• Journal of Engineering Education Research
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.32-44
• /
• 2023

This research aims to examine the role of writing self-efficacy in engineering students' writing metacognitive strategies and writing apprehension. To achieve this purpose, first, the relationships among writing self-efficacy, writing metacognitive strategies and writing apprehension were investigated. Second, the effects of writing self-efficacy, as perceived by engineering students, on writing metacognitive strategies as well as writing apprehension were explored. A total of 173 engineering students from one university in Korea responded to survey based on a three-variables scale. The findings were that, firstly, positive correlations between writing self-efficacy and writing metacognitive strategies were identified in terms of sub-factors of those two variables. Secondly, negative correlations between writing apprehension and writing self-efficacy, and between writing apprehension and writing metacognitive strategies, were identified in terms of sub-factors of those variables. Thirdly, writing self-efficacy predicted engineering students' writing metacognitive strategies' sub-factors and writing apprehension. The practical implications of these findings are discussed herein, with particular attention on education for promotion of writing self-efficacy and reduction of writing apprehension.

• 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.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.17-33
• /
• 2003

College going students who are non-native speakers of English enrolled in English language programmes are not acquiring the needed academic writing skills. Many of these students do not have positive attitudes towards writing, thus forcing language instructors to look for ways of motivating students to write in order to improve writing skills. This action research project investigates the use of portfolio writing to improve writing ability among pre-university students. Research on the use of portfolio writing suggests that it is a useful way for developing interest in writing and for developing effective writing skills over a period of time. Portfolios support the best thinking in composition pedagogy in that it encourages process writing. Although the portfolio is considered a writing product, as a whole it is evidence of the students writing process. An important feature in using portfolios is that students are able to focus on their writing without constantly worrying about grades. Instructors have noticed that students make greater improvement in their writing when their focus is shifted from punitive feedback through letter grades to constructive feedback in the form of suggestions for further revision. This paper describes the use of writing portfolios as an effective means of teaching writing. The findings revealed that writing portfolios helped develop confidence in writing and decreased anxiety towards writing. (217 words)

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.74-86
• /
• 2014

This research intended to find the desirable orientation of writing education for students majoring in science and engineering. The survey was conducted to investigate the experience and perception of writing of 268 students majoring in science and engineering. Also students who relatively had more writing experience were selected for focus group interview in order to have an in-depth understanding on survey. Finally, the two investigations were combined to find the implication of education of writing for students. The results of the research are as follows. First, the students of science and engineering who participated in the research not only had a relatively insufficient writing experience, but lacked enough education opportunity on systematic writing. The satisfaction of the writing subject was directly affected by the quality of writing instructor and, feedback of the writing and writing process. Second, the students who participated in the research went through various difficulties in their writing process, but the efforts in trying to figure out the cause of the difficulties were relatively insufficient. Third, the students of the research perceived and agreed on the importance of writing and writing skills. They insisted needs of writing exercise, thought exercise for writing, accurate feedback in writing course.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.48-54
• /
• 2019

This study examined the effects of free writing in writing class targeted for engineering students on their writing skills. To assess the effects, we have asked 100 engineering students from writing class to write free writing, classifying them as the test group(N=50) and the control group(N=50). We have also compared their learning effect, their writing ability, and learning satisfaction via pre and post intervention surveys. The results showed higher change in learning effect, interest in writing, learning attitude, writing ability, learning satisfaction in the test group compared to the control group. This positive change proves that free writing is a significant teaching method in writing class for engineering and science students.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.47-61
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of mothers' beliefs, guidance, and use of resources for writing on young children's writing ability. A total of 450 children aged 3 to 5 years and their mothers from 6 different provinces participated in this study. The results of this study are as follows. First, mothers conducted more writing guidance to older children. And their beliefs and use of resources for conventional writing were reinforced as children got older. There was no difference in mothers' beliefs and use of resources for emergent writing according to children's age. Second, mothers' beliefs, guidance, and use of resources for children's writing were robustly correlated. These correlations were prominent in each factor of emergent or conventional writing. Third, mothers' writing guidance and use of emergent writing resources had positive effects on children's writing ability, while the use of conventional writing resources had a negative impact.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
• /
• v.33 no.5
• /
• pp.91-115
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a writing program and the type of picture book used on the early stages of writing and creative writing in young children. The different stages of writing amongst young children was divided into an early stage of writing for pre-schoolers and creative writing for spontaneous expression and problem solving. The subjects comprised 36 children aged 5 from a child daycare center in Seoul. Among the KISE-BAAT and Creative tests, the writing test and creative writing test were used. The early stage of writing and creative writing were both analyzed by means of both ANCOVA and T-test. Firstly, in the subscale of the early stage of writing(ability to mark, use vocabulary, create sentences and text construction), the early stage writing of the experiment group scored higher than that of the comparison group. Secondly, in terms of the type of picture books, the group using informational picture books had greater effects on the early stage of writing than the group using narrative picture books. Thirdly, the writing program itself had a positive effect on creative writing. In the subscale of creative writing (fluency, flexibility, novelty), the group using informational picture books made greater progress in fluency and novelty than the group using narrative picture books.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.125-146
• /
• 2011

Within a framework of sociocultural approaches to writing process, this study examined six ESL graduate students' writing processes in depth based on individual interviews and their narratives of writing process. The narratives and interviews were analyzed to discover salient aspects of the students' writing processes and to understand the socially situated nature of the writing processes. First, it was observed that these six students displayed multiplicity in terms of their representations of writing process, episodes, textual practices, and concerns. Several factors including the writing task, students' familiarity with genre, literacy skills, attitude toward writing, and involvement in interaction contributed to individualized trajectories of writing process. It was also revealed that writing is unavoidably a socially situated practice. Students were situated in their cultural arenas as well as their disciplinary arenas, and these contexts helped the students serve as active agents producing and sharing knowledge. The confluence of personal, cognitive, and social factors observed in their writing processes suggests that writing process should be understood from multiple perspectives.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.291-300
• /
• 2001

This study investigated the effects of shared writing strategies within a whole language approach on children's writing behaviors and abilities. The subjects were thirty-six 5-to 6-year-old kindergarten children, 18 each in the experimental and control groups. The results indicated a significant increase in frequency of spontaneous writing, quantity of writing, and quality of writing in the experimental group compared with the control group. The educational implications for kindergarten teachers are that teachers need to integrate shared writing strategies into teacher-initiated activities and use various strategies of whole language to improve literacy learning for children.

• 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.