Assessing Elementary Students' Writing Skills. Publication No. 78.74.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedman, Myron; Fowler, Elaine

An instrument was developed for use in the evaluation of a pilot program to improve the writing skills of elementary school students in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. Called the "Assessment of Writing Skills" (AWS), the instrument assesses writing maturity, productivity, and writing mechanics by collecting a holistic evaluation…

Writing Skills for Technical Students. Fourth Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlisle, Vicky; Smith, Harriet; Baker, Fred; Ellegood, George; Kopay, Carol; Tanzer, Ward; Young, Diana; Dujordan, Jerome; Webster, Ron; Lewis, Sara Drew

This self-paced text/workbook is designed for the adult learner who needs a review of grammar and writing skills in order to write clearly and concisely on the job. It offers career-minded students 14 individualized instructional modules on grammar, paragraph writing, report writing, letter writing, and spelling. It is designed for both self-paced…

A Program for Improving Undergraduate Psychology Students' Basic Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fallahi, Carolyn R.; Wood, Rebecca M.; Austad, Carol Shaw; Fallahi, Hamid

2006-01-01

We examined the effects of in-class writing instruction, practice, peer review, and feedback on writing skills of undergraduates enrolled in a general psychology course. We rated writing for grammar, writing style, mechanics, and American Psychological Association referencing style. Significant differences emerged on the 4 writing skill domains (p…

Writing as a Survival Skill: How Neuroscience Can Improve Writing in Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Douglas, Yellowlees

2012-01-01

This article looks at the apparent paradox between the demand for strong writing skills and the lack of colleges of business that require their MBA students to complete writing courses. In the past, most approaches to teaching writing proved inadequate in producing graduates with the ability to write clearly, effectively, and efficiently. This…

Mirror man: a case of skilled deliberate mirror writing.

PubMed

McIntosh, Robert D; De Lucia, Natascia; Della Sala, Sergio

2014-01-01

Mirror writing is a striking behaviour that is common in children and can reemerge in adults following brain damage. Skilled deliberate mirror writing has also been reported, but only anecdotally. We provide the first quantitative study of skilled deliberate mirror writing. K.B. can write forward or backward, vertically upright or inverted, with the hands acting alone or simultaneously. K.B. is predominantly left handed, but writes habitually with his right hand. Of his writing formats, his left hand mirror writing is by far the most similar in style to his normal handwriting. When writing bimanually, he performs better when his two hands make mirror-symmetrical movements to write opposite scripts than if they move in the same direction to write similar scripts. He has no special facility for reading mirrored text. These features are consistent with prior anecdotal cases and support a motor basis for K.B.'s ability, according to which his skilled mirror writing results from the left hand execution of a low-level motor program for a right hand abductive writing action. Our methods offer a novel framework for investigating the sharing of motor representations across effectors.

Teaching Writing Skills: Global Issues. Skills Series, Volume 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benegar, John

Social studies and language arts teachers can use these self-contained activities to teach writing skills to students in grades 6-12. Some of the activities have a global approach requiring students to write about topics such as human rights and cultural differences. Information provided for each activity includes an introduction, objectives, time…

Relationship between the Phonological Awareness Skills and Writing Skills of the First Year Students at Primary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erdogan, Ozge

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the phonological awareness skills and writing skills of the first year students at primary school. In the study, the phonological awareness skills and writing skills of the students were measured at the beginning of the term. Students' writing skills were measured in the middle of…

Singaporean Kindergartners' Phonological Awareness and English Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixon, L. Quentin

2011-01-01

This article describes the phonological awareness and English writing skills among a sample of 297 Singaporean kindergarten children, stratified by ethnicity (Chinese, Malay, and Indian), and examines the relationship between oral language and writing skills in this multilingual population. Overall, Singaporean kindergartners, nearly all of whom…

English Skills for Engineers Required by the English Technical Writing Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyouno, Noboru

Japanese English education has focused mainly on teaching passive skills such as reading and listening, whereas actual business activities in society require active skills such as writing and speaking in addition to the passive skills. This educational situation is estimated to be a reason Japanese engineers are less confident in writing and speaking than in reading and listening. This paper focuses on details of the English Technical Writing Test provided by the Japan Society of Technical Communication and emphasizes the importance of the active skills, mainly focusing on what skills should be taught in the future and how to develop these skills. This paper also stresses the necessity of learning rhetoric-related skills, concept of information words, as well as paragraph reading and writing skills based on the concept of the 3Cs (Correct, Clear, and Concise) as a means to develop technical writing skills for engineers.

Relationships among L1 Print Exposure and Early L1 Literacy Skills, L2 Aptitude, and L2 Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sparks, Richard L.; Patton, Jon; Ganschow, Leonore; Humbach, Nancy

2012-01-01

Authors examined the relationship between individual differences in L1 print exposure and differences in early L1 skills and later L2 aptitude, L2 proficiency, and L2 classroom achievement. Participants were administered measures of L1 word decoding, spelling, phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, receptive vocabulary, and listening…

Using gamification to develop academic writing skills in dental undergraduate students.

PubMed

El Tantawi, Maha; Sadaf, Shazia; AlHumaid, Jehan

2018-02-01

To assess the satisfaction of first-year dental students with gamification and its effect on perceived and actual improvement of academic writing. Two first-year classes of dental undergraduate students were recruited for the study which extended over 4 months and ended in January 2015. A pre-intervention assessment of students' academic writing skills was performed using criteria to evaluate writing. The same criteria were used to evaluate the final writing assignment after the intervention. Students' satisfaction with game aspects was assessed. The per cent change in writing score was regressed on scores of satisfaction with game aspects controlling for gender. Perceived improvement in writing was also assessed. Data from 87 (94.6%) students were available for analysis. Students' overall satisfaction with the gamified experience was modest [mean (SD) = 5.9 (2.1)] and so was their overall perception of improvement in writing [mean (SD) = 6.0 (2.2)]. The per cent score of the first assignment was 35.6 which improved to 80 in the last assignment. Satisfaction with playing the game was significantly associated with higher percentage of improvement in actual writing skills [regression coefficient (95% confidence interval) = 21.1 (1.9, 40.2)]. Using gamification in an obligatory course for first-year dental students was associated with an improvement in academic writing skills although students' satisfaction with game aspects was modest and their willingness to use gamification in future courses was minimal. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Relationships among Writing Skills, Writing Anxiety and Metacognitive Awareness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balta, Elif Emine

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among students' argumentative text writing skills, writing anxiety, and metacognitive awareness. The participants were composed of 375 8th graders in six middle schools in Sivas. Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (B Form) which was adapted in to Turkish by Karakelle & Saraç (2007)…

Teaching Writing Skills with Children's Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dierking, Connie Campbell; Anderson-McElveen, Susan

Intended for teachers, this workbook uses 20 well-known children's books as models to teach expository and narrative writing skills. The workbook teaches students about brainstorming, focus, organization, elaboration, and writing conventions with readily-available quality children's literature, such as "When I Was Young in the…

Cognitive Factors Contributing to Chinese EFL Learners' L2 Writing Performance in Timed Essay Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Yanbin

2010-01-01

This study investigated cognitive factors that might influence Chinese EFL learners' argumentative essay writing in English. The factors that were explored included English (L2) language proficiency, Chinese (L1) writing ability, genre knowledge, use of writing strategies, and working memory capacity in L1 and L2. Data were collected from 136…

Critical Thinking Activities To Improve Writing Skills: Arguments A-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Michael O.

Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The 16 activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities expose…

Teaching good communication/proposal-writing skills: Overcoming one deficit of our educational system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reif-Lehrer, Liane

1992-09-01

Good communication skills require: (1) an understanding of one's audience and the subtle interactions between writer and reader, (2) organizational skills to methodically progress through the necessary stages of a project (e.g., writing a proposal), and (3) certain basic communication (writing/speaking) skills, i.e., a facility with the basic elements of transmitting information clearly. The task of writing a grant proposal in response to a specific set of instructions is used to illustrate the analysis and responses necessary to complete a major written communication project. The concept of focusing on—and writing for—the reader (in this case, the proposal reviewer) is emphasized. Although good communication skills affect life-styles, productivity, and economics in our society, the communication skills of the American pubic are sorely lacking—even among people with high levels of education—because students receive little training in these skills in the United States educational system. However, such skills can be taught to younger students as well as to adults.

Modeling the Relationships between Cognitive-Linguistic Skills and Writing in Chinese among Elementary Grades Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeung, Pui-sze; Ho, Connie Suk-han; Chan, David Wai-ock; Chung, Kevin Kien-hoa

2013-01-01

The present study is a four-year longitudinal study examining the important predictors of writing of 340 Chinese children in elementary grades. Children's transcription skills (handwriting skills and spelling), and syntactic skills in grade 1 were significant predictors of text writing in grade 1-4 while ideation in grade 1 only contributed to…

Coherence in the Assessment of Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Robin; Riu, Carmen Perez

2008-01-01

Unhappy with the contradiction of teaching writing skills through a process-genre approach and testing them by means of a timed essay, the authors devised the Extended Writing Project (EWP) as an alternative evaluation mechanism. This requires students to write an extended text in consecutive sections that are drafted and revised with external…

See It, Be It, Write It: Using Performing Arts to Improve Writing Skills and Test Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blecher-Sass, Hope Sara; Moffitt, Maryellen

2010-01-01

Improve students' writing skills and boost their assessment scores while adding arts education, creativity, and fun to your writing curriculum. With this vibrant resource, improving writing skills goes hand-in-hand with improving test scores. Students learn how to use acting and visualization as prewriting activities to help them connect writing…

Some technical writing skills industry needs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, F. R.

1981-01-01

It is suggested that engineers and other technical students be taught three classes of skills in technical writing. First, "Big Picture Things", which includes: the importance of clear writing, the wide scope of writing, the wide scope of writing tasks that will be faced in industry, and the principles of organization of technical materials such as; how to analyze, classify, partition, and interpret. Second, "Writing Procedures", which encompasses: how to get words on paper efficiently and team-write. Third, "Writing Details", in which two considerations are important: how to achieve precision in the use of language and the aspects of style. Three problems in style are cited: the problem of sentence transition, overuse of attributive adjectives, and verbosity in paragraph structure. The most important thing in technical writing is considered to be functionality, economy and clarity.

Journaling and the Improvement of Writing Skills for Incoming College Freshmen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hight, Jim D.

2013-01-01

Journaling is an effective tool for the development of writing skills and creative thinking; however, research has not revealed how it improves writing skills in the college classroom. The majority of the studies related to journaling are elementary school studies, which do not provide statistics on how journaling can improve writing skills for…

Children's high-level writing skills: development of planning and revising and their contribution to writing quality.

PubMed

Limpo, Teresa; Alves, Rui A; Fidalgo, Raquel

2014-06-01

It is well established that the activity of producing a text is a complex one involving three main cognitive processes: Planning, translating, and revising. Although these processes are crucial in skilled writing, beginning and developing writers seem to struggle with them, mainly with planning and revising. To trace the development of the high-level writing processes of planning and revising, from Grades 4 to 9, and to examine whether these skills predict writing quality in younger and older students (Grades 4-6 vs. 7-9), after controlling for gender, school achievement, age, handwriting fluency, spelling, and text structure. Participants were 381 students from Grades 4 to 9 (age 9-15). Students were asked to plan and write a story and to revise another story by detecting and correcting mechanical and substantive errors. From Grades 4 to 9, we found a growing trend in students' ability to plan and revise despite the observed decreases and stationary periods from Grades 4 to 5 and 6 to 7. Moreover, whereas younger students' planning and revising skills made no contribution to the quality of their writing, in older students, these high-level skills contributed to writing quality above and beyond control predictors. The findings of this study seem to indicate that besides the increase in planning and revising, these skills are not fully operational in school-age children. Indeed, given the contribution of these high-level skills to older students' writing, supplementary instruction and practice should be provided from early on. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Medical Writing Competency Model - Section 2: Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Behaviors.

PubMed

Clemow, David B; Wagner, Bertil; Marshallsay, Christopher; Benau, Dan; L'Heureux, Darryl; Brown, David H; Dasgupta, Devjani Ghosh; Girten, Eileen; Hubbard, Frank; Gawrylewski, Helle-Mai; Ebina, Hiroko; Stoltenborg, Janet; York, J P; Green, Kim; Wood, Linda Fossati; Toth, Lisa; Mihm, Michael; Katz, Nancy R; Vasconcelos, Nina-Maria; Sakiyama, Norihisa; Whitsell, Robin; Gopalakrishnan, Shobha; Bairnsfather, Susan; Wanderer, Tatyana; Schindler, Thomas M; Mikyas, Yeshi; Aoyama, Yumiko

2018-01-01

This article provides Section 2 of the 2017 Edition 2 Medical Writing Competency Model that describes the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that professional medical writers need in order to perform effectively within the life sciences industry. What a medical writer should know, what they should be able to do, and how they should use this knowledge and these skills to facilitate their primary work function is a focus. Regulatory, publication, and other scientific writing as well as management of writing activities are covered. The full Model also includes Section 1, which covers the core work functions and associated tasks and activities related to professional medical writing within the life sciences industry; Section 1 is included in a companion article. The Model was developed to aid medical writers and managers within the life sciences industry regarding medical writing hiring, training, expectation and goal setting, performance evaluation, career development, retention, and role value sharing to cross-functional partners.

Factors influencing pre-service physics teachers' skills of writing teaching materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinaga, Parlindungan

2016-02-01

Writing teaching materials is one of the generic pedagogical skills. Teachers and pre-service teachers should be trained to have the skills of writing teaching materials. This study examines the factors that influence the skills of writing in the disciplines among pre-service physics teachers. This study in particular aims to contribute to the development of science writing in the disciplines and to the organization of workshops on writing teaching materials for pre-service teachers. The problems of this research are formulated in the question of what are the factors that influence the skills of pre-service physics teachers in writing teaching materials. The research adopted mixed methods with embedded experimental design. The research subjects were 18 students enrolled in the school physics course. The instruments used consisted of conceptual understanding tests, learning strategy questionnaire, tests of the multiple representation skills, and one-on-one semi- structured interview. Results of data analysis show that the ability and skills of writing physics teaching materials of the pre- service physics teachers are determined by the factors of conceptual understanding of the subject matter with a contribution of 20%, the skills of making multiple representations of concepts with a contribution of 9.8% and students' self-regulation and learning strategy with a contribution of 33.5%. There are other factors that have not been investigated in this study; therefore, it is recommended that future research conduct further investigation on other factors that influence pre-service teachers' skills in writing physics teaching materials.

The development of writing skills in 4-year-old children with and without specific language impairment.

PubMed

Pavelko, Stacey L; Lieberman, R Jane; Schwartz, Jamie; Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie; Nye, Chad

2017-01-01

Research shows that many preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulty acquiring literacy skills including phonological awareness, print concepts, and alphabet knowledge. Limited research suggests that preschool children with SLI also have difficulty with emergent writing tasks such as name writing and word writing. In typically developing children, research indicates that emergent writing skills are acquired in a developmental sequence: (1) linearity, (2) segmentation, (3) simple characters, (4) left-right orientation, (5) complex characters, (6) random letters, and (7) invented spelling. This study compared the emergent writing skills of 4-year-old children with SLI (n = 22) to their age- and gender-matched peers (n = 22). Results indicated that children with SLI demonstrate difficulty with a variety of writing tasks, including letter writing, name writing, word writing, and sentence writing when compared to their typically-developing peers. Children with SLI followed the same developmental sequence in acquiring writing skills as their typically-developing peers.

Cognitive Components of Developmental Writing Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Decker, Scott L.; Roberts, Alycia M.; Roberts, Kristin L.; Stafford, Allison L.; Eckert, Mark A.

2016-01-01

A significant number of studies have examined the cognitive components of basic academic skills, which has led to major changes in both teaching and early identification assessment practices. However, the majority of previous research has focused solely on reading. This study examines the cognitive components of academic writing skills across…

Writer L1/L2 Status and Asynchronous Online Writing Center Feedback: Consultant Response Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weirick, Joshua; Davis, Tracy; Lawson, Daniel

2017-01-01

This case study examines the differences in comments offered by asynchronous online writing center consultants to L1 and L2 speakers and examines the potential disconnects in consultant perceptions of their practice. The researchers collected and coded sample papers and interviewed participants to contextualize data from the quantitative portion…

The Interrelationship among First Language Writing Skills, Second Language Writing Skills, and Second Language Proficiency of EFL University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ito, Fumihiko

2004-01-01

Background: Over the past twenty years, many investigations have been carried out to identify factors influencing second language (L2) learning. Specifically, investigations of the relationship among first language (L1) reading skills, L2 reading skills, and L2 proficiency have been variously conducted, to contribute to the overall growth of L1-L2…

Critical Thinking Activities To Improve Writing Skills: Descriptive Mysteries A-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albertus, Karen; And Others

Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities in the book…

Contributions of Morphological Skill to Children's Essay Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Northey, Mary; McCutchen, Deborah; Sanders, Elizabeth A.

2016-01-01

Morphological skills have previously been found to reliably predict reading skill, including word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension. However, less is known about how morphological skills might contribute to writing skill, aside from its well-documented role in the development of spelling. This correlational study examines whether…

Building a scholar in writing (BSW): A model for developing students' critical writing skills.

PubMed

Bailey, Annette; Zanchetta, Margareth; Velasco, Divine; Pon, Gordon; Hassan, Aafreen

2015-11-01

Several authors have highlighted the importance of writing in developing reflective thinking skills, transforming knowledge, communicating expressions, and filling knowledge gaps. However, difficulties with higher order processing and critical analysis affect students' ability to write critical and thoughtful essays. The Building a Scholar in Writing (BSW) model is a 6-step process of increasing intricacies in critical writing development. Development of critical writing is proposed to occur in a processed manner that transitions from presenting simple ideas (just bones) in writing, to connecting ideas (connecting bones), to formulating a thesis and connecting key components (constructing a skeleton), to supporting ideas with evidence (adding muscle), to building creativity and originality (adding essential organs), and finally, developing strong, integrated, critical arguments (adding brain). This process symbolically represents the building of a scholar. The idea of building a scholar equates to progressively giving life and meaning to a piece of writing with unique scholarly characteristics. This progression involves a transformation in awareness, thinking, and understanding, as well as advancement in students' level of critical appraisal skills. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrating Effective Writing Skills in the Accounting Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

May, Gordon S.; Arevalo, Claire

1983-01-01

The J. M. Tull School of Accounting at the University of Georgia has developed a program that integrates the teaching of writing skills with the regular accounting courses. Students in a three-course sequence write a total of eight papers--technical, memos, or reports--in assignments that resemble writing tasks encountered by professional…

Writing a bachelor thesis generates transferable knowledge and skills useable in nursing practice.

PubMed

Lundgren, Solveig M; Robertsson, Barbro

2013-11-01

Generic skills or transferable skills have been discussed in terms of whether or not skills learned in one context can be transferred into another context. The current study was aimed to explore nurses' self-perceptions of the knowledge and skills they had obtained while writing a Bachelor's thesis in nursing education, their experience of the extent of transfer and utilization in their current work. Responding nurses (N=42) had all worked from 1 to 1.5 years after their final examination and had completed a questionnaire that was structured with open-ended questions. Only five nurses reported that they were unable to use any of the knowledge and skills they had obtained from writing a thesis. A majority of the nurses (37/42) could give many examples of the practical application of the skills and knowledge they had obtained. Our findings indicate that writing a thesis as part of an undergraduate degree program plays a major role in the acquisition and development of knowledge and skills which can subsequently be transferred into and utilized in nursing practice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How I Have Improved My English Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosaka, Megumi

2016-01-01

Writing a journal is a good way to improve one's English skills. The author, although she did not feel good at writing in English at all, discovered that, once she began keeping a journal in English, she progressively became able to write longer, more accurate, and more detailed sentences. Through keeping a journal she became aware of errors she…

A Case Study on the Effects of an L2 Writing Instructional Model for Blended Learning in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

So, Lee; Lee, Chung Hyun

2013-01-01

This case study explores EFL (English as a foreign language) students' perceptions toward a prototype of an instructional model for second language (L2) writing in blended learning and the effects of the model on the development of L2 writing skills in higher education. This model is primarily founded on the process-oriented writing approach…

Enhancing EFL Learners' Writing Skill via Journal Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuan, Luu Trong

2010-01-01

"Frequently accepted as being the last language skill to be acquired for native speakers of the language as well as for foreign/second language learners" (Hamp-Lyons and Heasly, 2006: 2), English writing, for a number of EFL learners, appears to be challenging. This paper sought to investigate if learners can grow out of the writing…

L1 vs L2 Writing: ESL Graduate Students' Perceptions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silva, Tony

1992-01-01

A classroom-based study is reported that explored English-as-a-Second Language graduate students' perceptions about (1) differences between writing in their native language and writing in English, and (2) how these difference should be reflected in ESL writing teachers' practices. (19 references) (Author/LB)

What Writing Skills Should Accounting Students Be Taught?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Douglas C.; Nelson, Sandra J.; Moncada, Susan M.

1998-01-01

Responses from 150 public accountants and 108 management accountants identified communication skills needed in accounting. Top writing skills areas included working papers, memoranda, business letters, instructions and procedures, and systems documentation. (SK)

A Comparative Study of Facebook vs. Paper-and-Pencil Writing to Improve L2 Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dizon, Gilbert

2016-01-01

Facebook has best leveraged the rapid technological and societal changes over the past decade to grow into the world's largest social-networking site (SNS). However, research of Facebook has lagged behind other Web 2.0 technologies, particularly in regards to investigating its efficacy versus a control group to improve L2 writing. This study,…

The Use of Podcasts to Enhance Narrative Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qaddour, Kinana

2017-01-01

This activity uses podcasts to model narrative writing techniques. The challenges students face when exercising narrative writing skills are unique when compared to those of persuasive and expository writing; my students have repeatedly expressed their qualms with articulating experiences that engage their audience. Although students have…

Improving Narrative Writing Skills, Composition Skills, and Related Attitudes among Second Grade Students by Integrating Word Processing, Graphic Organizers, and Art into a Process Approach to Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallick-Jackson, Sheryl A.

A practicum program was developed and implemented to improve narrative writing skills, composition skills, and related attitudes among the targeted second grade students. Objectives for the program were for: 75% of the students to increase their narrative writing skills by at least one proficiency level; 75% of the students to increase their…

Developing Business Writing Skills and Reducing Writing Anxiety of EFL Learners through Wikis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kassem, Mohamed Ali Mohamed

2017-01-01

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of using wikis on developing business writing skills and reducing writing anxiety of Business Administration students at Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz University, KSA. Sixty students, who were randomly chosen and divided into two equivalent groups: control and experimental, participated in the…

Grant Writing Skill Building: A Business Administration Curriculum Proposal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blankenship, Dianna; Jones, Irma; Lovett, Marvin

2010-01-01

This paper reviews the need for grant writing skills within various types of organizations and the resulting proposal for including grant writing within business administration curriculum at the undergraduate and/or graduate levels. An introduction precedes the results of a survey regarding current grant writing courses within AACSB schools of…

Write Makes Might: A Case for the Neglected Skill.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duncan, Annelise M.

Of all the language skills, writing is the most difficult challenge for language teachers because students have less experience with written expression. Stimulated by audio-visual materials throughout their lives, students are novices in the discipline of writing. Making writing an ongoing part of foreign language acquisition from the first day in…

Doing peer review and receiving feedback: impact on scientific literacy and writing skills.

PubMed

Geithner, Christina A; Pollastro, Alexandria N

2016-03-01

Doing peer review has been effectively implemented to help students develop critical reading and writing skills; however, its application in Human Physiology programs is limited. The purpose of the present study was to determine the impact of peer review on Human Physiology majors' perceptions of their scientific literacy and writing skills. Students enrolled in the Scientific Writing course completed multiple writing assignments, including three revisions after receiving peer and instructor feedback. Students self-assessed their knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to science and writing in pre- and postcourse surveys (n = 26 with complete data). Seven survey items related to scientific literacy and writing skills impacted by peer review were selected for analysis. Scores on these survey items were summed to form a composite self-rating score. Responses to two questions regarding the most useful learning activities were submitted to frequency analysis. Mean postcourse scores for individual survey items and composite self-rating scores were significantly higher than precourse means (P < 0.05). Peer review was the most frequently noted among 21 learning activities for increasing scientific literacy and in the top 5 for improving writing skills. In conclusion, peer review is an effective teaching/learning approach for improving undergraduate Human Physiology majors' knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding science and scientific writing. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

Longitudinal Relations Between Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers’ Language and Literacy Skills

PubMed Central

Bindman, Samantha W.; Hindman, Annemarie H.; Aram, Dorit; Morrison, Frederick J.

2013-01-01

Parental writing support was examined over time and in relation to children’s language and literacy skills. Seventy-seven parents and their preschoolers were videotaped writing an invitation together twice during one year. Parental writing support was coded at the level of the letter to document parents’ graphophonemic support (letter–sound correspondence), print support (letter formation), and demand for precision (expectation for correcting writing errors). Parents primarily relied on only a couple print (i.e., parent writing the letter alone) and graphophonemic (i.e., saying the word as a whole, dictating letters as children write) strategies. Graphophonemic and print support in preschool predicted children’s decoding skills, and graphophonemic support also predicted children’s future phonological awareness. Neither type of support predicted children’s vocabulary scores. Demand for precision occurred infrequently and was unrelated to children’s outcomes. Findings demonstrate the importance of parental writing support for augmenting children’s literacy skills. PMID:25045186

Evaluation of Secondary School Students' Writing Fluency Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atasoy, Arzu; Temizkan, Mehmet

2016-01-01

Developed to evaluate secondary school students' writing fluency skills, this study is descriptive in nature and uses a mixed method approach. During the research, the researcher attempted to identify students' abilities to write in terms of quantity and complexity, on the one hand, and also attempted to identify findings on accuracy, the…

The Effect of Process Writing Activities on the Writing Skills of Prospective Turkish Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dilidüzgün, Sükran

2013-01-01

Problem statement: Writing an essay is a most difficult creative work and consequently requires detailed instruction. There are in fact two types of instruction that contribute to the development of writing skills: Reading activities analysing texts in content and schematic structure to find out how they are composed and process writing…

Meursault on Trial: Multi-Skills Activities for Teaching "L'Etranger."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polly, Lyle R.; Buscaglia, Michael J.

1978-01-01

Presents a unit of activities based on a reading of Albert Camus'""L'Etranger." The activities, which can be adapted to various levels and abilities in an intermediate French class, incorporate reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Sample materials and a bibliography are appended. (AM)

AWE-Based Corrective Feedback on Developing EFL Learners' Writing Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Zhihong; Li, Xiaowei; Li, Zhenxiao

2015-01-01

The effective design and use of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools in developing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' writing skill and learner autonomy have remained great challenges for system designers, developers, and EFL instructors compared with that of the pencil-paper writing in the context of regular teacher-fronted…

Improving Marketing Students' Writing Skills Using a One-Page Paper

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Newell D.; Larsen, Val

2016-01-01

Employers of marketing graduates view good writing as a core marketing skill, but many marketing students are weak writers. The improvement of student writing should therefore be an important objective in a well-designed marketing curriculum. One-page papers combine the effective teaching of marketing concepts with writing instruction while…

Gap between Self-Efficacy and College Students' Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lichtinger, Einat

2018-01-01

This study explores the disparity between college students' self-efficacy beliefs regarding their writing skills and their teachers' perceptions of the latter. It also examines ways to improve the academic writing instruction provided by the institution, and the impact of a first-year introductory academic-writing course. A total of 151 third-year…

Developing Critical Thinking Skills Using the Science Writing Heuristic in the Chemistry Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephenson, N. S.; Sadler-McKnight, N. P.

