• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.1-26
• /
• 2007

This study aimed to investigate how EFL learners perceived English writing tasks and teachers' written feedback. The subjects were 82 mixed major college EFL students aged 19-24; the majority were freshmen females. Based on the scores estimated from the essay evaluation test, they were placed into two groups (proficienand less-proficient writers) and responded to an in-class questionnaire. The results indicated that: (1) regardless of writing proficiency, a large number of the students felt that they were just fair writers, which could be derived from low confidence and high anxiety; (2) grammar and vocabulary were perceived as the main features that determined good EFL writers and also prevented the students from performing the writing task successfully; (3) they believed that teachers' feedback contributed to the development of their English writing skills because it helped them apprehend what to improve or avoid in the future, acquire better English usage, and correct their errors; and (4) the proficient writers were more willing to correct errors themselves after being provided clues than the less-proficient writers. Implications of the findings for EFL classrooms are discussed.

• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.181-210
• /
• 2003

The purpose of the study was to investigate how Korean EFL writing instructors give feedback to their students' writing and what influences their feedback. A total of 12 Korean EFL instructors in Korean universities teaching freshman English and intermediate EFL writing courses provided their feedback given on students' writing samples and participated in interviews. Interviews were analyzed qualitatively with a constant comparative approach and some data from writing samples and questionnaires produced descriptive statistics. The first lesson from the results of the study was that grammar was still the most frequent concern in giving feedback on students' writing. Contrary to the participants' report, comments on content and organization were not produced very often. The second lesson came from the interview data. Some aspects of teacher feedback seemed mostly influenced by their beliefs on L2 writing and experience in teaching L2 writing. The final and major lesson was that teachers chose how they would give comments on students' writing depending on whether they found their feedback helpful in students learning to write. EFL writing teachers can produce effective feedback by clearly communicating their beliefs about L2 writing and criteria in their feedback to students in their EFL writing classrooms.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.1-32
• /
• 2007

This study took a cross-sectional, quantitative approach and profiled EFL students' awareness of the writing process and of teacher feedback. The subjects were 113 college students aged 19-26 years from non-English majors, who were enrolled in three sections of a required English course. According to the scores gained from the essay writing assignment, they were divided into two groups (proficient and less-proficient writers) and responded to an in-class survey. Major findings were that: (1) the vast majority of both groups did not find English writing enjoyable; (2) longer comments gave rise to substantial changes to the students' revisions; (3) the less-proficient writers were shown to benefit from revision significantly more than the proficient writers; (4) Both groups of writers utilized multiple strategies to process teacher feedback and preferred to receive teacher comments using complete sentences rather than phrases or single words; and (5) teacher's marks on grammar and vocabulary claimed to be most conducive to EFL writing development. Several important implications for EFL writing instruction and for future studies are suggested.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.12-17
• /
• 2023

This study investigates the effects of online English writing instruction on university students' writing performance and their anxiety. A total of 34 participants completed the pre- and post- writing tests as well as the surveys regarding perceived anxiety toward English writing. Reflection papers and interviews were employed to triangulate the results of the questionnaires. Quantitative analysis of learners' writing outcomes and surveys revealed that online writing instruction helped improve students' writing skills and reduce writing anxiety. The interviews and reflection papers demonstrated that learners found the writing instruction helpful in reducing somatic anxiety, avoidance behavior, and cognitive anxiety. The current study suggests that adopting non-face-to-face online writing instruction aids EFL students in developing their writing and alleviating writing anxiety.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.156-162
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of peer scaffolding on the writing fluency of English language learners. This study was intended to confirm that peer scaffolding in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing classes can improve students' English proficiency. An analysis of 20 EFL learners studying at a university in Gyeonggi Province was conducted based on the English Proficiency Test. In this study, 20 intermediate learners with similar proficiency levels were included in the sample. Randomly, 10 students were designated as members of the control group, and 10 students were designated as members of the experimental group. In the experimental group, students practiced essay writing, while a skilled student provided scaffolding for a less skilled student. A variety of tools were used to gather data, including tests, questionnaires, and interviews Statistical analyses of quantitative data were conducted using t-tests for independent samples, whereas analyses of qualitative data were conducted based on themes. Pre-test results indicated a significant value of sig. =0.87, which was higher than α = 0.05. According to the results of this study, the writing performance of both experimental and control groups of students was equal and homogeneous prior to treatment. However, there were significant differences between the writing of students in the two groups after the completion of the program. Due to the post-test analysis of the writing test, the test resulted in a sig. =0 .043, a value lower than α = 0.05. As a result, the experimental group participants showed a marked improvement in their writing abilities after treatment.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.51-66
• /
• 2005

