Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Young-Ok Yum / Writing well, especially in English, is an asset to anyone who aspires to succeed in the academic or other professional fields in this age of English as a lingua franca. Numerous scholars have investigated errors committed by English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners. However, to date there is no empirical study on the error patterns displayed in native Dari speakers’ EFL writing in English and in Dari. The present study investigates error occurrences in 20 native Dari speakers’ English and Dari writing. These participants were English majors attending Balkh University, in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. Most of the participants self-identified their English proficiency levels as “advanced.” The data were collected through convenience sampling of the students enrolled in EFL writing courses who voluntarily participated in two writing tasks of different levels of difficulty; they completed these first in English and then a week later in Dari. In order to observe any patterns, all spelling and word choice errors were identified by three independent judges (one Dari instructor at BU, one native-American-English-speaking graduate student in the English Department, and the author who is bilingual and works as an English instructor). All three worked separately initially and then discussed any discrepancies together in person (English) or via Skype (Dari), until they reached consensus. The analysis, concerning the three research hypotheses, supported these findings: (1) as predicted, the native Dari speakers committed a variety of errors similar to learners from previous studies; (2) as predicted, the participants made fewer errors in English than in Dari; and (3) counter to the hypothesis, the results indicated that the participants, when writing in Dari, demonstrated more errors in the simpler tasks; yet, the participants committed more errors in the more complex (versus simpler) English writing task, consistent with this hypothesis.

This project investigates the extent to which EFL teachers’ assessment practices of two students’ written texts differ in a Swedish upper-secondary school. It also seeks to understand the factors influencing the teachers regarding inter-rater reliability in their assessment and marking process. The results show inconsistencies in the summative grades given by the raters; these inconsistencies include what the raters deem important in the rubric; however, the actual assessment process was very similar for different raters. Based on the themes found in the content analysis regarding what perceived factors affected the raters, the results showed that peer-assessment, assessment training, context, and time were of importance to the raters. Emerging themes indicate that the interpretation of rubrics, which should actually matter the most when it comes to assessment, causes inconsistencies in summative marking, regardless of the use of the same rubrics, criteria and instructions by the raters. The results suggest a need for peer-assessment as a tool in the assessment and marking of students’ texts to ensure inter-rater reliability, which would mean that more time needs to be allocated to grading.

