Exploring EFL Learners’ Strategies of How They Improve the Process of Their Writing Assignments

Abstract

Feedback on EFL/ESL learners' writing products plays an important role for learners to improve their writing final production (Nicol 2009; Hattie & Timperley, 2007). The authors of this study teach English in a Japanese university and give writing assignments for EFL learners as one of assessments. Although EFL learners are given enough time to finish their writing assignments, they do not tend to ask teachers to get feedback on their writing drafts before they submit their final writing production. The aim of this study is to explore EFL learners' strategies of how they improve the process of their writing assignments before they submit their final writing production. This study used questionnaires about the process of their writing assignments for the data collection. The total of 398 responses were collected from both 1st and 2nd year university students. The data are mainly analyzed quantitatively and also qualitative approach is adopted in order to analyze open- ended questions on our questionnaires. The results show that most students showed their writing drafts to others (including their teachers and classmates) before they submitted their final drafts. Interestingly, although nearly 70% of participants admitted that their teachers' feedback was the most reliable feedback, nearly 50% of participants actually showed their drafts to their friends instead of their teachers. At the conference, we will discuss some reasons why EFL learners did not tend to ask their teachers to get some feedback on their writing drafts and suggest how teachers support learners' writing skills to improve.

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Author Information
Yoshihiko Yamamoto, Shizuoka University, Japan
Akiko Nagao, Kindai University, Japan

• Category: ACLL ACTC 2016, ACLL2016, Oral Presentation, Paper Available
• Tag: Learning Strategies,

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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