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Article
Publication date: 17 July 2020

Baleigh Qassem Al-Wasy

This paper aims to highlight a research on integrating technology into teaching and learning of second/foreign language writing.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to highlight a research on integrating technology into teaching and learning of second/foreign language writing.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 18 empirical studies, involving a total of 1,281 second and foreign language learners, have been reviewed. These studies are selected from the following two databases: Web of Science and Google Scholar. The meta-analysis investigates how effect sizes vary depending on these moderators as follows: stage of writing, language context, learners’ educational level and language proficiency level.

Findings

The findings of this meta-analysis have indicated that technology has a large effect on second/foreign language writing (d = 1.7217). These findings have also revealed that the two stages of writing, drafting and editing, have received most of the researchers’ concern. In addition, high school and university learners have achieved a larger effect size of using technology in writing learning; beginner learners have achieved the smallest effect size.

Originality/value

To sum, the previous meta-analyses and reviews tried to explore the effect of computer on writing skills. However, some of them were limited to special groups (Williams and Beam, 2019) and some others analyzed very few studies (Little et al., 2018). Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the effect of implementing technology in writing skills is needed. The purpose of this study is to perform a meta-analysis of the primary studies about the integration of technology into writing skills. The primary goals of this meta-analysis were to: examine the overall effects of implementing technology in writing; synthesize the relationship between technology and a number of moderators such as stages of writing, language context, learners’ target language proficiency and learners’ educational level (school and university).

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2022

Chinaza Solomon Ironsi

This paper asserts that while educational resources are times effective in teaching students how to write, the format in which they are delivered can influence results. With this…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper asserts that while educational resources are times effective in teaching students how to write, the format in which they are delivered can influence results. With this in mind, this study aims to examine the effectiveness of using educational resources in a blended format.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a mixed-method research design to elicit information from 70 participants recruited for this study. The researcher divided the participants into experimental and control groups where the researcher taught the control group writing skills in a hybrid learning environment without using educational resources while the experimental group used blended interactive educational resources. The researcher analyzed and interpreted the participants’ post-test scores and transcripts of the interviewees.

Findings

This study finds that blended interactive educational resources contribute significantly toward improving the students' writing skills; however, improvements were not found in all aspects of their writing.

Originality/value

This study unpacks the positive contributions of blended interactive educational resources in writing instruction. This study contributes to educational literature in showing that these resources may be effective in improving some aspects of writing text. This study adds to other corpora of studies that emphasize the importance of using educational resources for learning.

Details

Quality Assurance in Education, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-4883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2023

Jason Fitzgerald

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate for social studies teachers and teacher educators the ways in which students' disciplinary writing is scaffolded within the context of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate for social studies teachers and teacher educators the ways in which students' disciplinary writing is scaffolded within the context of the inquiry design model; trends in such scaffolding are called “the learner's pathway,” since it leads students to more abstract levels of historical argumentation. The author argues that engaging historical writing genres is a necessary component of historical thinking and that understanding the ways that teachers support students' historical writing capacities can help them to make more intentional choices when building inquiries.

Design/methodology/approach

To study genre-related scaffolding across inquiries, this study draws on systemic functional linguistics (SFL)-based genre theory as an analytical structure and seventy-four history-focused secondary social studies inquiries to determine any patterns in the ways that teachers scaffold students' writing genres through an inquiry.

Findings

Findings suggest that there is a learner's pathway that teachers use to develop students' argumentative writing capacities; however, there is also evidence to suggest that notetaking and source synthesis are not valued instructional products, limiting the potential impact of historical thinking work within the inquiry process.

Practical implications

The existence of this learner's pathway has implications for the ways that teachers and preservice teachers can be professionally developed to leverage this pathway. Rather than the often-used methods of support students' generic writing capacities, professional development should focus on the ways social studies teachers can guide students to more abstract reasoning through their writing. This study's findings also have implications for the ways that social studies teachers assess students' summative arguments. Assessment practices should focus on the genre-features of “argument” rather than just the stages of the argumentative essay.

Originality/value

This piece is original because genre-based research is missing from much of the social studies education research. This study's findings present an additional paradigm through which social studies teachers and teacher leaders can explore the purposes of historical writing tasks and assessment.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 18 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 April 2014

Sue Starfield, Brian Paltridge and Louise Ravelli

This chapter discusses textography as a strategy for researching academic writing in higher education. Textography is an approach to the analysis of written texts which combines…

Abstract

This chapter discusses textography as a strategy for researching academic writing in higher education. Textography is an approach to the analysis of written texts which combines text analysis with ethnographic techniques, such as surveys, interviews and other data sources, in order to examine what texts are like, and why. It aims to provide a more contextualized basis for understanding students’ writing in the social, cultural and institutional settings in which it takes place than might be obtained by looking solely at students’ texts. Through discussion of the outcomes of a textography, which examined the written texts submitted by visual and performing arts doctoral students at a number of Australian universities, we reflect on what we learnt from the study that we could not have known by looking at the texts alone. If we had looked at the texts without the ethnographic data not only are there many things we would not have known, but many of the things we might have said would likely have been right off the mark. Equally, had we just had the ethnographic data without the text analysis, we would have missed the insights provided by the explicit text analysis. The textography enabled us to see the diversity of practices across fields of study and institutions as well as gain an understanding of why this might be the case, all of which is of benefit to student writers and their supervisors.

