Our study explored EFL writing skills in relation to self-experience in an authentic learning context with the help of a mobile application. Two authentic writing activities ('Tell your story' and 'Describe your context') were designed and compared to see if they resulted in significant differences in EFL writing performance and writing behavior.…

Adopting the approaches of "pattern hunting" and "pattern refining" (Kennedy & Miceli, 2001, 2010, 2017), this study investigates how seven freshman English students from Taiwan used the Corpus of Contemporary American English to discover collocation patterns for 30 near-synonymous change-of-state verbs and new ideas about…

Thinking Maps is a language of eight visual patterns, each based on a fundamental thought process, designed by Dr. David N. Hyerle. The visual patterns are based on cognitive skills and applied in all content areas. Not only are they used in different combinations for depth and complexity, but are also used by all members in the school community.…

This study utilizes a pre-test/post-test assessment to investigate the instructional efficacy of a genre-based approach to teaching summary writing. Forty-one EFL university students in Taiwan were asked before and after the instruction to summarize a simplified version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in a maximum of 500 words. All the students'…

This study investigated the nature of students' discussion in peer response sessions in an English-as-a-Second-Language composition class in Taiwan. Subjects were 17 university students, divided into four writing groups. Half of the 16 peer response sessions were computer-mediated (CM), the other half in face-to-face interaction (FF). Analysis of…

A study conducted in a freshman English class in a Taipei (Taiwan) university investigated how peer response groups functioned in their native language (Mandarin Chinese) and English, a second language. Analysis focused on (1) whether there were qualitative differences in the comments students made about peers' writing in the two languages, and…

This study compared techniques for teaching collaborative writing to English majors in Taiwan, focusing on the effectiveness of computer-mediated (CM) vs. face-to-face (FF) peer response sessions, measured by amount of speech produced by students and the level of participation in discussion. Subjects were 17 university sophomores in a composition…

Observation of 16 university students of writing in English as a Second Language in Taiwan focused on the nature of interactions during three peer response sessions and one consensus exercise. It examined the kinds of comments made by a writing group in responding to peer writing and the characteristics of the verbal interaction in a consensus…