Previous research on learning and teaching creative writing in English as a second or foreign lan... more Previous research on learning and teaching creative writing in English as a second or foreign language contexts has focused on courses or workshops devoted to writing of poetry or stories, very few studies have addressed how creative writing may be used in an EFL writing course to enrich students’ learning and writing experience. Using in-depth interviewing as the main research tool, this paper investigates eight Taiwanese undergraduate students’ experience of creative writing as an autonomous, free-choice writing assignment. Findings suggested that students conceptualized creative writing as free and unstructured, stimulating thinking and offering an opportunity for their imagination to run wild. In the one-year exploration of creative writing, students gradually developed their own approaches and exhibited different writing orientations, some drawing mainly from daily life experience and some leaning towards imagination. Overall, students’ writing motivation, learner autonomy, and audience awareness were enhanced, which may be attributed to peer response groups and minimal teacher intervention in students’ writing process. Implications of these findings for researchers and educators are discussed.
ABSTRACT The teacher–student writing conference has long been recognized as being able to provide... more ABSTRACT The teacher–student writing conference has long been recognized as being able to provide personalized instruction and contribute to learners’ writing development. However, teachers often find it time-consuming to conference with individual students on a regular basis. Conferencing with pairs of students, therefore, may become a more pragmatic option. While a promising approach, so far the practice of paired conferencing has received scant research attention. This exploratory case study investigated the dynamics of paired conferences held between 1 writing instructor and 23 Chinese-speaking undergraduates learning English as a foreign language, as well as students’ perceptions of paired conferencing. Data collected included 11 videotaped conferences, audiotaped interviews with the instructor and students, and a student questionnaire. Through a discourse analysis performed on the conference data, this study found that to justify and facilitate paired conferencing, the instructor employed strategies such as assigning pre-conference peer review, identifying shared problems, and involving the other tutee in problem solving. Results also indicated that peer interaction during the conference was limited, but the pre-conference peer review seemed to contribute to learners’ awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses. Overall, this study showed that students held favorable opinions about paired conferencing although sharing teacher time and attention might still be a concern with some students.
The recent trend of university internationalization has seen a rapid increase of English as mediu... more The recent trend of university internationalization has seen a rapid increase of English as medium of instruction (EMI) courses in Taiwanese tertiary education. Yet, few large-scale studies have been conducted to investigate student learning in EMI courses. This study surveyed 476 students from 25 EMI courses at six universities in Taiwan to probe their learning experiences and general attitudes towards EMI courses. Results revealed that the instructor exerted an important influence on students’ course selection, while seeking English improvement was the second highest-rated reason for enrolling in EMI courses. Students generally reported their learning in EMI courses as satisfactory, though some of them attributed their learning difficulties to their own insufficient English competence. To compensate for comprehension problems, students tended to adopt cognitive learning strategies such as concentrating and taking notes in class. Finally, the survey of student attitudes towards EMI...
Undergraduate research paper has long been a tradition in US freshman composition programs, altho... more Undergraduate research paper has long been a tradition in US freshman composition programs, although whether the research paper should or can be taught in the English department continues to be debated. In many of the English departments in Taiwan, students are also required to compose a research paper for their composition class. However, there has been little research conducted on the writing process and on the student perceptions of this specific genre in an EFL learning context. This qualitative study, involving one American instructor and seven Taiwanese college students majoring in English, traced a research writing project, carried out as part of the writing curriculum, from start to finish. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the students in the beginning, middle and end of the research project. The findings indicate that the students saw information arrangement and display as the main purpose of the research paper. For various reasons, the students ...
In recent years, translator educators have begun to question the adequacy of the traditional tran... more In recent years, translator educators have begun to question the adequacy of the traditional translation pedagogy, which is often focused on the product, rather than the process of translation. This study reports on a 12-week process-oriented book translation project grounded in two educational methodologies: the project approach and collaborative learning. This project was developed based on the following design principles: extendedness, process-oriented learning, student-centered learning, and reflective learning. It also featured a series of learning activities designed to guide students through the project. Upon the completion of the project, a questionnaire was administered to elicit students' reactions to the project and assess the perceived usefulness of the project activities. Overall, students held largely positive opinions about the translation project. It was also found that they seemed to prefer learning activities involving group work and discussion, such as in-clas...
A substantial body of research has demonstrated the important role of providing feedback in stude... more A substantial body of research has demonstrated the important role of providing feedback in students’ writing development. Among the various feedback methods, the teacher-student writing conference has often been rated by learners as the most beneficial to writing development, but research on EFL students’ perceptions of writing conferences is scant. Aiming to investigate students’ experiences and attitudes towards writing conferences, this study collected data through questionnaires and individual interviews with 34 EFL students from two college English writing classes. Findings suggested that the students held high expectations and gave high ratings on the helpfulness and success of the conferences that they experienced. Affectively, they generally reacted positively towards writing conferences although meeting individually with the teacher appeared to induce anxiety in some students. While the students’ preferences seemed to differ for the investigated conferencing options includ...
The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of a journal exchange project and stud... more The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of a journal exchange project and students' views on this practice. Twenty-eight college students from an intact English composition class were assigned to small groups of four. They were encouraged to read and respond to their group mates' journals. Student journals were collected for analysis. The patterns emerging from the analysis include development of audience awareness, establishment of group rapport, and misunderstanding arising from interactions. A questionnaire was administered to elicit the students' views on the journal exchange project. The results indicate that students recognized the advantages of reading and responding to their classmates' journals. It is also revealed that while some students appreciated teacher or peer feedback for various reasons, most of them enjoyed the stimulation of feedback from both sides. Points of reflection generated in the process of the project implementation and...
