English-Medium Instruction in a State University and Students’ English Self – Efficacy Beliefs
Alternate Title: Bir Devlet Üniversitesindeki İngiliz Dilinde Öğretim Uygulamaları ve Öğrencilerin İngilizce Özyeterlik İnançları
Authors: Akçayoğlu, Duygu İşpınar1, duyguispinar@yahoo.com Ozer, Omer1, ozeromer.tr@gmail.com Efeoğlu, İ. Efe2, e.efeoglu@atu.edu.tr
Source: Cumhuriyet International Journal of Education; Sep2019, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p651-669, 19p
Article Abstract: This study explores university students’ perspectives on English Medium Instruction (EMI) practice and investigates their selfefficacy beliefs for English. The study also examines how English learning is facilitated through EMI. The participants were undergraduate students of a university where EMI is increasingly dominant. The university is located in the south of Turkey. The participants were consisted of 634 students from varying class years including prep year, first, second, third and fourth year. The study was carried out in a single phase. Data were collected through a university-wide survey in which the questions were designed to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis and the quantitative data were analysed using parametric statistical methods. The characteristics of the participants were described using frequencies. The overall mean for self-efficacy for English was 3.37. Results indicated high self-efficacy levels of those in higher years in EMI education and general positive attitudes of students regarding EMI. These findings were further supported by the data obtained from the open-ended questions. However, by revealing some problems regarding the EMI practices, the results also raised some questions with regard to EMI at undergraduate level. Students’ self-efficacy beliefs and views about EMI explored in this study are believed to shed light on the learning experiences in departmental courses as well as in Preparatory Year Programmes, which might help university managers develop or reformulate their institution’s language policy.
Assessing academic writing: The construction and validation of an integrated task-based instrument to evaluate specific writing skills
Alternate Title: Evaluación de la escritura académica: construcción y validación de un instrumento integrado basado en tareas para evaluar habilidades específicas de escritura
Authors: Andueza, Alejandra, aandueza@uahurtado.cl
Source: RELIEVE – Revista Electrónica de Investigación y Evaluación Educativa; 2019, Vol. 25 Issue 2, p1-20, 20p
Article Abstract: Assessing writing skills is key to the development of instructional methods to help students new to university master academic writing. This article presents the construction and validation process of an instrument developed for that purpose. In so doing, we first discuss the theoretical construct of the evaluative test, then describe the process through which the instrument was developed and validated, and, lastly, present the results obtained and discuss some of its various implications for instruction.
Students’ Metacognitive Weaknesses in Academic Writing: A Preliminary Research
Authors: Ramadhanti, Dina1,2, dina_ramadhanti89@yahoo.com Ghazali, A. Syukur1, syukurghazali.fsum@gmail.com Hasanah, Muakibatul1, akibba.fs@um.ac.id Harsiati, Titik1, titik.harsiati.fs@um.ac.id
Source: International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning; 2019, Vol. 14 Issue 11, p41-57, 17p, 6
Article Abstract: This article aims to explain the weaknesses of metacognition that affect writing skills. Weaknesses of writing like content development, the organization of writing, compatibility of content with themes and audience awareness are assumed from the weaknesses of student metacognition. By using a qualitative approach, data is collected through questionnaires and interviews. Using the questionnaire found the level of student metacognitive awareness. A total of 22 male and female students were randomly selected. Responses given through self-report questionnaires showed that as many as 15 students had high metacognitive awareness and as many as 7 students had low metacognitive awareness. Furthermore, through interviews found metacognitive skills in academic writing. The results of the data analysis show that there are three weaknesses of student metacognitive, namely: students are too dependent on feedback from lecturers and highly dependent on lecturers and colleagues when writing, students cannot assess their own understanding of the information they receive for writing assignments, students are not aware benefit from the strategies used during writing. Students need to be trained to plan, monitor and evaluate writing activities so that they are skilled in arranging words, concepts, and terminology used in writing. In addition, through the writing they produce, it can be seen how the process of produces the meaning and thinking skills of students in writing.
The Academic Writing Skills Programme: A model for technology enhanced, blended delivery of an academic writing programme
Authors: Boyle, Jennifer1, jennifer.boyle@glasgow.ac.uk Ramsay, Scott1, scott.ramsay.2@glasgow.ac.uk Struan, Andrew1, andrew.struan@glasgow.ac.uk
Source: Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice; 2019, Vol. 16 Issue 4, preceding p1-12, 14p
Article Abstract: Recognising the varied challenges presented by an increasingly diverse student body at our UK university (a research-intensive institution with a high proportion of international and widening participation students), an online and blended writing programme was developed. The Academic Writing Skills Programme (AWSP) is a fully online, compulsory writing diagnostic, consisting of a range of multiple-choice questions on grammar and a short essay. Run centrally by a department of multidisciplinary academic writing advisers, the programme was taken from a small, discipline-specific writing programme and transformed into an institution-wide, fully-funded technologyenhanced academic language course. This paper details and evaluates the process through which this development was achieved; it discusses the challenges encountered, explores the pedagogical justification and background of our approach, provides student assessment and feedback on the impact and efficacy of the programme, and offers guidance for practitioners in academic language support.
