23,969 research outputs found

    CORRELATING WRITER’S BLOCK AND ESL LEARNERS’ WRITING QUALITY

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    Despite the importance of writing in the language learners’ development, there are difficulties faced by English as a Second Language (ESL) learners that stem from various factors. One of them is the presence of writer’s block that could affect writing quality. Therefore, this study aims to describe writer’s block, along with a statistically-laden analysis of the possible correlation between the blocking experiences of 55 Filipino ESL learners and the levels of easability and readability of the essays they had written.  This research employed a descriptive-correlational design using The Questionnaire in Identifying Writer’s Block (QIWB) to gauge the extent of occurrence of writer’s block and the Coh-Metrix Common Core Text Easability and Readability Assessor (hereafter Coh-Metrix T.E.R.A.), an online computational tool, to measure the levels of easability and readability of the essays. The result shows that the learners generally experienced writer’s block, and their essays collectively showed high levels of easability on the basis of narrativity, referential cohesion, and deep cohesion. However, the essays were low in syntactic simplicity and word concreteness, while the level of readability computed exceeded that of the reading ability of 10th-grade learners. Test of correlation revealed that there exists negligible relationship between writer’s block and the overall easability and readability levels of the essays, though a significant but a weak relationship was documented between lateness and word concreteness and with premature editing and deep cohesion, respectively

    Exploring the effectiveness of ChatGPT-based feedback compared with teacher feedback and self-feedback: Evidence from Chinese to English translation

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    ChatGPT,a cutting-edge AI-powered Chatbot,can quickly generate responses on given commands. While it was reported that ChatGPT had the capacity to deliver useful feedback, it is still unclear about its effectiveness compared with conventional feedback approaches,such as teacher feedback (TF) and self-feedback (SF). To address this issue, this study compared the revised Chinese to English translation texts produced by Chinese Master of Translation and Interpretation (MTI) students,who learned English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL), based on three feedback types (i.e., ChatGPT-based feedback, TF and SF). The data was analyzed using BLEU score to gauge the overall translation quality as well as Coh-Metrix to examine linguistic features across three dimensions: lexicon, syntax, and cohesion.The findings revealed that TF- and SF-guided translation texts surpassed those with ChatGPT-based feedback, as indicated by the BLEU score. In terms of linguistic features,ChatGPT-based feedback demonstrated superiority, particularly in enhancing lexical capability and referential cohesion in the translation texts. However, TF and SF proved more effective in developing syntax-related skills,as it addressed instances of incorrect usage of the passive voice. These diverse outcomes indicate ChatGPT's potential as a supplementary resource, complementing traditional teacher-led methods in translation practice

    A Comparative Study of Linguistic Features of English Agricultural Journal Abstracts Written by American and Chinese Scientists

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    The present study investigated the variations in linguistic features of English academic writing by American and Chinese scientists by building a corpus of 600 English agricultural journal abstracts and using the natural language processing tool Coh-Metrix. Through a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and a discriminant function analysis (DFA), we statistically analyzed the corpus texts based on their lexical, syntactic and cohesive features and generated 8 distinguishing linguistic indices. The results indicated that Chinese scientists tended to write abstracts with more frequent words, more similar sentence structures, more modifiers per noun phrase and more agentless passive voice forms, while the American counterparts tended to write abstracts with a wider range of vocabulary, more specific terms, more words with multiple senses and more adversative connectives. These findings offer good guidance for Chinese scientists to write in a style closer to the agricultural research field and the native speakers so as to get their manuscripts better reviewed and more easily published. These findings also have practical implications for the development of agricultural English teaching materials as well as the curriculum design

    A Corpus-Based Analysis of Cohesion in L2 Writing by Undergraduates in Ecuador

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    In finding out the nature of cohesion in L2 writing, the present study set out to address three research questions: (1) What types of cohesion relations occur in L2 writing at the sentence, paragraph, and whole-text levels? (2) What is the relationship between lexico-grammatical cohesion features and teachers’ judgements of writing quality? (3) Do expectations of cohesion suggested by the CEFR match what is found in student writing? To answer those questions, a corpus of 240 essays and 240 emails from college- level students learning English as a foreign language in Ecuador enabled the analysis of cohesion. Each text included the scores, or teachers’ judgements of writing quality aligned to the upper-intermediate level (or B2) as proposed by the Common European Framework of Reference for learning, teaching, and assessing English as a foreign language. Lexical and grammatical items used by L2 students to build relationships of meaning in sentences, paragraphs, and the entire text were considered to analyse cohesion in L2 writing. Utilising Natural Language Processing tools (e.g., TAACO, TextInspector, NVivo), the analysis focused on determining which cohesion features (e.g., word repetition/overlap, semantical similarity, connective words) predicted the teachers’ judgements of writing quality in the collected essays and emails. The findings indicate that L2 writing is characterised by word overlap and synonyms occurring at the paragraph level and, to a lesser degree, cohesion between sentences and the entire text (e.g., connective words). Whilst these cohesion features positively and negatively predicted the teachers’ scores, a cautious interpretation of these findings is required, as many other factors beyond cohesion features must have also influenced the allocation of scores in L2 writing

    Inquiry-based learning in the arts: a meta-analytical study

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    This report summarises learning about inquiry-based learning (IBL) in the arts and humanities disciplines at the University of Sheffield during the period in which the Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences (CILASS) has been in operation. It draws upon impact evaluation data from curriculum development projects that have been funded by CILASS in departments in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities

    Mobilizing Communities to Support the Literacy Development of Urban Youth: A Conceptual Framework and Strategic Planning Model

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    Offers a strategic planning model for community mobilization around adolescent literacy development. Explores spheres of influence; strategies for schools, community groups, and families; outcomes; and lessons learned from other community change efforts

    The effect(s) of word processing software on the equality of the composing process, product, and attitudes of adult academic ESL (English as a second language) writers

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    The focus of this study was on the effect of word processing on the quality of the composing process, product, and attitudes of adult academic ESL writers. Twenty adult ESL students, comprising an ‘intact’ EAP (English for Academic Purposes) group, completed a number of written assignments as part of their ESL unit, using either word processing or conventional ‘pen and paper’ composition methods. Their handwritten and word processed work was analysed and compared through the use of an holistic/analytic scale of writing quality. In addition to this analysis of the ‘finished product’, texts were analysed in terms of the frequency, nature and extent of revisions made within the composition process. Statistical analysis of the writing quality and revision data – as well as audio-taped verbal protocols from selected subjects, interviews, and observational notes, were used to determine the effect (s) of word processing on the composing process, product and attitudes of these subjects. The data indicate that word processing does improve writing quality – and that it also influences revising behaviours and subject attitudes towards writing. There does not appear, for these subjects, to have been any significant correlation between revision and writing quality
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