A crescente internacionalização do ensino superior (MOROSINI, 2006) tem feito com que tanto instituições financiadoras quanto universidades pressionem pesquisadores a publicarem internacionalmente (MUELLER, 2000). Visando a aumentar a visibilidade da pesquisa local dentro do cenário acadêmico internacional (FLOWERDEW, 1999), a publicação em periódicos com alto fator de impacto geralmente ocorre em inglês, a língua franca das ciências (HÜLMBAUER et al., 2008). Entretanto, publicar em inglês, que desafia pesquisadores não nativos de inglês em geral (OLIVEIRA, ZUCOLOTTO E ALUÍSIO, 2006), é ainda mais desafiador para neófitos com pouco domínio daquela língua. Apesar de bastante estudadas no exterior, tanto do ponto de vista discente (LEKI E CARSON, 1994; CABRAL E TAVARES, 2005; LAVELLE E BUSHROW, 2007; ENE, 2014) quanto do docente (ENGLISH, 1999; PEDRA E NOCITO, 2012; CARRIÓ-PASTOR E MESTRE-MESTRE, 2014; DAVOUDI, NAFCHI E MALLAHI, 2015) ou de ambos (CASANAVE e HUBBARD, 1992; BITCHE-NER E BASTURKMEN, 2006; DONOHUE E ERLING, 2012), no Brasil, nunca foi feito um estudo que reunisse as principais dificuldades de pós-graduandos com a escrita acadêmica em inglês. Com o intuito de contribuir para o melhor conhecimento da complexidade do esforço de inserção de pesquisadores iniciantes na comunidade acadêmica global via publicação internacional, esta pesquisa de mestrado objetivou conhecer as dificuldades de pós-graduandos de uma universidade pública brasileira com a escrita acadêmica em inglês tanto na percepção discente quanto na docente e averiguar se haveria convergências ou divergências naquelas percepções. Dois questionários foram confeccionados e aplicados eletronicamente, angariando 385 participações (303 pós-graduandos e 82 professores). As análises quantitativa e qualitativa dos dados mostraram convergência nas percepções das duas maiores dificuldades de pós-graduandos (escrever um texto que soe natural em inglês e usar preposições adequadamente). Os dados não só revelaram uma crença predominantemente alinhada com uma visão tradicionalista do ensino da escrita em inglês (FERREIRA, 2007), mas também indicaram que as percepções de pós-graduandos sobre suas próprias deficiências com a escrita em inglês não eram claras. O conhecimento das dificuldades específicas de pós-graduandos com o inglês acadêmico escrito possibilitará o alinhamento das percepções de discentes e docentes, contribuindo assim para melhor orientar futuras iniciativas pedagógicas e institucionais que beneficiem tanto pós-graduandos quanto professores. / The growing internationalization of higher education (MOROSINI, 2006) has caused funding agencies and universities to put pressure on researchers to publish internationally (MUELLER, 2000). In order to increase the visibility of local research within the international academic context (FLOWERDEW, 1999), publication in high-impact factor journals usually occurs in English, the lingua franca of science (HÜLMBAUER et al., 2008). However, publishing in English challenges most non-native English speaking researchers (OLIVEIRA et al., 2006), especially junior researchers with little mastery of English. Although graduate students main difficulties have been regularly studied abroad, either from their own perspective (LEKI & CARSON, 1994; CABRAL & TAVARES, 2005; LAVELLE & BUSHROW, 2007; ENE, 2014), from their professors (ENGLISH, 1999; PEDRA & NOCITO, 2012; CARRIÓ-PASTOR & MESTRE-MESTRE, 2014; DAVOUDI, NAFCHI & MALLAHI, 2015) or from both (CASANAVE & HUBBARD, 1992; BITCHENER & BASTURKMEN, 2006; DONOHUE & ERLING, 2012), in Brazil those students perceptions of their difficulties with academic English writing had never been gathered in one single investigation before. Hoping to cast light on the complex effort involved in junior researchers indictment into global academia through international publication, this research aimed at uncovering the difficulties graduate students in a Brazilian public university face with academic writing in English. Students and professors perceptions of the formers difficulties were investigated and then compared in order to reveal points of convergence or divergence. Two questionnaires were designed and applied, yielding 385 participants (303 graduate students and 82 professors). One of the main findings of the quantitative and qualitative data analysis is that students and teachers perceptions converge regarding the students main difficulties with writing in English: writing texts that would sound natural in English and using prepositions adequately. The data not only revealed a predominant belief in the traditional teaching of English and of writing (FERREIRA, 2007), but they also indicated that students perceptions of their own writing difficulties in English were unclear. The knowledge of specific challenges to graduate writing in English will facilitate the alignment of students and professors perceptions, thus contributing to inform future pedagogical and institutional initiatives benefitting both staff and students.

本研究旨在探討後設認知教學策略對高中生英文作文的學習成效。研究者以桃園縣立永豐高中五年某班中的四十二位學生為對象，進行為時一學期共十五週，每週兩節課的實驗。教學實驗進行之前，全體學生接受研究者改編自Schraw and Dennison (1993)，O’ Neil and Abedi (1996)，Wey(1998) 所編製的後設認知量表，實施後設認知量表前測，並接受作文的前測。研究者根據作文前測的成績區分出能力高、中、低三組於教學實驗結束之後施以訪談。全體學生並於教學實驗結束之後，再度接受後設認知量表與作文的後測。以觀察其在策略教學後英文寫作表現與後設認知行為的差異情形。 本研究主要的發現下： 1.後設認知策略教學的確能夠有效提升高中生的英文寫作能力。 2.後設認知策略教學的確能夠有效增加高中生在英文寫作中的後設認知 程度。 3.高中生英文寫作表現的確與後設認知的成長有正相關。 4.學生對於後設認知策略教學均抱持正面的態度。 有鑑於此，本研究建議高中英文教師應用後設認知教學策略於高中英文作文教學中。 / This researcher explored the effectiveness of the metacognitive strategy instruction in senior high school writers’ performance, based on the theories of metacognitive strategies. Forty-two high school students in Yung-feng were selected to be subjects. Adapted from Schraw and Dennison’s Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (1993), O’ Neil and Abedi’s State Metacognitive Inventory (1996) and Wey’s Writing Self-Assessment Questionnaire (1998), Mtacognitive Awareness Questionnaires before and after Instruction, were used to measure students’ metacognitive awareness. To assess the effects of metacognitive strategy instruction on writing performance, forty-two pieces of writing were assigned in class and then scored based on criteria by the CRESST writing score guide: overall impression, quality and scope of content, organization and presentation of content, and mechanics. The Pair-Sample T test was performed to test the hypotheses in this study. The findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Metacognitive strategy instruction has positive effects on the students’ writing performance. (2) Metacognitive strategy instruction has positive effects on students’ metacognitive awareness. (3) Students’ writing performance proved correlated to their metacognitive awareness. (4) Students’ attitudes towards the metacognitive strategy instructions were generally positive. Thus, we recommend that metacognitive strategy instruction be used in English writing in senior high school.