2016-01-01

The Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) laboratory approach is a teaching and learning tool which combines writing, inquiry, collaboration and reflection, and provides scaffolding for the development of critical thinking skills. In this study, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) was used to measure the critical thinking skills of…

Combined Training of One Cognitive and One Metacognitive Strategy Improves Academic Writing Skills.

PubMed

Wischgoll, Anke

2016-01-01

Academic writing is a challenging task. Expert writers apply various writing skills as they anticipate the reader's view of their text while paying attention to structure and content. Research in the high school setting shows that the acquisition of writing skills can be supported by single-strategy training. However, research in higher education is scarce. We tested whether the development of academic writing skills can also be effectively supported by training single strategies or even combined strategies. As metacognition is an important skill for advanced and adult learners, we focused in this study on the benefit of combined cognitive strategies with and without a metacognitive strategy. An experiment including three conditions was conducted (N = 60 German-speaking psychology undergraduates, M = 22.8, SD = 4.4), which lasted for three hours. Each group received a modeling intervention of a basic cognitive strategy on the application of text structure knowledge. Two groups received an additional modeling intervention with either a cognitive strategy treatment on text summarization or a metacognitive strategy treatment on self-monitoring the writing process. One group received no further strategy treatment. Prior knowledge and learning outcomes were measured with a specially developed test on academic writing skills. In addition, all participants wrote an abstract of an empirical article. We found that learners who received the additional self-monitoring strategy intervention benefited significantly more in terms of acquisition of academic writing skills and the quality of their texts than learners who did not receive this intervention. Thus, the results underline the importance of self-monitoring strategies in academic writing. Implications and further research opportunities are discussed.

Combined Training of One Cognitive and One Metacognitive Strategy Improves Academic Writing Skills

PubMed Central

Wischgoll, Anke

2016-01-01

Academic writing is a challenging task. Expert writers apply various writing skills as they anticipate the reader’s view of their text while paying attention to structure and content. Research in the high school setting shows that the acquisition of writing skills can be supported by single-strategy training. However, research in higher education is scarce. We tested whether the development of academic writing skills can also be effectively supported by training single strategies or even combined strategies. As metacognition is an important skill for advanced and adult learners, we focused in this study on the benefit of combined cognitive strategies with and without a metacognitive strategy. An experiment including three conditions was conducted (N = 60 German-speaking psychology undergraduates, M = 22.8, SD = 4.4), which lasted for three hours. Each group received a modeling intervention of a basic cognitive strategy on the application of text structure knowledge. Two groups received an additional modeling intervention with either a cognitive strategy treatment on text summarization or a metacognitive strategy treatment on self-monitoring the writing process. One group received no further strategy treatment. Prior knowledge and learning outcomes were measured with a specially developed test on academic writing skills. In addition, all participants wrote an abstract of an empirical article. We found that learners who received the additional self-monitoring strategy intervention benefited significantly more in terms of acquisition of academic writing skills and the quality of their texts than learners who did not receive this intervention. Thus, the results underline the importance of self-monitoring strategies in academic writing. Implications and further research opportunities are discussed. PMID:26941671

L2 Writing Practice: Game Enjoyment as a Key to Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Laura K.; Crossley, Scott A.; Snow, Erica L.; McNamara, Danielle S.

2014-01-01

The Writing Pal (W-Pal) is an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) designed to provide students with explicit writing strategy instruction and practice. W-Pal includes a suite of educational games developed to increase writing engagement and provide opportunities to practice writing strategies. In this study, first (L1) (n = 26) and second (L2)…

On Developing the Writing Skills Course for Accounting Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firch, Tim; Campbell, Annhenrie; Lindsay, David H.; Garner, Don E.

2010-01-01

The CSU, Stanislaus, accounting program is providing a new course that meets the university-wide upper-division writing requirement and offers accounting students additional professional study. While a writing skills course is not unusual in a business program, few offer an alternative centered on the accounting body of knowledge. Undergraduate…

Acquisition of Expository Writing Skills. Technical Report No. 421.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raphael, Taffy E.; And Others

Four studies by the Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing project at the Institute for Research on Teaching, Michigan State University, examined the acquisition of expository writing skills in fifth and sixth grade students. The first study examined the effects of teaching sixth grade students about comparison/contrast text structure. Results…

Execution and pauses in writing narratives: processing time, cognitive effort and typing skill.

PubMed

Alves, Rui Alexandre; Castro, São Luís; Olive, Thierry

2008-12-01

At the behavioural level, the activity of a writer can be described as periods of typing separated by pauses. Although some studies have been concerned with the functions of pauses, few have investigated motor execution periods. Precise estimates of the distribution of writing processes, and their cognitive demands, across periods of typing and pauses are lacking. Furthermore, it is uncertain how typing skill affects these aspects of writing. We addressed these issues, selecting writers of low and high typing skill who performed dictation and composition tasks. The occurrences of writing processes were assessed through directed verbalization, and their cognitive demands were measured through interference in reaction times (IRT). Before writing a narrative, 34 undergraduates learned to categorize examples of introspective thoughts as different types of activities related to writing (planning, translating, or revising). Then, while writing, they responded to random auditory probes, and reported their ongoing activity according to the learned categories. Convergent with previous findings, translating was most often reported, and revising and planning had fewer occurrences. Translating was mostly activated during motor execution, whereas revising and planning were mainly activated during pauses. However, none of the writing processes can be characterized as being typical of pauses, since translating was activated to a similar extent as the other two processes. Regarding cognitive demands, revising is likely to be the most demanding process in narrative writing. Typing skill had an impact on IRTs of motor execution. The demands of execution were greater in the low than in the high typing skill group, but these greater demands did not affect the strategy of writing processes activation. Nevertheless, low typing skill had a detrimental impact on text quality.

Training Advanced Writing Skills: The Case for Deliberate Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kellogg, Ronald T.; Whiteford, Alison P.

2009-01-01

The development of advanced writing skills has been neglected in schools of the United States, with even some college graduates lacking the level of ability required in the workplace (National Commission on Writing, 2003, 2004). The core problem, we argue, is an insufficient degree of appropriate task practice distributed throughout the secondary…

Written Language Bursts Mediate the Relationship between Transcription Skills and Writing Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Limpo, Teresa; Alves, Rui A.

2017-01-01

It is established that transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) constrain children's writing. Yet, little is known about the mechanism underlying this relationship. This study examined the mediating role of bursts and pauses on the link between transcription skills and writing fluency or text quality. For that, 174 second graders did the…

Effects of Web-Based Collaborative Writing on Individual L2 Writing Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bikowski, Dawn; Vithanage, Ramyadarshanie

2016-01-01

This study investigated the effect of repeated in-class web-based collaborative writing tasks on second language writers' (L2) individual writing scores. A pre-test post-test research model was used in addition to participant surveys, class observations, and teacher interviews. Participants included 59 L2 writers in a writing class at a large U.S.…

From First Language Literacy to Second Language Proficiency to Second Language Literacy: The Act of Writing in a Foreign Language Context.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crerand, Mary E. Lavin

A study investigated how a second language (L2) learner's writing skills develop in a second-language context. The three research questions addressed the effect of: (1) first-language (L1) literacy skills, (2) L2 proficiency, and (3) the instructional context on L2 writing. Subjects were 70 university French students. Data were drawn from 300…

Improving Student Writing Skills through the Modeling of the Writing Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kapka, Dawn; Oberman, Dina A.

This study describes a program designed to improve students' writing skills in order to improve academic achievement. The targeted population consists of third and fifth grade elementary students in two separate communities ranging from low to middle class, located in two midwestern suburbs of a large city. Evidence for the existence of the…

Improvement of Writing at Grades 10 and 11: Does Automated Essay Scoring Software Help Students Improve Their Writing Skills?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gollnitz, Deborah-Lee

2010-01-01

Writing skills are considered essential to lifelong success, yet experts cannot agree on one model or set of traits that distinguishes good writing from poor writing. Instructional strategies in developing student writing at the high school level need to include a means by which students receive immediate, specific feedback that acts as a scaffold…

A Review of Teaching Sentence-Level Writing Skills to Students with Writing Difficulties and Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Datchuk, Shawn M.; Kubina, Richard M.

2013-01-01

Students with writing difficulties and learning disabilities struggle with many aspects of the writing process, including use of sentence-level skills. This literature review summarizes results from 19 published articles that used single-case or group-experimental and quasi-experimental designs to investigate effects of intervention on the…

Effect of Direct Grammar Instruction on Student Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Lisa; Feng, Jay

2016-01-01

Grammar Instruction has an important role to play in helping students to speak and write more effectively. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of direct grammar instruction on the quality of student's writing skills. The participants in this study included 18 fifth grade students and two fifth grade teachers. Based on the results…

Improving Language Skills To Incorporate Detail in Student's Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAvinney, Angie

This report describes a program for enriching language use in writing. The targeted population consisted of one classroom of fourth grade students in a public elementary school. This school is in the small rural community near a large city in the Midwest. The problem of lack of language skills in writing was documented with teacher and student…

Understanding Writing Problems in Young Children: Contributions of Cognitive Skills to the Development of Written Expression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Childress, Amy

2011-01-01

While several models of adult writing have been proposed and studied, the development of writing skills in young children has only recently garnered attention. Using measures of fine-motor, language, working memory, and attention/executive functions, the current study explored motor and cognitive skills that may contribute to writing skill in…

Relationship of L1 Skills and L2 Aptitude to L2 Anxiety on the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sparks, Richard L.; Patton, Jon

2013-01-01

The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) has been challenged on the grounds that it may also assess language learning skills. In this study, 128 students who had been administered measures of first language (L1) skills in elementary school were followed from 1st to 10th grade. Fifty-three students had completed second language (L2)…

Helping Preschoolers Prepare for Writing: Developing Fine Motor Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huffman, J. Michelle; Fortenberry, Callie

2011-01-01

Early childhood is the most intensive period for the development of physical skills. Writing progress depends largely on the development of fine motor skills involving small muscle movements of the hand. Young children need to participate in a variety of developmentally appropriate activities intentionally designed to promote fine motor control.…

E-Story and Writing Skill among Second Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abd Rahim, Normaliza; Abdul Halim, Hazlina; Mansor, Nor Shahila

2017-01-01

The study focused on the use of e-story and writing skill among the second language Korean learners. The objectives of the study were to identify and discuss the students' writing in the second language by using e-story. The samples of the study involved all 21 participants from two classes of Malay language at one of the universities in South…

A Collective Effort to Improve Sociology Students' Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burgess-Proctor, Amanda; Cassano, Graham; Condron, Dennis J.; Lyons, Heidi A.; Sanders, George

2014-01-01

Nationwide, academic sociologists at all types of higher education institutions face the challenge of working to improve students' writing skills. In this article, we describe a collective effort by a group of faculty members in one undergraduate sociology program to implement several effective writing-improvement strategies. We advocate…

The Relationship between Quantitative and Qualitative Measures of Writing Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howerton, Mary Lou P.; And Others

The relationships of quantitative measures of writing skills to overall writing quality as measured by the E.T.S. Composition Evaluation Scale (CES) were examined. Quantitative measures included indices of language productivity, vocabulary diversity, spelling, and syntactic maturity. Power of specific indices to account for variation in overall…

Improving Cover-Letter Writing Skills of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pennington, Robert; Delano, Monica; Scott, Renee

2014-01-01

We evaluated a multicomponent intervention for improving the cover-letter writing skills of individuals with intellectual disabilities. An intervention that included modeling, self-monitoring, prompting, and feedback increased correct performance for all participants. In addition, the skill was demonstrated across audiences.

Writing an Independently Composed Sentence by Spanish-Speaking Children with and without Poor Transcription Skills: A Writing-Level Match Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Eduardo; Crespo, Patricia; Bermúdez, Ivana

2017-01-01

The main objective of this research was to analyze the impact of transcription skills of Spanish writers when writing an independently composed sentence within a writing-level design. The free-writing sentence task from the "Early Grade Writing Assessment" (Jiménez, in press) was used to examine the production, accuracy, speed, syntactic…

The Relationship between L2 Students' Writing Experiences and Their Perceived Poetry Writing Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liao, Fang-Yu

2017-01-01

This paper looks at how L2 students' writing experiences relate to the way they think they can write poems and to further investigate if any types of writing experiences contribute to their perceived poetry writing ability. The paper starts by bringing up the value of introducing poetry writing to L2 students. Then, the literature review section…

Development of research paper writing skills of poultry science undergraduate students studying food microbiology.

PubMed

Howard, Z R; Donalson, L M; Kim, W K; Li, X; Zabala Díaz, I; Landers, K L; Maciorowski, K G; Ricke, S C

2006-02-01

Because food and poultry industries are demanding an improvement in written communication skills among graduates, research paper writing should be an integral part of a senior undergraduate class. However, scientific writing assignments are often treated as secondary to developing the technical skills of the students. Scientific research paper writing has been emphasized in an undergraduate course on advanced food microbiology taught in the Poultry Science Department at Texas A& M University (College Station, TX). Students' opinions suggest that research paper writing as part of a senior course in Poultry Science provides students with scientific communication skills and useful training for their career, but more emphasis on reading and understanding scientific literature may be required.

Developing Technical Writing Skills in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory: A Progressive Approach Employing Peer Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gragson, Derek E.; Hagen, John P.

2010-01-01

Writing formal "journal-style" lab reports is often one of the requirements chemistry and biochemistry students encounter in the physical chemistry laboratory. Helping students improve their technical writing skills is the primary reason this type of writing is a requirement in the physical chemistry laboratory. Developing these skills is an…

Collaborative Writing in L2 Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Storch, Neomy

2013-01-01

In this first book-length treatment of collaborative writing in second language (L2) classrooms, Neomy Storch provides a theoretical, pedagogical and empirical rationale for the use of collaborative writing activities in L2 classes, as well as some guidelines about how to best implement such activities in both face-to-face and online mode. The…

Use of Web-Based Student Extension Publications to Improve Undergraduate Student Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Motavalli, P. P.; Patton, M. D.; Miles, R. J.

2007-01-01

Increased opportunities for undergraduate students in agricultural and natural resource disciplines to write for diverse audiences besides their instructor may increase motivation to write and improve student writing skills. The objectives of this teaching research were to determine and compare the initial writing experience of students enrolled…

Doing Peer Review and Receiving Feedback: Impact on Scientific Literacy and Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geithner, Christina A.; Pollastro, Alexandria N.

2016-01-01

Doing peer review has been effectively implemented to help students develop critical reading and writing skills; however, its application in Human Physiology programs is limited. The purpose of the present study was to determine the impact of peer review on Human Physiology majors' perceptions of their scientific literacy and writing skills.…

Cognitive Retroactive Transfer (CRT) of Language Skills among Bilingual Arabic-English Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abu-Rabia, Salim; Shakkour, Wael; Siegel, Linda

2013-01-01

This study examined the effects of an intervention helping struggling readers improve their reading and writing skills in English as a foreign language (L2), and those same skills in Arabic, which was their first language (L1). Transferring linguistic skills from L2 to L1 is termed "cognitive retroactive transfer". Tests were…

Relearning of Writing Skills in Parkinson's Disease After Intensive Amplitude Training.

PubMed

Nackaerts, Evelien; Heremans, Elke; Vervoort, Griet; Smits-Engelsman, Bouwien C M; Swinnen, Stephan P; Vandenberghe, Wim; Bergmans, Bruno; Nieuwboer, Alice

2016-08-01

Micrographia occurs in approximately 60% of people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Although handwriting is an important task in daily life, it is not clear whether relearning and consolidation (ie the solid storage in motor memory) of this skill is possible in PD. The objective was to conduct for the first time a controlled study into the effects of intensive motor learning to improve micrographia in PD. In this placebo-controlled study, 38 right-handed people with PD were randomized into 2 groups, receiving 1 of 2 equally time-intensive training programs (30 min/day, 5 days/week for 6 weeks). The experimental group (n = 18) performed amplitude training focused at improving writing size. The placebo group (n = 20) received stretch and relaxation exercises. Participants' writing skills were assessed using a touch-sensitive writing tablet and a pen-and-paper test, pre- and posttraining, and after a 6-week retention period. The primary outcome was change in amplitude during several tests of consolidation: (1) transfer, using trained and untrained sequences performed with and without target zones; and (2) automatization, using single- and dual-task sequences. The group receiving amplitude training significantly improved in amplitude and variability of amplitude on the transfer and automatization task. Effect sizes varied between 7% and 17%, and these benefits were maintained after the 6-week retention period. Moreover, there was transfer to daily life writing. These results show automatization, transfer, and retention of increased writing size (diminished micrographia) after intensive amplitude training, indicating that consolidation of motor learning is possible in PD. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Comparing Two Methods of Writing Instruction: Effects on Kindergarten Students' Reading Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Cindy D'on; Reutzel, D. Ray; Fargo, Jamison D.

2010-01-01

This experimental study directly compared the effects of two prevalent forms of classroom writing instruction, interactive writing and writing workshop, on kindergarten students' acquisition of early reading skills. Repeated measures data was collected at four points over 16 weeks to monitor growth of 151 kindergarten students in phonological…

Perceptions of L1 Glossed Feedback in Automated Writing Evaluation: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilken, Jayme Lynn

2018-01-01

Learner perceptions toward and utilization of L1 glossed feedback in an automated writing evaluation (AWE) program were investigated in an Intensive English Program (IEP) class. This small case study focused on two Chinese students who responded to weekly surveys, semi-structured interviews, and screen capture videos of their revisions over a…

Effects of Word and Fragment Writing during L2 Vocabulary Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barcroft, Joe

2007-01-01

This study examined how writing (copying) target words and word fragments affects intentional second language (L2) vocabulary learning. English-speaking first-semester learners of Spanish attempted to learn 24 Spanish nouns via word-picture repetition in three conditions: (1) word writing, (2) fragment writing, and (3) no writing. After the…

Story Map: How to Improve Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sidekli, Sabri

2013-01-01

The aim of written expression studies is to have students explain their knowledge, feelings, ideas and imaginations in a correct and effective manner. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of story map on story writing skills of first grade teacher candidates who study at the Department of Elementary Education. The…

The Effect of Digital Storytelling in Improving the Third Graders' Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamac, Ahmet; Ulusoy, Mustafa

2016-01-01

The aim of this action research was to investigate the effects of digital storytelling in improving the writing skills of third grade students enrolled in rural primary schools. The writing performances of the students were measured before and after the teaching procedures of digital storytelling. Then, the process of narrative writing with…

Name-Writing Proficiency, Not Length of Name, Is Associated with Preschool Children's Emergent Literacy Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2012-01-01

The goals of this study were twofold: first, to examine whether preschool children's name-writing proficiency differentiated them on other emergent reading and writing tasks, and second, to examine the effect of name length on preschool children's emergent literacy skills including alphabet knowledge and spelling. In Study 1, a range of emergent…

Improving Writing Skills in the Elementary Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Debra; Mallo, Alison; Nee, Kari; Wear, Margaret

The proposed study was designed to improve the writing skills of students in the targeted first and fifth grade classrooms in one elementary school located in a Midwestern suburb. The study was designed as an action research project and was conducted by four researchers during the months of September through December 2002 with 118 participants (40…

The Effect of Creative Drama Method on Pre-Service Classroom Teachers' Writing Skills and Attitudes towards Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erdogan, Tolga

2013-01-01

The aim of the study is to explore the effect of the creative drama method on pre-service classroom teachers' writing skills and attitudes towards writing. Additionally, the views of the pre-service teachers concerning the creative drama method were also investigated in the study. The participants of the study were 24 pre-service teachers studying…

The Effects of Reading Short Stories in Improving Foreign Language Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bartan, Özgür Sen

2017-01-01

This study is an inquiry into the effects of reading short stories in improving foreign language writing skills through Read for Writing model, which is the adaptation of the approach called Talk for Writing (Corbett, 2013). It is a quasi-experimental 13-week field study which was implemented in a primary school. The purpose of this study is to…

[Low level auditory skills compared to writing skills in school children attending third and fourth grade: evidence for the rapid auditory processing deficit theory?].

PubMed

Ptok, M; Meisen, R

2008-01-01

The rapid auditory processing defi-cit theory holds that impaired reading/writing skills are not caused exclusively by a cognitive deficit specific to representation and processing of speech sounds but arise due to sensory, mainly auditory, deficits. To further explore this theory we compared different measures of auditory low level skills to writing skills in school children. prospective study. School children attending third and fourth grade. just noticeable differences for intensity and frequency (JNDI, JNDF), gap detection (GD) monaural and binaural temporal order judgement (TOJb and TOJm); grade in writing, language and mathematics. correlation analysis. No relevant correlation was found between any auditory low level processing variable and writing skills. These data do not support the rapid auditory processing deficit theory.

Integrating Reading, Writing, and Thinking Skills into the Music Class.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duke, Charles R.

Music education is uniquely suited to reinforce several basic skills that are part of the overall reading and writing processes of students. These skills include freedom of expression and the fluency of ideas, identifying a composer's purpose and message, and reasoning and comprehension. Musicians should develop the habit of using journals for…

Helping Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Express Their Thoughts and Knowledge in Writing: Tips and Exercises for Developing Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geither, Elise; Meeks, Lisa

2014-01-01

When it comes to academic work, students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have the required knowledge but struggle to get their thoughts down in writing. This is a practical guide to teaching and improving writing skills in students with ASD to meet academic writing standards and prepare for the increased expectations of higher education.…

Using Folklore Research to Improve Undergraduate Writing Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClenon, James M.

1991-01-01

As a means of improving their writing skills, mostly African-American students from Elizabeth City State University gathered reports from African Americans in 16 northeastern North Carolina counties about extrasensory perception, contact with the dead, and other anomalous experiences and compared them to reports from Chinese students and students…

Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers' Early Literacy, Language, and Fine Motor Skills

PubMed Central

Bindman, Samantha W.; Skibbe, Lori E.; Hindman, Annemarie H.; Aram, Dorit; Morrison, Frederick J.

2014-01-01

The current study examines the nature and variability of parents' aid to preschoolers in the context of a shared writing task, as well as the relations between this support and children's literacy, vocabulary, and fine motor skills. In total, 135 preschool children (72 girls) and their parents (primarily mothers) in an ethnically diverse, middle-income community were observed while writing a semi-structured invitation for a pretend birthday party together. Children's phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, word decoding, vocabulary, and fine motor skills were also assessed. Results revealed that parents provided variable, but generally low–level, support for children's approximation of sound-symbol correspondence in their writing (i.e., graphophonemic support), as well as for their production of letter forms (i.e., print support). Parents frequently accepted errors rather than asking for corrections (i.e., demand for precision). Further analysis of the parent-child dyads (n = 103) who wrote the child's name on the invitation showed that parents provided higher graphophonemic, but not print, support when writing the child's name than other words. Overall parental graphophonemic support was positively linked to children's decoding and fine motor skills, whereas print support and demand for precision were not related to any of the child outcomes. In sum, this study indicates that while parental support for preschoolers' writing may be minimal, it is uniquely linked to key literacy-related outcomes in preschool. PMID:25284957

Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers' Early Literacy, Language, and Fine Motor Skills.

PubMed

Bindman, Samantha W; Skibbe, Lori E; Hindman, Annemarie H; Aram, Dorit; Morrison, Frederick J

2014-01-01

The current study examines the nature and variability of parents' aid to preschoolers in the context of a shared writing task, as well as the relations between this support and children's literacy, vocabulary, and fine motor skills. In total, 135 preschool children (72 girls) and their parents (primarily mothers) in an ethnically diverse, middle-income community were observed while writing a semi-structured invitation for a pretend birthday party together. Children's phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, word decoding, vocabulary, and fine motor skills were also assessed. Results revealed that parents provided variable, but generally low-level, support for children's approximation of sound-symbol correspondence in their writing (i.e., graphophonemic support), as well as for their production of letter forms (i.e., print support). Parents frequently accepted errors rather than asking for corrections (i.e., demand for precision). Further analysis of the parent-child dyads ( n = 103) who wrote the child's name on the invitation showed that parents provided higher graphophonemic, but not print, support when writing the child's name than other words. Overall parental graphophonemic support was positively linked to children's decoding and fine motor skills, whereas print support and demand for precision were not related to any of the child outcomes. In sum, this study indicates that while parental support for preschoolers' writing may be minimal, it is uniquely linked to key literacy-related outcomes in preschool.

Effective Strategies for Improving Writing Skills of Elementary English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Jenny; Feng, Jay

2015-01-01

Reaching proficient levels of literacy is a universal goal for all children in the elementary classroom. This objective is especially challenging for English language learners particularly in the domain of writing. Writing has been identified as one of the most essential skills because the world has become so text-oriented. Due to this change,…

Internal Structure and Development of Keyboard Skills in Spanish-Speaking Primary-School Children With and Without LD in Writing.

PubMed

Jiménez, Juan E; Marco, Isaac; Suárez, Natalia; González, Desirée

This study had two purposes: examining the internal structure of the Test Estandarizado para la Evaluación Inicial de la Escritura con Teclado (TEVET; Spanish Keyboarding Writing Test), and analyzing the development of keyboarding skills in Spanish elementary school children with and without learning disabilities (LD) in writing. A group of 1,168 elementary school children carried out the following writing tasks: writing the alphabet in order from memory, allograph selection, word copying, writing dictated words with inconsistent spelling, writing pseudowords from dictation, and independent composition of sentence. For this purpose, exploratory factor analysis for the TEVET was conducted. Principal component analysis with a varimax rotation identified three factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0. Based on factorial analysis, we analyzed the keyboarding skills across grades in Spanish elementary school children with and without LD (i.e., poor handwriters compared with poor spellers, who in turn were compared with mixed compared with typically achieving writers). The results indicated that poor handwriters did not differ from typically achieving writers in phonological processing, visual-orthographic processing, and sentence production components by keyboarding. The educational implications of the findings are analyzed with regard to acquisition of keyboarding skills in children with and without LD in transcription.

Using Self-Regulated Strategy Development for Persuasive Writing to Increase the Writing and Self-Efficacy Skills of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in Health Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ennis, Robin Parks; Jolivette, Kristine

2014-01-01

The Common Core State Standards Initiative includes an emphasis on teaching writing and related skills in all subject areas. This study sought to improve the persuasive writing skills and self-efficacy skills of students with emotional and behavioral disorders by implementing self-regulated strategy development with pairs of students in a high…

Medical Writing Competency Model - Section 1: Functions, Tasks, and Activities.

