• Title/Summary/Keyword: writing skills

Search Result 235, Processing Time 0.021 seconds

A Study on the Development of Business English Tests Based on an Analysis of the Predictive Validity of the TOEIC and a Delphi Study of Working Skills in English to be Assessed (비즈니스 영어 업무 능력에 대한 TOEIC의 예측 타당도 검증과 델파이 연구)

  • 김은상;최연희
    • Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
    • /
    • v.4 no.2
    • /
    • pp.229-252
    • /
    • 2004
  • The TOEIC has widely used to evaluate business English proficiency in Korea, but those who achieved high scores still often face difficulties in performing their duties in English at work. This implies that the test may not evaluate business English proficiency effectively enough. With an ultimate goal of proposing an effective way of assessing business English proficiency, therefore, his study analyzed the predictive validity of the TOEIC. A correlation analysis was conducted between TOEIC scores of 64 office workers of multinational companies and their working skills in English evaluated by themselves, and their colleagues and seniors. Its results illustrated a significant correlation between their listening and reading scores and their working skills measured by all the groups, but not between their scores and their working skills in speaking and writing. In addition, the study did a delphi study to identify working skills in English to be assessed in business English tests and a contents analysis of the TOEIC. The results suggest business English tests should be able to assess working skills by work types and more direct testing of working skills in speaking and writing is needed.

  • PDF

Learning Experiences in Expressive Writing to Improve Psychological and Emotional Wellbeing

  • Kapseon KIM
    • Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
    • /
    • v.7 no.1
    • /
    • pp.43-50
    • /
    • 2024
  • Purpose: People must express their feelings and thoughts to maintain mental health and stability. Expressing one's emotions, experiences, and thoughts in writing relieves inner feelings, promotes self-exploration, and improves individual well-being, resulting in a pleasant state on physical, mental, and social levels. This study aims to reveal the learning experiences of university students who participated in a self-expressive writing course to improve their well-being. Method: To explore the learning experiences of university students who took a self-expressive writing course, this study used qualitative research methods to analyze the students' written reflection notes. Results: Self-expressive writing was found to resolve university students' negative emotions, regulate their emotions, improve their self-reflection and self-awareness, contributing to their problem-solving skills and ability to set new goals, and strengthen their social communication. The meaning of this class experience can be summarized as healing, awareness, reflection, change, and growth. Conclusion: The results of this study provide concrete data on expressive writing classes and are valuable when designing the writing programs.

Analysis of Experience and Perception in Writing of Students Majoring in Science and Engineering (이공계 대학생의 글쓰기 경험과 인식 분석)

  • Oh, Yoon-Jeong;Choi, Kyunghee
    • 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.

The Effect of Scientific Writing Program using Thinking maps on the Scientific Gifted Children's Scientific Process Skill and Creativity (Thinking maps를 활용한 과학글쓰기가 초등과학영재의 과학탐구능력 및 창의성에 미치는 효과)

  • Cho, Hye-Jin;Lee, Hyeong-Cheol;Kim, Eun-Jin
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
    • /
    • v.4 no.2
    • /
    • pp.166-176
    • /
    • 2011
  • The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the science gifted children's Science Process Skiils and Creativity development by Scientific Writing Program using Thinking maps. To verify research problem, the subject of this study were third-grade students selected from two classes of an elementary scientific gifted students located in Ulsan : the search group is composed of twenty students who were participated in TScientific Writing Program using Thinking maps, and the other is composed of twenty students (comparison group) who were participated in teacher map based instruction in comparison group. Pro-test showed following results: First, the search group showed a significant improvement in the science process skills compared the comparison group. Second, the search group didn't showed a significant improvement in creativity compared in the comparison group. In conclusion, Scientific Writing Program using Thinking maps was more effective than teaching model using the teacher map on science process skill and creativity.

English Writing Education based on Internet Tools and Software (인터넷 도구와 소프트웨어 활용 쓰기 학습 연구)

  • Choi, Mi-Hee Michelle
    • Journal of Digital Contents Society
    • /
    • v.14 no.3
    • /
    • pp.343-348
    • /
    • 2013
  • The purpose of this paper is to explore how effectively can learners improve their written skills in English language classrooms with the application of internet tools and software. First, the study compares and analyzes existing research on English writing and describes research background. Second, the study describes how internet tools can be used effectively in the English writing classrooms. For example, learners pick up vocabulary on the internet bulletin board and create sentences using the vocabulary. Third, the study analyzed changes in learners' in-class attitudes towards software and internet tools using comparative measures of performance. Unlike with offline instrumented classes, the in-class application of diverse software and internet tools such as websites and IRC (Internet Relay Chat) had a major impact on the improvement of learners' writing skills.

Patterns of Integrating Reading and Writing Skills in ESL College Composition Classes

  • Kim, Sun-Young
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
    • /
    • v.13 no.4
    • /
    • pp.59-85
    • /
    • 2007
  • This study examined patterns of engaging in "reading in connection to writing" (hereafter reading-writing practices) in the context of two ESL college composition classrooms. The purpose of this study was to explore whether the L2 proficiency level could be a key construct in explaining similarities and differences in reading-writing practices which students engaged in during the composing process. Multiple sources of data collected over the semester included interview protocols, written products, and observational notes. The results showed that the three proficiency groups under examination differed widely in the ways reading was connected to writing and in the types of intermediate texts produced during the composing process. The students in the high proficiency group produced more intermediate texts through an engagement in reading-writing practices connected to each other. On the contrary, the students in lower proficiency groups engaged in a limited range of reading-writing practices without support of intermediate texts. This study provides insight into the different ways ESL college students coordinate reading and writing while composing essays.

