Writing is considered as a daunting task in second language learning. It is argued by most scholars that this challenge is not only limited to second language speakers of English but even to those who speak English as their first language. Thus, the ability to communicate effectively in English by both native and non-native speakers requires…

The study identified the beliefs of high school students toward Written Corrective Feedback (WCF), based on the framework of Anderson (2010). It also investigated the most common errors that students commit in writing stories and the type of WCF students receive from teachers. Data in the form of stories which were checked by teachers were…

This article aims at the feature analysis of four expository essays (Text A/B/C/D) written by secondary school students with a focus on the differences between spoken and written language. Texts C and D are better written compared with the other two (Texts A&B) which are considered more spoken in language using. The language features are…

The current study provided cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary analyses of the distribution of directives in discussion and conclusion sections of English and Persian research articles (RAs) in disciplines of physics, chemistry, counseling, and sociology, representing hard and soft sciences, respectively. To that aim, 80 RAs from both English…

This paper seeks to analyse discourse patterns of legal opinions in two languages and cultures--namely, Legal Problem Question Answers (LPQs) in the UK academic writing context and Pareri (Ps) in the Italian professional writing context. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of discourse in this paper, based on the tenets of genre analysis,…

One of the major innovations of the "TOEFL iBT"® test is the incorporation of integrated tasks complementing the independent tasks to which examinees respond. In addition, examinees must produce discourse in both modes (speech and writing). The validity argument for the TOEFL iBT includes the claim that examinees vary their discourse in…

The stereotypical view of professional academic writing is that it is grammatically complex, with elaborated structures, and with meaning relations expressed explicitly. In contrast, spoken registers, especially conversation, are believed to have the opposite characteristics. Our goal in the present paper is to challenge these stereotypes, based…

This paper discusses the use of a web-based concordancing program using an interface design similar to the one used at the MICASE concordancing site to help students appropriately choose reporting verbs. Appropriate reporting verbs are important for asserting credible claims in academic papers. An interface was created that asked the students to…

This bilingual text by Zhou Youguang (in Chinese) with English translation by Zhang Liqing makes it easier for English speakers to gain advanced level skills in East Asian languages. It also exposes learners at or above intermediate skill levels to the vocabulary and discourses of academic disciplines and provides entries into discussions with…