PubMed

Clemow, David B; Wagner, Bertil; Marshallsay, Christopher; Benau, Dan; L'Heureux, Darryl; Brown, David H; Dasgupta, Devjani Ghosh; Girten, Eileen; Hubbard, Frank; Gawrylewski, Helle-Mai; Ebina, Hiroko; Stoltenborg, Janet; York, J P; Green, Kim; Wood, Linda Fossati; Toth, Lisa; Mihm, Michael; Katz, Nancy R; Vasconcelos, Nina-Maria; Sakiyama, Norihisa; Whitsell, Robin; Gopalakrishnan, Shobha; Bairnsfather, Susan; Wanderer, Tatyana; Schindler, Thomas M; Mikyas, Yeshi; Aoyama, Yumiko

2018-01-01

This article provides Section 1 of the 2017 Edition 2 Medical Writing Competency Model that describes the core work functions and associated tasks and activities related to professional medical writing within the life sciences industry. The functions in the Model are scientific communication strategy; document preparation, development, and finalization; document project management; document template, standard, format, and style development and maintenance; outsourcing, alliance partner, and client management; knowledge, skill, ability, and behavior development and sharing; and process improvement. The full Model also includes Section 2, which covers the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors needed for medical writers to be effective in their roles; Section 2 is presented in a companion article. Regulatory, publication, and other scientific writing as well as management of writing activities are covered. The Model was developed to aid medical writers and managers within the life sciences industry regarding medical writing hiring, training, expectation and goal setting, performance evaluation, career development, retention, and role value sharing to cross-functional partners.

Developmental Trajectories of Writing Skills in First Grade

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Young-Suk; Puranik, Cynthia; Al Otaiba, Stephanie

2015-01-01

We examined growth trajectories of writing and the relation of children's socioeconomic status and language and/or speech impairment to the growth trajectories. First-grade children (N = 304) were assessed on their written composition in the fall, winter, and spring, and their vocabulary and literacy skills in the fall. Children's SES had a…

Student Perception of Academic Writing Skills Activities in a Traditional Programming Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cilliers, Charmain B.

2012-01-01

Employers of computing graduates have high expectations of graduates in terms of soft skills, the most desirable of these being communication skills. Not only must the graduates exhibit writing skills, but they are expected to be highly proficient therein. The consequence of this expectation is not only performance pressure exerted on the…

Automated Measurement of Syntactic Complexity in Corpus-Based L2 Writing Research and Implications for Writing Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Xiaofei

2017-01-01

Research investigating corpora of English learners' language raises new questions about how syntactic complexity is defined theoretically and operationally for second language (L2) writing assessment. I show that syntactic complexity is important in construct definitions and L2 writing rating scales as well as in L2 writing research. I describe…

Reverse Transfer: Exploring the Effects of Foreign Language Rhetorical Patterns on L1 Writing Performance of Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babaii, Esmat; Ramazani, Kambiz

2017-01-01

The relationship between language learners' L1 and L2 writing productions has attracted the attention of researchers since Kaplan (1966). Along this research line, the present study aimed to explore the reverse transfer of rhetorical patterns from English (L2) to Persian (L1) in the argumentative essays of EFL students in Iran. Sixty MA university…

The Effect of Blogging and Electronic Journaling on Writing Skills Development in High School Freshmen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Dianne Bruce

2010-01-01

Blogging and computerized journaling are effective tools for writing skill development; however, research has not revealed which specific populations of students are aided by blogging or journaling, nor has research revealed the specific writing skills that are most likely to be improved by these practices. The purpose of the study was to discover…

Improving Narrative Writing Skills of Secondary Students with Disabilities Using Strategy Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foxworth, Lauren L.; Mason, Linda H.; Hughes, Charles A.

2017-01-01

Writing standards and objectives outline complex skills for narrative essay writing at the secondary level. Students with disabilities often produce disorganized narratives with fewer narrative elements than their peers without disabilities. A multiple-probe design was used to examine effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development for the Pick my…

The Effect of Using Writer's Workshop Approach on Developing Basic Writing Skills (Mechanics of Writing) of Prospective Teachers of English in Egypt

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salem, Ashraf Atta M. S.

2013-01-01

The present study aimed at investigating the effects of using a program based on the writing workshop approach on developing basic writing skills of prospective teachers of English in Hurgada faculty of Education. For that purpose, the researcher constructed and validated a teaching program based on the writing workshop approach, checklist of the…

The Use of Journals To Improve Writing Skills in Commercial Spanish: State of a Research Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alvarez-Ruf, Hersilia

Recent writing theory, research, and pedagogy have aided in the development of several models for improving second language writing skills. Attention is focused more on writing as a process, the importance of practice in writing improvement, and the need to learn cognitive structures contributing to writing. Daily journal writing is one method of…

Enhancing Critical Reflection and Writing Skills in the HBSE Classroom and beyond

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiener, Diane R.

2012-01-01

Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) is an ideal location in which graduate social work students can enhance their critical reflection and writing skills while integrating social work theories with practice, research, and policy. A writing-intensive, learner-centered model using specific strategies is described via a framework of…

Improving Tenth-Grade Students' Five-Paragraph Essay Writing Skills Using Various Writing Strategies, Guided Assignments, and Portfolios for Growth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hopkins, Carolyn

This project was implemented and developed to assist low-achieving tenth grade students' essay writing skills. According to examinations administered during the first part of the 2002 school term, many tenth-grade students were not performing on their grade level in regards to the writing process. The overall goal was to have students be able to…

Effects of listening ability on speaking, writing and reading skills of children who were suspected of auditory processing difficulty.

PubMed

Yalçinkaya, Fulya; Muluk, Nuray Bayar; Sahin, Semra

2009-08-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of listening ability on speaking, writing and reading skills of children who was suspected of auditory processing difficulty (APD). This research was conducted with 67 children in 1st or 2nd grade of primary school. The first group (Group I-control) was comprised of 41 children without APD. The second group (Group II-study group) was comprised of 26 children with APD. Listening, speaking, reading and writing skills were evaluated by Observational Rating Scale (ORS) and analyzed in both groups. Listening value of ORS in APD group was significantly lower; and, speaking, reading and writing values of ORS in APD group were significantly higher than control group (p=0.000). It was also found that, the main effect of listening skills was on speaking in normal childs, and on writing ability in children with APD. It was concluded that, for school-aged children, APD can lead to or is associated with difficulties in written language.

Student Progress in a Social Work Writing Course: Self-Efficacy, Course Objectives, and Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woody, Jane D.; Zeleny, Mary G.; D'Souza, Henry J.; Harder, Jeanette; Reiser, Jacqueline; Szto, Peter

2014-01-01

Although instructors express concerns about social work students' writing skills, little research has been conducted. One remedy is a social work-focused writing course. This study assessed a required writing course with a sample of 49 baccalaureate students. From online pre- and posttest surveys, 2 student outcomes improved significantly:…

A Brief Overview of Key Issues in Second Language Writing Teaching and Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Javadi-Safa, Azim

2018-01-01

This paper briefly reviews the literature on writing skill in second language. It commences with a discussion on the importance of writing and its special characteristics. Then, it gives a brief account of the reasons for the weakness of students' writing skill as well as addressing some of the most important topics in L2 writing studies ranging…

Using ICT to Foster (Pre) Reading and Writing Skills in Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voogt, Joke; McKenney, Susan

2008-01-01

This study examines how technology can support the development of emergent reading and writing skills in four- to five-year-old children. The research was conducted with PictoPal, an intervention which features a software package that uses images and text in three main activity areas: reading, writing, and authentic applications. This article…

The Effectiveness of Scaffolding Design in Training Writing Skills Physics Teaching Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinaga, Parlindungan; Suhandi, Andi; Liliasari

2015-01-01

Result of field studies showed low writing skill of teachers in teaching material. The root of the problem lies in their inability on translating description of teaching material into writing. This research focused on the effectiveness of scaffolding design. The scaffolding design was tested in the selected topics of physics courses for…

Writing Skills of Hearing-Impaired Students Who Benefit from Support Services at Public Schools in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karasu, H. Pelin

2017-01-01

Support services provide an essential role for hearing-impaired students attending public schools, in terms of improving their language and academic skills. In this study, the writing skills of hearing-impaired students enrolled in public schools were evaluated, and the relationship between the writing scores, audiological variables and…

Impact of Web Based Learning on EFL: Using On-Line Discussion Forum (ODF) to Enhance Students' Writing Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akmal

2017-01-01

Web based learning is considered as a breakthrough in the teaching of writing skill to the pre-service teachers at University of PGRI Semarang, Indonesia. The students should write argumentative, persuasive, and descriptive essays. This research offers significant contribution in term of the impact of web based learning on writing skill of English…

Do writing and storytelling skill influence assessment of reflective ability in medical students' written reflections?

PubMed

Aronson, Louise; Niehaus, Brian; DeVries, Charlie D; Siegel, Jennifer R; O'Sullivan, Patricia S

2010-10-01

Increasingly, students are asked to write reflections as part of their medical education, but some question the influence of other factors on the evaluation of these reflections. In this pilot study, the investigators determined whether scores from a validated rubric to measure reflective ability were affected by irrelevant variance resulting from writing or storytelling ability. Students in clerkships wrote reflections on professionalism. All were given identical prompts, with half receiving additional structured guidelines on reflection. Sixty reflections, 30 from each group, were randomly chosen and scored for reflection, writing, and storytelling by trained raters using validated rubrics. There was no correlation between reflection and either writing (r = 0.049, P = .35) or storytelling (r = 0.14, P = .13). The guidelines increased reflection, but not writing or storytelling scores. Reflection is a distinct construct unaffected by learners' writing or storytelling skills. These findings support reflective ability as a distinct skill.

Relations between Early Reading and Writing Skills among Spanish-Speaking Language Minority Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodrich, J. Marc; Farrington, Amber L.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2016-01-01

Although there is a growing body of literature on the development of reading skills of Spanish-speaking language minority children, little research has focused on the development of writing skills in this population. This study evaluated whether children's Spanish early reading skills (i.e., print knowledge, phonological awareness, oral language)…

Assessing and Improving L2 Graduate Students' Popular Science and Academic Writing in an Academic Writing Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rakedzon, Tzipora; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

2017-01-01

This paper reports a study using a quasi-experimental design to examine whether an academic writing course in English can improve graduate students' academic and popular science writing skills. To address this issue, we designed pre- and post-assessment tasks, an intervention assessment task and a scoring rubric. The pre- and post-assessment tasks…

That, That, but Not That... Using a Cafeteria Plan to Enhance Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fields, Tina T.; Hatala, Jeffrey J.

2014-01-01

College students have difficulty in written communication, despite attempts by universities to place English courses in the "core curriculum." Although many companies indicate that writing is an expected competency, and many companies consider writing when they promote, students still enter the workforce with poor grammar skills. Clear…

Technical writing versus technical writing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dillingham, J. W.

1981-01-01

Two terms, two job categories, 'technical writer' and 'technical author' are discussed in terms of industrial and business requirements and standards. A distinction between 'technical writing' and technical 'writing' is made. The term 'technical editor' is also considered. Problems inherent in the design of programs to prepare and train students for these jobs are discussed. A closer alliance between industry and academia is suggested as a means of preparing students with competent technical communication skills (especially writing and editing skills) and good technical skills.

Enhancing Argumentative Writing Skill through Contextual Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasani, Aceng

2016-01-01

This study aims to describe the influence of contextual learning model and critical thinking ability toward argumentative writing skill on university students. The population of the research was 147 university students, and 52 university students were used as sample with multi stage sampling. The results of the research indicate that; group of…

Writing to Learn by Learning to Write during the School Science Laboratory: Helping Middle and High School Students Develop Argumentative Writing Skills as They Learn Core Ideas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sampson, Victor; Enderle, Patrick; Grooms, Jonathon; Witte, Shelbie

2013-01-01

This study examined how students' science-specific argumentative writing skills and understanding of core ideas changed over the course of a school year as they participated in a series of science laboratories designed using the Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) instructional model. The ADI model is a student-centered and writing-intensive approach to…

Underlying mechanisms of writing difficulties among children with neurofibromatosis type 1.

PubMed

Gilboa, Yafit; Josman, Naomi; Fattal-Valevski, Aviva; Toledano-Alhadef, Hagit; Rosenblum, Sara

2014-06-01

Writing is a complex activity in which lower-level perceptual-motor processes and higher-level cognitive processes continuously interact. Preliminary evidence suggests that writing difficulties are common to children with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). The aim of this study was to compare the performance of children with and without NF1 in lower (visual perception, motor coordination and visual-motor integration) and higher processes (verbal and performance intelligence, visual spatial organization and visual memory) required for intact writing; and to identify the components that predict the written product's spatial arrangement and content among children with NF1. Thirty children with NF1 (ages 8-16) and 30 typically developing children matched by gender and age were tested, using standardized assessments. Children with NF1 had a significantly inferior performance in comparison to control children, on all tests that measured lower and higher level processes. The cognitive planning skill was found as a predictor of the written product's spatial arrangement. The verbal intelligence predicted the written content level. Results suggest that high level processes underlie the poor quality of writing product in children with NF1. Treatment approaches for children with NF1 must include detailed assessments of cognitive planning and language skills. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cooperative Writing Response Groups: Revising Global Aspects of Second-Language Writing in a Constrained Educational Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porto, Melina

2016-01-01

This article describes a cooperative writing response initiative designed to develop writing skills in foreign/second-language contexts (hereafter L2). The strategy originated from my desire to cater for my learners' need to become better writers in English within a constrained educational environment in Argentina. In this article I describe this…

Relationship between writing skills and visual-motor control in low-vision students.

PubMed

Atasavun Uysal, Songül; Aki, Esra

2012-08-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between handwriting skills and visual motor control among students with low vision and to compare this with the performance of their normal sighted peers. 42 students with low vision and 26 normal sighted peers participated. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Proficiency Test-Short Form (BOTMP-SF), Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test's writing subtest, and a legibility assessment were administered. Significant differences were found between groups for students' writing speed, legibility, and visual motor control. Visual motor control was correlated both writing speed and legibility. Students with low vision had poorer handwriting performance, with lower legibility and slower writing speed. Writing performance time was related to visual motor control in students with low vision.

Analyzing Pauses in Computer-Assisted EFL Writing--A Computer-Keystroke-Log Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Cuiqin; Qi, Yan

2017-01-01

Using computer keystroke logs, this study investigated how writing skill affected L2 writers' pausing patterns to gain insights into their management of the cognitive writing processes. The 59 participants, 29 in the more-skilled group and 30 in the less-skilled group, were recruited from a college English course at a key Chinese university. The…

The Relations among L1 (Spanish) Literacy Skills, L2 (English) Language, L2 Text Reading Fluency, and L2 Reading Comprehension for Spanish-Speaking ELL First Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Young-Suk

2012-01-01

We investigated the relations of L2 (i.e., English) oral reading fluency, silent reading fluency, word reading automaticity, oral language skills, and L1 literacy skills (i.e., Spanish) to L2 reading comprehension for Spanish-speaking English language learners in the first grade (N = 150). An analysis was conducted for the entire sample as well as…

To Tell a Story, to Write It: Developmental Patterns of Narrative Skills from Preschool to First Grade

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bigozzi, Lucia; Vettori, Giulia

2016-01-01

In this 1-year longitudinal study, the authors explored the development of narrative skills between the oral and written form. The authors aimed to assess the predictive power of textual narrative competence on early narrative text-writing skills taking into account the impact of spelling ability. Eighty children ("M" age = 5.3 years,…

Mentored residential writing retreats: a leadership strategy to develop skills and generate outcomes in writing for publication.

PubMed

Jackson, Debra

2009-01-01

There is an increasing expectation that academic and clinical nurses will contribute to disciplinary and professional discourses through scholarly writing. However, the difficulties and challenges associated with writing for publication mean that many papers will never be written. This current paper describes an innovative approach developed to support skill development and outcomes in writing for publication. Intensive residential writing retreats informed by the principles of servant leadership and incorporating strategies such as mentoring and peer learning were conducted in 2005 and 2007. Positive outcomes and benefits included publications submitted to peer-reviewed journals, as well as positive effects on collegial relationships, and team building. Novice writers benefited from intensive and sustained support and coaching by experienced writers. Organisational benefits included increased participation by staff and research higher degree students in publication activities, enhanced collegial relationships and opportunities for senior established writers to work with inexperienced writers.

The Development of L2 Oral Language Skills in Two L1 Groups: A 7-Year Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Derwing, Tracey M.; Munro, Murray J.

2013-01-01

Researching the longitudinal development of second language (L2) learners is essential to understanding influences on their success. This 7-year study of oral skills in adult immigrant learners of English as a second language evaluated comprehensibility, fluency, and accentedness in first-language (L1) Mandarin and Slavic language speakers. The…

Enhancing Students' Creative Writing Skills: An Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasir, Laraib; Naqvi, Syeda Meenoo; Bhamani, Shelina

2013-01-01

This research aimed to improve written expression (composition) skills of 5th grade students of an elite private school. The research was designed under the paradigm of action research. A total sample of 39 students' from the same grade was chosen for the study. The baseline assessment was carried out to explore the pre-intervention writing skill…

Writing Laboratory Exercises To Be Used with a Writing and Research Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alicna, Elaine; And Others

Intended to facilitate a broader emphasis on creative writing in American high school English classes, this manual offers a number of writing laboratory exercises. The exercises are divided into five categories: (1) library skills, including reference book know how, and using the parts of books; (2) critical reading skills, including…

What and When Second-Language Learners Revise When Responding to Timed Writing Tasks on the Computer: The Roles of Task Type, Second Language Proficiency, and Keyboarding Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barkaoui, Khaled

2016-01-01

This study contributes to the literature on second language (L2) learners' revision behavior by describing what, when, and how often L2 learners revise their texts when responding to timed writing tasks on the computer and by examining the effects of task type, L2 proficiency, and keyboarding skills on what and when L2 learners revise. Each of 54…

Name-writing proficiency, not length of name, is associated with preschool children’s emergent literacy skills

PubMed Central

Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2011-01-01

The goals of this study were twofold: first, to examine whether preschool children’s name-writing proficiency differentiated them on other emergent reading and writing tasks, and second, to examine the effect of name length on preschool children’s emergent literacy skills including alphabet knowledge and spelling. In study 1, a range of emergent literacy tasks was administered to 296 preschool children aged 4–5 years. The more advanced name writers outperformed the less advanced name writers on all emergent literacy measures. Furthermore, children with longer names did not show superior performance compared to children with shorter names. In study 2, four measures of alphabet knowledge and spelling were administered to 104 preschool children. Once again, the more advanced name writers outperformed the less advanced name writers on the alphabet knowledge and spelling measures. Results indicated that having longer names did not translate into an advantage on the alphabet knowledge and spelling tasks. Name writing proficiency, not length of name appears to be associated with preschool children’s developing emergent literacy skills. Name writing reflects knowledge of some letters rather than a broader knowledge of letters that may be needed to support early spelling. PMID:22523450

Investigating the Practices of Assessment Methods in Amharic Language Writing Skill Context: The Case of Selected Higher Education in Ethiopia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tesfay, Hailay

2017-01-01

This study aims to investigate Ethiopian higher education Amharic language writing skills instructors' practices of Assessment Methods in writing skill context. It was also intended to look for their viewpoints about the practicality of implementing Assessment Methods in Amharic writing courses. In order to achieve the goals of this study,…

Parental Involvement and the Developmental Stages of Writing: Knowledge and Skills to Assist Children and Parent Perceptions on Their Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernandez-Kaltenbach, Elena

2009-01-01

A kindergarten parent workshop series on the developmental stages of writing was created and assessed. The intended outcome was to empower parents with writing knowledge and writing skills so that they could apply this knowledge and skills at home with their child. The researcher developed the workshops from parent involvement research,…

Students' satisfaction and perceived impact on knowledge, attitudes and skills after a 2-day course in scientific writing: a prospective longitudinal study in Spain.

PubMed

Fernández, Esteve; García, Ana M; Serés, Elisabet; Bosch, Fèlix

2018-01-27

This study aimed to determine students' satisfaction with a 2-day course on scientific writing in health sciences and to assess their perceptions of the long-term impact on their knowledge, attitudes and skills. 27 iterations of a 2-day course on writing and publishing scientific articles in health sciences. 741 students attending the 27 courses. Prospective longitudinal study. Immediately after each course, students completed a first questionnaire, rating their satisfaction with different aspects of the classroom sessions on a Likert scale (0-5). Approximately 2 years after the course, students completed a follow-up questionnaire, using a Likert scale (0-4) to rate their knowledge, skills and attitudes in relation to scientific writing before and after attending the course. 741 students (70% women) participated in the 27 iterations of the course; 568 (76.8%) completed the first questionnaire and 182 (24.6%) completed the follow-up questionnaire. The first questionnaire reflected high overall satisfaction (mean score, 4.6). In the second questionnaire, students reported that the course had improved their knowledge (mean improvement: 1.6; 95% CI 1.6 to 1.7), attitudes (mean improvement: 1.3; 95% CI 1.2 to 1.4) and skills (mean improvement: 1.4; 95% CI 1.3 to 1.4) related to writing and publishing scientific papers. Most respondents (n=145, 79.7%) had participated in drafting a scientific paper after the course; in this subgroup, all the specific writing skills assessed in the second questionnaire significantly improved. Students were satisfied with the format and the contents of the course, and those who responded to the follow-up survey considered that the course had improved their knowledge, attitudes and skills in relation to scientific writing and publishing. Courses are particularly important in countries without strong traditions in scientific publication. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article

Trait Based Assessment on Teaching Writing Skill for EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asrobi, Maman; Prasetyaningrum, Ari

2017-01-01

This study was conducted in order to investigate the effectiveness of trait based assessment on teaching writing skill for EFL learners. Designed as pre-experimental study with one group pretest and posttest design, it examined 20 students of the second semester of English Department of "Hamzanwadi University" in the academic year…

Refining scientific writing skills with feedback that works for students and instructors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiani, Leily S.; Menke, Carrie

2015-10-01

Evaluation of student learning through assessment of communication skills is a generally important component of undergraduate education and particularly so for promotion of interdisciplinary research conducted by future scientists. To better build these skills we aim to quantify the effectiveness of feedback on student writing of technical reports in an upper-division physics lab course. In one implementation, feedback utilization - in the form of observing commented technical reports, attending office hours or emailing rough drafts of their reports was monitored then correlated with improvement in student writing. The improvement in student writing is quantified as the single-student normalized gain. A slight positive relationship was found between the number of times a student utilized feedback and the improvement in student writing. A subsequent study involved correlation of two complimentary assessments of student work. In the first assessment students received consistent feedback throughout the semester on all sections of a technical report in the form of highlighted bullet points in a detailed rubric. In the second assessment method students received varying amounts of feedback for each section of the technical paper throughout the semester with a focus on one section each week and follow-up feedback on previously covered sections. This approach provides focused feedback that can be scalable to larger classes. The number of highlighted bullet points in the rubric clearly decreases as a function of the focused feedback implementation. From this we conclude that student writing improves with the focused feedback method.

Text-Based Writing of Low-Skilled Postsecondary Students: Relation to Comprehension, Self-Efficacy and Teacher Judgments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perin, Dolores; Lauterbach, Mark; Raufman, Julia; Kalamkarian, Hoori Santikian

2017-01-01

Summarization and persuasive writing are important in postsecondary education and often require the use of source text. However, students entering college with low literacy skills often find this type of writing difficult. The present study compared predictors of performance on text-based summarization and persuasive writing in a sample of…

Measuring Student Self-Perceptions of Writing Skills in Programs of Journalism and Mass Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lingwall, Andrew; Kuehn, Scott

2013-01-01

This study explored student self-perceptions of writing skills in journalism and mass communication programs at thirteen public state universities in the mid-Atlantic region. Factor analysis revealed seven sets of perceptions among 860 students. A Media Writing Self-Perception Scale was constructed and found to be reliable. The authors propose…

The Computer-Based Writing Program: A Clinical Teaching Experience for Education Interns to Develop Professional Knowledge and Skills in Effective Instructional Writing Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Painter, Diane D.

2016-01-01

The four-week university-sponsored summer Computer-based Writing (CBW) Program directed by the head of a special education initial teacher licensure program gave teaching interns opportunities to work with young struggling writers in a supervised clinical setting to address keyboarding skills, writing conventions and knowledge and application of…

Expanding the Developmental Models of Writing: A Direct and Indirect Effects Model of Developmental Writing (DIEW)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Young-Suk Grace; Schatschneider, Christopher

2017-01-01

We investigated direct and indirect effects of component skills on writing (DIEW) using data from 193 children in Grade 1. In this model, working memory was hypothesized to be a foundational cognitive ability for language and cognitive skills as well as transcription skills, which, in turn, contribute to writing. Foundational oral language skills…

Reading and Writing Skills of Deaf Pupils with Cochlear Implants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayer, Connie; Watson, Linda; Archbold, Sue; Ng, Zheng Yen; Mulla, Imran

2016-01-01

Thirty-three young people with cochlear implants, aged between 9 and 16 years, were assessed for use of their implant system, cognitive abilities, vocabulary, reading, and writing skills. The group came from throughout England and included 26 born deaf, six deafened by meningitis, one with auditory neuropathy, and five with additional needs.…

Writing Marathons Help Build Middle School Students' College Aspirations and Strengthen Their Literacy Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radcliffe, Rich A.; Stephens, Liz C.

2010-01-01

Young adolescents' low scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) force the question of whether these students will be ready for college in four years. Our efforts to build a college-going culture emphasize strengthening students' writing skills by using preservice teachers to lead writing marathons for at-risk middle school…

Using Online Resources to Improve Writing Skills and Attitudes about Writing and Plagiarism of Criminal Justice Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grohe, B.; Schroeder, J.; Davis, S. R. B.

2013-01-01

Cheating and plagiarism are significant problems in higher education because they occur often and interfere with learning. Plagiarism creates shortcuts that bypass the time and effort required to develop the writing and analytical skills necessary to produce evidence of progress in mastering course content. The purpose of a two-semester writing…

Reviewing to Learn: Graduate Student Participation in the Professional Peer-Review Process to Improve Academic Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chittum, Jessica R.; Bryant, Lauren H.

2014-01-01

Although expectations for graduate students' writing abilities are high, their actual writing skills are often subpar (Cuthbert & Spark, 2008; Singleton-Jackson, Lumsden, & Newson, 2009), even though academic writing is considered integral to graduate education and necessary for career preparedness (e.g., Mullen, 2006; Stevens, 2005).…

The Writing Journey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallagher, Kelly

2017-01-01

Kelly Gallagher writes that "wide swaths of students are not developing their writing skills--skills we know to be foundational to their literate lives." In this article, he explains how school districts can go about developing students' writing skills in all content-area classrooms. He highlights five reasons why students should write…

On the Contribution of Kindergarten Writing to Grade 1 Literacy: A Longitudinal Study in Hebrew.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shatil, Evelyn; Share, David L.; Levin, Iris

2000-01-01

This longitudinal study examined the relationship between kindergarten word writing and Grade 1 literacy in a large sample of Israeli children. Kindergarten writing significantly predicted variance in all three measures of Grade 1 literacy, even after controlling for intelligence. Also examined the role of alphabetic skills and socioliteracy…

An Introduction to the Process-Conference Approach to the Teaching of Writing Skills in ABE Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rutledge, George E.

