An investigation of Chinese junior high school teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards EFL writing

Abstract

This study investigated Chinese junior high school teachers' and students' attitudes mainly about their worries, perceptions, and beliefs towards EFL writing, which was conducted by a mixed research method. 25 participants were involved in a survey questionnaire that consists of three parts: (1) demographical information, (2) measure of attitudes, and (3) comments on EFL writing. The attitudinal measures with a five-point Likert scale questionnaire showed that EFL writing was ignored in EFL class, but participants expected to focus on that. Furthermore, the results observed from a paired t-test quantitatively indicated that these teachers and students considered EFL writing as a difficult and important skill and they believed that it is possible to improve their EFL writing skill. On the other hand, there was an individual facet-to-face interview to justify these results in the survey, in which, that the root reasons of EFL writing is a weakness skill, the difficulties of performing writing, and the lack of opportunities to practice it, were found. Based on these findings in survey questionnaire and interview, several pedagogical implications were discussed consequently in order to: (i) increase the practice opportunities, (ii) use correct language learning strategies, (iii) overcome the first language barrier, (iv) keep ongoing learning, and (v) reflect the process, quality, and outcome of EFL writing, which are effective ways to enhance the EFL writing skill.

A comparative effect of high involvement load versus lack of involvement load on vocabulary learning among Iranian sophomore EFL learners

“…This stressed clear teaching and precision of grammar as the system became in essence regulated, while little attention was paid to vocabulary. The content focused on the reading and comprehension of literary texts (Solak & Altay, 2014;Yang, 2015;Zimmerman, 1998). Vocabulary items were extracted solely from reading texts and students were provided with the required vocabulary in the form of bilingual lists of words (Alqahtani, 2015).…”

Chinese Secondary EFL Learners’ and Teachers’ Preferences for Types of Written Corrective Feedback

“…Most student participants in different studies express their preference to be corrected by teachers. Yang (2016) also reports that the Chinese secondary EFL learners believe writing as difficult and they consider the given feedback as an necessary tool to promote their writing ability. Major (1988) also believes that the success of correction is relevant to teachers' understanding of their students.…”

Sözcük Dağarciği Büyüklüğü, Sözcük Çeşi̇tli̇li̇ği̇, Sözcük Yoğunluğu Ve İngi̇li̇zce Yazma Puanlari: Kesi̇tsel Bi̇r Çalişma

“…This deficiency in receptive skills also impacts their productive vocabulary use. The acquisition of a wide range of vocabulary is of utmost importance in order to achieve a high level of competency and fluency in both written and spoken communication (Begriche, 2013;Putra, 2014;Rudy, 2013;Yang, 2015). Numerous academic investigations have demonstrated a significant association between one's proficiency in vocabulary and their ability to talk fluently (Fhonna, 2014;Khotimah, 2014;Perez Manzanilla & Diaz Cabrera, 2014;Tahir, 2015).…”