A crescente internacionalização do ensino superior (MOROSINI, 2006) tem feito com que tanto instituições financiadoras quanto universidades pressionem pesquisadores a publicarem internacionalmente (MUELLER, 2000). Visando a aumentar a visibilidade da pesquisa local dentro do cenário acadêmico internacional (FLOWERDEW, 1999), a publicação em periódicos com alto fator de impacto geralmente ocorre em inglês, a língua franca das ciências (HÜLMBAUER et al., 2008). Entretanto, publicar em inglês, que desafia pesquisadores não nativos de inglês em geral (OLIVEIRA, ZUCOLOTTO E ALUÍSIO, 2006), é ainda mais desafiador para neófitos com pouco domínio daquela língua. Apesar de bastante estudadas no exterior, tanto do ponto de vista discente (LEKI E CARSON, 1994; CABRAL E TAVARES, 2005; LAVELLE E BUSHROW, 2007; ENE, 2014) quanto do docente (ENGLISH, 1999; PEDRA E NOCITO, 2012; CARRIÓ-PASTOR E MESTRE-MESTRE, 2014; DAVOUDI, NAFCHI E MALLAHI, 2015) ou de ambos (CASANAVE e HUBBARD, 1992; BITCHE-NER E BASTURKMEN, 2006; DONOHUE E ERLING, 2012), no Brasil, nunca foi feito um estudo que reunisse as principais dificuldades de pós-graduandos com a escrita acadêmica em inglês. Com o intuito de contribuir para o melhor conhecimento da complexidade do esforço de inserção de pesquisadores iniciantes na comunidade acadêmica global via publicação internacional, esta pesquisa de mestrado objetivou conhecer as dificuldades de pós-graduandos de uma universidade pública brasileira com a escrita acadêmica em inglês tanto na percepção discente quanto na docente e averiguar se haveria convergências ou divergências naquelas percepções. Dois questionários foram confeccionados e aplicados eletronicamente, angariando 385 participações (303 pós-graduandos e 82 professores). As análises quantitativa e qualitativa dos dados mostraram convergência nas percepções das duas maiores dificuldades de pós-graduandos (escrever um texto que soe natural em inglês e usar preposições adequadamente). Os dados não só revelaram uma crença predominantemente alinhada com uma visão tradicionalista do ensino da escrita em inglês (FERREIRA, 2007), mas também indicaram que as percepções de pós-graduandos sobre suas próprias deficiências com a escrita em inglês não eram claras. O conhecimento das dificuldades específicas de pós-graduandos com o inglês acadêmico escrito possibilitará o alinhamento das percepções de discentes e docentes, contribuindo assim para melhor orientar futuras iniciativas pedagógicas e institucionais que beneficiem tanto pós-graduandos quanto professores. / The growing internationalization of higher education (MOROSINI, 2006) has caused funding agencies and universities to put pressure on researchers to publish internationally (MUELLER, 2000). In order to increase the visibility of local research within the international academic context (FLOWERDEW, 1999), publication in high-impact factor journals usually occurs in English, the lingua franca of science (HÜLMBAUER et al., 2008). However, publishing in English challenges most non-native English speaking researchers (OLIVEIRA et al., 2006), especially junior researchers with little mastery of English. Although graduate students main difficulties have been regularly studied abroad, either from their own perspective (LEKI & CARSON, 1994; CABRAL & TAVARES, 2005; LAVELLE & BUSHROW, 2007; ENE, 2014), from their professors (ENGLISH, 1999; PEDRA & NOCITO, 2012; CARRIÓ-PASTOR & MESTRE-MESTRE, 2014; DAVOUDI, NAFCHI & MALLAHI, 2015) or from both (CASANAVE & HUBBARD, 1992; BITCHENER & BASTURKMEN, 2006; DONOHUE & ERLING, 2012), in Brazil those students perceptions of their difficulties with academic English writing had never been gathered in one single investigation before. Hoping to cast light on the complex effort involved in junior researchers indictment into global academia through international publication, this research aimed at uncovering the difficulties graduate students in a Brazilian public university face with academic writing in English. Students and professors perceptions of the formers difficulties were investigated and then compared in order to reveal points of convergence or divergence. Two questionnaires were designed and applied, yielding 385 participants (303 graduate students and 82 professors). One of the main findings of the quantitative and qualitative data analysis is that students and teachers perceptions converge regarding the students main difficulties with writing in English: writing texts that would sound natural in English and using prepositions adequately. The data not only revealed a predominant belief in the traditional teaching of English and of writing (FERREIRA, 2007), but they also indicated that students perceptions of their own writing difficulties in English were unclear. The knowledge of specific challenges to graduate writing in English will facilitate the alignment of students and professors perceptions, thus contributing to inform future pedagogical and institutional initiatives benefitting both staff and students.