Writing is an important tool in teaching skills to adult basic education (ABE) students. To be a successful teacher of writing, teachers must be successful writers. They must be aware of the writing process and willing to use it daily in their own lives in order to convey its importance and its usefulness to their students. One method of teaching…

The Development of an Instructional Design Model on Facebook Based Collaborative Learning to Enhance EFL Students' Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linh, Nguyen Duy; Suppasetseree, Suksan

2016-01-01

Writing is one of the essential skills that EFL students, specifically in Thailand, need to achieve while their learning English during tertiary education. However, Thai EFL students have few chances to practice writing skills while learning. This study was conducted to develop an instructional design model for assisting students in learning…

An Investigation of L2 Learners' Writing Self-Efficacy, Writing Anxiety and Its Causes at Higher Education in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirmizi, Özkan; Kirmizi, Gülin Dagdeviren

2015-01-01

The present study aimed at investigating higher education L2 learners in a Turkish context in terms of writing self-efficacy, writing anxiety, and the causes of writing anxiety. The data have been collected through the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI), developed by Cheng, (2004), and Causes of Writing Anxiety Inventory (CWAI), and…

Peer Feedback Practice in EFL Tertiary Writing Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nguyen, Ha Thi

2016-01-01

Peer feedback plays a pivotal role in stimulating students' participation in L2 writing, which has the potential to develop students' writing skills. The concept of metacognition has also been examined to facilitate learner writers in their learning process. As such, this study drawing upon the concept of metacognition explores the implementation…

Expanding the developmental models of writing: A direct and indirect effects model of developmental writing (DIEW)

PubMed Central

Kim, Young-Suk Grace; Schatschneider, Christopher

2016-01-01

We investigated direct and indirect effects of component skills on writing (DIEW) using data from 193 children in Grade 1. In this model, working memory was hypothesized to be a foundational cognitive ability for language and cognitive skills as well as transcription skills, which, in turn, contribute to writing. Foundational oral language skills (vocabulary and grammatical knowledge) and higher-order cognitive skills (inference and theory of mind) were hypothesized to be component skills of text generation (i.e., discourse-level oral language). Results from structural equation modeling largely supported a complete mediation model among four variations of the DIEW model. Discourse-level oral language, spelling, and handwriting fluency completely mediated the relations of higher-order cognitive skills, foundational oral language, and working memory to writing. Moreover, language and cognitive skills had both direct and indirect relations to discourse-level oral language. Total effects, including direct and indirect effects, were substantial for discourse-level oral language (.46), working memory (.43), and spelling (.37), followed by vocabulary (.19), handwriting (.17), theory of mind (.12), inference (.10), and grammatical knowledge (.10). The model explained approximately 67% of variance in writing quality. These results indicate that multiple language and cognitive skills make direct and indirect contributions, and it is important to consider both direct and indirect pathways of influences when considering skills that are important to writing. PMID:28260812

Medical students' essay-writing skills: criteria-based self- and tutor-evaluation and the role of language background.

PubMed

Chur-Hansen, A

2000-03-01

An exercise is described which aimed to make clear to first-year undergraduate medical students the expected writing skills required for an essay examination in one discipline. Many students were from a non-English speaking background and over one-third of students, regardless of language background, had limited experience in this type of essay writing. For this exercise, a practice essay was written by each student for formative assessment. The essay was rated by a tutor and by the student according to well-defined criteria. This allowed for comparisons to be made in a structured and objective way between the judgements of the student and the assessor. Students found the exercise to be very useful, although whether essay writing skills actually improved could not be established. Students from non-English speaking backgrounds tended to be most harsh in their self-evaluations, yet tutor-evaluations generally showed these students to have better writing skills than other students. Indeed, correlations between self- and tutor-evaluations were quite low. It is evident that students and their educators may be unclear about each others' expectations. By making explicit the requirements of an exercise, misunderstandings may be minimized and it is possible that student performance could improve, though further research is required to verify these hypotheses. It is suggested that students should be encouraged to evaluate their own work and should be instructed in writing skills throughout their medical degree education.

Rhetorical Meta-Language to Promote the Development of Students' Writing Skills and Subject Matter Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pelger, Susanne; Sigrell, Anders

2016-01-01

Background: Feedback is one of the most significant factors for students' development of writing skills. For feedback to be successful, however, students and teachers need a common language--a meta-language--for discussing texts. Not least because in science education such a meta-language might contribute to improve writing training and…

Children's High-Level Writing Skills: Development of Planning and Revising and Their Contribution to Writing Quality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Limpo, Teresa; Alves, Rui A.; Fidalgo, Raquel

2014-01-01

Background: It is well established that the activity of producing a text is a complex one involving three main cognitive processes: Planning, translating, and revising. Although these processes are crucial in skilled writing, beginning and developing writers seem to struggle with them, mainly with planning and revising. Aims: To trace the…

The Meanings Attributed to Writing Skills in English by Turkish Children: A Concept Map Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erginer, Ergin; Yar, Veda

2013-01-01

One of the four basic language skills of children, writing, is central to expressing themselves and to developing high level thinking capabilities. Competence in writing is a rather complex learning structure in which cognitive and, especially, psycho-motor learning processes are intensively employed and it further needs to be fed by perceptive…

Animal Diversity Web as a Teaching & Learning Tool to Improve Research & Writing Skills in College Biology Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yahnke, Christopher J.; Dewey, Tanya; Myers, Phil

2013-01-01

Most teachers agree that writing is an important skill for students to master, yet not all teachers incorporate writing assignments in their courses. Employers agree that written communication is important for college graduates, yet in a survey, less than 10% of employers thought that colleges did a good job preparing students for work. Writing an…

Developmental and Individual Differences in Chinese Writing

PubMed Central

Guan, Connie Qun; Ye, Feifei; Wagner, Richard K.; Meng, Wanjin

2015-01-01

The goal of the present study was to examine the generalizability of a model of the underlying dimensions of written composition across writing systems (Chinese Mandarin vs. English) and level of writing skill. A five-factor model of writing originally developed from analyses of 1st and 4th grade English writing samples was applied to Chinese writing samples obtained from 4th and 7th grade students. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the fits of alternative models of written composition. The results suggest that the five-factor model of written composition generalizes to Chinese writing samples and applies to both less skilled (Grade 4) and more skilled (Grade 7) writing, with differences in factor means between grades that vary in magnitude across factors. PMID:26038631

Extending the Flipped Classroom Model: Developing Second Language Writing Skills through Student-Created Digital Videos

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engin, Marion

2014-01-01

This paper describes a project that aimed to leverage the students' interest and experience of technology and multimodal environments to develop their academic writing skills and second language learning. 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…

Hand preference and skilled hand performance among individuals with successful rightward conversions of the writing hand.

PubMed

Porac, Clare

2009-03-01

Searleman and Porac (2001) studied lateral preference patterns among successfully switched left-hand writers, left-hand writers with no switch pressure history, and left-hand writers who did not switch when pressured. They concluded that left-handers who successfully shift to right-hand writing are following an inherent right-sided lateralisation pattern that they already possess. Searleman and Porac suggested that the neural mechanisms that control lateralisation in the successfully switched individuals are systematically different from those of other groups of left-handers. I examined patterns of skilled and less-skilled hand preference and skilled hand performance in a sample of 394 adults (ages 18-94 years). The sample contained successfully switched left-hand writers, left-handers pressured to shift who remained left-hand writers, left-handers who did not experience shift pressures, and right-handers. Both skilled hand preference and skilled hand performance were shifted towards the right side in successfully switched left-hand writers. This group also displayed mixed patterns of hand preference and skilled hand performance in that they were not as right-sided as "natural" right-handers nor were they as left-sided as the two left-hand writing groups, which did not differ from each other. The experience of being pressured to switch to right-hand writing was not sufficient to shift lateralisation patterns; the pressures must be experienced in the context of an underlying neural control mechanism that is amenable to change as a result of these external influences.

A workshop series using peer-grading to build drug information, writing, critical-thinking, and constructive feedback skills.

PubMed

Davis, Lindsay E

2014-12-15

To utilize a skills-based workshop series to develop pharmacy students' drug information, writing, critical-thinking, and evaluation skills during the final didactic year of training. A workshop series was implemented to focus on written (researched) responses to drug information questions. These workshops used blinded peer-grading to facilitate timely feedback and strengthen assessment skills. Each workshop was aligned to the didactic coursework content to complement and extend learning, while bridging and advancing research, writing, and critical thinking skills. Attainment of knowledge and skills was assessed by rubric-facilitated peer grades, faculty member grading, peer critique, and faculty member-guided discussion of drug information responses. Annual instructor and course evaluations consistently revealed favorable student feedback regarding workshop value. A drug information workshop series using peer-grading as the primary assessment tool was successfully implemented and was well received by pharmacy students.

Writing Readiness: Perspectives on Learning to Write.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stallard, Charles K.

Writing readiness is defined in this paper as the skills and understandings necessary for minimum success in completing a writing task. The skills discussed are divided into three areas of need: to give students a clear, operational concept of the function and structure of composition that includes the concepts of paragraphs, sentences,…

When You Do Whole Language Instruction, how Will You Keep Track of Reading and Writing Skills? (When the Principal Asks).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harp, Bill

1988-01-01

Discusses several ways to evaluate reading and writing skills in a whole language classroom, including evaluation checklists, holistic evaluation of writing, and miscue analysis. Provides a literacy development checklist for reading and writing. (MM)

Developmental trajectories of writing skills in first grade: Examining the effects of SES and language and/or speech impairments

PubMed Central

Kim, Young-Suk; Puranik, Cynthia; Otaiba, Stephanie Al

2013-01-01

We examined growth trajectories of writing and the relation of children's socio-economic status, and language and/or speech impairment to the growth trajectories. First grade children (N = 304) were assessed on their written composition in the fall, winter, and spring, and their vocabulary and literacy skills in the fall. Children's SES had a negative effect on writing quality and productivity. Children with language and/or speech impairment had lower scores than typically developing children in the quality and productivity of writing. Even after accounting for their vocabulary and literacy skills, students with language and/or speech impairment had lower scores in the quality and organization of writing. Growth rates in writing were not different as a function of children's SES and language/speech impairment status. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. PMID:26146410

Do L1 Reading Achievement and L1 Print Exposure Contribute to the Prediction of L2 Proficiency?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sparks, Richard L.; Patton, Jon; Ganschow, Leonore; Humbach, Nancy

2012-01-01

The study examined whether individual differences in high school first language (L1) reading achievement and print exposure would account for unique variance in second language (L2) written (word decoding, spelling, writing, reading comprehension) and oral (listening/speaking) proficiency after adjusting for the effects of early L1 literacy and…

The Effect of Planning Sub-Processes on L2 Writing Fluency, Grammatical Complexity, and Lexical Complexity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Mark D.; Mercado, Leonardo; Acevedo, Anthony

2012-01-01

This study contributes to L2 writing research which seeks to tie predictions of the Limited Attentional Capacity Model (Skehan, 1998; Skehan & Foster, 2001) and Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001, 2005, 2011a, 2011b) to models of working memory in L1 writing (Kellogg, 1996). The study uses a quasi-experimental research design to investigate…

A Virtual Room to Enhance Writing Skills in the EFL Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ochoa Alpala, Dayra Piedad; Medina Peña, Nieves

2014-01-01

This article reports an action research that intended to study to what extent students shape their writing skill in English through the use of a virtual room. As the study, we randomly selected six ninth graders in high school from thirty two students at a Colombian private institution. Three instruments were used, namely, interviews, students'…

Rhetorical meta-language to promote the development of students' writing skills and subject matter understanding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelger, Susanne; Sigrell, Anders

2016-01-01

Background: Feedback is one of the most significant factors for students' development of writing skills. For feedback to be successful, however, students and teachers need a common language - a meta-language - for discussing texts. Not least because in science education such a meta-language might contribute to improve writing training and feedback-giving. Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore students' perception of teachers' feedback given on their texts in two genres, and to suggest how writing training and feedback-giving could become more efficient. Sample: In this study were included 44 degree project students in biology and molecular biology, and 21 supervising teachers at a Swedish university. Design and methods: The study concerned students' writing about their degree projects in two genres: scientific writing and popular science writing. The data consisted of documented teacher feedback on the students' popular science texts. It also included students' and teachers' answers to questionnaires about writing and feedback. All data were collected during the spring of 2012. Teachers' feedback, actual and recalled - by students and teachers, respectively - was analysed and compared using the so-called Canons of rhetoric. Results: While the teachers recalled the given feedback as mainly positive, most students recalled only negative feedback. According to the teachers, suggested improvements concerned firstly the content, and secondly the structure of the text. In contrast, the students mentioned language style first, followed by content. Conclusions: The disagreement between students and teachers regarding how and what feedback was given on the students texts confirm the need of improved strategies for writing training and feedback-giving in science education. We suggest that the rhetorical meta-language might play a crucial role in overcoming the difficulties observed in this study. We also discuss how training of writing skills may contribute to

Going Beyond the Sentence: Implications of Discourse Analysis for the Teaching of the Writing Skill.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghadessy, Mohsen

1984-01-01

Questions the prevalent attitude of English as a second language teachers regarding the teaching of writing skills. Weaknesses in syllabi and teaching strategies are cited, indicating deficiencies in the teaching of discourse analysis--the manipulation of words, structures, and ideas--all skills necessary for the development and production of a…

Fostering critical thinking and collaborative learning skills among medical students through a research protocol writing activity in the curriculum.

PubMed

Sahoo, Soumendra; Mohammed, Ciraj Ali

2018-06-01

This intervention was aimed to analyse the effect of academic writing and journal critiquing as educational approaches in improving critical thinking and collaborative learning among undergraduate medical students. A research proposal writing format was created for the 4th year medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia during their ophthalmology clinical postings. The students worked in small groups and developed research protocols through an evidence based approach. This was followed by writing reflective summaries in academic portfolios about the activity undertaken. A mixed methods study was designed to explore the possible role of collaborative research proposal writing in enhancing critical thinking and collaborative learning. Analysis of reflections submitted by 188 medical students after the intervention indicate that majority of them found an improvement in their skills of critical thinking and collaborative learning as a result of research protocol writing. All participants agreed that the model helped in applying concepts to new situations in the form of designing their own study, which reflected in enhanced higher order cognitive skills. This study shows that the introduction of a structured module in the core medical curriculum that focuses on research writing skills embedded with collaborative and reflective practices can enhance collaborative learning, critical thinking, and reasoning among medical students.

Fostering critical thinking and collaborative learning skills among medical students through a research protocol writing activity in the curriculum

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Purpose This intervention was aimed to analyse the effect of academic writing and journal critiquing as educational approaches in improving critical thinking and collaborative learning among undergraduate medical students. Methods A research proposal writing format was created for the 4th year medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia during their ophthalmology clinical postings. The students worked in small groups and developed research protocols through an evidence based approach. This was followed by writing reflective summaries in academic portfolios about the activity undertaken.A mixed methods study was designed to explore the possible role of collaborative research proposal writing in enhancing critical thinking and collaborative learning. Results Analysis of reflections submitted by 188 medical students after the intervention indicate that majority of them found an improvement in their skills of critical thinking and collaborative learning as a result of research protocol writing. All participants agreed that the model helped in applying concepts to new situations in the form of designing their own study, which reflected in enhanced higher order cognitive skills. Conclusion This study shows that the introduction of a structured module in the core medical curriculum that focuses on research writing skills embedded with collaborative and reflective practices can enhance collaborative learning, critical thinking, and reasoning among medical students. PMID:29860777

Parental Strategies to Scaffold Emergent Writing Skills in the Pre-School Child within the Home Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neumann, Michelle M.; Neumann, David L.

2010-01-01

Joint writing activities between parent and child can enhance literacy skills in young children. This paper describes the strategies used by a mother to scaffold her daughter's alphabet letter shaping, word and story writing in the years before formal schooling. The strategies included identifying alphabet letters embedded in environmental print…

Writing with Computers in ESL Classroom: Enhancing ESL Learners' Motivation, Confidence and Writing Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadi, Marham Jupri

2013-01-01

Researcher's observation on his ESL class indicates the main issues concerning the writing skills: learners' low motivation to write, minimum interaction in writing, and poor writing skills. These limitations have led them to be less confidence to write in English. This article discusses how computers can be used for the purpose of increasing…

Using writing as a vehicle to promote and develop scientific concepts and process skills in fourth-grade students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Disimoni, Katherine Cecilia

The development of conceptual knowledge, particularly at the elementary level, is one area in which researchers and educators have noted remarkable deficiencies. The purpose of this descriptive study was to observe the impact of the use of writing as a thinking tool on the promotion and development of scientific concepts and science process skills in elementary students in the discipline of science. Reports from some of the publications for science research and educational progress cited the direct links of writing effectiveness to the development of skills in critical thinking. The study consisted of 12 fourth-grade students in the control group and their 12 fourth-grade counterparts in the experimental group. The treatment for the study was the use of learning logs by the experimental group to record their written responses to predesigned prompts related to hands-on science experiences during the intervention period. Their counterparts did no writing. Statistical measures used were Student's t tests to determine if significance was present. A pretest and posttest were given that involved written responses to the same prompt. Three judges used a specially designed rubric to evaluate and score the writing. Significant differences were found when the scores of the experimental group were analyzed between pretest and posttest. Also, a standardized test to assess basic process skills was administered prior to and after the intervention. There were no statistical differences found in either group to demonstrate that writing effected the development of process skills. The researcher determined that perhaps writing is not the best way to promote process skills. Rather, engaging in science is the best way. These skills are built separately but used in tandem, particularly when learning about science and mathematics. The implications of this study impact upon several areas of education which make up paradigms leading to good practice based on sound theory. These components

L2 Working Memory Capacity and L2 Reading Skill.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrington, Mike; Sawyer, Mark

1992-01-01

Examines the sensitivity of second-language (L2) working memory (ability to store and process information simultaneously) to differences in reading skills among advanced L2 learners. Subjects with larger L2 working memory capacities scored higher on measures of L2 reading skills, but no correlation was found between reading and passive short-term…

MBA Students' Workplace Writing: Implications for Business Writing Pedagogy and Workplace Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lentz, Paula

2013-01-01

Employers frequently complain about the state of their employees' writing skills. Much of the current research on this subject explores workplace writing skills from the employer's perspective. However, this article examines workplace writing from the employees' perspective. Specifically, it analyzes MBA students' responses to a course assignment…

The Impact of Executive Function Skills on Writing: A Comparison of Fifth-Grade Students with Learning Disabilities and Students with Typical Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nathan, Anne Michelle

2009-01-01

This study explored the relationship between verbal fluency skills and writing skills in developing writers. There were three research questions addressed: (1) Was there a difference between fifth-grade students who have a learning disability (LD) in written language and fifth-grade students with typical development (TD) on the Delis-Kaplan…

Using Collaborate Writing Groups in Undergraduate Courses to Improve Scientific Writing Skills and Confidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maclachlan, J. C.; Feist, S.

2016-12-01

Communication of primary scientific research is an aspect of undergraduate teaching that rarely researches platforms outside of the classroom. One method to encourage the dissemination of scientific findings to an international audience is the implementation of Collaborative Writing Groups (CWG). This paper will discuss the development, implementation and successful results of two Collaborative Writing Group creating within two different senior undergraduate classes offered at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada through discussion of the implementation of the assignment coupled with challenges and opportunities the process provided. A key to the successful implementation of the CWG is a detailed timeline for the students to follow with achievable goals throughout the process. The eight-week process began with students creating groups and choosing a topic of interest. As groups form it became apparent the diversity of academic skills and interest within the classroom made selecting a research project all group members could agree on difficult. Throughout the course students were given time to not only review their colleagues writing but also have discussions on particularly challenging aspects of their research and help in providing solutions. While the timeline for this project was ambitious it was necessary to allow time for effective feedback on the scientific writing from both the students and the instructional team. Overall this process has produced 11 peer-reviewed undergraduate student written papers within two special editions of the journal Cartographica published by the University of Toronto Press (Maclachlan and Lee, 2015). The papers topics are quite diverse including: the modelling of glacier melt in Iceland; a look into the effects of urban sprawl; and an exploration of the spatial characteristics of dunes in southern Ontario. This encouragement of dissemination to an international audience will create an experience that promotes self

Writing Editorials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pappas, Marjorie L.

2003-01-01

Presents a thematic unit for middle schools on editorial writing, or persuasive writing, based on the Pathways Model for information skills lessons. Includes assessing other editorials; student research process journals; information literacy and process skills; and two lesson plans that involve library media specialists as well as teachers. (LRW)

The Effects of a Color-Embedded Writing Strategy on the Written Expression Skills of Students with Mild-Moderate Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Otto, Claudia Cecilia

2013-01-01

This research is a classroom case study to determine the effectiveness of a color-embedded writing strategy on the writing performance of adolescents with mild-moderate disabilities. Assessment and documentation of students' composition skills progress was made using the TOWL-4 writing assessments. Comparisons were made between those students who…

Software Writing Skills for Your Research - Lessons Learned from Workshops in the Geosciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammitzsch, Martin

2016-04-01

Findings presented in scientific papers are based on data and software. Once in a while they come along with data - but not commonly with software. However, the software used to gain findings plays a crucial role in the scientific work. Nevertheless, software is rarely seen publishable. Thus researchers may not reproduce the findings without the software which is in conflict with the principle of reproducibility in sciences. For both, the writing of publishable software and the reproducibility issue, the quality of software is of utmost importance. For many programming scientists the treatment of source code, e.g. with code design, version control, documentation, and testing is associated with additional work that is not covered in the primary research task. This includes the adoption of processes following the software development life cycle. However, the adoption of software engineering rules and best practices has to be recognized and accepted as part of the scientific performance. Most scientists have little incentive to improve code and do not publish code because software engineering habits are rarely practised by researchers or students. Software engineering skills are not passed on to followers as for paper writing skill. Thus it is often felt that the software or code produced is not publishable. The quality of software and its source code has a decisive influence on the quality of research results obtained and their traceability. So establishing best practices from software engineering to serve scientific needs is crucial for the success of scientific software. Even though scientists use existing software and code, i.e., from open source software repositories, only few contribute their code back into the repositories. So writing and opening code for Open Science means that subsequent users are able to run the code, e.g. by the provision of sufficient documentation, sample data sets, tests and comments which in turn can be proven by adequate and qualified

A Study of Students' Assessment in Writing Skills of the English Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Javed, Muhammad; Juan, Wu Xiao; Nazli, Saima

2013-01-01

This paper addresses to evaluate and assess the students' competency in writing skills at Secondary school level in the English Language focusing five major content areas: word completion, sentence making/syntax, comprehension, tenses/ grammar and handwriting. The target population was the male and female students of grade 10 of urban and rural…

A Study of Students' Assessment in Writing Skills of the English Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Javed, Muhammad; Juan, Wu Xiao; Nazli, Saima

2013-01-01

This paper addresses to evaluate and assess the students' competency in writing skills at Secondary school level in the English Language focusing five major content areas: word completion, sentence making/syntax, comprehension, tenses/grammar and handwriting. The target population was the male and female students of grade 10 of urban and rural…

Writing Well as an Essential Skill for Professionals in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism: Why Do We Need It and How Do We Do It?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wells, Mary Sarah; Piatt, Jennifer A.; Paisley, Karen P.

2012-01-01

Although writing is an important skill for all professionals, many students in parks, recreation, and tourism do not see the relevance of learning and applying the skills of writing well in parks, recreation, and tourism courses. This article outlines the reasons good writing is beneficial for students and provides concrete guidelines for how they…

How to Integrate Cooperative Skills Training into Learning Tasks: An Illustration with Young Pupils' Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lehraus, Katia

2015-01-01

This study explored how to integrate cooperative skills training into learning tasks in the area of writing. Cooperative learning sessions, aimed at developing both cooperative and cognitive skills, were created and conducted in two elementary school classes (Grade 2, age 7-8). Pupils' teamwork interactions were videotaped and analysed.…

Using a Collaborative Critiquing Technique to Develop Chemistry Students' Technical Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, Jeremy M.

2013-01-01

The technique, termed "collaborative critiquing", was developed to teach fundamental technical writing skills to analytical chemistry students for the preparation of laboratory reports. This exercise, which can be completed prior to peer-review activities, is novel, highly interactive, and allows students to take responsibility for their…

Program of Research on Legal Writing: Phase II: Research on a Writing Exercise. LSAC Research Report Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breland, Hunter M.; Carlton, Sydell T.; Taylor, Susan

Based on the results of a Phase 1 investigation into the nature of legal writing, a prototype writing assessment, the Diagnostic Writing Skills Test (DWST) for entering law students was developed. The DWST is composed of two multiple-choice testlets based on prompts and responses to the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) Writing Sample. It contains…

Promoting critical thinking and academic writing skills in nurse education.

PubMed

Borglin, Gunilla

2012-07-01

Although academic skills, conceptualised as writing and critical thinking, are a vital part of university studies, research indicates that many students leave without having mastered these skills effectively. This research also reflects on nursing students. Nursing could also be said to be hampered by a number of complex educational challenges that are likely to impact on the academic socialisation process in general. These challenges include being a relatively 'young' academic discipline, the 'theory-practice' divide, a knowledge bed lying on a complex intersection of two 'antithetical sciences' and, at least in the Scandinavian countries, an increasing number of nurse educators with a PhD in nursing science but with limited time to develop their own teaching skills. In combination, these challenges have the potential to act as stumbling blocks, both from a teaching and learning perspective. I would suggest that a departure in teaching from theoretical educational models, such as Lea and Street's 'academic literacies model,' including skills, socialisation and academic literacy models simultaneously, could be one of several ways forward to create a learning environment that takes these issues into account. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Training Fathers To Develop Reading and Writing Skills in Young Children with Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ortiz, Robert W.; Stile, Stephen W.