This study investigates the feasibility of incorporating student evaluations of peer review interactions into the course grade for an EFL writing course. The use of such evaluations offers a way to grade the process of writing more directly than using writing portfolios alone. Moreover, evaluating peer review interactions highlights the social aspect of writing, which is valuable in the current post-process climate in writing instruction. The 18 members of a semester-long EFL writing course at a Korean university were trained in peer response for one half of a semester; then performed evaluations of peer review interactions during the second half of the semester as part of their writing course. Student evaluations were examined to reveal whether any bias occurred due to relative age, gender, major, or question type. The results revealed no such biases. Therefore, it is suggested that students are capable of providing fair evaluations of peers, which means the evaluations can be factored into the course grade in order to evaluate the social aspect of the writing process.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.67-89
• /
• 2005

Writing is a difficult skill for many people, both for children and adult alike and generally most people find it difficult to write down their thoughts effectively. Numerous studies have revealed that teachers find it frustrating to teach writing and many failed to help ESL students develop their writing ability. The theoretical emphasis on process oriented writing instruction has, in general brought about positive changes in the way writing is taught and has become widely accepted in the teaching of English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL). Although the interpretation and implementation of the process approach varies considerably from instructor to instructor, nevertheless, the emphasis on process writing has brought about significant and beneficial changes in teachers' orientations to writing. Despite the theoretical recognition of writing as a recursive process, many ESL/EFL classrooms continue to teach writing as a linear sequence of planning, pre-writing, writing, revising and editing and has not enhanced ESL/EFL students writing ability to the desired level. There appears to be a missing link in helping students to crystallize their thoughts before writing. Studies have shown that incorporating visual thinking tools into the process approach of ESL writing can enhance students' ability to write. This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study on the effects of using visual thinking tools in enhancing ESL students writing.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• no.4
• /
• pp.1-14
• /
• 1998

The present paper explores rationales for the process-oriented approach to teaching writing and their implications for EFL writing classes. The product-oriented traditional approach to writing has put too much emphasis on linguistic aspects of writing. It fails to see the enormous complexity of the act of composing. In the process-oriented paradigm, writing is regarded as a messy process leading to clarity and the writer discovers meaning instead of merely' finding an appropriate structure in which to package ideas already developed from the beginning. Based on the underlying assumptions, some suggestions are made for EFL writing classes. Firstly, practitioners should be aware that writing is a recursive activity in which the writer moves backward and forwards between drafting and revising, with stages of re-planning in between. Secondly, writing teachers should help the student writers build an awareness of themselves as a writer and encourage their sense of confidence in writing. Lastly, students should be encouraged to pay their attention to content revision at first, and delay editing changes until the last draft.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.61-85
• /
• 2006

The purpose of the present study is to compare Korean EFL learners' speech corpus (i.e. oral productions) with their composition corpus (i.e. written productions). Four college students participated in the study. The composition corpus was collected through a writing assignment, and the speech corpus was gathered by audio-taping their oral presentations. The results of the data analysis indicate that (i) As for error frequency, young adult low-intermediate Korean EFL learners showed high frequency in determiners (mostly, indefinite articles), vocabulary (mostly, semantic errors), and prepositions. The frequency order did not show much difference between the speech corpus and the composition corpus; and (ii) When comparing the oral productions with the written productions, there were not many differences between them in terms of the contents, a style (i.e., colloquial vs. literary), vocabulary selection, and error types and frequency. Therefore, it is assumed that the proficiency in oral presentation of EFL learners at this learning stage heavily depends on how much/how well they are able to write. In other words, EFL learners' writing and speaking skills are closely co-related. It implies that the teacher does not need to separate teaching how to speak from teaching how to write. The teacher may use the same methods or strategies to help the learners improve their English speaking and writing skills. Furthermore, it will be more effective to teach writing before speaking since they have more opportunities to write than speak in the EFL contexts.

• Educational Technology International
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.71-94
• /
• 2011

How can an automated essay scoring (AES) program, which provides feedback for essays, be a formative tool for improving ESL writing? In spite of the increasing demands for English writing proficiency, English writing instruction has not been effective for teaching and learning because of a lack of timely and accurate feedback. In this context, AES as a possible solution has been gaining the attention of educators and scholars in ESL/EFL writing education because it can provide consistent and prompt feedback for student writers. This experimental study examined the impact of different types of feedback for a college ESL writing program using the Criterion AES system. The results reveal the positive impact of AES in a college-level ESL course and differences between the teacher's feedback and the AES feedback. The findings suggest that AES can be effectively integrated into ESL writing instruction as a formative assessment tool.