Details

Theory and Method in Higher Education Research II
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-823-5

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2015

Icy Lee, Pauline Mak and Anne Burns

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the teachers implemented innovative feedback approaches in their writing classroom and the extent to which the innovative feedback…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the teachers implemented innovative feedback approaches in their writing classroom and the extent to which the innovative feedback approaches impacted upon student attitude and performance in writing. In the writing classroom, teacher feedback serves as an assessment as well as a pedagogical tool to enhance the teaching and learning of writing. While there is no shortage of literature on the topic of feedback per se, there is scant research on teachers’ attempts to implement change to conventional feedback practices, as well as the impact of such feedback innovation on student learning. Drawing on data gathered from individual teacher interviews, student questionnaires, student focus group interviews, pre-and post-writing tests and classroom observations, this study seeks to explore two teachers’ change initiative in their writing feedback approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used multiple sources of data including individual teacher interviews, student questionnaires and student focus group.

Findings

The results suggest that the innovative feedback approaches helped to enhance the motivation and writing performance of the students. The paper concludes with implications and insights to help teachers implement similar feedback innovations in their contexts.

Practical implications

First, the findings suggest that focused written corrective feedback is a viable option for responding to student writing, especially for low proficiency students in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts. Second, teachers might consider the option of removal or delay in the reporting of scores, where appropriate. Third, more intensive training might be necessary to help students improve their peer evaluation skills and their ability to write more constructive comments for their peers.

Originality/value

The significance of the study lies in the contribution it can make to existing writing feedback research that pays insufficient attention to teacher feedback in real classroom contexts, uncovering the process through which teachers attempt to bring improvement to conventional feedback practices, as well as the impact of feedback innovation on student learning in naturally occurring classroom contexts.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2019

Saija Katila, Mikko Laamanen, Maarit Laihonen, Rebecca Lund, Susan Meriläinen, Jenny Rinkinen and Janne Tienari

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how global and local changes in higher education impact upon writing practices through which doctoral students become academics. The study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how global and local changes in higher education impact upon writing practices through which doctoral students become academics. The study explores how norms and values of academic writing practice are learned, negotiated and resisted and elucidates how competences related to writing come to determine the academic selves.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses memory work, which is a group method that puts attention to written individual memories and their collective analysis and theorizing. The authors offer a comparison of experiences in becoming academics by two generational cohorts (1990s and 2010s) in the same management studies department in a business school.

Findings

The study indicates that the contextual and temporal enactment of academic writing practice in the department created a situation where implicit and ambiguous criteria for writing competence gradually changed into explicit and narrow ones. The change was relatively slow for two reasons. First, new performance management indicators were introduced over a period of two decades. Second, when the new indicators were gradually introduced, they were locally resisted. The study highlights how the focus, forms and main actors of resistance changed over time.

Originality/value

The paper offers a detailed account of how exogenous changes in higher education impact upon, over time and cultural space, academic writing practices through which doctoral students become academics.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 April 2011

Karin Sandmel, Kristen D. Wilson, Karen R. Harris, Kathleen Lynne Lane, Steve Graham, Wendy P. Oakes, Sharlene A. Kiuhara and Trish D. Steinbrecher

Relatively limited attention has been paid to the academic needs of students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Effective interventions are needed to support these…

Abstract

Relatively limited attention has been paid to the academic needs of students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Effective interventions are needed to support these students academically, behaviorally, and socially. The purpose of the concurrent studies reported here was to investigate the effectiveness of academic support in writing for fourth- and fifth-grade students (six boys, two girls) and second- and third-grade students (seven boys, one girl) with writing and behavioral difficulties. The Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) approach was implemented as a tier-2 intervention within a comprehensive, integrated three-tiered model of prevention including academic-, behavioral-, and social-skills components. Students learned an on-demand writing strategy for their state writing-competency test. Dependent measures included number of story writing elements, total number of words written, and writing quality. Fourth- and fifth-grade students who completed the intervention improved in total number of story elements. There were mixed results for the total number of words written and writing quality. Second- and third-grade students did not improve their total number of story elements, total words written, or writing quality. Students in both studies scored the intervention favorably, while there were mixed reactions from teachers. Findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Implications for the construct of evidence-based practice (EBP) are also explored, including concerns regarding frequent assessment of writing throughout intervention regardless of stage of instruction in the SRSD model.

