scholarly journals Exploring teacher-initiated humour in Academic English classes

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 221-235
Author(s):  
Aziz Kholmatov
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Extraction Methods ◽  
Smooth Transition ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
English Writing ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Teaching Grammar

As a subject focused on teaching grammar forms needed for academic studies and genres of academic writing, Academic English may seem tedious at times. Sometimes it is a complex subject for students who are fresh to academia and it needs a peculiar didactic approach to provide a smooth transition of students from general to academic English writing at a university level. One of these approaches may be using humour during classes. The current research explores teacher-initiated humour in Academic English classes at the Westminster International University in Tashkent and its effects on students. Besides, it seeks answers to questions as to what types of humour teachers employ during the class mostly, how often they use humour, as well as students’ and teachers’ recommendations given on how to use humour in class. This study uses both qualitative and quantitative data extraction methods in the form of an online questionnaire with students and a semi-structured interview with teachers. Obtained results show that affective and social roles of humour, its quality of lessening anxiety, creates favourable conditions for students and teacher’s connectedness, which outweighs other humour’s roles. Besides, mnemonic and engaging roles of humour received solid support by the respondents. To obtain a more positive effect, it is recommended that teachers, when incorporating humour in class, apply a systematic approach. Humour should be planned beforehand and needs to be appropriate. Moreover, it should be used with moderation.

Instruction of Nominalization by Applying Enabling of POA

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-358
Author(s):  
Hao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Academic English ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Learning Journals ◽  
English Majors ◽  
Chinese English Learners ◽  
Oriented Approach

AbstractIt is noticeable that the academic papers written by Chinese English learners are lacking in academic features largely due to their poor ability to use nominalization. Therefore, the instruction of nominalization in an academic English writing course is badly needed. The author conducted one-semester-long instruction of nominalization to 90 non-English majors under the guidance of the production-oriented approach (POA). This research demonstrated how to apply POA, specifically, the enabling procedure to the teaching of nominalization. By triangulating the data of students’ interviews, learning journals and written output, and the data of 4 teachers’ class observations and interviews, this study found that the accurate application of the three criteria of effective enabling contributed to the improvement of the quantity and quality of nominalization in academic writing.

scholarly journals A Study of University Students in Japan: Learning and Application of Academic English Writing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Graham McKinley
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Social Constructivist ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Writer Identity ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
The Rich

<p>This study investigated Japanese first and second year undergraduate students learning English academic writing in their compulsory English composition courses in a Japanese university. The thesis takes a social constructivist approach to investigate the aspects of critical argument and writer identity in these students’ classes and their writing.  The data for the study include classroom observations and teacher and student interviews, all conducted monthly throughout the academic year-long course. In total there were six courses, four teachers, and sixteen student participants. The observations were analyzed using an adapted version of Ivanič’s (2004) Discourses of Writing framework, which focused on aspects of identity construction in the writing classroom. The linguistic data included a selection of one major piece of writing from each student, analyzed using an adapted Appraisal framework within Systemic Functional Linguistics (Martin, 1997; 2000). In order to maintain a focus on writer identity in the analysis, Clark and Ivanič’s (1997) selves were identified through this analysis. In addition, the texts were analyzed for use of Casanave’s (2002) writing game strategies, in order to further establish the students’ approaches in writing their texts. The objective was not to generalize about how Japanese students learn to write academic English, but rather to provide, from a social constructivist, Western researcher’s perspective, an analysis of what happened in these students’ writing classes and how it affected their writing for those classes.  Teachers’ general practices in the observed courses mainly focused on two aspects of writing: 1) as a communicative act (writing for a reader), and 2) as an exercise in critical thinking (developing a thesis). These two aspects emerged from the observation and interview data collection. The four teachers used very different approaches in designing their courses, and the students in the same classes responded in different ways, mostly depending on their ability to understand their teachers’ intentions and to form appropriate academic identities in an attempt to meet their teachers’ expectations. The analysis of the students’ written texts revealed that students often did not meet the teachers’ expectations of writing objectively and using a genre-appropriate voice as students often resorted to the same authorial voice to push their thesis.  This investigation was designed to inform pedagogic practices for university teachers of academic English and curriculum designers in Japan to establish effective English writing courses. The rich description of classroom practices and resulting written texts and the focus on differences in cultural expectations between teachers and students provide significant contributions to this area of inquiry. The main pedagogical suggestions are standardizing course objectives and goals, assigning more reading as a part of writing, and teaching students how to write authoritatively.</p>

The use of general and specialized corpora as reference sources for academic English writing: A case study

ReCALL ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Yeon Chang
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Discourse Community ◽  
Academic Experience ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Training Corpus ◽  
English Writing ◽  
English Speaking