  • PDF

Effects of Ongoing Feedback on Students' Attitudes towards Writing

  • Yang, Tae-Sun
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
    • /
    • v.16 no.1
    • /
    • pp.171-188
    • /
    • 2009
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of ongoing feedback from the professor in students' processes of learning and developing writing skills. Specifically, the researcher was concerned with how ongoing feedback affected students' attitudes towards writing because in EFL contexts, motivating students to write is a first step to engage them in a challenging journey of academic writing. 20 freshmen taking a writing course, "Paragraph & Essay Writing", at A university participated in this study and they were asked to complete the questionnaire at the end of the spring semester 2009. The results revealed that receiving ongoing feedback from the professor had a positive influence on affective domain, was helpful to develop learning strategies, and was valuable in learning outcomes. However, they also expressed negative opinions: feeling a burden, focusing on forms, and feeling confused. To reflect their opinions, the following four suggestions were made to create a more effective learning environment: promoting learner autonomy, facilitating individual writing conferences, giving balanced feedback in between form and content, and using judicious feedback through careful streaming.

  • PDF

Direct Instruction and Use of Online English Writing Software on EMI Class-Takers' Self-Efficacy

  • Murdoch, Yvette Denise;Kang, Alin
    • International Journal of Contents
    • /
    • v.15 no.4
    • /
    • pp.97-106
    • /
    • 2019
  • EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction) classes are now accepted policy at Korean universities, yet students often struggle with required academic English writings. The present study examined an EMI class that used direct instruction and access to online assistive English writing software. From preliminary analysis, 26 students expressed interest in how an EMI academic writing class could facilitate improved English writing skills. Study participants completed a survey on self-efficacy and learning needs and assignments for an EMI academic writing class. To establish inter-rater reliability, three trained raters assessed the written essays of students prior to and after instructional intervention. Fleiss' Kappas statistics showed moderate reliability. Students' opinions on the use of online software were also analysed. Paired t-test was run on the quality of students' pre- and post-instruction assignments, and there was significant difference in the rated scores. Self-efficacy was found to have moderate positive association with improved post-essay writing scores.

Rethinking K-6 Scientific literacy: A Case Study of Using Science Books as Tool to Cultivate a Fundamental Sense of Scientific Literacy

  • Kim, Mi-Jung
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
    • /
    • v.27 no.8
    • /
    • pp.711-723
    • /
    • 2007
  • As the discourse of scientific literacy has broadly summed up the goals of science education in the current decade, this study attempts to question how we contextualize appropriate interpretations and feasible approaches to scientific literacy in K-6 science education. With respect to the complex praxis of scientific knowledge and practice, this study emphasizes the participatory framework of scientific literacy which interweaves children's everyday experiences and science learning. This study also concerns children's abilities to understand and enact scientific enterprises (i.e., children's fundamental sense of scientific literacy). As a way of developing K-6 scientific literacy, this study investigates how using science books can broaden the scope of children's understandings of science in life connections and promote a fundamental sense of scientific literacy through talking, reading, and writing skills in Grade two science classrooms in Canada. Second graders were engaged in learning "sound" for five weeks. During science lessons, children's talks were recorded and their writings were collected for data interpretation. This research finds that using science books can encourage children to become engaged in communicative activities such as talking, reading, and writing in science; furthermore, using science books develops children's inquiry skills. These findings open a further discussion on scientific literacy at the K-6 levels.

Effects of Scaffolding on Writing Apprehension and Media Literacy in Engineering Freshmen's Synchronous Online Writing Course (공과대학 신입생의 동시적 온라인 글쓰기 수업에서 스캐폴딩이 쓰기 불안과 미디어 리터러시에 미치는 영향)

  • Hwang, Soonhee
    • Journal of Engineering Education Research
    • /
    • v.25 no.1
    • /
    • pp.33-45
    • /
    • 2022
  • This study aims to investigate effects of scaffolding on writing apprehension and media literacy in engineering freshmen's synchronous online writing course, and the relationships between the two variables. 'Scaffolding' is in-time support provided by a teacher/tutor or competent peer that enables students to meaningfully gain skills at problem solving process. Also, it is one of the most frequently mentioned concepts in education as well as one of the more necessary teaching strategies in an online writing course. In this study, provided treatments for the experiment were supportive scaffolding for domain-specific knowledge and reflective scaffolding for meta-cognitive knowledge. Participants were 102 engineering undergraduate students, who were assigned to two experimental groups by scaffolding types. A process-based writing course in online learning environment was conducted for 8 weeks. The writing tasks were given according to writing process. The findings were that, firstly, there were statistically significant writing apprehension's reduction and self-expression's improvement through the scaffolding provided in writing class. Secondly, writing apprehension's reduction and self-expression's improvement were significant in supportive scaffolding group. Thirdly, media literacy predicted writing apprehension. The practical implications of these findings are discussed herein, with particular attention on ways for writing apprehension's reduction as well as media literacy's enhancement.