investigates whether peer assessment can improve adolescent EFL learners’ writing performance using data gathered from Cypriot secondary schools. It also explores whether learners receiving assessment benefit more than those providing it. The findings indicate that: (a) students who were involved in peer assessment improved their writing performance more than students who received only teacher assessment, and (b) peer assessment enhanced the writing performance of student/assessors as well as student/assessees. The paper concludes by discussing how peer assessment can be successfully implemented in EFL classrooms to address the writing needs of students in secondary education.

- by Dr. Eleni Meletiadou
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- Peer Assessment, Secondary Education, Adolescent, ESL/EFL Writing

This study aimed at comparing the effects of reflective learning portfolio (RLP) and dialogue journal writing (DJW) on the Iranian EFL learners ’ grammatical accuracy in writing as well as their overall writing performance. 60 Iranian EFL learners between the ages of 17 to 30 who were studying at general English courses were selected based on their performance on the Nelson English Language Test. They were assigned randomly into two experimental groups: DJW and RLP. Each group received 14-sessions of treatment. Two samples of Task 2 of General Module of IELTS were used for the pretests and posttests. Each essay was scored independently by three raters. The final score consisted of the average score of the three raters.The findings revealed that the gains in the RLP group’s grammatical accuracy and overall writing performance were significantly better than that of the DJW group. This could have been due to the influence of reflection with support of a mentor or collaborator as well a...

- by Fatemeh Hemmati
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- Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Writing, Linguistics, Reflection

- by Omid Mallahi
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- Psychology, Complexity, Fluency, Accuracy

The present study intended to examine the relationship between working memory (WM) and writing performance of a group of Iranian EFL learners and to explore whether learners with different working memory levels perform differently on the fluency, accuracy and complexity of texts produced or not. The necessary data were collected through the argumentative essay writing prompt and a computerized Persian version of reading span test as a measure of learners' WM capacity. The correlation analysis revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between these two constructs. The results of Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) indicated that there were significant differences between High, Mid and Low WM groups in terms of fluency and accuracy of texts produced, but not their complexity. The findings confirmed the importance of WM while working on cognitively challenging tasks such as writing which requires automation and effective management of cognitive resources while writing. On the whole, the present study confirmed the idea that learners with different learning characteristics orchestrate their mental resources in different ways to perform in different phases of writing and part of their difficulties or even capabilities in writing can be attributed to the efficiency with which they apply these resources while dealing with different writing systems (formulation, execution, or monitoring) or engaging in different writing processes (translating, planning, programming, reading, or editing).

- by Iranian Journal of Learning and Memory
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- Complexity, Fluency, Accuracy, Writing Performance

This study compared teacher revision with peer revision on comprehension and production of relative clauses (RCs) in Iranian EFL students' writing performance. Data were collected from 109 Iranian intermediate language learners studying at Imam Khomeini International University and Kharazmi University. After being homogenized by taking Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP), they were divided into three groups (teacher revision, peer revision, and control). They all sat for the pretest. Then, the students in teacher revision and peer revision groups underwent eight treatment sessions, practicing teacher revision and peer revision respectively. The control group, however, did not receive any treatment. Then, the posttest was administered to all the groups. ANCOVA was employed to compare the performances of the groups. The results indicated that both teacher and peer revision were beneficial to students. However, peer revision led to better comprehension and production of RCs. The findings may carry implications for language educators, language learners, and language teachers.

Until higher education, students experience so much about learning and they can transmit their already shaped beliefs while building up their present ones. When possible ignorance of writing skill before higher education is concerned, it becomes valuable to discover practices and experiences formatting learner abilities, their mental looks as writers as well as their belief systems and main principles about writing as a discipline, as a learning process, and as a teaching point. Therefore, employing a qualitative research design, the current study aims to investigate 26 first-year pre-service English teachers' domain specific beliefs about EFL writing through a range of structured interviews. In these interviews, beliefs about good foreign language writing and writers, the nature of writing ability, and the elements shaping their beliefs about good writing have been questioned. The findings have revealed that first-year undergraduates approach foreign language writing with already shaped or adopted beliefs, truths and experiences. Furthermore, pre-service teachers interpret various writing components (e.g., good writing or good writer) with different sets of beliefs. Most essentially, the relationship between domain-specific beliefs about writing and writing performance in the literature has been supported by the current qualitative study. Therefore, evaluating the outcomes related to preservice teachers' beliefs about writing, writing instructors and teacher educators can modify coursework and writing practices. They can let the preservice teachers reshape their belief systems, and guide them about good writing practices and good writer characteristics.

- by Seray TANYER and +1
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- Pre Service Teacher Education, EFL writing, ESL/EFL Writing, Writing Performance

- by Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi
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- Psychology, Blended Learning, Argumentative Essay, Writing Performance

The impetus of the present study was to scrutinize the impact of planning and proficiency on 172 EFL learners’ written task performance regarding concept load, fluency, complexity and accuracy. Planning was operationalized at two levels: pretask planning (PTP) and on- line planning (OLP). Participants of this study were two groups, high and low proficiency learners who were randomly chosen. The first group was required to plan for their performance for 10 minutes and take notes before they performed the tasks, whilst the participants in the second group began writing immediately and took time as long as they like. The participants ’ performances were then analyzed utilizing paired samples t-test. The results of statistical analysis showed that low-proficiency learners appear to benefit more from planning time with respect to concept load, fluency, and complexity. On the other hand, high-proficiency learners were advantaged by planning time concerning concept load and accuracy.

- by Massoud Rahimpour
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- Complexity, Linguistics, Fluency, English language teaching
- by Fatemeh Soltanpour
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- Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Writing, Linguistics, Reflection