AbstractCorpora have been suggested as valuable sources for teaching English for academic purposes (EAP). Since previous studies have mainly focused on corpus use in classroom settings, more research is needed to reveal how students react to using corpora on their own and what should be provided to help them become autonomous corpus users, considering that their ultimate goal is to be independent scholars and writers. In the present study, conducted in an engineering lab at a Korean university over 22 weeks, data on students’ experiences and evaluations of consulting general and specialized corpora for academic writing were collected and analyzed. The findings show that, while both corpora served the participants well as reference sources, the specialized corpus was particularly valued for its direct help in academic writing because, as non-native English-speaking graduate engineering students, the participants wanted to follow the writing conventions of their discourse community. The participants also showed disparate attitudes toward the time taken for corpus consultation due to differences in factors such as academic experience, search purposes, and writing tasks. The article concludes with several suggestions for better corpus use with EAP students regarding the compilation of a corpus, corpus training, corpus competence, and academic writing.

scholarly journals Mitigating Suburban English Writing Teachers’ Constrained Professional Development Through Distance Education: One Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaodong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Multiple Constraints ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
English Writing ◽  
English Literacy ◽  
Support Students

This study reports on how a Chinese suburban English writing teacher responded to systemic functional linguistics (SFL)-based distance education. The study draws on qualitative content analyses of the teacher’s reflections, interviews, and classroom interactions. The results show that through SFL-based distance education, the teacher, interacting with his agency, overcame multiple constraints and developed academically in terms of how to understand valued academic writing. Additionally, the teacher also harnessed this newfound knowledge to support students’ socialization into academic English discourse. The study concludes the effectiveness of SFL-based distance education for English writing teachers in similarly constrained contexts, which could be enhanced by teachers’ agency. Implications of the study include synergizing the SFL-based curriculum with distance teacher education so that language educators can better assist students in gaining the knowledge needed for navigating academic English literacy.

scholarly journals Pedagogical Implication of Clause Expansion Mastery through E-Learning Instruction to Improve Academic English Writing Skills

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Nurhamidah ◽  
S. Purwanto ◽  
C. Anwar ◽  
D. F Wulandari ◽  
A. Murtiningrum
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Academic English ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistic ◽  
Pedagogical Implication ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Learning Instruction ◽  
E Learning

The current study investigated the pedagogical implication of Clause Expansion (CE) mastery to improve academic English writing skills. Fifteen students  participated in the study. A two-cycle action research design was used to justify how the mastery of clause expansion contributed to the development of academic writing skills.  Prior to intervention, they were assigned to write academic texts based on IELTS writing test. Then, they were given a three-week task-based e-learning instruction on CE., based on Systemic Functional Linguistic Framework of Clause Expansion.In the process of Explicit Instruction (EI) of CE, they were exposed in academic writing exercises to apply their knowledge on CE in various grammatical contexts in which it is required as Input Flood (IF).  Another test was administered to see how it progressed from the pre-test. Then, another three-week task-based e-learning module, was given for their second online learning activities. A post-test was administered to see how it contributed to their overall writing skills. It turned out that CE mastery under e-learning special instruction did significantly improve their writing skills. They become more confident in writing academic texts. It is highly recommended that CE be taught as an integral part of a writing course.

scholarly journals Voices from EFL Thai learners towards English writing

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1495-1507
Author(s):  
Chutamas Sundrarajun
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Educational Organizations ◽  
Business English ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Written Assignments

English language writing is seen as one of the most difficult skills for undergraduate students. When composing a piece of writing, students usually face various problems ranging from grammatical aspects to expressing ideas and opinions. To answer the research questions, this study employed a mixed method of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to identify the students’ perceptions towards Business Article Writing Course, as well as to pinpoint their challenges when working on the written assignments. The intensive data were collected from 20 fourth year students majoring in Business English via the use of questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The findings give teachers, course designers, and educational organizations an insight into students’ problems in learning English language writing. It also highlights the need to integrate different genres of writing to enhance students’ writing skills so that they can use such techniques to overcome any struggles when composing a piece of writing.   Keywords:  Academic Writing, EFL, Writing Strategies, Peer Feedback

Challenges, feelings, and attitudes towards writing in ERPP in semi-periphery countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-159
Author(s):  
Arturo Mendoza ◽  
Viviana Oropez ◽  
Daniel Rodríguez ◽  
Zazil Sobrevilla ◽  
Joaquín Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Public University ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Admission Requirements ◽  
Additional Burden ◽  
Method Approach

Abstract This paper addresses writing in ERPP for graduate students matriculated in a Mexican Public University where the medium of instruction is Spanish. The students who were involved in our study registered for an academic writing course in ERPP, and submitted a draft research article in English as part of the admission requirements. Following a mixed-method approach, through a survey and a semi-structured interview, we aimed to explore the various ways in which students use English for research and publication purposes, the discursive and non-discursive challenges they perceived while drafting the article, and their feelings and attitudes towards writing in ERPP. The findings suggest that the discursive and non-discursive challenges perceived were aggravated by the lack of critical-pragmatic approaches, the poor English writing skills developed for academic purposes, and the lack of support for editing their papers in English, particularly from thesis supervisors. This led them to experience feelings of anxiety, frustration and discomfort about writing in English. We would argue that this additional burden and pressure for graduate students to publish in English in semi-periphery countries translates into a lack of confidence and feeling of disadvantage in comparison with their counterparts located in anglophone research communities in centre countries.