The potential benefits of father participation in their children's reading and writing activities include improved literacy skills, increased bonding, and heightened self-esteem of both fathers and children. This paper identifies a training model for working with fathers--Project DADS. Using this model, early childhood professionals can foster…

Kindergarten Predictors of Third Grade Writing

PubMed Central

Kim, Young-Suk; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Wanzek, Jeanne

2015-01-01

The primary goal of the present study was to examine the relations of kindergarten transcription, oral language, word reading, and attention skills to writing skills in third grade. Children (N = 157) were assessed on their letter writing automaticity, spelling, oral language, word reading, and attention in kindergarten. Then, they were assessed on writing in third grade using three writing tasks – one narrative and two expository prompts. Children’s written compositions were evaluated in terms of writing quality (the extent to which ideas were developed and presented in an organized manner). Structural equation modeling showed that kindergarten oral language and lexical literacy skills (i.e., word reading and spelling) were independently predicted third grade narrative writing quality, and kindergarten literacy skill uniquely predicted third grade expository writing quality. In contrast, attention and letter writing automaticity were not directly related to writing quality in either narrative or expository genre. These results are discussed in light of theoretical and practical implications. PMID:25642118

Facilitating Scholarly Writing in Academic Medicine

PubMed Central

Pololi, Linda; Knight, Sharon; Dunn, Kathleen

2004-01-01

Scholarly writing is a critical skill for faculty in academic medicine; however, few faculty receive instruction in the process. We describe the experience of 18 assistant professors who participated in a writing and faculty development program which consisted of 7 monthly 75-minute sessions embedded in a Collaborative Mentoring Program (CMP). Participants identified barriers to writing, developed personal writing strategies, had time to write, and completed monthly writing contracts. Participants provided written responses to open-ended questions about the learning experience, and at the end of the program, participants identified manuscripts submitted for publication, and completed an audiotaped interview. Analysis of qualitative data using data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification showed that this writing program facilitated the knowledge, skills, and support needed to foster writing productivity. All participants completed at least 1 scholarly manuscript by the end of the CMP. The impact on participants’ future academic productivity requires long-term follow-up. PMID:14748862

A Blended Collaborative Writing Approach for Chinese L2 Primary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Lung-Hsiang; Chen, Wenli; Chai, Ching-Sing; Chin, Chee-Kuen; Gao, Ping

2011-01-01

This paper outlines an adaptable collaborative writing approach employing a wiki to address the typical weaknesses of young Singaporean Chinese students learning Chinese as second language (L2) in Chinese writing. These students' problems in writing include limited and incorrect use of vocabulary, English-style grammar, badly structured passages,…

Beyond "Writing to Learn": Factors Influencing Students' Writing Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jani, Jayshree S.; Mellinger, Marcela Sarmiento

2015-01-01

Social work educators concur that writing and critical thinking are basic components of effective practice, yet students are often deficient in these skills. Although there is agreement among educators about the need to enhance students' writing skills, there is little understanding of the nature of students' problems--a necessary step…

Collaboration through Blogging: The Development of Writing and Speaking Skills in ESP Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleanthous, Angela; Cardoso, Walcir

2016-01-01

There has been a growing interest in incorporating social media in education and in language teaching in general. From a pedagogical perspective, as mentioned in Kleanthous (2016), blogs (or weblogs) appear to be effective in enhancing writing and/or reading skills, as their interactive platforms enable learners to exchange comments and offer…

Revisiting Fluctuations in L2 Article Choice in L1-Korean L2-English Learners.

PubMed

Sarker, Bijon K; Baek, Seunghyun

2017-04-01

The current study investigated the distinction of L2 (second language) English article choice sensitivity in fifty-three L1-Korean L2-English learners in semantic contexts. In the context of English as a foreign language, the participants were divided into two groups based on grammatical ability as determined by their performance on a cloze test. In addition, a forced-choice elicitation test and a writing production test were administered to assess, respectively, the participants' receptive and productive article choice abilities. Regardless of grammatical ability, the results disclosed the overuse of the indefinite a in the [[Formula: see text]definite, -specific] context and the definite the in the [-definite, [Formula: see text]specific] context on the forced-choice elicitation test. In the [[Formula: see text]definite, [Formula: see text]specific] and [-definite, -specific] contexts, however, the overuse of either the indefinite a or the definite the, respectively, was less likely. Furthermore, it was revealed on the writing test that the participants more accurately used the definite the than the indefinite a, and they were also found to unreasonably omit more articles than to add or substitute articles on the writing production test. The findings across the two tests indicate that L1-Korean L2-English learners are more likely to have intrinsic difficulties transferring their L1 noun phrase (NP) knowledge to L2 NP knowledge owing to structural discrepancies and complex interfaces between L1 NPs and L2 NPs with respect to syntactic, semantic and pragmatic/discourse language subsystems.

Web-Based Collaborative Writing in L2 Contexts: Methodological Insights from Text Mining

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yim, Soobin; Warschauer, Mark

2017-01-01

The increasingly widespread use of social software (e.g., Wikis, Google Docs) in second language (L2) settings has brought a renewed attention to collaborative writing. Although the current methodological approaches to examining collaborative writing are valuable to understand L2 students' interactional patterns or perceived experiences, they can…

Enhancing students’ mathematical problem posing skill through writing in performance tasks strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadir; Adelina, R.; Fatma, M.

2018-01-01

Many researchers have studied the Writing in Performance Task (WiPT) strategy in learning, but only a few paid attention on its relation to the problem-posing skill in mathematics. The problem-posing skill in mathematics covers problem reformulation, reconstruction, and imitation. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of WiPT strategy on students’ mathematical problem-posing skill. The research was conducted at a Public Junior Secondary School in Tangerang Selatan. It used a quasi-experimental method with randomized control group post-test. The samples were 64 students consists of 32 students of the experiment group and 32 students of the control. A cluster random sampling technique was used for sampling. The research data were obtained by testing. The research shows that the problem-posing skill of students taught by WiPT strategy is higher than students taught by a conventional strategy. The research concludes that the WiPT strategy is more effective in enhancing the students’ mathematical problem-posing skill compared to the conventional strategy.

Developmental and Individual Differences in Chinese Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guan, Connie Qun; Ye, Feifei; Wagner, Richard K.; Meng, Wanjin

2013-01-01

The goal of the present study was to examine the generalizability of a model of the underlying dimensions of written composition across writing systems (Chinese Mandarin vs. English) and level of writing skill. A five-factor model of writing originally developed from analyses of 1st and 4th grade English writing samples was applied to Chinese…

Development of Chinese Handwriting Skills among Kindergarten Children: Copying of the Composition in Chinese Characters and Name Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tse, Linda F. L.; Siu, Andrew M. H.; Li-Tsang, Cecilia W. P.

2017-01-01

Although copying and name writing skills are regarded as the indicators of handwriting development in alphabetic writing systems, there is limited information on logographs such as Chinese. Chinese characters are not only simply a combination of strokes as letters in English, but also place a great demand on visuospatial ability to maintain good…

Basic Skills, Basic Writing, Basic Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trimmer, Joseph F.

1987-01-01

Overviews basic writing instruction and research by briefly discussing the history of remediation, results of a survey of basic writing programs in U.S. colleges and universities, and interviews with developmental textbook editors at major publishing houses. Finds that basic writing instruction continues to focus on sentence grammar. (MM)

Convergence and Divergence of Process and Portfolio Approaches to L2 Writing Instruction: Issues and Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lam, Ricky

2015-01-01

In the L2 writing literature, there has been a rich history of scholarship in theory, research and practice since the 1960s. Two of the most prominent L2 writing approaches are process and portfolio pedagogy. The former approach promotes the use of diverse writing strategies (e.g. pre-writing) to enhance student writers' expression and fluency.…

Using Portfolio to Assess Rural Young Learners' Writing Skills in English Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aziz, Muhammad Noor Abdul; Yusoff, Nurahimah Mohd.

2015-01-01

This study aimed at discussing the benefits of portfolio assessment in assessing students' writing skills. The study explores the use of authentic assessment in the classroom. Eleven primary school children from Year 4 in a rural school in Sabah participated in this study. Data were collected by observing them during the English Language lessons…

The Impact of the Development of Verbal Recoding on Children's Early Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Anne-Marie; Simmons, Fiona R.; Willis, Catherine S.; Porter, Sarah

2013-01-01

Background: The spontaneous recoding of visual stimuli into a phonological code to aid short-term retention has been associated with progress in learning to read (Palmer, 2000b). Aim: This study examined whether there was a comparable association with the development of writing skills. Sample: One hundred eight children (64 males) in the second…

Using the Sociocognitive-Transformative Approach in Writing Classrooms: Effects on L2 Learners' Writing Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrot, Jessie S.

2018-01-01

The current study used a scale-based approach and complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) analysis to comprehensively capture the effects of the sociocognitive-transformative approach on 2nd language (L2) learners' writing performance. The study involved 66 preuniversity intermediate L2 students from 4 different English classes. I randomly…

Effects of Writing Instruction on Kindergarten Students' Writing Achievement: An Experimental Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Cindy D'On

2015-01-01

This full-year experimental study examined how methods of writing instruction contribute to kindergarten students' acquisition of foundational and compositional early writing skills. Multiple regression with cluster analysis was used to compare 3 writing instructional groups: an interactive writing group, a writing workshop group, and a…

Student Writing: Strategies to Reverse Ongoing Decline

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Michael J.; Harper, Heather

2013-01-01

This article reports on the decline in writing ability skills in secondary and higher education students. The author discusses changes that have affected student writing skills over the recent decades and offers recommendations for improving these skills, such as: implementing intensive freshman writing courses; adjusting existing course…

Implementing a writing course in an online RN-BSN program.

PubMed

Stevens, Carol J; D'Angelo, Barbara; Rennell, Nathalie; Muzyka, Diann; Pannabecker, Virginia; Maid, Barry

2014-01-01

Scholarly writing is an essential skill for nurses to communicate new research and evidence. Written communication directly relates to patient safety and quality of care. However, few online RN-BSN programs integrate writing instruction into their curricula. Nurses traditionally learn how to write from instructor feedback and often not until midway into their baccalaureate education. Innovative strategies are needed to help nurses apply critical thinking skills to writing. The authors discuss a collaborative project between nursing faculty and technical communication faculty to develop and implement a writing course that is 1 of the 1st courses the students take in the online RN-BSN program.

Materials for Assessing the Writing Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nimehchisalem, Vahid

2010-01-01

This paper reviews the issues of concern in writing scale development in English as Second Language (ESL) settings with an intention to provide a useful guide for researchers or writing teachers who wish to develop or adapt valid, reliable and efficient writing scales considering their present assessment situations. With a brief discussion on the…

The Interrelationship among Critical Thinking, Writing an Argumentative Essay in an L2 and Their Subskills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soodmand Afshar, Hassan; Movassagh, Hossein; Radi Arbabi, Hassan

2017-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between critical thinking and the writing ability of Iranian EFL learners, and the interrelationship among the subskills of the two constructs. Furthermore, it aimed at finding which skills of critical thinking predicted the participants' writing ability. To this end, 104 students majoring in English…

The Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Teaching ESL Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yunus, Melor Md; Nordin, Norazah; Salehi, Hadi; Embi, Mohamed Amin; Salehi, Zeinab

2013-01-01

Despite the existence of many studies showing positive effects of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the teaching and learning process in general, the use of ICT in teaching writing skills in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms is still not very encouraging. This study attempts to seek findings on the use of ICT in…

The Impact of Using Email on Improving the Writing Skills among Iranian Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Janfaza, Abusaied; Shahsavari, Khadijeh; Soori, Afshin

2014-01-01

The need for the application of technology in education has been increased. One of the new approaches in technology is using email for learning a second or a foreign language. The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of using email in improving writing skills among Iranian EFL students. The participants of the study were 42…

The Effect of Two Types of Corrective Feedback on EFL Learners' Writing Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farshi, Sina Soltanabadi; Safa, Saeedeh Khalili

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two types of corrective feedback on EFL learners' writing skill. Thirty five advanced learners in three groups participated in this study. Structures of written texts were taught in all three classes during fourteen sessions of treatment; and each session, a related topic was given and the…

Foreign Language Writing Fellows Programs: A Model for Improving Advanced Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snyder, Delys Waite; Nielson, Rex P.; Kurzer, Kendon

2016-01-01

Within the growing field of scholarly literature on foreign language (FL) writing pedagogy, few studies have addressed pedagogical questions regarding the teaching of writing to advanced language learners. Writing fellows peer tutoring programs, although typically associated with first language writing instruction, likely can benefit and support…

An Examination of Student Writing Self-Efficacy across Three Levels of Adult Writing Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alderman, Rodney L.

2015-01-01

Adults in today's society do not possess the necessary writing skills required to be successful in postsecondary education and in employment. Writing is an essential skill for college and the workplace. Society also expects college graduates to be critical thinkers and to utilize higher-order thinking skills. Perceived self-efficacy may impact…

Understanding EFL Students' Errors in Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phuket, Pimpisa Rattanadilok Na; Othman, Normah Binti

2015-01-01

Writing is the most difficult skill in English, so most EFL students tend to make errors in writing. In assisting the learners to successfully acquire writing skill, the analysis of errors and the understanding of their sources are necessary. This study attempts to explore the major sources of errors occurred in the writing of EFL students. It…

Writing across the Accounting Curriculum: An Experiment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riordan, Diane A.; Riordan, Michael P.; Sullivan, M. Cathy

2000-01-01

Develops a structured writing effectiveness program across three junior level courses in the accounting major (tax, cost, and financial accounting) to improve the writing skills of accounting students. Provides evidence that the writing across the curriculum project significantly improved the students' writing skills. (SC)

The Role of Cognitive and Affective Factors in Measures of L2 Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zabihi, Reza

2018-01-01

This study investigates the direct and/or indirect effects of some cognitive (working memory capacity) and affective (writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy) variables on the complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) of second language (L2) learners' writings. To achieve this goal, 232 upper-intermediate English learners performed an automated…

Internal Structure and Development of Keyboard Skills in Spanish-Speaking Primary-School Children with and without LD in Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiménez, Juan E.; Marco, Isaac; Suárez, Natalia; González, Desirée

2017-01-01

This study had two purposes: examining the internal structure of the "Test Estandarizado para la Evaluación Inicial de la Escritura con Teclado" (TEVET; Spanish Keyboarding Writing Test), and analyzing the development of keyboarding skills in Spanish elementary school children with and without learning disabilities (LD) in writing. A…

Peer Response to L2 Student Writing: Patterns and Expectations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abdalla Salih, Abdel Rahman

2013-01-01

This paper reports the corrective feedback patterns in L2 writing and the student writers' preferences for peer feedback. The study examines the actual focus of peer review and the types of corrective feedback provided in L2 composing process. Sixteen L2 matriculation students at a Malaysian university took part in five peer review sessions,…

The Impacts of Emotional Intelligence Enhancement on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Writing Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ebrahimi, Mohammad Reza; Khoshsima, Hooshang; Zare-Behtash, Esmail

2018-01-01

The current study tried to empirically examine the influence of enhancing Emotional Intelligence on writing skill. The method of doing the study was giving an "Interchange Placement Test" to the university students who majored in English (EFL learners) in Iran. After selecting intermediate level students for participating in the study,…

The Effect of Using Computer Edutainment on Developing 2nd Primary Graders' Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohammed Abdel Raheem, Azza Ashraf

2011-01-01

The present study attempted to examine the effect of using computer edutainment on developing 2nd graders' writing skills. The study comprised thirty-second year primary stage enrolled in Bani Hamad primary governmental school, Minia governorate. The study adopted the quasi-experimental design. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to one…

The Impact of Authentic Material Use on Development of the Reading Comprehension, Writing Skills and Motivation in Language Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belet Boyaci, S. Dilek; Güner, Mediha

2018-01-01

The objective of the present study was to determine the impact of authentic task-based authentic material on reading comprehension, writing skills and writing motivation in the Turkish language course. The study was conducted with mixed design methodology. Quantitative data were collected with the quasi-experimental with pre-test post-test with…

Classroom Teacher Candidates' Perceptions of Teacher Self-Efficacy in Developing Students' Reading, Writing and Verbal Skills: Scale Development Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canbulat, Ayse Nur Kutluca

2017-01-01

This work uses exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to study Verbal Skills Development Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (VSDTS), Reading Skills Development Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (RSDTS) and Writing Skills Development Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (WSDTS) developed to identify classroom teacher candidates' perceptions of teacher…

Developing Students' Scientific Writing and Presentation Skills through Argument Driven Inquiry: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

C¸etin, Pinar Seda; Eymur, Gülüzar

2017-01-01

In this study, we employed a new instructional model that helps students develop scientific writing and presentation skills. Argument-driven inquiry (ADI) is one of the most novel instructional models that emphasizes the role of argumentation and inquiry in science education equally. This is an exploratory study where five ADI lab activities take…

Discourse Connectives in L1 and L2 Argumentative Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Chunyu; Li, Yuanyuan

2015-01-01

Discourse connectives (DCs) are multi-functional devices used to connect discourse segments and fulfill interpersonal levels of discourse. This study investigates the use of selected 80 DCs within 11 categories in the argumentative essays produced by L1 and L2 university students. The analysis is based on the International Corpus Network of Asian…

Repeatable Writing Assignments to Enhance Student Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiebold, W. J.; And Others

1990-01-01

Discussed is the use of two short writing assignments and a peer review system in an undergraduate agronomy course to improve writing skills and the learning of agronomic principles. Provided is a course description and procedures used in the course. Student evaluation in the course is reviewed. (CW)

Putting Students at the Centre of Classroom L2 Writing Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Icy

2016-01-01

In many educational contexts, L2 writing assessment tends to emphasize its summative functions (i.e., assessment of learning--AoL) more than its formative potential (i.e., assessment for--AfL). While the teacher plays a dominant role in AoL, central to AfL is the role of the students, alongside that of the teacher and peers. A student-centred…

Evaluating undergraduate nursing students' self-efficacy and competence in writing: Effects of a writing intensive intervention.

PubMed

Miller, Louise C; Russell, Cynthia L; Cheng, An-Lin; Skarbek, Anita J

2015-05-01

While professional nurses are expected to communicate clearly, these skills are often not explicitly taught in undergraduate nursing education. In this research study, writing self-efficacy and writing competency were evaluated in 52 nontraditional undergraduate baccalaureate completion students in two distance-mediated 16-week capstone courses. The intervention group (n = 44) experienced various genres and modalities of written assignments set in the context of evidence-based nursing practice; the comparison group (n = 8) received usual writing undergraduate curriculum instruction. Self-efficacy, measured by the Post Secondary Writerly Self-Efficacy Scale, indicated significant improvements for all self-efficacy items (all p's = 0.00). Writing competency, assessed in the intervention group using a primary trait scoring rubric (6 + 1 Trait Writing Model(®) of Instruction and Assessment), found significant differences in competency improvement on five of seven items. This pilot study demonstrated writing skills can improve in nontraditional undergraduate students with guided instruction. Further investigation with larger, culturally diverse samples is indicated to validate these results. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A curricular approach to improve the information literacy and academic writing skills of part-time post-registration nursing students in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Tarrant, Marie; Dodgson, Joan E; Law, Beatrice V K K

2008-05-01

In today's environment of rapidly changing health care and information technology, nurses require a broad range of skills. One of the key skills required of all health professionals in this environment is information literacy. For registered nurses returning to a university setting to study for their baccalaureate degree, becoming information literate is one of many challenges they face. Also key to students' ability to use and communicate information in an appropriate and effective manner is their writing skills. This article describes a curricular intervention designed to develop and strengthen post-registration nurses' information literacy and academic writing competencies. An introductory information management module was developed and provided to three successive cohorts of students (n=159). Students were predominantly female (85.4%) with a mean age of 34.2 years (SD=6.8). Prior to commencing the program, students reported low information literacy and writing skills, especially in accessing and searching electronic databases and using referencing formats. The post-test evaluation of skills showed substantial and statistically significant increases in all assessed competencies. This intervention demonstrated that with structured but flexible learning activities early in the curriculum, post-registration nursing students can quickly become information literate.

A Trilingual Teaching Model for Developing Academic Literacy Skills in Classical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) and English (FL) in Southern Israel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hauptman, Sara; Mansur, Fuaz; Tal, Rachel

2008-01-01

Developing academic literacy skills in Classical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) and English (FL) among 10th-grade Bedouin students in Southern Israel is of central importance, in light of the country's policies regarding trilingual education for this sector. This paper presents the findings of research which examined the impact of a teaching model where…

The Development of Language and Reading Skills in the Second and Third Languages of Multilingual Children in French Immersion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berube, Daniel; Marinova-Todd, Stefka H.

2012-01-01

The relationship between first language (L1) typology, defined as the classification of languages according to their structural characteristics (e.g. phonological systems and writing systems), and the development of second (L2) and third (L3) language skills and literacy proficiency in multilingual children was investigated in this study. The…

Understanding the Growth of ESL Paragraph Writing Skills and Its Relationships with Linguistic Features

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aryadoust, Vahid

2016-01-01

This study sought to examine the development of paragraph writing skills of 116 English as a second language university students over the course of 12 weeks and the relationship between the linguistic features of students' written texts as measured by Coh-Metrix--a computational system for estimating textual features such as cohesion and…

The Role of Oral Language Skills in Reading and Listening Comprehension of Text: A Comparison of Monolingual (L1) and Bilingual (L2) Speakers of English Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babayigit, Selma

2014-01-01

The study examined the role of oral language skills in reading comprehension and listening comprehension levels of 125 monolingual (L1) and bilingual (L2) English-speaking learners (M = 121.5 months, SD = 4.65) in England. All testing was conducted in English. The L1 learners outperformed their L2 peers on the measures of oral language and text…

Partnering with Parents in the Writing Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zurcher, Melinda A.

2016-01-01

Writing is a complex act that requires students' concentrated time and effort to master--time and effort that teachers strain to find in a crowded curriculum. Despite this struggle to prioritize writing, students in the 21st century need writing skills to participate in the workplace, academia, economy, and democracy. If writing skills really are…

An Analysis of Deaf Students' Spelling Skills during a Year-Long Instructional Writing Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowers, Lisa M.; Dostal, Hannah; McCarthy, Jillian H.; Schwarz, Ilsa; Wolbers, Kimberly

2016-01-01

Numerous studies have shown that spelling presents unique challenges for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (d/hh), and most do not develop age appropriate spelling skills. Spelling errors from 29 middle school d/hh students were analyzed from writing samples that were gathered at the beginning, middle, and end of a year-long writing…

Workplace Literacy and Basic Skills = L'alphabetisation et les competences de base en milieu de travail.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waugh, Sue

Workplace literacy and basic skills may be defined as skills needed by employees at work: reading, writing, math, and problem solving. Workplace literacy and skill requirements are based on the needs of each workplace and its workers. These skills are important because the work force needs to be highly skilled and adaptable to compete in a global…

The Effectiveness of Writing Conferences and Peer Response Groups Strategies on the EFL Secondary Students' Writing Performance and Their Self Efficacy (A Comparative Study)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hussein, Mohamed Abdel Hadi; Al Ashri, Ismail Ibrahim El shirbini Abdel fattah

2013-01-01

The present study aimed at identifying the necessary writing performance skills for the first year secondary stage students. These skills are necessary for writing the compositions. In this study, the writing conferences and peer response groups strategies were used to develop the students' writing skills, improve their achievement and performance…

Writing: A Necessary Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Budig, Gene A.

2006-01-01

Faculty members at America's colleges and universities have long thought that an alarming number of high school graduates do not arrive on campus with the writing skills they need. Now leaders of major U.S. corporations are joining their academic colleagues in complaining about a serious deficiency in the writing skills of today's college…

The Effectiveness of a Program Based on the Combination of Relevance and Confidence Motivational Strategies in Developing EFL Argumentative Writing Skills and Overcoming Writing Apprehension among Students Teachers at Faculty of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed Helwa, Hasnaa Sabry Abdel-Hamid

2014-01-01

The aim of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of a program based on the combination of relevance and confidence motivational strategies in developing EFL argumentative writing skills and overcoming writing apprehension among students teachers at Faculty of Education. The design of the research is a mixed research methodology. It…

The Benefits of Peer Review and a Multisemester Capstone Writing Series on Inquiry and Analysis Skills in an Undergraduate Thesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weaver, K. F.; Morales, V.; Nelson, M.; Weaver, P. F.; Toledo, A.; Godde, K.

2016-01-01

This study examines the relationship between the introduction of a four-course writing-intensive capstone series and improvement in inquiry and analysis skills of biology senior undergraduates. To measure the impact of the multicourse write-to-learn and peer-review pedagogy on student performance, we used a modified Valid Assessment of Learning in…

Determining Change in Students' Writing Apprehension Scores in a Writing Intensive Course: A Pre-Test, Post-Test Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischer, Laura M.; Meyers, Courtney

2017-01-01

Writing skills are one of the most important skills college graduates need to possess; however, college graduates struggle to complete written communications proficiently in the workforce. Previous researchers have explained that college instructors must understand the students' fears with writing in order to create effective writing curriculum.…

Perceptions of Preceptors and Students on the Importance of Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fields, Tina T.; Hatala, Jeff J.; Nauert, Richard F.

2014-01-01

Health administration programs vary from other administrative programs based on emphasis in writing. Prior studies about writing skills in professional degree programs show student writing skills are not at a professional level. There is no literature at present that identifies important and essential writing skills related specifically to…

Using Literature-Based Prompts To Teach Writing Competencies: Directed Reading and Writing Lessons.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gelsinger, Barry D.

Intended to help teachers integrate writing instruction with the study of literature, this teaching guide offers a philosophy of writing instruction, describes a procedure for teaching reading and writing lessons, and provides a sequence of writing skills. For various literature selections, the guide defines vocabulary, provides topic discussion…

An Exploration of Changes in First-Year College Students' Writing Skills between High School and the Conclusion of the Composition Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prior, Susan Vivienne

2012-01-01

Effective writing skills are important for success in college, work, and for society. Although there is little argument about the importance of communication skills, there is more debate about whether or not students and graduates are actually attaining these skills. An examination of the impact of completing the college composition course on…

Writing as Praxis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yagelski, Robert P.

2012-01-01

In 2003, the National Commission on Writing released "The Neglected "R,"" its report on the state of writing instruction in the nation's schools. The report identified an apparent paradox: writing, which the Commission defines as an essential skill for the many that has helped transform the world, is nevertheless increasingly…

The Writing Mathematician

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoon, Caroline

2017-01-01

Popular culture casts mathematics and writing as opposites--a false dichotomy, which can be harmful for our discipline of mathematics education. Positioning writing outside the domain of the mathematician's abilities and cultivated skill set can create doubt in the mathematician wishing to write--not that one cannot be both writer and…

The Opinions of Instructors Teaching Turkish to Foreigners about the Writing Skills of Syrian Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sengül, Murat

2015-01-01

This study focuses on the difficulties experienced by the instructors while teaching writing skill to Arabians from Syria, and how these difficulties could be overcome. The study group of the research includes 11 instructors working in Turkish Teaching Centers (TTCs) of Cukurova University and Adana Science and Technology University. The data…

Writing Partners: Expanding the Audiences for Student Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillis, Candida

1994-01-01

Describes how one English teacher developed an approach to teaching writing that pairs student writers with writers in the community outside the school. Outlines the features of this writing partners project, including the responsibilities of each partner. Argues that such programs foster writer skill and self-esteem. (HB)

Using Prewriting Tasks in L2 Writing Classes: Insights from Three Experiments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDonough, Kim; Neumann, Heike

2014-01-01

Even though collaborative prewriting tasks are frequently used in second language (L2) writing classes (Fernández Dobao, 2012; Storch, 2005), they have not been as widely researched as other tasks, such as collaborative writing and peer review. This article examines the effectiveness of collaborative prewriting tasks at encouraging English for…

Effects of Dicto-Comp and Dictation on the Writing Skill of Female Adult Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adel, Rahil; Hashemian, Mahmood

2015-01-01

This study was an attempt to clarify and remind L2 learners/teachers of 2 kinds of writing: dicto-comp and dictation. We explored the effect of controlled writing on the accuracy of the writing of adult Iranian EFL learners. Prior to the study, the homogeneity of 30 adult EFL learners was checked through an OPT test. Thirty participants were…

Comparison of L1 and L2 Pre and Post Writing Samples of Bilingual Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyes, Maria de la Luz

A sample of 15 eighth-grade Hispanic students in a bilingual classroom were used for a descriptive analysis of students' writing samples to compare their growth between pre- and post- writing samples in Spanish and English. This was accomplished by juxtaposing English and Spanish pre- and post-tests using the same holistic rubric developed by the…

How the Writing Context Shapes College Students' Strategies for Writing from Sources. Technical Report No. 16.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Jennie; Hayes, John R.

