It is evident from various research that writing is considered an important skill for students academic success. As a basis for assessments,universities mainly rely on students writing skills since they perceived as an indication of language ability and students study performance in their studies. Universities commonly set the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic module as a standard entry test to assess students language proficiency.Within the skills tested, the IELTS academic writing task is considered the most difficult skill to score and requires more effort to gain.However, some EAP students noted that it is the characteristic of academic writing that effects them.Bennett (2009) described that English Academic Discourse are associated with distinguished characteristics with unique textual constructions.Given the importance of these issues, it is important to evaluate courses to identify the factors that can contribute to a successful IELTS and EAP class in the Royal Thai Air Force Language Center (RTAFLC).This paper examines and critically evaluates the ‘English for Students of the Royal Thai Air Force(RTAF) Scholarship Program(ERSP)’ in terms of its components and the approach used in teaching writing.
The ERSP is a compulsory program for RTAF scholarship candidates under the supervision of the RTAFLC. The objectives of the ERSP are 1) to develop and familiarize students with IELTS testing skills and 2) to prepare RTAF personnel awarded with a RTAF scholarship strategies to develop English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and study skills required in tertiary levels .It concentrates primarily on developing academic reading and writing skills.The ERSP is a three-month intensive program consisting of no ...
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However, their critical analysis of FYW and strong points for other teaching methods, one’s takeaway from the article is the question, “why even teach FYW”? It’s evident that content and context are the key points in academic writing, so why then do we even make the FYW a mandatory class? A student doesn’t need a semester to understand what content is, for some they already understand what it is, and for those who don’t they should still be able to learn it, in a week. The misconception of writing being universal is very true, but for a student to improve on one’s writing, the easiest solution is to have him or she participate in that discipline. In a realistic world, the more probable solution to most of the problems Down and Wardle bring up is eliminate the course and replace it with a class that allows a student to see and understand the writing in their field without the repercussion of grades. Thus students get more experience within their field and get to learn firsthand what academic writing in their discipline consist
‘Helping students meet the challenges of academic writing’ by Fernsten and Reda is an interesting study how reflective writing practices can be useful for marginalized students, who are struggling with “negative writer self-identity. The possible causes according to Fernsten & Reda are, “issues such as race, class and gender that are marginalized factors for many basic writers”, in addition to the expectations of the dominant academic culture. However, even though Fernsten & Reda illuminated the ‘potential conflicts’ within the academic world, they have failed to provide conclusive evidence that supports their argument regarding their solution. Their reliance on dated research that provides a one sided historical perspective, may no longer accurately reflect current socio/economic issues. In addition, education has been evolving to an inclusive curriculum approach, as immigrated children enter the school system in record numbers. “Persons obtaining legal permanent status in the U.S from the year 2000-2010 are roughly eleven million” (Homeland Security,pg.10/2010). Fernsten & Reda’s confidence of their own limited teaching practices without legitimate comparables from an empirical study leads to their underlying assumptions about the true effectiveness of reflective writing strategies and the causes they believe are associated to a student’s socio/economic background.
According to the reading, Writing as a Mode of Learning by Janet Emig, knowledge is described as “an act of knowing that enters as a passionate contribution of the person to know what is being known, which is a coefficient that is no mere imperfection but a vital component of a person’s knowledge.” Essentially, knowledge is composed of what a person, association or discourse community knows about what is already known in their area of expertise or fully know what could occur in a certain situation, similar to how a rhetor must prepare and know what rhetorical situations might occur at any moment during their speech or writing. Knowledge is created to prepare for various outcomes and situations as goals are being constructed in a discourse community.
Academic writing is a very discouraging topic that most young writers do not even want to begin to think about or imagine doing. Throughout college everyone will be asked to write multiple academic essays regardless of their major. We have read two sources in class that have helped clear up some common myths and also helped make academic writing not seem so foreign. The two sources we read were “What is Academic Writing?” and the first chapter of the book “From Inquiry to Academic Writing”. Many young students seeking a college degree are fearful about the amount of work needed to be done in order to survive their college courses. Academic writing is a challenging topic that many young people struggle to get a grasp on. Once the skill of
Being a new teacher of English, I find the assessment of compositions to be a concept I question and struggle with on a regular basis. Having consulted several colleagues, mentors, administrators, and fellow graduate students, I have come to the conclusion that there is no easy answer to this tedious yet ever important question. While there are many inlets and outlets to this dilemma, for the sake of time I will touch on only three. While all three are very different in terms of concepts, rituals, and conducts, they all come together to one common goal - helping students express themselves in terms of writing.