scholarly journals Advancing Academic Writing in a Mobile Skype-Based Blended Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Jafar Asgari Arani
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Writing Process ◽  
Past Experience ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Academic English ◽  
English Writing ◽  
The Media ◽  
Supporting Tool

<p class="Default"><strong>Background</strong>: Web media like Skype, Twitter, WhatsApp, and SMS not only make it viable to deliver, receive and share educational information, but to simplify communication with other people in various skills such as writing, link sharing, and voice or video files. There are three areas addressed to direct the plan and implementation of this survey as main objectives:</p><p>the faculty members' feelings and impression on applying Skype site as a media to teaching and learning academic writing process, the weak and strong points of the Skype site application during the teaching and learning academic writing, and the faculty members' perceptions toward using Skype site as a supporting tool for course delivery based on selected variables: year of teaching, past experience with Skype, and their specialization.</p><p align="left"> </p><p><strong>Method &amp;Material:</strong> The sample consisted of 70 faculty members of Kashan University of Medical sciences, all having problems writing English well by using selective sampling. The study was a descriptive quantitative-qualitative research which a general survey model was used in. The survey questionnaires consist of 30 statements, which were devised in five categories based on Premise Base and Conducive Assumptions to clarify the Skype-based educational utilities and application. The interview item was also applied to explore if the participants affirmed the media-based approach augments their learning of academic English writing process or not.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Finding:</strong> Results related faculty members' perceptions toward using Skype site as a supporting tool for course delivery based on selected variables: their specialization, year of teaching, and past experience with Skype explored that there were no statistically significant differences at (α = 0.05) in the use of Skype units due to faculty members majors. There are statistically significant differences at (α = 0.05) in the use of Skype units due to the year of teaching variable, in favors of, the third and fourth year faculty members. The result also, revealed that there are statistically significant differences at (α = 0.05) in the use of Skype units due to the past experience with Skype variable, in favors of faculty members with no Skype use experience. Also, the calculated mean and Standard Deviations in six areas each having five statements arranged from the highest to the lowest ranking indicate the participants' impressions to Skype-based blended model in teaching academic writing.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Skype media as an educational media is a beneficial medium to be applied to deliver academic writing materials and support learning. Faculty members not having enough time to participate in classes feel comfortable with the use of the Skype-based methodology in academic writing. They participating in the course expressed their acceptance of this media in learning academic writing.  Skype-based teaching could become a very effective educational medium for learning academic English writing.</p>

A mathematical model for academic genre awareness

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 469-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Muñoz-Luna ◽  
Lidia Taillefer
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Production Quality ◽  
Academic English ◽  
English Studies ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Genre Awareness ◽  
English Academic Writing ◽  
Academic Genre

Spanish undergraduates of English Studies are required to submit their essays in academic English, a genre which most of them are not acquainted with. This paper aims to explore the extralinguistic side of L2 academic writing, more specifically, the combination of metalinguistic items (e.g. transition and frame markers, among others) with writers’ awareness of academic genre features. The research sample conveys a group of 200 Spanish undergraduates of English Studies; they are in their fourth year, so they are expected to be proficient in English academic writing but their written production quality varies considerably. Results are analysed following a mixed methodology by which metalinguistic items are statistically measured, and then contrasted with semi-structured interview results; SPSS® and NVivo® provide quantitative and qualitative outcomes, respectively. The analyses reveal that undergraduate students who produce complex sentences and more coherent texts show greater awareness of academic genre features, being able to (un)consciously employ academic language in their written expression. These high-scoring students make more proficient use of complex transition markers for coherence and frame markers for textual cohesion.

scholarly journals Extending the flipped classroom model: Developing second language writing skills through student-created digital videos

2014 ◽  
pp. 12-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Engin
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Digital Videos ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Video Tutorial ◽  
Model Research ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Language Writing

Abstract: This paper describes a project which aimed to leverage the students’ interest and experience of technology and multi-modal environments in an academic English writing course. Students were expected to follow a model, research a topic, and craft a digital video tutorial on an aspect of academic writing which would form part of the established flipped classroom model. Evaluation from students suggests that student-created videos can promote deeper understanding of the topic through the activity of teaching, as well as encourage students to monitor their English and strive for accuracy. However, it was also noted that students prefer a teacher explanation than a peer explanation and there were concerns over the “trustworthiness” of a peer-produced video tutorial. 

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