An Investigation into Students' Writing Reluctance During University Writing Courses
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Date
2009-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate students' reluctance to
writing in ELl' classroom. The study took place in the context of
university writing courses.
For the purpose, the perspectives of those who are directly experiencing
such apathetic academic behaviors were the main subjects of the study.
In addition, course instructors, who are close to students, were also the
source of information. Moreover, attempts were made to obtain data
about the students' disengaged behaviors through systematic
observations of classrooms in live situations.
The researcher used both deductive and inductive analysis methods.
The data collected through instructors' interview and classroom
observations were analyzed through content analysis methods. In
addition, the responses to the items in the students' questionnaire were
analyzed through descriptive statistical techniques.
The study went through two stages: describing features that
characterize reluctant writers and exploring student beliefs about what
hindered their engagement with writing in English classroom. The
results of stage one of the study revealed that uncooperativeness in
group activities, unwillingness to show their work for proofreading,
skipping necessary steps of writing tasks, tending to copy others work,
and disorganized and tattered works are among the characterizing
features of reluctant writers.
Results from stage two of this research suggest that lacle of necessary
sub skills, lack of confidence in ucwlemic writing, language teachers'
reluctance to read students' works, failure of teachers' to explain
appropriate strategies, and students' self-beliefs about future career
goals were among the main factors influencing students' engagement.
The results of this study implied that reluctant students are a large
group of many of our writing classrooms and therefore language
teachers in general and writing teachers in particular can identify
success factors with these students by focusing on promoting their
engagement with the writing process. Thus, understanding who
reluctant writers are and what they believe about what hindered their
engagement will equip the writing instructors for designing effective
intervention strategies to promote the engagement.
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An Investigation into Students' Writing