Observing the composing processes of students working over real time in naturalistic settings, two exploratory studies asked: (1) What skills and assumptions do freshman and advanced writers invoke when they are searching for information to be used in writing? (2) What strategies and goals do students bring to a typical writing-from-sources task…

A writing intensive introductory course for RN to BSN students.

PubMed

Tesh, Anita S; Hyde, Yolanda M; Kautz, Donald D

2014-01-01

This article describes learning strategies used with RN to BSN students in their 1st nursing course to successfully learn how to write formal papers using the American Psychological Association (APA) format. This 1st nursing course, a writing intensive, requires 4 short papers with self, peer, and teacher critiques and opportunities to rewrite. Students learn the style of professional nursing discourse, mastery of APA format, and development of additional skills in following directions and in critiquing their own work. An additional benefit is to enhance learning about professional nursing topics. By mastering writing skills in this initial course, students are able to successfully complete writing assignments in future courses and, in some cases, move on to publication.

Technical report writing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vidoli, Carol A.

1992-01-01

This manual covers the fundamentals of organizing, writing, and reviewing NASA technical reports. It was written to improve the writing skills of LeRC technical authors and the overall quality of their reports.

On Written Corrective Feedback in L2 Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shao, Xu

2015-01-01

Truscott (1996) questions the practicability of grammar correction, and he believes that written corrective feedback (WCF) is not only a waste of time, but even harmful to the students as well. This has led to a great deal of discussion and research on WCF in second-language (L2) writing. Ferris (1999) is the representative opponent of Truscott's…

Technology and the Four Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blake, Robert

2016-01-01

Most L2 instructors implement their curriculum with an eye to improving the four skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Absent in this vision of language are notions of pragmatic, sociolinguistic, and multicultural competencies. Although current linguistic theories posit a more complex, interactive, and integrated model of language,…

Reading, writing, and phonological processing skills of adolescents with 10 or more years of cochlear implant experience.

PubMed

Geers, Ann E; Hayes, Heather

2011-02-01

This study had three goals: (1) to document the literacy skills of deaf adolescents who received cochlear implants (CIs) as preschoolers; (2) to examine reading growth from elementary grades to high school; (3) to assess the contribution of early literacy levels and phonological processing skills, among other factors, to literacy levels in high school. A battery of reading, spelling, expository writing, and phonological processing assessments were administered to 112 high school (CI-HS) students, ages 15.5 to 18.5 yrs, who had participated in a reading assessment battery in early elementary grades (CI-E), ages 8.0 to 9.9 yrs. The CI-HS students' performance was compared with either a control group of hearing peers (N = 46) or hearing norms provided by the assessment developer. Many of the CI-HS students (47 to 66%) performed within or above the average range for hearing peers on reading tests. When compared with their CI-E performance, good early readers were also good readers in high school. Importantly, the majority of CI-HS students maintained their reading levels over time compared with hearing peers, indicating that the gap in performance was, at the very least, not widening for most students. Written expression and phonological processing tasks posed a great deal of difficulty for the CI-HS students. They were poorer spellers, poorer expository writers, and displayed poorer phonological knowledge than hearing age-mates. Phonological processing skills were a critical predictor of high school literacy skills (reading, spelling, and expository writing), accounting for 39% of variance remaining after controlling for child, family, and implant characteristics. Many children who receive CIs as preschoolers achieve age-appropriate literacy levels as adolescents. However, significant delays in spelling and written expression are evident compared with hearing peers. For children with CIs, the development of phonological processing skills is not just important for

Writing to Learn in Social Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyer, Tara L.

2006-01-01

One of the best ways to enrich students' social studies experience is to include assignments in which students interact with social studies content and skills. In this article, the author explains how teachers can use writing exercises to encourage such interaction. She describes the following writing activities: (1) acrostics; (2) haiku; (3)…

Write Now! Using Reflective Writing beyond the Humanities and Social Sciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cannady, Rachel E.; Gallo, Kasia Z.

2016-01-01

Writing is an important teaching and learning tool that fosters active and critical thinking. There are multiple pressures for disciplines outside the humanities and social sciences to integrate writing in their courses. The shift from teaching solely discipline-specific skills to including writing in a meaningful way can be a daunting process. An…

"I Was Born Full Deaf." Written Language Outcomes after 1 Year of Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolbers, Kimberly A.; Dostal, Hannah M.; Bowers, Lisa M.

2012-01-01

Nonstandard grammatical forms are often present in the writing of deaf students that are rarely, if ever, seen in the writing of hearing students. With the implementation of Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI) in previous studies, students have demonstrated significant gains in high-level writing skills (e.g., text structure) but…

Writing Is Not Just a Basic Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Mark

2008-01-01

At many colleges, professors trained in the discipline of rhetoric and composition are finding that the specialized knowledge they bring to teaching writing is held in thrall to older notions of how students learn to write--what Linda Brodkey, an author and director of the Warren College Writing Program at the University of California at San…

Calibrating Genre: Metacognitive Judgments and Rhetorical Effectiveness in Academic Writing by L2 Graduate Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Negretti, Raffaella

2017-01-01

Several strands of applied linguistic research have emphasized the importance of genre awareness for academic writing students. Although metacognitive behaviors have been linked to L2 writing proficiency and performance, there is still the need for an account of how and why different metacognitive behaviors can help L2 academic writers to apply…

Diction and Expression in Error Analysis Can Enhance Academic Writing of L2 University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sajid, Muhammad

2016-01-01

Without proper linguistic competence in English language, academic writing is one of the most challenging tasks, especially, in various genre specific disciplines by L2 novice writers. This paper examines the role of diction and expression through error analysis in English language of L2 novice writers' academic writing in interdisciplinary texts…

Main Ingredients for Success in L2 Academic Writing: Outlining, Drafting and Proofreading.

PubMed

Munoz-Luna, Rosa

2015-01-01

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 second language (L2) academic writing, more specifically, the combination of metalinguistic items (e.g. transition and frame markers, among others) with students' writing strategies when composing an academic text in L2 English. 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 employ a wider range of writing strategies both prior and while writing, being able to (un)consciously structure and design their texts more successfully. These high-scoring students make more proficient use of complex transition markers for coherence and frame markers for textual cohesion; their commonly used (pre-)writing strategies are drafting, outlining, and proofreading.

Main Ingredients for Success in L2 Academic Writing: Outlining, Drafting and Proofreading

PubMed Central

Munoz-Luna, Rosa

2015-01-01

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 second language (L2) academic writing, more specifically, the combination of metalinguistic items (e.g. transition and frame markers, among others) with students’ writing strategies when composing an academic text in L2 English. 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 employ a wider range of writing strategies both prior and while writing, being able to (un)consciously structure and design their texts more successfully. These high-scoring students make more proficient use of complex transition markers for coherence and frame markers for textual cohesion; their commonly used (pre-)writing strategies are drafting, outlining, and proofreading. PMID:26046836

Teaching Composition Skills with Weekly Multiple Choice Tests in Lieu of Theme Writing. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scannell, Dale P.; Haugh, Oscar M.

The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness with which composition skills could be taught by the traditional theme-assignment approach and by an experimental method using weekly multiple-choice composition tests in lieu of theme writing. The weekly tests were based on original but typical first-draft compositions and covered problems…

Sustaining Preschoolers' Engagement during Interactive Writing Lessons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Anna H.

2016-01-01

Interactive writing is a developmentally appropriate activity used to enhance children's literacy development in the preschool setting. This article describes the unique needs of preschoolers as emerging writers, including their developing fine motor skills, early literacy skills, and social skills related to group writing. Strategies are provided…

Comprehension and Writing Strategy Training Improves Performance on Content-Specific Source-Based Writing Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weston-Sementelli, Jennifer L.; Allen, Laura K.; McNamara, Danielle S.

2016-01-01

Source-based essays are evaluated both on the quality of the writing and the content appropriate interpretation and use of source material. Hence, composing a high-quality source-based essay (an essay written based on source material) relies on skills related to both reading (the sources) and writing (the essay) skills. As such, source-based…

Comprehension and Writing Strategy Training Improves Performance on Content-Specific Source-Based Writing Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weston-Sementelli, Jennifer L.; Allen, Laura K.; McNamara, Danielle S.

2018-01-01

Source-based essays are evaluated both on the quality of the writing and the content appropriate interpretation and use of source material. Hence, composing a high-quality source-based essay (an essay written based on source material) relies on skills related to both reading (the sources) and writing (the essay) skills. As such, source-based…

The Writing Workshop and the Adult Learner.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peelen, Carolyn A.

Experience and research have shown that writing workshops are an excellent tool for improving workers' writing skills. In the past 5 years, the emphasis of writing instruction has shifted from a focus primarily on handwriting, correct spelling, and simple reinforcement of skills to a focus on empowering students by emphasizing fluency and student…

Learning to Write Like a Scientist: A Writing-Intensive Course for Microbiology/Health Science Students †

PubMed Central

Grzyb, Kimi; Snyder, Wesley; Field, Katharine G.

2018-01-01

Learning the tools and conventions of expert communication in the sciences provides multiple benefits to bioscience students, yet often these skills are not formally taught. To address this need, we designed a writing-intensive microbiology course on emerging infectious diseases to provide upper-division students with science-specific writing skills along with disciplinary course content. The course followed the guidelines of our university’s Writing Intensive Curriculum (WIC) program. Students wrote a press release, a case study, a controversy/position paper, and a grant prospectus, and revised drafts after feedback. To assess the course, in 2015 and 2016 we administered pre-post surveys and collected writing samples for analysis. Students reported on their experience, training, skills, and knowledge before taking the course. They then rated the extent to which the assignments, lectures, in-class activities, and writing activities contributed to their attainment of the learning outcomes of the course. Students entering the class were inexperienced in tools of science writing and the specific genres covered by the class. Their confidence levels rose in both skills and knowledge. Feedback from instructors was cited as most helpful in the majority of the areas where students reported the most gains. The survey provided evidence that discipline-specific knowledge had been acquired through writing activities. Teaching science writing by allowing the students to write “fiction” (e.g., a case report about a fictional patient) was effective in maintaining a high level of interest, both in learning the conventions of the genre and in seeking out detailed information about emerging infectious diseases. Both the course structure and the specific assignments would be useful at other institutions to teach science writing. PMID:29904515

Modeling Second Language Change Using Skill Retention Theory

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

xiv LIST OF TABLES Table 1. ILR and ACTFL Scale Comparison (From SIL International, 1999) ................5 Table 2. Metacognitive Learning Strategy...meaningful. • Speaking and writing are productive skill and require that a linguist actively produce information to be conveyed. E. RESEARCH...before productive skills (speaking and writing ) and attrition of these skills takes place in reverse order (Hansen & Reetz-Kurashige, 1999). Hansen

Writing for publication: institutional support provides an enabling environment.

PubMed

Kramer, Beverley; Libhaber, Elena

2016-04-18

Due to the excessive service delivery loads in public hospitals supported by academic institutions in developing environments, researchers at these institutions have little time to develop scientific writing skills or to write up their research. It is imperative to expand the writing skills of researchers and train the next generation of health sciences academics in order to disseminate research findings. This study reports on the implementation of approaches for writing and publication and the extent of support to staff suffering from the overload of service delivery and of heavy teaching duties. Workshops in scientific writing and writing retreats were initiated and were offered to all staff. Feedback from participants of the writing skills workshops indicated that the workshops provided an injection of confidence and proficiency. Protected writing time resulted in 132 papers submitted to journals and 95 in preparation from 230 participants of the writing retreats over a two year period. Staff commended the off-site, collegial environment, which also supported future collaboration with new-found colleagues. This enabling environment facilitates not only the development of writing skills per se, but also the dissemination of the generated scientific knowledge. In addition, the training in writing skills of this generation will be of value in the training of future cohorts in countries with similar health care deliverables.

"Thinking-for-Writing": A Prolegomenon on Writing Signed Languages.

PubMed

Rosen, Russell S; Hartman, Maria C; Wang, Ye

2017-01-01

In his article in this American Annals of the Deaf special issue that also includes the present article, Grushkin argues that the writing difficulties of many deaf and hard of hearing children result primarily from the orthographic nature of the writing system; he proposes a new system based on features found in signed languages. In response, the present authors review the literature on D/HH children's writing difficulties, outline the main percepts of and assumptions about writing signed languages, discuss "thinking-for-writing" as a process in developing writing skills, offer research designs to test the effectiveness of writing signed language systems, and provide strategies for adopting "thinking-for-writing" in education. They conclude that until empirical studies show that writing signed languages effectively reflects writers' "thinking-for-writing," the alphabetic orthographic system of English should still be used, and ways should be found to teach D/HH children to use English writing to express their thoughts.

The Relationship between Language Skills and Writing Outcomes for Linguistically Diverse Students in Upper Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silverman, Rebecca D.; Coker, David; Proctor, C. Patrick; Harring, Jeffrey; Piantedosi, Kelly W.; Hartranft, Anna M.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between language variables and writing outcomes with linguistically diverse students in grades 3-5. The participants were 197 children from three schools in one district in the mid-Atlantic United States. We assessed students' vocabulary knowledge and morphological and syntactical skill as…

Early Grade Writing Assessment: An Instrument Model.

PubMed

Jiménez, Juan E

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization promoted the creation of a model instrument for individual assessment of students' foundational writing skills in the Spanish language that was based on a literature review and existing writing tools and assessments. The purpose of the Early Grade Writing Assessment (EGWA) is to document learners' basic writing skills, mapped in composing units of increasing complexity to communicate meaning. Validation and standardization of EGWA was conducted in the Canary Islands (Spain) in 12 schools using a cross-sectional design with a sample of 1,653 Spanish-speaking students in Grades 1 through 3. The author describes EGWA's internal structure, along with the prevalence of learning disabilities (LD) in transcription and developmental differences in writing between Spanish-speaking children with LD and typical peers. Findings suggest that EGWA's psychometric characteristics are satisfactory, and its internal structure can be attributed to four factors responsible for a high percentage of the variance. The odds ratio indicated that 2 Spanish-speaking children with LD in transcription are identified out of every 100. A comparison between students with and without LD in transcription revealed statistically significant differences concerning sentence and text production across grades. Results are interpreted within current theoretical accounts of writing models.

A Not-So-Simple View of Adolescent Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poch, Apryl L.; Lembke, Erica S.

2017-01-01

According to the Simple View of Writing, four primary skills are necessary for successful writing (Berninger & Amtmann, 2003; Berninger & Winn, 2006). Transcription skills (e.g., handwriting, spelling) represent lower-order cognitive tasks, whereas text generation skills (e.g., ideation, translation) represent higher-order…

Emergent Writing in Preschoolers: Preliminary Evidence for a Theoretical Framework

PubMed Central

Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2014-01-01

Researchers and educators use the term emergent literacy to refer to a broad set of skills and attitudes that serve as foundational skills for acquiring success in later reading and writing; however, models of emergent literacy have generally focused on reading and reading-related behaviors. Hence, the primary aim of this study was to articulate and evaluate a theoretical model of the components of emergent writing. Alternative models of the structure of individual and developmental differences of emergent writing and writing-related skills were examined in 372 preschool children who ranged in age from 3- to 5-years using confirmatory factor analysis. Results from a confirmatory factor analysis provide evidence that these emergent writing skills are best described by three correlated but distinct factors, (a) Conceptual Knowledge, (b) Procedural Knowledge, and (c) Generative Knowledge. Evidence that these three emergent writing factors show different patterns of relations to emergent literacy constructs is presented. Implications for understanding the development of writing and assessment of early writing skills are discussed. PMID:25316955

Plagiarism in Second-Language Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pecorari, Diane; Petric, Bojana

2014-01-01

Plagiarism is a broad and multidisciplinary field of study, and within second-language (L2) writing, research on the topic goes back to the mid-1980s. In this review article we first discuss the received view of plagiarism as a transgressive act and alternative understandings which have been presented in the L1 and L2 writing literature. We then…

Investigating Differences in the Writing Performance of International and Generation 1.5 Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

di Gennaro, Kristen

2009-01-01

Practitioners working closely with second language (L2) writers in the US recognize at least two types of L2 students: international (IL2) and Generation 1.5 (G1.5) students. Some argue that specific differences in each group's writing performance are evident (cf. Harklau, 2003; Reid, 2006); however, investigations into observable and measurable…

Functional Adequacy in L2 Writing: Towards a New Rating Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuiken, Folkert; Vedder, Ineke

2017-01-01

The importance of functional adequacy as an essential component of L2 proficiency has been observed by several authors (Pallotti, 2009; De Jong, Steinel, Florijn, Schoonen, & Hulstijn, 2012a, b). The rationale underlying the present study is that the assessment of writing proficiency in L2 is not fully possible without taking into account the…

Talking Grammatically: L1 Adolescent Metalinguistic Reflection on Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Annabel Mary; Newman, Ruth Malka Charlotte

2017-01-01

This study investigated the metalinguistic reflections of 12 students, aged 14-15 years, undertaking a unit of work focused on reading and writing non-fiction. The unit embedded contextualised grammar teaching into preparation for English Language examinations. Students were interviewed twice, with prompts to discuss a sample of argument text in…

Investigating the Relationship between Critical Thinking Skills and the Quality of Iranian Intermediate TEFL Students' Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nikou, Farahnaz Rimani; Bonyadi, Alireza; Amirikar, Negin

2015-01-01

The current study intended to find out the relationship between critical thinking skills and the quality of Iranian TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) students' writing. One-hundred forty students who were homogeneous in their language proficiency were selected non-randomly. The researcher asked students to take part in a proficiency…

Fostering the Memoir Writing Skills as a Creative Non-Fiction Genre Using a WebQuest Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Sayed, Rania Kamal Muhammad; Abdel-Haq, Eman Muhammad; El-Deeb, Mervat Abou-Bakr; Ali, Mahsoub Abdel-Sadeq

2016-01-01

The present study aimed at developing the memoir writing skills as a creative non-fiction genre of second year distinguished governmental language preparatory school pupils using the a WebQuest model. Fifty participants from second year at Hassan Abu-Bakr Distinguished Governmental Language School at Al-Qanater Al-Khairia(Qalubia Governorate) were…

Writing for New Readers: Message-Making in Print. Workshop Series. Occasional Papers on Basic Education. Paper Nr. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bhola, H. S.

At the heart of the enterprise of providing reading materials to new readers is the writer. The writer must write before the new literates can read and must write both effectively and interestingly. Although talent helps, acquired skills play an important part in writing, especially in expository writing. More important, to enable them to produce…

Teaching Writing in Graduate School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sallee, Margaret; Hallett, Ronald; Tierney, William

2011-01-01

Graduate students are typically expected to know how to write. Those who write poorly are occasionally penalized, but little in-class attention is given to help students continue to develop and refine their writing skills. More often than not, writing courses at the graduate level are remedial programs designed for international students and…

How Do I Write…? Scaffolding Preschoolers' Early Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cabell, Sonia Q.; Tortorelli, Laura S.; Gerde, Hope K.

2013-01-01

Providing preschoolers with rich writing experiences can help to lay a foundation for their later reading and writing success. Early writing experiences can be greatly enhanced by how preschool teachers answer young children's questions about writing and engage them in productive writing instruction. With appropriate scaffolding, early writing…

Social Motives for Writing Psychology: Writing for and with Younger Readers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vipond, Douglas

1993-01-01

Describes a cooperative writing project involving a college-level psychology class and a ninth-grade English class. Discusses different concepts of psychology held by the two student groups. Concludes with suggestions for improving writing skills and helping students become more authoritative writers. (CFR)

Keys to Improving Writing in the Primary Grades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bassett, Diane; DeVine, Denise; Perry, Nancy; Rueth, Catherine

This action research describes a program for improving writing skills. The targeted population consisted of first and third graders in two middle class communities in the southern suburbs of Chicago. The need for improvement in writing skills was documented through observation checklists, writing samples, and surveys. Data revealed a need for…

Writing-to-Learn in the Inquiry-Science Classroom: Effective Strategies from Middle School Science and Writing Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, William P.; Barstack, Renee; Clark, Diane; Hull, Elizabeth; Goodman, Ben; Kook, Judy; Kraft, Kaatje; Ramakrishna, Pushpa; Roberts, Elisabeth; Shaw, Jerome; Weaver, David; Lang, Michael

2008-01-01

Student writing skills are an important concern for every teacher. This is especially true when using inquiry-based approaches in the science classroom. Writing promotes critical-thinking skills and construction of vital scientific concepts and challenges ingrained misconceptions. Yet, many teachers encounter practical problems when incorporating…

Technical Writing in Hydrogeology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tinker, John R., Jr.

1986-01-01

A project for Writing Across the Curriculum at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is described as a method to relate the process of writing to the process of learning hydrology. The project focuses on an actual groundwater contamination case and is designed to improve the technical writing skills of students. (JN)

An ESL Audio-Script Writing Workshop

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Carla

2012-01-01

The roles of dialogue, collaborative writing, and authentic communication have been explored as effective strategies in second language writing classrooms. In this article, the stages of an innovative, multi-skill writing method, which embeds students' personal voices into the writing process, are explored. A 10-step ESL Audio Script Writing Model…

Computer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficiency Students: Project COMPUGRAFIA.LEP 1988-89. OREA Evaluation Section Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Keyes, Jose L.

The Computer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficient Students (Project COMPUGRAFIA.LEP), bilingual special education classes totalling 375 Spanish-speaking students at 10 elementary schools in the Bronx, is evaluated. The project proposed to assist site teachers in developing appropriate lesson plans and effective teaching techniques and…

Writing Plays Using Creative Problem-Solving.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raiser, Lynne; Hinson, Shirley

1995-01-01

This article describes a project which involved inner city elementary grade children with disabilities in writing and performing their own plays. A four-step playwriting process focuses on theme and character development, problem finding, and writing dialogue. The project has led to improved reading skills, attention, memory skills,…

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading.

PubMed

Cao, Fan; Perfetti, Charles A

2016-01-01

Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level.

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading

PubMed Central

Cao, Fan; Perfetti, Charles A.

2016-01-01

Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level. PMID:27992505

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Stylewriter and Microsoft Word Computer Software to Improve English Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prvinchandar, Sunita; Ayub, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd

2014-01-01

This study compared the effectiveness of two types of computer software for improving the English writing skills of pupils in a Malaysian primary school. Sixty students who participated in the seven-week training course were divided into two groups, with the experimental group using the StyleWriter software and the control group using the…

Rubric Use in Formative Assessment: A Detailed Behavioral Rubric Helps Students Improve Their Scientific Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberg, Kathleen P.

2015-01-01

A detailed rubric initially designed as a scoring instrument for grading APA-style empirical research reports was tested for its ability to help students improve their scientific writing skills. Students who used the rubric while preparing their reports wrote a higher quality report than did students who did not. Students also improved the quality…

Tips for scholarly writing in nursing.

PubMed

Dexter, P

2000-01-01

Professional nurses, and certainly those in academia and nursing service leadership positions, are experiencing an increasing need for writing skills. Among the most important skills required for scholarly writing are those relating to critical thinking. With this in mind, suggestions for scholarly writing in nursing are presented in this article, organized according to Paul's criteria for critical thinking: clarity, precision, specificity, accuracy, relevance, consistency, logicalness, depth, completeness, significance, fairness, and adequacy for purpose. Although becoming proficient in scholarly writing takes time and effort, the rewards in terms of career advancement, professional contributions, and personal satisfaction and enjoyment are considerable.

Integrating K-W-L Prompts into Science Journal Writing: Can Simple Question Scaffolding Increase Student Content Knowledge?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Brandon Joel

Writing-to-learn strategies have been administered in the past to enrich student learning. The purpose of this study was to see if K-W-L prompts in science journal writing could benefit student content knowledge within biology. Two high school biology classes were provided with learning journals. The journals given to the students during the treatment unit were provided with K-W-L question prompts to guide student learning while during the comparison unit students were given an open ended writing assignment. Pre and posttests were administered to determine student-learning gains. Student motivations and opinions of the treatment were collected through student interviews. The combined results were used to determine to what extent could K-W-L prompts in science journal writing influence comprehension of content knowledge. This study found there to be no difference in student learning gains when utilizing the K-W-L literacy strategy versus another free-writing activity. When scored, student K-W-Ls total scores did correlate to student success on unit tests. This opens up the potential for K-W-Ls to serve as an adequate tool for formative assessment. Here the K-W-L could be expanded to enrich student question asking, potentially aid students learning English, and potentially be used by students without teacher scaffolding.

Strengthening Academic Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bodnar, Julie R.; Petrucelli, Susan L.

2016-01-01

Underprepared students often need assistance building writing skills and maintaining confidence in their abilities and potential. The authors share the philosophy, pedagogy, and experience of freshman developmental education and the writing center at a four-year, private, not-for-profit urban college. They describe high-impact educational…

The Quotation Theory of Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olson, David R.; Oatley, Keith

2014-01-01

Learning to read and write is seen as both the acquisition of skills useful in a modern society and an introduction to a world increasingly organized around the reading and writing of authoritative texts. While most agree on the importance of writing, insufficient attention has been given to the more basic question of just what writing is, that…

Teaching Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tomas, Z.; Kostka, I.; Mott-Smith, J. A.

2013-01-01

The authors of "Teaching Writing" draw on their years of teaching and their knowledge of theory and research to present major concepts in teaching L2 writing. These concepts encompass how cultural differences affect the writing class, planning instruction, text-based writing, writing strategies, modeling, and responding to student…

Improving Writing through Stages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera Barreto, Adriana Maritza

2011-01-01

Writing as a means of communication is one of the basic skills students must master at the university level. Although it is not an easy task because students are usually reluctant to correct, teachers have great responsibility at the time of guiding a writing process. For that reason, this study aimed at improving the writing process in fourth…

A novel approach to improving writing skills: ClimateSnack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reeve, Mathew

2014-05-01

Writing is a huge part of any research career. We can think of writing as a research tool we find in any research laboratory. Much like any research tool, we have to understand how to calibrate, adjust and apply it in order to achieve the very best experimental outcomes. We can learn how to use this tool with advice from writing workshops, online writing courses, books and so on. Unfortunately, when it comes to working with this tool, we often have to do it alone. But, like in any laboratory, the most rewarding way to learn and to achieve the best results is to interact with others. Through this interaction, we can improve our writing and remain motivated. ClimateSnack aims to help early career scientists understand how they can use writing as an effective research tool. We encourage the formation of writing groups at different universities and institutes. Members write short popular science articles and read them aloud at group meetings. The group uses knowledge from different learning resources to discuss the articles and give feedback. The author then improves their writing further before publishing on the ClimateSnack website. If early-career scientists can successfully increase their control of writing, they will more likely write memorable high-impact scientific articles, and confidently communicate their science via varied media to varied audiences.