本研究旨在實驗一套單字教學活動是否能成功增加台灣高中生的寫作應用字彙。在實驗開始前，研究者先進行前測，採用了字彙知識自評表(Vocabulary Knowledge Scale)和一份作文題目以了解學生一開始的字彙知識及主要單字的使用情況。之後，研究者開始了為期十二週的教學活動，此活動分為三階段：呈現(Presentation)、練習(Practice)、應用(Production)，每個階段皆採用不同的活動進行教學，並根據這四大原則來設計教導應用字彙的活動：刻意性、重複性、參與性、情境性。教學實驗過後，研究者進行後測以了解字彙知識的改變及主要單字的使用情況，並分析不同程度的學生作品，以了解學生實際的用字情況。 研究結果顯示，本教學活動能有效增進學生的辨識字彙能力及字彙的應用。字彙知識自評表顯示前後測分數有顯著性差異，在後測中，超過半數以上的單字進步到比前測更高的等級，而且有八個字進升到應用字彙的程度。百分之八十七的學生有把主要字彙用在他們的作文中，且正確的使用頻率及相關單字的使用也增加了，無論是新字或舊字，在後測的使用數量都是前測的兩倍。 / The current study experiments with a series of teaching activities for productive words to Taiwanese students at the senior high level. It aims to understand the changes of word knowledge and target word use after the experiment. In the beginning, a pre-test was administered with the help of two instruments, the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale and a writing prompt, to understand the students’ initial level. Then, the researcher conducted the teaching experiment for 12 weeks, which consisted of the Presentation, Practice, and Production stages. In each stage, the activities were designed based on four important principles for teaching productive words: intentional, repeated, involving, and contextualized. After the experiment, a post-test using the same instruments was carried out to analyze the changes of word knowledge and target word use. Moreover, individual writing products of different levels were analyzed to see the actual usage of words in the students’ writing. The results showed that the teaching experiment was effective in increasing the students’ receptive knowledge and productive use of the target words. The VKS scores of the pre- and post-test differed significantly. More than half of the words moved up to higher levels, and eight words moved to the productive level in the post-test. The students’ writing products also indicated a considerable increase in the use of target words in terms of the correct usages and related words. Eighty-seven percent of the students used the target words in the post-test. Moreover, the number of old and new words used doubled in the post-test.

