Investigating Students’ Problems in Understanding Their Personal Qualities and Skills for Cover Letters: A Self-Assessment Approach

Abstract

This paper explores students’ problems in presenting their personal qualities in cover letters for job application and examines the effectiveness of self-assessment approach in countering these problems. This study adopts the action research approach, and the research methods used are content analysis, individual interview and self-assessment feedback. The research procedure consists of a three-stage approach. The researchers comprise four English instructors who also act as participant-observers in their language classrooms and collaborators in this action project. The objective of the research is to identify the problems faced by the selected learners in writing relevant information on their personal qualities and their strategies in overcoming the problems based on their own self-assessment feedback. Primarily, this study focuses on the presentation of both technical and soft skills in the cover letters. Based on the content analysis and the students’ self-assessment feedback, it was found that generally, the cover letters produced in the post-intervention demonstrated clearer and much more effective content. Specifically, it was found that students were able to do their own self-assessment by providing relevant and specific personal information that promotes personal qualities and skills in their cover letters.

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Author Information
Saadiah Kummin, The National University of Malaysia, Malaysia
Chia Loy Khim, The National University of Malaysia, Malaysia
Roselind Razali, The National University of Malaysia, Malaysia
Roslina Salim, The National University of Malaysia, Malaysia

• Category: Languages education and applied linguistics (ESL/TESL/TEFL)

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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