Functional Anatomy of Writing with the Dominant Hand

PubMed Central

Najee-ullah, Muslimah ‘Ali; Hallett, Mark

2013-01-01

While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand. PMID:23844132

Functional anatomy of writing with the dominant hand.

PubMed

Horovitz, Silvina G; Gallea, Cecile; Najee-Ullah, Muslimah 'ali; Hallett, Mark

2013-01-01

While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand.

Machine Learning Based Evaluation of Reading and Writing Difficulties.

PubMed

Iwabuchi, Mamoru; Hirabayashi, Rumi; Nakamura, Kenryu; Dim, Nem Khan

2017-01-01

The possibility of auto evaluation of reading and writing difficulties was investigated using non-parametric machine learning (ML) regression technique for URAWSS (Understanding Reading and Writing Skills of Schoolchildren) [1] test data of 168 children of grade 1 - 9. The result showed that the ML had better prediction than the ordinary rule-based decision.

Drawing on Technical Writing Scholarship for the Teaching of Writing to Advanced ESL Students--A Writing Tutorial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zielinska, Dorota

2003-01-01

The article outlines the technical writing tutorial (TWT) that preceded an advanced ESL writing course for students of English Philology at the Jagiellonian University. Having assessed the English skills of those students at the end of the semester, we found a statistically significant increase in the performance of the students who had taken the…

Classroom Writing Environments and Children's Early Writing Skills: An Observational Study in Head Start Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Chenyi; Hur, Jinhee; Diamond, Karen E.; Powell, Douglas

2015-01-01

This study examined the classroom writing environment in 31 Head Start classrooms, and explored the relations between the writing environment, children's (N = 262) name-writing, and children's letter knowledge using pathway analysis. Our analyses showed that Head Start classrooms provided opportunities (i.e., writing materials and teachers'…

Recycle, Reformulate, Reevaluate: The Three R's for Writing in the Language Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swenson, Barbara E.

A discussion of second language writing instruction illustrates how writing activities can be incorporated into regular classroom activities and outlines strategies for providing purpose, feedback, and assessment while integrating language skills and culture. Three stages in the writing process are identified: (1) recycling previous information…

The Benefits of Peer Review and a Multisemester Capstone Writing Series on Inquiry and Analysis Skills in an Undergraduate Thesis

PubMed Central

Weaver, K. F.; Morales, V.; Nelson, M.; Weaver, P. F.; Toledo, A.; Godde, K.

2016-01-01

This study examines the relationship between the introduction of a four-course writing-intensive capstone series and improvement in inquiry and analysis skills of biology senior undergraduates. To measure the impact of the multicourse write-to-learn and peer-review pedagogy on student performance, we used a modified Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education rubric for Inquiry and Analysis and Written Communication to score senior research theses from 2006 to 2008 (pretreatment) and 2009 to 2013 (intervention). A Fisher-Freeman-Halton test and a two-sample Student’s t test were used to evaluate individual rubric dimensions and composite rubric scores, respectively, and a randomized complete block design analysis of variance was carried out on composite scores to examine the impact of the intervention across ethnicity, legacy (e.g., first-generation status), and research laboratory. The results show an increase in student performance in rubric scoring categories most closely associated with science literacy and critical-thinking skills, in addition to gains in students’ writing abilities. PMID:27789531

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Writing and their Relations to Language and Reading

PubMed Central

Olson, Richard K.; Hulslander, Jacqueline; Christopher, Micaela; Keenan, Janice M.; Wadsworth, Sally J.; Willcutt, Erik G.; Pennington, Bruce F.; DeFries, John C.

2011-01-01

Identical and fraternal twins (N = 540, age 8 to 18 years) were tested on three different measures of writing (Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement-Writing Samples and Writing Fluency; Handwriting Copy from the Group Diagnostic Reading and Aptitude Achievement Tests), three different language skills (Phonological Awareness, Rapid Naming, and Vocabulary), and three different reading skills (Word Recognition, Spelling, and Reading Comprehension). Substantial genetic influence was found on two of the writing measures, Writing Samples and Handwriting Copy, and all of the language and reading measures. Shared environment influences were generally not significant, except for vocabulary. Non-shared environment estimates, including measurement error, were significant for all variables. Genetic influences among the writing measures were significantly correlated (highest between the speeded measures Writing Fluency and Handwriting Copy), but there were also significant independent genetic influences between Copy and Samples and between Fluency and Samples. Genetic influences on writing were significantly correlated with genetic influences on all of the language and reading skills, but significant independent genetic influences were also found for Copy and Samples, whose genetic correlations were significantly less than 1.0 with the reading and language skills. The genetic correlations varied significantly in strength depending on the overlap between the writing, language, and reading task demands. We discuss implications of our results for education, limitations of the study, and new directions for research on writing and its relations to language and reading. PMID:21842316

Write to Read: Investigating the Reading-Writing Relationship of Code-Level Early Literacy Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Cindy D.; Reutzel, D. Ray

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the code-related features used in current methods of writing instruction in kindergarten classrooms transfer reading outcomes for kindergarten students. We randomly assigned kindergarten students to 3 instructional groups: a writing workshop group, an interactive writing group, and a control group.…

Middlesex Community College Software Technical Writing Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Middlesex Community Coll., Bedford, MA.

This document describes the Software Technical Writing Program at Middlesex Community College (Massachusetts). The program is a "hands-on" course designed to develop job-related skills in three major areas: technical writing, software, and professional skills. The program was originally designed in cooperation with the Massachusetts High…

The Effect of Different Types of Written Scaffolds on EFL Learners' Perception of Writing Self-Regulatory Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hemmati, Fatemeh; Mortazavi, Mahboobeh

2017-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the impact of different types of scaffolds on the writing regulatory skills of a cohort of Iranian learners of English (N = 120). The article reports a comparison of the pretest and posttest performance of learners in 4 experimental conditions--namely, the metacognitive scaffolds, conceptual scaffolds, procedural…

Dynamic Assessment of Writing: The Impact of Implicit/Explicit Mediations on L2 Learners' Internalization of Writing Skills and Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alavi, Sayyed Mohammad; Taghizadeh, Mahboubeh

2014-01-01

Dynamic assessment is a procedure in which development is simultaneously assessed and improved with regard to the individual's or group's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD; Lantolf & Poehner, 2004). This study aimed to follow dynamic assessment and investigate the impact of three types of implicit and explicit feedback on the essay writing of…

Writing Apprehension and the Writing Process. Learning Package No. 32.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collins, Norma, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on writing apprehension and the writing process is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC…

Development of a Writing Center: A Bright Idea.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKeague, Patricia M.; Reis, Elizabeth

Recognizing that good writing skills are critical to achieving college and career success, the Communications Department at Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC) initiated a 10-month research and planning process which culminated in the establishment of a Writing Center (WC) in the fall of 1990. The objectives of the WC are to: (1) offer all…

Getting It in Writing: The Quest to Become Outstanding and Effective Teachers of Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stankevich, Deborah M., Ed.

2011-01-01

Sixteen teachers. Sixteen journeys. All on a quest to become outstanding teachers of writing. All taking different paths to acquire and hone those skills that make a teacher effective. From kindergarten to college, teachers are faced with the daunting task of instilling the art of writing in their students. From creative writing to research, the…

The Writer's Individualized Transfer Tool: A Freeware Innovation for Fostering and Researching Transfer of Writing Skills and Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khost, Peter H.

2015-01-01

Most higher education institutions lack a program that promotes students' transfer--that is, reapplication or repurposing--of writing skills and knowledge across the curriculum, a phenomenon that research shows does not tend to happen without deliberate sustained support. This article introduces an online instrument, the Writer's Individualized…

Writing Activities for Developing Reading Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karlin, Robert; Karlin, Andrea R.

As both draw upon language and experience, and both deal with meaning, writing and reading can be learned concurrently. Writing activities having a positive effect on reading skills include notetaking and sentence combining exercises. A more productive way of improving reading comprehension through writing is to have students base their writing on…

Writing Well: The Long-Term Effect on Empathy, Observation, and Physician Writing Through a Residency Writers' Workshop.

PubMed

Lemay, Megan; Encandela, John; Sanders, Lisa; Reisman, Anna

2017-06-01

Writing narratives during medical training can provide a way to derive meaning from challenging experiences, enhance reflection, and combat burnout. The Yale Internal Medicine Residency Writers' Workshop, an annual 2-day intensive workshop followed by faculty-guided writing revision and publication, has been training resident physicians in the craft of writing since 2003. The study aimed to assess the long-term effects of a craft-focused writers' workshop for residents on empathy, observation skills, and future writing. A survey of closed and open-ended questions was sent to former workshop participants (2003-2013), who rated and described the workshop's influence on their observation skills, empathy, improvement in writing, and continued informal and formal writing. A total of 89 of 130 participants (68%) completed the online survey. We identified key themes in written responses and collected quantitative ratings on a 5-point Likert scale of self-reported influence on these factors. Simple statistics and narrative analysis were used to derive results. Most participants agreed or strongly agreed that the workshop influenced their ability for careful observation (72 of 85, 85%); ability to be empathic with patients or colleagues (51 of 77, 66%); quality of writing (69 of 77, 90%); and continued formal or informal writing (52 of 77 [68%] and 41 of 77 [53%], respectively). Participants felt the workshop improved their attention to detail, provided a deeper understanding of others' experiences, and improved their writing. Participants in a residency writers' workshop experienced lasting effects on observation, empathy, and writing skills.

Writing Well: The Long-Term Effect on Empathy, Observation, and Physician Writing Through a Residency Writers' Workshop

PubMed Central

Encandela, John; Sanders, Lisa; Reisman, Anna

2017-01-01

Background Writing narratives during medical training can provide a way to derive meaning from challenging experiences, enhance reflection, and combat burnout. The Yale Internal Medicine Residency Writers' Workshop, an annual 2-day intensive workshop followed by faculty-guided writing revision and publication, has been training resident physicians in the craft of writing since 2003. Objective The study aimed to assess the long-term effects of a craft-focused writers' workshop for residents on empathy, observation skills, and future writing. Methods A survey of closed and open-ended questions was sent to former workshop participants (2003–2013), who rated and described the workshop's influence on their observation skills, empathy, improvement in writing, and continued informal and formal writing. A total of 89 of 130 participants (68%) completed the online survey. We identified key themes in written responses and collected quantitative ratings on a 5-point Likert scale of self-reported influence on these factors. Simple statistics and narrative analysis were used to derive results. Results Most participants agreed or strongly agreed that the workshop influenced their ability for careful observation (72 of 85, 85%); ability to be empathic with patients or colleagues (51 of 77, 66%); quality of writing (69 of 77, 90%); and continued formal or informal writing (52 of 77 [68%] and 41 of 77 [53%], respectively). Participants felt the workshop improved their attention to detail, provided a deeper understanding of others' experiences, and improved their writing. Conclusions Participants in a residency writers' workshop experienced lasting effects on observation, empathy, and writing skills. PMID:28638517

Cohesive Errors in Writing among ESL Pre-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwan, Lisa S. L.; Yunus, Melor Md

2014-01-01

Writing is a complex skill and one of the most difficult to master. A teacher's weak writing skills may negatively influence their students. Therefore, reinforcing teacher education by first determining pre-service teachers' writing weaknesses is imperative. This mixed-methods error analysis study aims to examine the cohesive errors in the writing…

The cross-linguistic transfer of early literacy skills: the role of initial L1 and L2 skills and language of instruction.

PubMed

Cárdenas-Hagan, Elsa; Carlson, Coleen D; Pollard-Durodola, Sharolyn D

2007-07-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of initial first and second language proficiencies as well as the language of instruction that a student receives on the relationship between native language ability of students who are English language learners (ELLs) and their development of early literacy skills and the second language. This study investigated the development of early language and literacy skills among Spanish-speaking students in 2 large urban school districts, 1 middle-size urban district, and 1 border district. A total of 1,016 ELLs in kindergarten participated in the study. Students were administered a comprehensive battery of tests in English and Spanish, and classroom observations provided information regarding the Spanish or English language use of the teacher. Findings from this study suggest that Spanish-speaking students with high Spanish letter name and sound knowledge tend to show high levels of English letter name and sound knowledge. ELLs with low Spanish and English letter name and sound knowledge tend to show high levels of English letter name and sound knowledge when they are instructed in English. Letter name and sound identification skills are fairly highly positively correlated across languages in the beginning of the kindergarten year. In addition, phonological awareness skills appear to be the area with the most significant and direct transfer of knowledge, and language skills do not appear to be a factor in the development of phonological awareness. Finally, the relationship between oral language skills across languages was low, suggesting little relationship between oral language skills across languages at the beginning of the kindergarten year. Results from this study suggest that pedagogical decisions for ELLs should not only consider effective instructional literacy strategies but also acknowledge that the language of instruction for Spanish-speaking ELLs may produce varying results for different students.

Influence of Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition Technique on Foreign Students' Reading and Writing Skills in Turkish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varisoglu, Behice

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to reveal whether the technique of Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) in Turkish Language teaching had influence on students' skills in reading and writing. In the study, the mixed method, which included quantitative and qualitative dimensions together, was used. The study group was made up of 16…

Developing Students' Referencing Skills: A Matter of Plagiarism, Punishment and Morality or of Learning to Write Critically?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vardi, Iris

2012-01-01

Just as plagiarism is viewed poorly in the academic community, so is plagiarism viewed poorly in student writing, with a range of sanctions and penalties applying for not displaying academic integrity. Yet learning to cite effectively to progress one's argument, position or understandings is a skill that takes time to develop and hone. This paper…

The Effect of Journal Writing on Students' Cognitive Critical Thinking Skills: "A Quasi-Experimental Research on an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Undergraduate Classroom in Egypt"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaarawy, Hanaa Youssef

2014-01-01

Based on writing weekly academic journals and on Bloom's (1984) taxonomy of cognitive critical thinking skills, this article reports on a quasi-experiment where journal writing was an additional task to an academic writing course. The experiment was carried out with first year university students (semester two) in one of the Egyptian private…

Working Smarter, Not Working Harder: Revisiting Teacher Feedback in the L2 Writing Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Icy

2011-01-01

Although second language (L2) teachers spend a significant amount of time marking students' writing, many of them feel that their efforts do not pay off. While students want teachers to give them feedback on their writing and value teacher feedback, they might experience feelings of frustration and confusion once they receive it. What is amiss in…

Writing Matters to Urban Middle Level Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yost, Deborah S.; Vogel, Robert

2012-01-01

This article provides an overview of the Writers Matter program, which allows adolescents to use their life stories as a vehicle for self-expression and writing skill development. Evaluations of the program have show increased writing skills among participating students in the areas of focus, content, organization, and grammar. Additional benefits…

Individual Differences in the Development of Early Writing Skills: Testing the Unique Contribution of Visuo-Spatial Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bourke, Lorna; Davies, Simon J.; Sumner, Emma; Green, Carolyn

2014-01-01

Visually mediated processes including, exposure to print (e.g. reading) as well as orthographic transcription and coding skills, have been found to contribute to individual differences in literacy development. The current study examined the role of visuospatial working memory (WM) in underpinning this relationship and emergent writing. One hundred…

Helping Vocational and Academic Teachers Collaborate To Improve Students' Reading and Writing Skills: An Over-Time Inservice Activity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, B. June; Beeken, Lois A.

Staff development was provided for academic and vocational teachers interested in improving their students' reading and writing skills. The first step was to examine the need. Survey data collected from students and vocational program completers from Southern Regional Education Board-Vocational Education Consortium pilot site schools revealed a…

Improving together: better science writing through peer learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stiller-Reeve, Mathew A.; Heuzé, Céline; Ball, William T.; White, Rachel H.; Messori, Gabriele; van der Wiel, Karin; Medhaug, Iselin; Eckes, Annemarie H.; O'Callaghan, Amee; Newland, Mike J.; Williams, Sian R.; Kasoar, Matthew; Wittmeier, Hella Elisa; Kumer, Valerie

2016-07-01

Science, in our case the climate and geosciences, is increasingly interdisciplinary. Scientists must therefore communicate across disciplinary boundaries. For this communication to be successful, scientists must write clearly and concisely, yet the historically poor standard of scientific writing does not seem to be improving. Scientific writing must improve, and the key to long-term improvement lies with the early-career scientist (ECS). Many interventions exist for an ECS to improve their writing, like style guides and courses. However, momentum is often difficult to maintain after these interventions are completed. Continuity is key to improving writing. This paper introduces the ClimateSnack project, which aims to motivate ECSs to develop and continue to improve their writing and communication skills. The project adopts a peer-learning framework where ECSs voluntarily form writing groups at different institutes around the world. The group members learn, discuss, and improve their writing skills together. Several ClimateSnack writing groups have formed. This paper examines why some of the groups have flourished and others have dissolved. We identify the challenges involved in making a writing group successful and effective, notably the leadership of self-organized groups, and both individual and institutional time management. Within some of the groups, peer learning clearly offers a powerful tool to improve writing as well as bringing other benefits, including improved general communication skills and increased confidence.

Adult Education Basic Skills Task Force: Writing Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Utah State Office of Education, Salt Lake City.

In response to the Utah State Board of Education's new high school graduation requirements, five task forces of adult basic education teachers were charged with the identification of functional competencies for adult students in the areas of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and computation, and with the development of curricular materials…

Incorporating A Structured Writing Process into Existing CLS Curricula.

PubMed

Honeycutt, Karen; Latshaw, Sandra

2014-01-01

Good communication and critical thinking are essential skills for all successful professionals, including Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Laboratory Science (CLS/MLS) practitioners. Professional programs can incorporate writing assignments into their curricula to improve student written communication and critical thinking skills. Clearly defined, scenario-focused writing assignments provide student practice in clearly articulating responses to proposed problems or situations, researching and utilizing informational resources, and applying and synthesizing relevant information. Assessment rubrics, structured feedback, and revision writing methodologies help guide students through the writing process. This article describes how a CLS Program in a public academic medical center, located in the central United States (US) serving five centrally-located US states has incorporated writing intensive assignments into an existing 11-month academic year using formal, informal and reflective writing to improve student written communication and critical thinking skills. Faculty members and employers of graduates assert that incorporating writing intensive requirements have better prepared students for their professional role to effectively communicate and think critically.

Expressive writing in people with traumatic brain injury and learning disability.

PubMed

Wheeler, Lisa; Nickerson, Sherry; Long, Kayla; Silver, Rebecca

2014-01-01

There is a dearth of systematic studies of expressive writing disorder (EWD) in persons with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). It is unclear if TBI survivors' written expression differs significantly from that experienced by persons with learning disabilities. It is also unclear which cognitive or neuropsychological variables predict problems with expressive writing (EW) or the EWD. This study investigated the EW skill, and the EWD in adults with mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) relative to those with learning disabilities (LD). It also determined which of several cognitive variables predicted EW and EWD. Principle Component Analysis (PCA) of writing samples from 28 LD participants and 28 TBI survivors revealed four components of expressive writing skills: Reading Ease, Sentence Fluency, Grammar and Spelling, and Paragraph Fluency. There were no significant differences between the LD and TBI groups on any of the expressive writing components. Several neuropsychological variables predicted skills of written expression. The best predictors included measures of spatial perception, verbal IQ, working memory, and visual memory. TBI survivors and persons with LD do not differ markedly in terms of expressive writing skill. Measures of spatial perception, visual memory, verbal intelligence, and working memory predict writing skill in both groups. Several therapeutic interventions are suggested that are specifically designed to improve deficits in expressive writing skills in individuals with TBI and LD.

An online academic writing and publishing skills course: Help Syrians find their voice

PubMed Central

Sabouni, Ammar; Chaar, Abdelkader; Bdaiwi, Yamama; Masrani, Abdulrahman; Abolaban, Heba; Alahdab, Fares; Firwana, Belal; Al-Moujahed, Ahmad

2017-01-01

Purpose: A group of Arab-American physicians and researchers in the United States organized a blended online course in academic writing and publishing in medicine targeting medical students and physicians in war-torn Syria. This was an effort to address one of the reasons behind the poor quantity and quality of scientific research papers in Syria and the Arab region. In this paper, we report on the design, conduct, and outcome of this course and attempt to evaluate its effectiveness. Methods: The educational intervention was a 2-month blended online course. We administered a questionnaire to assess satisfaction and self-reported improvement in knowledge, confidence, and skills of academic writing and publishing. Results: The course succeeded in reaching more than 2588 physicians and medical students from the region; 159 of them completed most of the course. Eighty-three percent of the participants felt that they were confident enough to write an academic paper after the course and 95% felt the learning objectives were achieved with an average student satisfaction of 8.4 out of 10. Conclusion: Physicians in Syria and neighboring countries are in need of training to become an active part of the global scientific community and to document and communicate the crisis their countries are going through from a medical perspective. Low-cost online educational initiatives help respond, at least partially, to those needs. PMID:28791242

A Manual for Readable Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klare, George R.

One of the ways to handle the increasing demands on readers' skills is to make writing more readable. The problem has two different aspects: predicting how readable writing will be to a reader, and producing writing that is readable to that reader. Prediction is relatively simple, and can be done statistically with readability formulas. Production…

Literacy Cafe: Making Writing Authentic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniels, Erika

2007-01-01

The "Literacy Cafe," a celebration of genre study and student writing, offers students (and visitors!) a positive environment in which to engage in reading and discussion of writing without self-consciousness or fear of criticism. It works because students learn to recognize writing as a learning tool and a relevant, authentic skill in the real…

Learning to Write Letters: Examination of Student and Letter Factors

PubMed Central

Puranik, Cynthia S.; Petscher, Yaacov; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2016-01-01

Learning to write the letters of the alphabet is an important part of learning how to write conventionally. In this study, we investigated critical factors in the development of letter-writing skills using exploratory item response models to simultaneously account for variance in responses due to differences between students and between letters. Letter-writing skills were assessed in 415 preschool children aged 3 to 5 years. At the student level, we examined the contribution of letter-name knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, and phonological awareness to letter-writing skills. At the letter level, we examined seven intrinsic and extrinsic factors in understanding how preschool children learn to write alphabet letters: first letter of name, letters in name, letter order, textual frequency, number of strokes, symmetry, and letter type. Results indicated that variation in letter-writing skills was accounted for more by differences between students rather than by differences between letters, with most of the variability accounted for by letter-name knowledge and age. Although significant, the contribution of letter-sound knowledge and phonological awareness was relatively small. Student-level mechanisms underlying the acquisition of letter-writing skills are similar to the mechanisms underlying the learning of letter sounds. However, letter characteristics, which appear to play a major role in the learning of letter names and letter sounds, did not appear to influence learning how to write letters in a substantial way. The exception was if the letter was in the child’s name. PMID:25181463

Learning to Write and Draw

MedlinePlus

... LinkedIn Share via email Print How Your Child’s Writing and Art Changes Over Time Creativity is a ... What Can You Do to Encourage Art and Writing Skills Make art a regular part of playtime. ...

Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats.

PubMed

Tsingos-Lucas, Cherie; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia; Schneider, Carl R; Smith, Lorraine

2017-02-25

Objectives. To investigate whether reflective-writing skills are associated with academic success. Methods. Two hundred sixty-four students enrolled in a pharmacy practice course completed reflective statements. Regression procedures were conducted to determine whether reflective-writing skills were associated with academic success in different assessment formats: written, oral, and video tasks. Results. Reflective-writing skills were found to be a predictor of academic performance in some formats of assessment: written examination; oral assessment task and overall score for the Unit of Study (UoS). Reflective writing skills were not found to predict academic success in the video assessment task. Conclusions. Possessing good reflective-writing skills was associated with improved academic performance. Further research is recommended investigating the impact of reflective skill development on academic performance measures in other health education.

Teaching Process Writing in an Online Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carolan, Fergal; Kyppö, Anna

2015-01-01

This reflective practice paper offers some insights into teaching an interdisciplinary academic writing course aimed at promoting process writing. The study reflects on students' acquisition of writing skills and the teacher's support practices in a digital writing environment. It presents writers' experiences related to various stages of process…

Improving Language Acquisition through Journal Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chanthalangsy, Sonevilay; Moskalis, Stan

This study examined how journal writing could improve language minority students' language acquisition. Participants were Serbo-Croatian and Laotian second and third graders from two elementary schools. Initial student surveys and writing assignments, conducted in September to document the problem, found that students lacked writing skills,…

Impact Evaluation of the National Writing Project's College-Ready Writing Project in High Poverty Rural Districts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallagher, H. Alix; Arshan, Nicole; Woodworth, Katrina

2016-01-01

Writing is an essential skill for participating in modern American society. Although it is crucial to careers and civic engagement, student writing falls far short of national expectations (College Board, 2004; NCES, 2012; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) seek to increase the rigor of writing instruction…

Reach Out and Write Someone.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnold, Vanessa D.; Roach, Terry D.

1993-01-01

Writing letters to elected officials and letters to the editor helps students articulate their thoughts based on sound evidence and valid reasoning, avoiding "sounding off" and emotional appeals. Writing skills, critical thinking, and civic values are reinforced. (SK)

Early writing deficits in preschoolers with oral language difficulties.

PubMed

Puranik, Cynthia S; Lonigan, Christopher J

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether preschool children with language impairments (LI), a group with documented reading difficulties, also experience writing difficulties. In addition, a purpose was to examine if the writing outcomes differed when children had concomitant cognitive deficits in addition to oral language problems. A group of 293 preschool children were administered an assessment battery that included measures to examine oral language, nonverbal cognition, emergent reading, and writing. Children were divided into four groups based on their language and cognitive performance. The findings from this study show that as early as preschool, children with weaker oral language skills lag behind their peers with stronger oral language skills in terms of their writing-related skills. Children with oral language and cognitive deficits performed more poorly than children whose deficits were confined to oral language. A child's cognitive ability also has an impact on emergent writing skills, but it appears to be moderated by oral language skills. These results are consistent with research documenting links between preschool language and emergent reading in children with a history of LI. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2012.

Early Writing Deficits in Preschoolers with Oral Language Difficulties

PubMed Central

Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether preschool children with language impairments (LI), a group with documented reading difficulties, also experience writing difficulties. In addition, a purpose was to examine if the writing outcomes differed when children had concomitant cognitive deficits in addition to oral language problems. A group of 293 preschool children were administered an assessment battery that included measures to examine oral language, nonverbal cognition, emergent reading, and writing. Children were divided into four groups based on their language and cognitive performance. The findings from this study show that as early as preschool, children with weaker oral language skills lag behind their peers with stronger oral language skills in terms of their writing-related skills. Children with oral language and cognitive deficits performed more poorly than children whose deficits were confined to oral language. A child’s cognitive ability also has an impact on emergent writing skills, but it appears to be moderated by oral language skills. These results are consistent with research documenting links between preschool language and emergent reading in children with a history of LI. PMID:22043027

Potential of Mobile Learning in Teaching of ESL Academic Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zaki, Arlina Ahmad; Yunus, Melor Md

2015-01-01

The potentials of mobile learning in teaching academic writing skills for ESL students are explored in this paper. Although there have been studies on MALL to improve writing skills, academic writing was never really touched. Few aspects are covered like the changes in educational technology, defining MALL, identifying issues in academic writing…

The role of research-article writing motivation and self-regulatory strategies in explaining research-article abstract writing ability.