Details

Assessment and Intervention
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-829-9

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 September 2021

Raniya Abdullah Alsehibany

This study aims to examine Saudi female students' attitude toward peer feedback activity in writing classes with a list of questions for the students to follow during the…

1977

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine Saudi female students' attitude toward peer feedback activity in writing classes with a list of questions for the students to follow during the activity, and to investigate the challenges that may prevent the use of such activity in Saudi EFL classes.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a mixed-methods to ensure the credibility of the data and obtain clear descriptions about the topic. The study instruments are (1) Writing Essays, (2) Writing Checklist, (3) Questionnaire and (4) Semi-structured interview. The data were analysis with SPSS and o 10 software.

Findings

The study results indicated that students had a positive attitude toward peer feedback with a checklist in EFL writing class. For instance, their second written essay (post) has improved and has fewer mistakes than the first one. Also, most of the participants stated that peer feedback has improved their writing quality and has enhanced their writing awareness of their weaknesses and mistakes. Moreover, the interview had highlighted the main challenges that could affect using peer feedback in writing class. Finally, the results indicate the efficiency of peer feedback with a checklist in similar teaching contexts.

Research limitations/implications

The study focused on a small number of participants (30 students). Besides, the study dealt with students at university level only and the study focused on female students.

Practical implications

Based on the study finding, it is recommended that peer feedback should be integrated in all EFL writing classes at all levels. Based on the study finding, it is recommended that peer feedback should be incorporated in all EFL writing classes at all levels. Using checklist can help the students to become more independent learners and in time they will be able to correct their own mistakes.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills an identified need to identify how integrating peer feedback activity in writing class can improve the students' writing performance and help them to be independent learners.

Details

PSU Research Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2023

Chin-Wen Chien

Multimodal writing portfolios were introduced and integrated into an undergraduate course and a graduate course in a research-oriented university in northwest Taiwan. This study

Abstract

Purpose

Multimodal writing portfolios were introduced and integrated into an undergraduate course and a graduate course in a research-oriented university in northwest Taiwan. This study aims to examine the influence of multimodal writing portfolios of novice researchers' academic writing.

Design/methodology/approach

Comparative case studies involve collecting data from several cases and analyzing the similarities, differences and patterns across cases (Merriam, 2009). To address this underdeveloped area of research, a comparative case study method was employed to understand undergraduate and graduate students' multimodal writing portfolios in academic writing in two courses in Taiwan.

Findings

First, multimodal writing portfolios enabled novice researchers to be more familiar with the structure of academic paper and they had better performance in intrapersonal and linguistic aspects. Second, novice researchers held positive attitude toward multimodal writing portfolios because they regarded process of making multimodal writing portfolios as preparation for their future academic writing. Finally, participants highly valued the class PowerPoint slides, weekly writing tasks and the instructor's modeling as effective facilitation for making multimodal writing portfolios.

Research limitations/implications

Limited studies focus on multimodal writing portfolios (e.g. Silver, 2019). The present case study explores the integration of a multimodal writing portfolio into one undergraduate and one graduate course to explore learners' attitude and performance in academic writing.

Practical implications

Novice researchers can learn to compose multimodal academic texts for the academic writing community.

Social implications

Suggestions on effective integration of multimodal writing portfolios into academic writing instruction were provided based on the research findings.

Originality/value

The findings of the study provide the field of L2 writing with insights into the pedagogical development of multilingual writing portfolios and help educators to be better prepared for teaching novice researchers to comprehend and compose multimodal texts and enter the academic writing community. The framework in Figure 1 and suggestions on course designs for academic writing can inform educators on the integration of multimodality in academic discourse. Moreover, this study moves beyond general writing courses at the tertiary level and could contribute to L2 writers' deeper understanding of how multimodal writing portfolios can be constructed.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 May 2019

Sheila F. Baker and Renée E. Lastrapes

This paper aims to investigate elementary students’ writing experiences using a digital writing application and compares the results to the findings and recommendations of a…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate elementary students’ writing experiences using a digital writing application and compares the results to the findings and recommendations of a national survey on instructional practices in writing.

Design/methodology/approach

Mixed methods were used to assess the quantity and quality of P-5 public school students’ writing over time. Teacher, librarian and student perceptions and experiences were examined and compared to the results and recommendations from a national survey on writing.

Findings

This paper provides empirical insights into the use of a digital writing application in writing instruction. Findings showed the use of a digital writing application: significantly increased the quantity and improved the quality of student writing; excited and motivated students to write; extended the learning day so more time was spent on writing; and supported students of special populations. Comparison to the recommendations of the national survey showed five of seven recommendations were not met in this study.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to conduct further investigations.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for writing instruction using digital applications for teachers, librarians and educators in pre-service teacher and school librarian preparation programs.

Originality/value

Considering limited growth in national writing scores and the transition to online writing assessments by 2019, this paper addresses the need to integrate technology into writing instruction and offers practical strategies for doing so.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 155000