‘I’M GETTING THERE’: AN INVESTIGATION OF ACADEMIC WRITING DEVELOPMENTS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN A FOREIGN BRANCH CAMPUS IN MALAYSIA
Abstract
Many foreign university branch campuses in Malaysia make it compulsory for students to undertake academic literacy units (i.e. Reading for Academic Purposes, Technical Report Writing) in order to equip them with language skills as well as reading and writing for academic purposes. Despite the ubiquitousness of such units in universities, little is known about their effectiveness. This longitudinal study aims to address this gap. This paper reports on data collected from the first phase of a mixed methods study that seeks to explore (i) students’ self-concept in academic writing, (ii) perceived impact of the Academic Writing (AW) unit on the writing development and (iii) the transferability of skills to other academic units. Findings from the questionnaire revealed that the AW unit had a significant positive impact on their writing skills and that the skills acquired were reported to be highly transferable to other study units. Nevertheless, to ensure academic success, the study concludes that the foundations for first year studies need to be laid early.
Keywords: academic writing, L2 writing, academic language-learning needs, language learning, English for academic purposes (EAP)
References
Badiozaman, I. (2015). Interrelated influence of internal and external factors on Malaysian learners' self-concept in academic writing. Asia TEFL Journal, 12(1), 79-115.
Barkaoui, K. (2007). Teaching writing to second language learners: Insights from theory and research. TESL Reporter, 40(1), 35-48.
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (2013). The psychology of written composition. New York: Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203812310
Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2010). Challenging stereotypes about academic writing: Complexity, elaboration, explicitness. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 2-20.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2010.01.001
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th ed.). London: Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203029053
Cumming, A., Lai, C., & Cho, H. (2016). Students' writing from sources for academic purposes: A synthesis of recent research. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 23, 47-58.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2016.06.002
Elton, L. (2010). Academic writing and tacit knowledge. Teaching in Higher Education, 15(2), 151-160.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13562511003619979
Green, A. (2005). EAP study recommendations and score gains on the IELTS Academic Writing test. Assessing Writing, 10(1), 44-60.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2005.02.002
Green, D. (2010). Words fail us: How academics view language and ideas in higher education research. International Journal for Academic Development, 15(1), 47-59.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13601440903529901
Habali, A. H. M., & Fong, L. L. (2016). Plagiarism in academic writing among TESL postgraduate students: a case study. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on University Learning and Teaching (InCULT 2014) Proceedings.
Horwitz, E. K. (2010). Foreign and second language anxiety. Language Teaching, 43(2), 154-167.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S026144480999036X
Hyland, K. (2002). Teaching and researching writing. Harlow, England: Pearson.
Hyland, K. (2013). Faculty feedback: Perceptions and practices in L2 disciplinary writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22(3), 240-253.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2013.03.003
Kolb, K. H., Longest, K. C., & Jensen, M. J. (2013). Assessing the writing process: Do writing-intensive first-year seminars change how students write? Teaching Sociology, 41(1), 20-31.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X12448777
Leki, I. (2011). Learning to write in a second language: Multilingual graduates and undergraduates expanding genre repertoires In R. Manchón (Ed.), Learning-to-write and Writing-to-learn in an additional language (pp. 85-110). Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.31.09lek
Lillis, T. M. (2001). Student writing: access, regulation and desire. New York: Routledge
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203186268
Maringe, F., & Jenkins, J. (2015). Stigma, tensions, and apprehension: The academic writing experience of international students. International Journal of Educational Management, 29(5), 609-626.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-04-2014-0049
McNaught, K., & Benson, S. (2015). Increasing student performance by changing the assessment practices within an academic writing unit in an Enabling Program. The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 6(1), 73.
https://doi.org/10.5204/intjfyhe.v6i1.249
Nesi, H., & Gardner, S. (2012). Genres across the disciplines: Student writing in higher education: Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009030199
Othman, S. B., & Mohamad, F. ( 2009, November). Students' response to teacher feedback on multiple-draft compositions in ESL classroom Paper presented at the International Conference of Teaching and Learning (ICTL), INTI University College, Malaysia. Retrieved from http:///ictl.initimal.edu.my/ictl2009/proceeding/Parallel%202Sessions%202/2C/2C-03-P64%20(Malaysia).doc.
Parkinson, J., & Musgrave, J. (2014). Development of noun phrase complexity in the writing of English for Academic Purposes students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 14, 48-59.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2013.12.001
Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Piniel, K., & Csizér, K. (2015). Changes in motivation, anxiety and self-efficacy during the course of an academic writing seminar. In Z. Dornyei, A. Henry & P. Macintyre (Eds.), Motivational dynamics in language learning (pp. 164-194). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092574-015
Rahman, S. B. A., & Rahim, S. R. A.-S. A. (2016). Does one size fit all? The academic writing needs of undergraduates across disciplines. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on University Learning and Teaching (InCULT 2014) Proceedings.
