The purposes of this research was to develop English writing skills through techniques of sentence skeleton and signpost word analysis for English major students, and to compare the writing skills before and after the study. The sample consisted of 43 English major juniors at Faculty of Education, Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, enrolling in…

The study is a qualitative case study that investigated the patterns of interactions among ESL students during their online interactions to complete their narrative essays. The study found that students were engaged in interactions related to language related assistance, using partner as a resource and providing encouragement as suggested by…

Purpose: This paper, which originates in an English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classroom activity in Hong Kong, aims to explore English learners' expressive and creative potential in writing by studying their work in the literary narrative genre. Design/methodology/approach: A group of upper secondary students (15-16 years of age) with limited…

This article introduces a pedagogical intervention that includes a set of creative activities designed to improve the oral and written production of students in the English classroom, especially those who have shown a lack of interest or attention. It was observed that participants initially seemed careless about studying the language. Eventually…

The current study investigates the applications of the pinyin input system, a Chinese word processing method, for writing on Facebook in order to help CFL (Chinese as a foreign language) learners from two Irish universities to improve their handwriting in Chinese characters on paper. The data were collected from writing activities conducted over…

Using textual analysis and interviews with student writers, this study aims to provide an insight into second language students' use of direct quotations in their MA theses by comparing direct quotations in high-rated and low-rated Master's theses, and by exploring student writers' own motivations to quote directly from sources. The corpus…

This paper reports on a study designed to investigate (a) whether peer review is an effective pedagogical activity with adult Chinese students in the teaching of second language (L2) academic writing and (b) how factors such as perceptions of the influence of peer reviewers' L2 proficiency, previous experience with peer review, feedback…

This study investigates whether L2 instruction on the Spanish aspectual system containing a recognition task of the learners' L1 (Dutch) aspectual system helps the learner to understand and interiorise the L2 system. Second year Dutch university students (N = 20) took part in the experiment. In weekly groups of two to four, the students received…

Teaching and testing writing can be structured so that the student progresses through a number of stages involving copying and developing sentences from: nonprint visual stimuli, manipulation of the printed word, visual stimulus by means of word completions, and oral stimuli. Sample exercises and evaluation formula are presented. (SW)

There is evidence that the ability to produce syntactically complex structures in a foreign language can be accelerated through a different strategy for teaching writing. A writing strategy is outlined which introduces the student gradually and in a very structured way to the concept of sentence-combining. (CHK)

Discusses the ineffectiveness of one-phase marking, i.e. direct correction of errors by the teacher, and the effectiveness of two-phase marking in which the teacher makes the student aware of an error but does not indicate what the error is. (CFM)

Presents suggestions and activities for teaching the imperfect and the "passe compose" in French second year classes. (AM)

Presents an in-class writing exercise that is designed to stimulate creativity and promote sophistication of style in the advanced conversation and composition German language class. (GLR)