PubMed

Lin, Ming-Chia; Cheng, Yuh-Show; Lin, Sieh-Hwa; Hsieh, Pei-Jung

2015-04-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of research-article writing motivation and use of self-regulatory writing strategies in explaining second language (L2) research-article abstract writing ability, alongside the L2 literacy effect. Four measures were administered: a L2 literacy test, a research abstract performance assessment, and inventories of writing motivation and strategy. Participants were L2 graduate students in Taiwan (N=185; M age=25.8 yr., SD=4.5, range=22-53). Results of structural equation modeling showed a direct effect of motivation on research-article writing ability, but no direct effect of strategy or indirect effect of motivation via strategy on research-article writing ability, with L2 literacy controlled. The findings suggest research-article writing instruction should address writing motivation, besides L2 literacy.

English Learners, Writing, and the Common Core

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olson, Carol Booth; Scarcella, Robin; Matuchniak, Tina

2015-01-01

Adopted by 46 states, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) present a vision of what it means to be literate in the twenty-first century and call for all students, including English learners, to develop critical reading skills necessary for a deep understanding of complex texts, and critical writing skills to write about those texts. This article…

Word Processors and the Teaching of Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crozier, D. S. R.

1986-01-01

Word processors can assist teachers and students by focusing on writing as a process, rather than a product. Word processing breaks writing up into manageable chunks that permit writing skills to develop in an integraged manner. (10 references) (CJH)

The effect of fine and grapho-motor skill demands on preschoolers' decoding skill.

PubMed

Suggate, Sebastian; Pufke, Eva; Stoeger, Heidrun

2016-01-01

Previous correlational research has found indications that fine motor skills (FMS) link to early reading development, but the work has not demonstrated causality. We manipulated 51 preschoolers' FMS while children learned to decode letters and nonsense words in a within-participants, randomized, and counterbalanced single-factor design with pre- and posttesting. In two conditions, children wrote with a pencil that had a conical shape fitted to the end filled with either steel (impaired writing condition) or polystyrene (normal writing condition). In a third control condition, children simply pointed at the letters with the light pencil as they learned to read the words (pointing condition). Results indicate that children learned the most decoding skills in the normal writing condition, followed by the pointing and impaired writing conditions. In addition, working memory, phonemic awareness, and grapho-motor skills were generally predictors of decoding skill development. The findings provide experimental evidence that having lower FMS is disadvantageous for reading development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding the cognitive processes involved in writing to learn.

PubMed

Arnold, Kathleen M; Umanath, Sharda; Thio, Kara; Reilly, Walter B; McDaniel, Mark A; Marsh, Elizabeth J

2017-06-01

Writing is often used as a tool for learning. However, empirical support for the benefits of writing-to-learn is mixed, likely because the literature conflates diverse activities (e.g., summaries, term papers) under the single umbrella of writing-to-learn. Following recent trends in the writing-to-learn literature, the authors focus on the underlying cognitive processes. They draw on the largely independent writing-to-learn and cognitive psychology learning literatures to identify important cognitive processes. The current experiment examines learning from 3 writing tasks (and 1 nonwriting control), with an emphasis on whether or not the tasks engaged retrieval. Tasks that engaged retrieval (essay writing and free recall) led to better final test performance than those that did not (note taking and highlighting). Individual differences in structure building (the ability to construct mental representations of narratives; Gernsbacher, Varner, & Faust, 1990) modified this effect; skilled structure builders benefited more from essay writing and free recall than did less skilled structure builders. Further, more essay-like responses led to better performance, implicating the importance of additional cognitive processes such as reorganization and elaboration. The results highlight how both task instructions and individual differences affect the cognitive processes involved when writing-to-learn, with consequences for the effectiveness of the learning strategy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Writing Skills for Science Labs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vargas, Marjorie Fink

1986-01-01

Describes a 50-minute session designed to improve students' writing of science laboratory reports. Using an improperly worded description of how to make a peanut butter sandwich, the students work in groups to improve "point of view" and "voice." The changes are then used to create better reports. (TW)

The Words in My Pencil: Considering Children's Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Anne

Methods of eliciting writing from children are explored in this monograph, which includes samples of nine- and ten-year-old students' writing. The monograph offers four recommendations for improving writing skills: make writing a daily activity; take children's writing seriously; maintain flexible standards of form and language; and identify group…

Writing in the Senior Capstone: Theory and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Masiello, Lea; Skipper, Tracy L.

2013-01-01

Surveys of employers continually highlight the need for better communication skills among recent college graduates. Yet, writing instruction in higher education serves far more than a transactional purpose. Writing facilitates learning, helps students gain skills in analysis and synthesis, and supports a range of other personal and intellectual…

Writing to dictation and handwriting performance among Chinese children with dyslexia: relationships with orthographic knowledge and perceptual-motor skills.

PubMed

Cheng-Lai, Alice; Li-Tsang, Cecilia W P; Chan, Alan H L; Lo, Amy G W

2013-10-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between writing to dictation, handwriting, orthographic, and perceptual-motor skills among Chinese children with dyslexia. A cross-sectional design was used. A total of 45 third graders with dyslexia were assessed. Results of stepwise multiple regression models showed that Chinese character naming was the only predictor associated with word dictation (β=.32); handwriting speed was related to deficits in rapid automatic naming (β=-.36) and saccadic efficiency (β=-.29), and visual-motor integration predicted both of the number of characters exceeded grid (β=-.41) and variability of character size (β=-.38). The findings provided support to a multi-stage working memory model of writing for explaining the possible underlying mechanism of writing to dictation and handwriting difficulties. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and implementation of a writing program to improve resident authorship rates.

PubMed

Clemmons, Amber Bradley; Hoge, Stephanie C; Cribb, Ashley; Manasco, Kalen B

2015-09-01

The development, implementation, and evaluation of a writing program with a formalized writing project as a component of postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) pharmacy residencies are described. The writing program at Georgia Regents Medical Center/University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, a collaborative and jointly funded program, was initiated in the 2010-11 residency year. The goals of the program are to teach residents to communicate effectively, apply leadership skills, employ project management skills, and provide medication- and practice- related education and training. The program combines both writing experiences and mentorship. At the beginning of the residency year, trainees are presented with opportunities to participate in both research projects and writing projects. Specifically, opportunities within the writing program include involvement in review articles, case reports, drug information rounds, book chapters, letters to the editor, and high-quality medication-use evaluations for potential publication. The writing project is highly encouraged, and completion of a manuscript to be submitted for publication is expected by graduation. Nine papers were published by 8 of 18 PGY1 and PGY2 residents in the four years before program implementation. A total of 23 publications were published by 18 (72%) of the 25 PGY1 and PGY2 residents in the four years after implementation of the writing program. Implementation of a formal writing program increased the overall publication rate of residents. Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Effectiveness of Using WhatsApp Messenger as One of Mobile Learning Techniques to Develop Students' Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fattah, Said Fathy El Said Abdul

2015-01-01

The present study was an attempt to determine the effectiveness of using a WhatsApp Messenger as one of mobile learning techniques to develop students' writing skills. Participants were 30 second year college students, English department from a private university in Saudi Arabia. The experimental group (N = 15) used WhatsApp technology to develop…

Cpmputer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficient Students Project (COMPUGRAFIA.LEP), 1987-88. Evaluation Section Report. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Keyes, Jose

The Computer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficient Students Project (COMPUGRAFIA.LEP) was partially implemented in 1987-88, during the first year of a 3-year cycle. It is a staff development program serving 35 bilingual special education classes with 414 limited-English-proficient Hispanic students in 10 elementary schools in the Bronx.…

Effects of Interactive Chat versus Independent Writing on L2 Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tare, Medha; Golonka, Ewa M.; Vatz, Karen; Bonilla, Carrie L.; Crooks, Carolyn; Strong, Rachel

2014-01-01

This study examines the importance of interaction for second language (L2) acquisition by analyzing outcomes from two types of out-of-class activities. The study compared: (a) interactive homework, completed via text chat, and (b) individual homework, completed via independent writing. In a between-subjects design, participants in two…

Writing for Manufacturing Personnel.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mercer County Community Coll., Trenton, NJ.

This document, developed by Mercer County Community College (New Jersey) and its partners, offers lists of topics covered in each day of a 24-day course designed to teach General Motors employees the following skills: document information; write clear directions and instructions; outline and organize thoughts and ideas; write memos and business…

Sharpening the Craft of Scientific Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koprowski, John L.

1997-01-01

Describes a writing-intensive ecology course designed to foster the development of writing and critiquing skills early in the semester and immerse students in the peer-review process toward the end of the course. By critiquing other scientific papers, students gain insight into the effectiveness of their own writing while also increasing their…

Process Writing in the Intermediate Grades: Magical Panacea or Oversold Cliche?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balajthy, Ernest

Noting that the principles of writing process instruction typically offered to elementary teachers are less readily adaptable to intermediate classrooms emphasizing content area learning rather than basic skills, this paper explores two key themes important to the successful implementation of writing process instruction: (1) teachers' needs to…

Neurocognitive Development and Predictors of L1 and L2 Literacy Skills in Dyslexia: A Longitudinal Study of Children 5-11 Years Old.

PubMed

Helland, Turid; Morken, Frøydis

2016-02-01

The aim of this study was to find valid neurocognitive precursors of literacy development in first language (L1, Norwegian) and second language (L2, English) in a group of children during their Pre-literacy, Emergent Literacy and Literacy stages, by comparing children with dyslexia and a typical group. Children who were 5 years old at project start were followed until the age of 11, when dyslexia was identified and data could be analysed in retrospect. The children's neurocognitive pattern changed both by literacy stage and domain. Visuo-spatial recall and RAN appeared as early precursors of L1 literacy, while phonological awareness appeared as early precursor of L2 English. Verbal long term memory was associated with both L1 and L2 skills in the Literacy stage. Significant group differences seen in the Pre-literacy and Emergent literacy stages decreased in the Literacy stage. The developmental variations by stage and domain may explain some of the inconsistencies seen in dyslexia research. Early identification and training are essential to avoid academic failure, and our data show that visuo-spatial memory and RAN could be suitable early markers in transparent orthographies like Norwegian. Phonological awareness was here seen as an early precursor of L2 English, but not of L1 Norwegian. © 2015 The Authors. Dyslexia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Writing Ability of Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadeghi, Karim; Farzizadeh, Bahareh

2012-01-01

The relationship between multiple intelligences and learning of L2 language skills is a burgeoning area of research. This study aimed at finding the relationship between Multiple Intelligences (MI) and the writing ability of EFL learners. For this purpose, the body of female BA sophomores in TEFL at Urmia University (N = 47), within the age range…

Writing Chinese and Mathematics Achievement: A Study with Chinese-American Undergraduates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Chieh; Nuttall, Ronald

2001-01-01

Indicates that writing Chinese is correlated to Chinese-American (CA) students' spatial skills and investigates whether writing Chinese would have the same relationship to mathematics skills. Suggested a strong correlation between writing Chinese and success on SAT-Math. Supports the cultural relativity theory of gender difference on SAT-Math.…

Life Management Skills, 8230. Home Economics Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loudoun County Public Schools, Leesburg, VA.

The middle school home economics curriculum on Life Management Skills I (eighth grade) meets the needs of the early adolescent. It is based upon three major concepts: (1) basic skills; (2) self-knowledge/understanding/decision making; and (3) independence/interdependence. Emphasis on the basic skills of reading, writing, communicating, using…

Effects of Task Complexity on L2 Writing Behaviors and Linguistic Complexity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Révész, Andrea; Kourtali, Nektaria-Efstathia; Mazgutova, Diana

2017-01-01

This study investigated whether task complexity influences second language (L2) writers' fluency, pausing, and revision behaviors and the cognitive processes underlying these behaviors; whether task complexity affects linguistic complexity of written output; and whether relationships between writing behaviors and linguistic complexity are…

Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills and Writing Skills through the Variation in Non-Traditional Writing Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinaga, Parlindungan; Feranie, Shelly

2017-01-01

The research aims to identify the impacts of embedding non-traditional writing tasks within the course of modern physics conducted to the students of Physics Education and Physics Study Programs. It employed a quasi-experimental method with the pretest-posttest control group design. The used instruments were tests on conceptual mastery, tests on…

Enhancing Literacy Skills through Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sistek-Chandler, Cynthia

2003-01-01

Discusses how to use technology to enhance literacy skills. Highlights include defining literacy, including information literacy; research to support reading and writing instruction; literacy software; thinking skills; organizational strategies for writing and reading; how technology can individualize literacy instruction; and a new genre of…

Faculty Beliefs and Practices about Writing Initiatives as Classroom Strategies and Institutional Objectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kreiger, Joan

2013-01-01

Employers consistently rank "writing skills" as a desired quality of college graduates; however studies show that students' writing skills often fall short of the mark (AAC& U, 2008; Charting the Future, 2006). Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) initiatives are one way universities attempt to improve student writing and promote…

Writing a Writing Assessment: Saying What You Want to Say Isn't as Simple as It Seems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Escoe, Adrienne

Since acceptable writing is essential to success in job training programs and in many entry-level jobs, a writing sample was included in the Training and Employment Prerequisites Survey, a multiple-choice test about skills like mechanics, usage, and spelling. The two writing prompts asked students to give directions for finding a location in a…

Thinking through Writing. Lord Fairfax Community College, 1990-1992.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lord Fairfax Community Coll., Middletown, VA.

In an attempt to improve its students' writing abilities, as well as their critical thinking skills, Lord Fairfax Community College, in Virginia, developed a program called "Thinking through Writing." The project designers believed that concept formation, classification, memory enhancement, and other learning/thinking skills could be…

Writing: Clearing the Mind for Action.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neff, Bonita Dostal

Many communication majors expect to do little written communication, since skill in oral communication is more developed if not preferred. Before a student writes or becomes engaged in the rational and logical process of evaluating writing, he or she is in the stage of clearing the mind for action. A non-rationalistic approach to writing seeks to…

What Do Writers in Industry Write?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Locker, Kitty O.

Noting that one of the biggest factors in motivating students in technical writing classes is to convince them that they will need to write in their future jobs, this paper offers evidence for use by teachers in persuading students of the importance of developing their writing skills. The first part of the paper presents refutations of some of the…

Writing and the Child.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ediger, Marlow

Parents can help their children master the skills needed to become good writers. While preschool pupils, in most cases, cannot do their own writing, the parents can: ask their children for ideas to include in letters to friends or relatives; write down, and then read back, ideas dictated by the child; read interesting library books to their…

Writing for Learning to Improve Students' Comprehension at the College Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alharbi, Fahad

2015-01-01

This literature review will illustrate how writing could improve students' comprehension. Writing is one of the most important skills that students need to master for college level work. Therefore, students should be prepared with these skills before moving to the college level because they are required to write numerous papers that tend to be…

Cultivating Advanced Technical Writing Skills through a Graduate-Level Course on Writing Research Proposals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarthy, Brian D.; Dempsey, Jillian L.

2017-01-01

A graduate-level course focused on original research proposals is introduced to address the uneven preparation in technical writing of new chemistry graduate students. This course focuses on writing original research proposals. The general course structure features extensive group discussions, small-group activities, and regular in-class…

Using Authentic Picture Books and Illustrated Books to Improve L2 Writing among 11-Year-Olds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birketveit, Anna; Rimmereide, Hege Emma

2017-01-01

The case study investigates what impact extensive reading of authentic picture books/illustrated books had on the learners' writing skills in a Norwegian EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom of 11-year-olds. Furthermore, the study also looks into the importance the pictures/illustrations had for the learners and what type of picture-text…

Extending Students' Practice of Metacognitive Regulation Skills with the Science Writing Heuristic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Opstal, Mary T.; Daubenmire, Patrick L.

2015-05-01

Metacognition can be described as an internal conversation that seeks to answer the questions, 'how much do I really know about what I am learning' and, 'how am I monitoring what I am learning?' Metacognitive regulation skills are critical to meaningful learning because they facilitate the abilities to recognize the times when one's current level of understanding is insufficient and to identify the needs for closing the gap in understanding. This research explored how using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) as an instructional approach in a laboratory classroom affected students' practice of metacognitive skills while solving open-ended laboratory problems. Within our qualitative research design, results demonstrate that students in the SWH environment, compared to non-SWH students, used metacognitive strategies to a different degree and to a different depth when solving open-ended laboratory problems. As students engaged in higher levels of metacognitive regulation, peer collaboration became a prominent path for supporting the use of metacognitive strategies. Students claimed that the structure of the SWH weekly laboratory experiments improved their ability to solve open-ended lab problems. Results from this study suggest that using instruction that encourages practice of metacognitive strategies can improve students' use of these strategies.

Developing Writing and Thinking Skills in the Student.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Jeff

An English teacher at Hokkaido International School, Japan, guided his students through the writing process of thinking up ideas for writing topics and developing and revising those ideas into competent works. The class was composed of seven non-native speakers (in grades nine through twelve) who tried to achieve fluency in English within the…

Early Grade Writing Assessment: An Instrument Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiménez, Juan E.

2017-01-01

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization promoted the creation of a model instrument for individual assessment of students' foundational writing skills in the Spanish language that was based on a literature review and existing writing tools and assessments. The purpose of the "Early Grade Writing Assessment"…

Collaborative Writing Support Tools on the Cloud

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calvo, R. A.; O'Rourke, S. T.; Jones, J.; Yacef, K.; Reimann, P.

2011-01-01

Academic writing, individual or collaborative, is an essential skill for today's graduates. Unfortunately, managing writing activities and providing feedback to students is very labor intensive and academics often opt out of including such learning experiences in their teaching. We describe the architecture for a new collaborative writing support…

Movie-Generated EFL Writing: Discovering the Act of Writing through Visual Literacy Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hekmati, Nargess; Ghahremani Ghajar, Sue-san; Navidinia, Hossein

2018-01-01

The present article explores the idea of using movies in EFL classrooms to develop students' writing skill. In this qualitative study, 15 EFL learners were engaged in different writing activities in a contextualized form of movies, meaning that the films acted as text-books, and activities were designed based on the contexts of the films. Taking…

Learning to Improve: Using Writing to Increase Critical Thinking Performance in General Education Biology

PubMed Central

Kurtz, Martha J.

2007-01-01

Increasingly, national stakeholders express concern that U.S. college graduates cannot adequately solve problems and think critically. As a set of cognitive abilities, critical thinking skills provide students with tangible academic, personal, and professional benefits that may ultimately address these concerns. As an instructional method, writing has long been perceived as a way to improve critical thinking. In the current study, the researchers compared critical thinking performance of students who experienced a laboratory writing treatment with those who experienced traditional quiz-based laboratory in a general education biology course. The effects of writing were determined within the context of multiple covariables. Results indicated that the writing group significantly improved critical thinking skills whereas the nonwriting group did not. Specifically, analysis and inference skills increased significantly in the writing group but not the nonwriting group. Writing students also showed greater gains in evaluation skills; however, these were not significant. In addition to writing, prior critical thinking skill and instructor significantly affected critical thinking performance, whereas other covariables such as gender, ethnicity, and age were not significant. With improved critical thinking skill, general education biology students will be better prepared to solve problems as engaged and productive citizens. PMID:17548876

Assessing Syntactic Sophistication in L2 Writing: A Usage-Based Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kyle, Kristopher; Crossley, Scott

2017-01-01

Over the past 45 years, the construct of syntactic sophistication has been assessed in L2 writing using what Bulté and Housen (2012) refer to as absolute complexity (Lu, 2011; Ortega, 2003; Wolfe-Quintero, Inagaki, & Kim, 1998). However, it has been argued that making inferences about learners based on absolute complexity indices (e.g., mean…

The Development of Composition Skills via Directed Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rahilly, Leonard J.

To alleviate problems associated with free composition as a method of foreign language writing instruction, the directed writing method was adapted for use in a college French composition course. High-quality French texts, often of only a page or two and written by native speakers, are used as a basis for grammatical analysis and discussion and a…

Writes of Passage: Writing up Qualitative Data as a Threshold Concept in Doctoral Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Humphrey, Robin; Simpson, Bob

2012-01-01

Effective writing is an essential skill for all doctoral students, yet it is one that receives relatively little attention in training and supervision. This article explores extensive feedback from participants in a series of workshops for doctoral candidates engaged with writing up qualitative data. The themes arising from the data analysis are…

L1 and L2 Strategy Use in Reading Comprehension of Chinese EFL Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Yea-Ru; Ernst, Cheryl; Talley, Paul C.

2010-01-01

This study revealed the relationship between L1 (Mandarin Chinese) and L2 (English) strategy use in L2 reading comprehension by focusing on the correlation of L1 reading ability, L2 proficiency and employed reading strategies. The participants, 222 undergraduates learning English as a foreign language (EFL), were classified into skilled and…

Impact of Explicit Vocabulary Instruction on Writing Achievement of Upper-Intermediate EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Solati-Dehkordi, Seyed Amir; Salehi, Hadi

2016-01-01

Studying explicit vocabulary instruction effects on improving L2 learners' writing skill and their short and long-term retention is the purpose of the present study. To achieve the mentioned goal, a fill-in-the-blank test including 36 single words and 60 lexical phrases were administrated to 30 female upper-intermediate EFL learners. The EFL…

When Writing Well Isn't Good Enough

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stent, Angela

1976-01-01

The establishment and role of the Writing Center at Harvard is described as a means of improving freshmen writing skills. Students receive personal consultation, attend a series of mini-courses, and participate in a series of lectures by faculty members from different departments about how to write for various disciplines. (LBH)

Motivational Scaffolding, Politeness, and Writing Center Tutoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mackiewicz, Jo; Thompson, Isabelle

2013-01-01

Writing center tutors know that improving writing skills requires sustained effort over a long period of time. They also know that motivation--the drive to actively invest in sustained effort toward a goal--is essential for writing improvement. Because motivation can direct attention toward particular tasks and increase both effort and…

Evaluation of Candidate Teachers Related to the Weblog Writing Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çelik, Tugba; Demirgünes, Sercan

2016-01-01

Weblogs offer a new writing and reading environment. Most people in the education process may improve their writing skills and achieve new perspectives related to writing via weblogs. In this study the changes that weblog writing process created in undergraduates'/candidate teachers' minds regarding writing are revealed. The weblog writing process…

The Influence of Students' L1 and Spoken English in English Writing: A Corpus-Based Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prihantoro

2016-01-01

Academic writing requires both style and grammatical correctness; however, efforts in improving the quality of English academic writing by non-native students have been focused on grammar. Structures observed in this study were grammatically correct, but considered unnatural in academic writing genre. This research involves a group of non-native…

The "'Grammar Correction' Debate in L2 Writing": Where Are We, and Where Do We Go from Here?--(And What Do We Do in the Meantime ...?)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferris, Dana R.

2004-01-01

The efficacy of teacher error/grammar correction in second language writing classes has been the subject of much controversy, including a published debate in an earlier volume of this journal [J. Second Language Writing 8 (1999) 1; J. Second Language Writing 8 (1999) 111]. In this paper, the state-of-the-art in error correction research in L2…

Neurocognitive Development and Predictors of L1 and L2 Literacy Skills in Dyslexia: A Longitudinal Study of Children 5–11 Years Old

PubMed Central

Morken, Frøydis

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to find valid neurocognitive precursors of literacy development in first language (L1, Norwegian) and second language (L2, English) in a group of children during their Pre‐literacy, Emergent Literacy and Literacy stages, by comparing children with dyslexia and a typical group. Children who were 5 years old at project start were followed until the age of 11, when dyslexia was identified and data could be analysed in retrospect. The children's neurocognitive pattern changed both by literacy stage and domain. Visuo‐spatial recall and RAN appeared as early precursors of L1 literacy, while phonological awareness appeared as early precursor of L2 English. Verbal long term memory was associated with both L1 and L2 skills in the Literacy stage. Significant group differences seen in the Pre‐literacy and Emergent literacy stages decreased in the Literacy stage. The developmental variations by stage and domain may explain some of the inconsistencies seen in dyslexia research. Early identification and training are essential to avoid academic failure, and our data show that visuo‐spatial memory and RAN could be suitable early markers in transparent orthographies like Norwegian. Phonological awareness was here seen as an early precursor of L2 English, but not of L1 Norwegian. © 2015 The Authors. Dyslexia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. PMID:26511662

"Righting" the Writing Problem.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaughnessy, Michael F.; Eastham, Nicholas

The problem of college students' writing skills or lack thereof is generally agreed upon in academia. One cause is the inordinate amount of multiple choice/true false/fill in the blank type of tests that students take in high school and college. Not only is there is a dearth of actual classes in writing available, few students recognize the need…

Using Speech Recognition Software to Improve Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diaz, Felix

2014-01-01

Orthopedically impaired (OI) students face a formidable challenge during the writing process due to their limited or non-existing ability to use their hands to hold a pen or pencil or even to press the keys on a keyboard. While they may have a clear mental picture of what they want to write, the biggest hurdle comes well before having to tackle…

Promoting linguistic complexity, greater message length and ease of engagement in email writing in people with aphasia: initial evidence from a study utilizing assistive writing software.

PubMed

Thiel, Lindsey; Sage, Karen; Conroy, Paul

2017-01-01

Improving email writing in people with aphasia could enhance their ability to communicate, promote interaction and reduce isolation. Spelling therapies have been effective in improving single-word writing. However, there has been limited evidence on how to achieve changes to everyday writing tasks such as email writing in people with aphasia. One potential area that has been largely unexplored in the literature is the potential use of assistive writing technologies, despite some initial evidence that assistive writing software use can lead to qualitative and quantitative improvements to spontaneous writing. This within-participants case series design study aimed to investigate the effects of using assistive writing software to improve email writing in participants with dysgraphia related to aphasia. Eight participants worked through a hierarchy of writing tasks of increasing complexity within broad topic areas that incorporate the spheres of writing need of the participants: writing for domestic needs, writing for social needs and writing for business/administrative needs. Through completing these tasks, participants had the opportunity to use the various functions of the software, such as predictive writing, word banks and text to speech. Therapy also included training and practice in basic computer and email skills to encourage increased independence. Outcome measures included email skills, keyboard skills, email writing and written picture description tasks, and a perception of disability assessment. Four of the eight participants showed statistically significant improvements to spelling accuracy within emails when using the software. At a group level there was a significant increase in word length with the software; while four participants showed noteworthy changes to the range of word classes used. Enhanced independence in email use and improvements in participants' perceptions of their writing skills were also noted. This study provided some initial evidence

Assurance of Learning in a Writing-Intensive Business Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carnes, Lana; Awang, Faridah; Smith, Halie

2015-01-01

Writing intensive courses provide a means of addressing declining student writing proficiency. Programmatic learning goals accomplished through a writing-intensive course can be used to develop students' writing skills. For business communication faculty members to maximize the value of their courses to business programs, they should demonstrate…