My English 1310 course was taught by Professor Daniel Stuart. He taught us the concept of academic writing and why it is important. Academic writing is the process of down ideas, using a formal tone, deductive reasoning and third person. Writing done to carry out the requirements of a college or university on a research based level. It requires a starting point or introduction, followed by a thesis on the preferred topic, then comes proving and disproving of the evidence based arguments. Learning academic writing is important because it is a way to communicate our thoughts clearly and originality. It helps us think and see what evidence we can come up to contribute to that thinking. This course approached this idea of academic writing by
As a second language learner I have never expected myself to be a perfect writer throughout the semester. Even If English was my first language still, I would not be a perfect writer. It is not about first or second language, it is about how well I understand the learning objectives. Then organizing and writing with my own ideas and putting them in my paper. I am going to be honest, I am not good at English subject and English subject is my strongest weakness than the other subjects. In this paper I will discuss and analyze my own writing, reflecting on the ways that my writing has improved throughout the semester.
Writing can be a very difficult process for those who do not know how to go about constructing
Many students in high school lack the ability to write at a proficient level. One of the major issues with writing is that they struggle to understand the prompt and do not know how to start their essay. If they cannot “unlock” the prompt and write proper topic and thesis statements they will not get a passing score on their writing assignment, both in the classroom and at the State testing level.
This test was developed in correspondence with the increased need for competitive skills in English language. It is mostly taken by those who need to certify their level of English proficiency for reasons such as education, vocation and immigration. Quoting the IELTS Handbook (2006:4) Green (2007) claims that the test tests the language ability of candidates who may need to study or work in countries where English is the language of communication. The test generally measures a person’s ability to communicate in English across several skills including Listening on which this paper will focus on.
Writing is an important part of everyone’s life, whether we use it in school, in the workplace, as a hobby or in personal communication. It is important to have this skill because it helps us as writers to express feelings and thoughts to other people in a reasonably permanent form. Formal writing forms like essays, research papers, and articles stimulates critically thinking. This helps the writer to learn how to interpret the world around him/her in a meaningful way. In college, professors motivate students to write in a formal, coherent manner, without losing their own voice in the process. Improving your writing skills is important, in every English class that’s the main teaching point; to help students improve their writing skills. Throughout my college experience I have acknowledge that
To understand Thai culture, belief and value, it is important to understand the language use in Thai society. According to sociolinguistic point of view, Thailand is considered the “Diglossia Society”, where there are variety of languages use to serve a specialized function and are used for particular purpose. The purpose of the different language is to serve the different types of people. The standard Thai language is used with normal domain or normal people. Another language is used for “ High Function” or with the higher status domains such as with the monk and with the King and the Royal family. This kind of language is called “ Kam Racha Sap” /
An ESP course entails rigorous adherence to its absolute characteristics that define it as need based pedagogy which uses specific content and specialized language to help learners acquire proficient use of language in diverse academic or workplace contexts. ESP involves various steps in designing, implementing and assessing a target course. This includes identification of the key issues that are specific to the teaching and learning context, cognizance of the implications for the course design, conducting a comprehensive needs analysis, collating the results of research, analysing data, developing course outline, selecting materials, defining appropriate methodology, developing assessment tools, and evaluating the course for further improvement.
Crème, P., & Lea, M. R. (2008). Writing at university: A guide for students. Buckingham, GBR:
Academic writing skill is very essential for the college students. Through academic writing, the students can express their thoughts, feelings and point of view on a certain issue or topic. In presenting ideas about variety of issues, students need to follow certain rules in writing academic essays. Academic writing is a specific type of writing that is needed in writing formal essays in a certain course. To create a well-constructed essay, it is very important for the students to use academic writing style. It has specific features which include academic tone in the essays. To achieve formality of tone, students must maintain the objectivity of their written texts. Unfortunately, some of the students tend to use personal pronouns