Beyond alienation: spatial implications of teaching and learning academic writing
Authors: Beighton, Christian1, christian.beighton@canterbury.ac.uk
Source: Teaching in Higher Education; Feb2020, Vol. 25 Issue 2, p205-222, 18p Document Type :
Article Abstract: Despite existing work on the situated and sometimes alienating nature of academic writing practices, the implications of the specifically spatial nature of these practices continue to pose questions for teaching and learning in higher education. This paper addresses these questions through a study of the views and experiences of students and teachers of academic writing in postgraduate teacher education (n = 33). Specifically, it introduces a concept, xenolexia, which complements that of alienation by recognizing the dynamic nature of academic writing, texts and practices without reifying them. Discussing the fundamentally spatial nature of this dynamism, the concept of xenolexia is used to analyse perceptions of academic writing practices as ‘foreign’. The features of this ‘foreignness’ are examined from the point of view of both teaching and learning, and lessons about identity and dynamism in academic writing are drawn for writing pedagogies in postgraduate teacher education contexts.
The impact of formative peer feedback on higher education students’ academic writing: a Meta-Analysis
Autors: Huisman, Bart; Saab, Nadira; van den Broek, Paul; van Driel, Jan.
Source: Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education; Abingdon Vol. 44, Iss. 6, (Sep 2019): 863-880. DOI:10.1080/02602938.2018.1545896
Article Abstract: Peer feedback is frequently implemented with academic writing tasks in higher education. However, a quantitative synthesis is still lacking for the impact that peer feedback has on students’ writing performance. The current study conveyed two types of observations. First, regarding the impact of peer feedback on writing performance, this study synthesized the results of 24 quantitative studies reporting on higher education students’ academic writing performance after peer feedback. Engagement in peer feedback resulted in larger writing improvements compared to (no-feedback) controls (g = 0.91 [0.41, 1.42]) and compared to self-assessment (g = 0.33 [0.01, 0.64]). Peer feedback and teacher feedback resulted in similar writing improvements (g = 0.46 [-0.44, 1.36]). The nature of the peer feedback significantly moderated the impact that peer feedback had on students’ writing improvement, whereas only a theoretically plausible, though nonsignificant moderating pattern was found for the number of peers that students engaged with. Second, this study shows that the number of well-controlled studies into the effects of peer feedback on writing is still low, indicating the need for more quantitative, methodologically sound research in this field. Findings and implications are discussed both for higher education teaching practice and future research approaches and directions.
Looking inside the world of peer review: Implications for graduate student writers
Author: Paltridge, Brian
Source: Language Teaching; Cambridge Vol. 52, Iss. 3, (Jul 2019): 331-342. DOI:10.1017/S0261444818000150
Article Abstract: Getting published in academic journals is increasingly important for research students in terms of gaining employment when they complete their studies and, in the future, for tenure and promotion applications once they have obtained an academic appointment. In this paper, I discuss some of the challenges that student (and early career) writers face when submitting articles to academic journals and, in particular, how they might better understand and respond to the reports they receive on their work.
How Do Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Academic Writing and Collaboration and Intrinsic Motivation for Academic Writing and Research Develop during an Undergraduate Research Project?
Authors: van Blankenstein, Floris M; Saab, Nadira; van der Rijst, Roeland M; Danel, Marleen S; Bakker-van den Berg, Aaltje S; et al.
Source: Educational Studies Vol. 45, Iss. 2, (2019): 209-225. DOI:10.1080/03055698.2018.1446326
Article Abstract: Research skills are important for university graduates, but little is known about undergraduates’ motivation for research. In this study, self-efficacy beliefs and intrinsic motivation for several research activities were measured three times during an undergraduate research project (N = 147 students). In order to promote self-efficacy for writing and collaboration, a collaboration script was developed and tested on half of the students. Twelve students were interviewed three times to gather in-depth information about motivational and self-efficacy beliefs. All measures except intrinsic motivation for research increased significantly during the project. Interview results suggest that enactive mastery and positive social interdependence promoted self-efficacy. Feelings of relatedness seemed to promote intrinsic motivation for writing. Lack of autonomy and low perceived relevance may explain why motivation for research remained stable. The script had no impact on self-efficacy beliefs. Relatedness, autonomy and positive social interdependence may boost motivation for research, but more evidence is needed.