Reid, J., & Kroll, B. (2006). Designing and assessing effective classroom writing assignments for NES and ESL students. In P. K. Matsuda, M. Cox, J. Jordan & C. Ortmeir-Hooper (Eds.), Second language writing in the composition classroom (pp. 260-283 ). Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins.
Rosenfeld, M., Courtney, R., & Fowles, M. (2004, November). Identifying the writing tasks important for academic success at the undergraduate and graduate levels (GRE Board Research Report No. 00-04 R). Princeton: Educational Testing Service (ETS).
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2333-8504.2004.tb01969.x
Shammodin, N., & Nimehchisalem, V. (2015). Learners' self-evaluation of their ESL writing skill after an intensive English program in a Malaysian university. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(5), 22-29.
https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s1p22
Staples, S., Egbert, J., Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2016). Academic writing development at the university level phrasal and clausal complexity across level of study, discipline, and genre. Written Communication, 33(2), 149-183.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088316631527
Storch, N. (2009). The impact of studying in a second language (L2) medium university on the development of L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 18(2), 103-118.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2009.02.003
Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (2003). Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioural research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Terraschke, A., & Wahid, R. (2011). The impact of EAP study on the academic experiences of international postgraduate students in Australia. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 10(3), 173-182.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2011.05.003
Tinto, V. (2010). From theory to action: Exploring the institutional conditions for student retention In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (pp. 51-89). Netherlands: Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8598-6_2
Wischgoll, A. (2016). Combined training of one cognitive and one metacognitive strategy improves academic writing skills. Frontiers in psychology, 7.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00187
Zhang, C. (2013). Effect of instruction on ESL students' synthesis writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22(1), 51-67.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2012.12.001
Zhang, Y., & Mi, Y. (2010). Another look at the language difficulties of international students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 14(4), 371-388.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315309336031
Zhu, W. (2004). Faculty views on the importance of writing, the nature of academic writing, and teaching and responding to writing in the disciplines. Journal of Second Language Writing, 13(1), 29-48.
Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal
1) In signing this statement, the author(s) grant UNIMAS Publisher an exclusive license to publish their original research papers. The author(s) also grant UNIMAS Publisher permission to reproduce, recreate, translate, extract or summarize, and to distribute and display in any forms, formats, and media. The author(s) can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from UNIMAS Publisher, provided that the author(s) acknowledge and reference publication in the Journal.
2) For open access articles, the author(s) agree that their articles published under UNIMAS Publisher are distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work of the author(s) is properly cited.
3) For subscription articles, the author(s) agree that UNIMAS Publisher holds copyright, or an exclusive license to publish. Readers or users may view, download, print, and copy the content, for academic purposes, subject to the following conditions of use: (a) any reuse of materials is subject to permission from UNIMAS Publisher; (b) archived materials may only be used for academic research; (c) archived materials may not be used for commercial purposes, which include but not limited to monetary compensation by means of sale, resale, license, transfer of copyright, loan, etc.; and (d) archived materials may not be re-published in any part, either in print or online.
4) The author(s) is/are responsible to ensure his or her or their submitted work is original and does not infringe any existing copyright, trademark, patent, statutory right, or propriety right of others. Corresponding author(s) has (have) obtained permission from all co-authors prior to submission to the journal. Upon submission of the manuscript, the author(s) agree that no similar work has been or will be submitted or published elsewhere in any language. If submitted manuscript includes materials from others, the authors have obtained the permission from the copyright owners.
5) In signing this statement, the author(s) declare(s) that the researches in which they have conducted are in compliance with the current laws of the respective country and UNIMAS Journal Publication Ethics Policy. Any experimentation or research involving human or the use of animal samples must obtain approval from Human or Animal Ethics Committee in their respective institutions. The author(s) agree and understand that UNIMAS Publisher is not responsible for any compensational claims or failure caused by the author(s) in fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements. The author(s) must accept the responsibility for releasing their materials upon request by Chief Editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
6) The author(s) should have participated sufficiently in the work and ensured the appropriateness of the content of the article. The author(s) should also agree that he or she has no commercial attachments (e.g. patent or license arrangement, equity interest, consultancies, etc.) that might pose any conflict of interest with the submitted manuscript. The author(s) also agree to make any relevant materials and data available upon request by the editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