教師回饋在學生的寫作過程中是很重要的，所以如何給予有效的回饋是個值得探討的議題。這個研究是在評估老師的書面回饋對於高中生多次文稿英文寫作練習的成效。桃園市某所國立高中的高三學生，一班共36位 (男生27位，女生9位) 參與這項為期從2007年九月到2008年一月的研究。教師回饋的方式是在第一次文稿上給予代號批改及評語，在第二次文稿上直接寫上正確答案及評語，在第三次文稿上直接給予答案並附上評語。老師不會在每次的文稿上評分，而學生在繳交改寫的文稿時要附上心得單。這項研究包含敘述文體的前測及後測、兩份參與者對教師回饋的問卷、及參與者的訪談。研究結果如下：第一，這種教師回饋對於整體的寫作品質上的進步有所貢獻。第二，雖然這樣的教師回饋對於整體的寫作正確度上沒有明顯的改善，但在時態及標點符號方面卻有正向的影響。第三，參與者對於這樣的教師回饋抱持著正面的態度。最後，討論此研究在教學上的意涵及對未來研究的建議。 / Teacher feedback is important in students’ writing process, so how to give effective teacher feedback is an issue worth investigation. The present study assessed the effect of teacher written feedback on high school students’ multi-draft English writing practice. A class of 36 seniors (27 boys and 9 girls) in a national senior high school in Taoyuan City participated in this study from Sep. 2007 through Jan. 2008. The teacher feedback was to give coded correction and comments on Draft 1, to offer direct correction and comments on Draft 2, and to provide direct correction and comments on Draft 3. Grades were assigned randomly and the participants had to submit cover sheets in revision. The study included the pre-test and the post-test on narrative writing, two questionnaires on the participants’ perceptions of the teacher feedback, and interviews. The results are as follows: First, this teacher feedback contributed to significant improvement in the overall writing quality. Second, this teacher feedback yielded no significant difference in the overall writing accuracy, but it had some positive effect on tense and punctuation. Third, the participants took a positive attitude toward this teacher feedback. Finally, some implications for teaching and suggestions for future research were discussed.

The purpose of this project is to provide an instructional program for students learning English as a second language that will meet their academic needs and facilitate full literacy.

Writing proficiency in the English language is one of the critical workplace competencies required in the police workplace. The aim of this study was to investigate and determine the perceptions and experiences of South African police constables’ workplace English writing needs in selected police clusters in the Gauteng province, South Africa and recommend suitable strategies to address those needs. Therefore this thesis reports on workplace English writing needs from a professional perspective to determine how they impact on the workplace English writing competencies of police constables and also as a basis for the development of a language-integrated learning curriculum in SAPS police training academies. Data was collected through a questionnaire and interviews with selected sample of the respondents. This data was collected on: their perceptions of their workplace English writing competencies, the areas within English writing which they consider to be a challenge, their perceptions about the extent to which the SAPS training programme addresses police officers’ workplace English writing needs and their suggestions regarding the type of SAPS training programme which can enhance their workplace English writing competencies. This study was prompted by concerns from various research studies and media which reported that police officers have inadequate English writing competencies. Among other things, the study found that the absence of an English writing course in the Basic Police Development Learning Programme contributes significantly to the inadequate workplace English writing competency of police constables in South Africa. The lack of awareness of the importance of other writing sub-skills such as punctuation, word classification and correct capitalisation, contributes to police constables incompetence. This research underscores the importance of police constables’ workplace English writing research on a large scale. Such research can be used for improved pedagogy in police training academies in South Africa. Finally, the findings from this study can also be used as a basis for the development of language-integrated learning curricula in the South African police training academies and also to foster awareness about different factors impacting on the workplace English writing competencies of police constables in South Africa. / English Studies / D. Litt et Phil. (English)

Writing proficiency in the English language is one of the critical workplace competencies required in the police workplace. The aim of this study was to investigate and determine the perceptions and experiences of South African police constables’ workplace English writing needs in selected police clusters in the Gauteng province, South Africa and recommend suitable strategies to address those needs. Therefore this thesis reports on workplace English writing needs from a professional perspective to determine how they impact on the workplace English writing competencies of police constables and also as a basis for the development of a language-integrated learning curriculum in SAPS police training academies. Data was collected through a questionnaire and interviews with selected sample of the respondents. This data was collected on: their perceptions of their workplace English writing competencies, the areas within English writing which they consider to be a challenge, their perceptions about the extent to which the SAPS training programme addresses police officers’ workplace English writing needs and their suggestions regarding the type of SAPS training programme which can enhance their workplace English writing competencies. This study was prompted by concerns from various research studies and media which reported that police officers have inadequate English writing competencies. Among other things, the study found that the absence of an English writing course in the Basic Police Development Learning Programme contributes significantly to the inadequate workplace English writing competency of police constables in South Africa. The lack of awareness of the importance of other writing sub-skills such as punctuation, word classification and correct capitalisation, contributes to police constables incompetence. This research underscores the importance of police constables’ workplace English writing research on a large scale. Such research can be used for improved pedagogy in police training academies in South Africa. Finally, the findings from this study can also be used as a basis for the development of language-integrated learning curricula in the South African police training academies and also to foster awareness about different factors impacting on the workplace English writing competencies of police constables in South Africa. / English Studies / D. Litt et Phil. (English)