Previous research on learning and teaching creative writing in English as a second or foreign lan... more Previous research on learning and teaching creative writing in English as a second or foreign language contexts has focused on courses or workshops devoted to writing of poetry or stories, very few studies have addressed how creative writing may be used in an EFL writing course to enrich students’ learning and writing experience. Using in-depth interviewing as the main research tool, this paper investigates eight Taiwanese undergraduate students’ experience of creative writing as an autonomous, free-choice writing assignment. Findings suggested that students conceptualized creative writing as free and unstructured, stimulating thinking and offering an opportunity for their imagination to run wild. In the one-year exploration of creative writing, students gradually developed their own approaches and exhibited different writing orientations, some drawing mainly from daily life experience and some leaning towards imagination. Overall, students’ writing motivation, learner autonomy, and audience awareness were enhanced, which may be attributed to peer response groups and minimal teacher intervention in students’ writing process. Implications of these findings for researchers and educators are discussed.
ABSTRACT The teacher–student writing conference has long been recognized as being able to provide... more ABSTRACT The teacher–student writing conference has long been recognized as being able to provide personalized instruction and contribute to learners’ writing development. However, teachers often find it time-consuming to conference with individual students on a regular basis. Conferencing with pairs of students, therefore, may become a more pragmatic option. While a promising approach, so far the practice of paired conferencing has received scant research attention. This exploratory case study investigated the dynamics of paired conferences held between 1 writing instructor and 23 Chinese-speaking undergraduates learning English as a foreign language, as well as students’ perceptions of paired conferencing. Data collected included 11 videotaped conferences, audiotaped interviews with the instructor and students, and a student questionnaire. Through a discourse analysis performed on the conference data, this study found that to justify and facilitate paired conferencing, the instructor employed strategies such as assigning pre-conference peer review, identifying shared problems, and involving the other tutee in problem solving. Results also indicated that peer interaction during the conference was limited, but the pre-conference peer review seemed to contribute to learners’ awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses. Overall, this study showed that students held favorable opinions about paired conferencing although sharing teacher time and attention might still be a concern with some students.
The recent trend of university internationalization has seen a rapid increase of English as mediu... more The recent trend of university internationalization has seen a rapid increase of English as medium of instruction (EMI) courses in Taiwanese tertiary education. Yet, few large-scale studies have been conducted to investigate student learning in EMI courses. This study surveyed 476 students from 25 EMI courses at six universities in Taiwan to probe their learning experiences and general attitudes towards EMI courses. Results revealed that the instructor exerted an important influence on students’ course selection, while seeking English improvement was the second highest-rated reason for enrolling in EMI courses. Students generally reported their learning in EMI courses as satisfactory, though some of them attributed their learning difficulties to their own insufficient English competence. To compensate for comprehension problems, students tended to adopt cognitive learning strategies such as concentrating and taking notes in class. Finally, the survey of student attitudes towards EMI...
Undergraduate research paper has long been a tradition in US freshman composition programs, altho... more Undergraduate research paper has long been a tradition in US freshman composition programs, although whether the research paper should or can be taught in the English department continues to be debated. In many of the English departments in Taiwan, students are also required to compose a research paper for their composition class. However, there has been little research conducted on the writing process and on the student perceptions of this specific genre in an EFL learning context. This qualitative study, involving one American instructor and seven Taiwanese college students majoring in English, traced a research writing project, carried out as part of the writing curriculum, from start to finish. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the students in the beginning, middle and end of the research project. The findings indicate that the students saw information arrangement and display as the main purpose of the research paper. For various reasons, the students ...
In recent years, translator educators have begun to question the adequacy of the traditional tran... more In recent years, translator educators have begun to question the adequacy of the traditional translation pedagogy, which is often focused on the product, rather than the process of translation. This study reports on a 12-week process-oriented book translation project grounded in two educational methodologies: the project approach and collaborative learning. This project was developed based on the following design principles: extendedness, process-oriented learning, student-centered learning, and reflective learning. It also featured a series of learning activities designed to guide students through the project. Upon the completion of the project, a questionnaire was administered to elicit students' reactions to the project and assess the perceived usefulness of the project activities. Overall, students held largely positive opinions about the translation project. It was also found that they seemed to prefer learning activities involving group work and discussion, such as in-clas...
A substantial body of research has demonstrated the important role of providing feedback in stude... more A substantial body of research has demonstrated the important role of providing feedback in students’ writing development. Among the various feedback methods, the teacher-student writing conference has often been rated by learners as the most beneficial to writing development, but research on EFL students’ perceptions of writing conferences is scant. Aiming to investigate students’ experiences and attitudes towards writing conferences, this study collected data through questionnaires and individual interviews with 34 EFL students from two college English writing classes. Findings suggested that the students held high expectations and gave high ratings on the helpfulness and success of the conferences that they experienced. Affectively, they generally reacted positively towards writing conferences although meeting individually with the teacher appeared to induce anxiety in some students. While the students’ preferences seemed to differ for the investigated conferencing options includ...
The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of a journal exchange project and stud... more The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of a journal exchange project and students' views on this practice. Twenty-eight college students from an intact English composition class were assigned to small groups of four. They were encouraged to read and respond to their group mates' journals. Student journals were collected for analysis. The patterns emerging from the analysis include development of audience awareness, establishment of group rapport, and misunderstanding arising from interactions. A questionnaire was administered to elicit the students' views on the journal exchange project. The results indicate that students recognized the advantages of reading and responding to their classmates' journals. It is also revealed that while some students appreciated teacher or peer feedback for various reasons, most of them enjoyed the stimulation of feedback from both sides. Points of reflection generated in the process of the project implementation and...
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