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Effects of using English as a medium of instruction
Difficulties using technology in the English language
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Introduction
As English is becoming more dominant as a world language, many higher education institutions use it as a medium of instruction in their educational programs (Parker, 2010). In Thailand, the number of government universities which provide international PhD programs has been increasing (Wiriyachitra, 2002). Postgraduate students studying in international programs in Thai universities are required to write assignments, research papers, and dissertations and to make presentations in English. For example, at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), postgraduate students of Applied Linguistics must have at least one publication in an international peer reviewed journal as one of the graduation requirements (School
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The SLWAI was administered to investigate changes in writing anxiety. For the semi-structured interviews, each participant was informed about the research purposes, procedures and confidentiality. T hey then signed a consent form before the data collection. Each participant was individually interviewed in English in the final week to elicit his/her experiences of being anxious and to avoid any influences from the other participants (Rubin & Rubin, 1995). The semi-structured interview lasted for 10-20 minutes. They were also asked to report their causes of anxiety and coping strategies that they used while they were writing a research …show more content…
(2007). The effects of portfolio keeping on writing anxiety of EFL students. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 3(2), 218–236.
Parker, P. (2010). When English becomes the medium of instruction: Communicative effectiveness is more important than accuracy. Retrieved April 5th, 2010 from http://www.su.se/english/about/press/press-releases/when-english-becomes-the-medium-of-instruction-communicative-effectiveness-is-more-important-1.2392
Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (1995). Qualitative Interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications.
School of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. (2008). Graduation requirements Retrieved May 29th, 2008 from http://sola.kmutt.ac.th/sola/index.php/courses-offered/doctoral-degree/graduation-requirements/?lang=th
Thompson, M. O. (1980). Classroom techniques for reducing writing anxiety: A study of several cases. Paper presented at the annual conference on College Composition and
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Tsui, A. B. M. (1996). Reticence and anxiety in second language learning. In K. M. Bailey
& D. Nunan (Eds.). Voices from the language classroom.
English as a communication tool holds prominent position in Chinese curriculum (Liu, 2012). Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) has seen its boost in China (Qiang & Wolff, 2007). Mastering English is an asset for students in job hunting and further education. As academic achievement is highly valued in Chinese culture, students are expected to achieve high marks in English tests (Liu, 2012). University students need to pass National English proficiency examinations, which are the part of the evaluation for obtaining degrees (Wolff, 2010). Students attend after-school English courses for enhancing their English because of the pressure (Liu, 2012). The majority of ELL students aim at improving the international English proficiency tests results, such as International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). ELL students are more motivated in the after-school English courses because of the high-target learning environment. However, the teacher-centred learning procedure neglects the long-term enhancement of students’ English level. The ignorance of the long-term development is due to less student involvement during the teaching procedure (Mo, 2012). Some Chinese ELL students choose to attend ESL courses abroad. The reasons are that they can have a better language environment (Wolff, 2010) and can engage more in the learning procedure (Smith & Hu, 2013). The aim of the study is to compare the teacher-centred teaching in China and student-centred teaching in Canada and to examine efficient teaching methods for Chinese speaking ELL
‘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.
...eft for writer’s anxiety, my instructor explain to us that it was our writing assignment and that she would not do it for us. Generally speaking, her hard core style of teaching was in the least inviting, thus ended up being my favorite class. Most all of our class time was spent learning in a much assorted variety of styles that it was never boring. Each assignment plan and process brought me into the focus of writing allowing time to etch some learned values into my college agenda proving that my anxiety had been overcome and English 111 has made its mark on my life.
When I was first accepted into the AP Language & Composition course, I felt overwhelmed. I had always received above average grades in all subject areas, but because this was an AP course I was unsure if my English skills were up to par. During the summer, my anxiety about the course increased. I began to feel that my writing skills were inferior to the skills of my peers’. Before this course, I did not have a developed writing voice or style. I had little knowledge of what phrases or words to avoid using in writing. I started to wonder if I truly belonged in an AP course. After having completed this course, I have a better grasp of the English language and have acquired skills that have improved my writing.
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.
I have never liked writing; I always thought it was a waste of time. It was a great therapy but I never found academic writing to be useful just tedious. Only ever writing when I had too made it harder for my writing skills to grow or improve in any way. I have not taken an English class since the 10th grade, even then I never gave it much effort, just doing what I had to so I could pass the class. Then I jump in to College English 1010, I feel like I do well in all other subjects but this one. English is my worst nightmare.
Writing is a way in which a person can express their thoughts and ideas through the use of words. Everybody has their own writing styles. Some may consider theirs as inspirational while others think of it to be bad. Writing requires a lot of patience and time. In my case, writing has never been my favorite thing to do. I am no Shakespeare and I never will be, writing has always made me feel uncomfortable. In the past, I had always considered writing to be one of the most difficult tasks. I often wrote about topics that were not of my interest. I rarely did any writing out of school or for leisure as most people do. I only wrote because the teacher asked us to. Writing has always been forced onto me. Even though my writing isn't that great, I've felt that I've never been given the freedom to express my voice. Academic writing has always made me anxious. And, anxiety had resulted in my procrastination. Even though I consider writing to be one of the toughest tasks, I've felt that giving myself enough time to think allows me to do better. Silence helps me think beyond horizons. However, the fear of impressing someone, the anxiety and frustration is what makes me a developing writer.
3 Cleary, M. N. (2012). Anxiety and the newly returned adult student. Teaching English in the
Although constructs such as CA, communication reticence, and unwillingness-to-communicate have often been treated in literature as interchangeable, (McCroskey, 1982) particularly in earlier work, some researchers have found the need to distinguish between them. Reticence was originally thought of in relation to CA, particularly in connection with stage fright, and anxiety was identified as the causative agent that produced the characteristic behavior patterns. (McCroskey, 1977b; McCroskey, 1982) However during the 1970’s the constructs of reticence and CA evolved and changed to become quite disparate. According to McCroskey (1982) the contemporary view is that reticent people are those who do not communicate competently. Phillips (1984) further states that reticent people “avoid communication because they believe they will lose more by talking than remaining silent” (p.52). So while the construct of reticence was initially the same as CA, reticence is now perceived as a concept that represents a broad range of communicative incompetence while CA relates to communicative incompetence that stems fr...
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
In today’s competitive world, academic is very important and a good grade is most have in order to make a decent career. For the international student, this ESL class is very important. This class teaches us to adopt the writing styles used in many fields and also makes us able to communicate properly within the society. The vast diversity and increasing immigration in this country are making the society more globalized. To stand out among those crowds and make a decent career, we have to do better in learning the way the society understands and ESL class teaches us that. Furthermore, as English is generally the language used by almost everyone working and dealing at all levels, mastering it is important for ESL students to like me. Hence,
It is not easy to decide whether academic writers have to learn the English writing style or it might be better to choose another writing style. If academic writers could find a global structure for the whole world, so academic writers will learn it and use it for writing an essay or a scientific paper. According to Linn(2009), non-native speakers how grown in a different language and culture have a different writing standards which leads to a certain way of thinking, understanding and writing as a result of that. Linn(2009) claimed that teachers have show non-native speakers that the way of a successful academic writing is not only by learning grammar and vocabulary, but also by learning a new writing methods and a new way of thinking. At the end Linn is suggesting to have a suitable group of subjects because Sondek’s study(2008) is small.
Silva, T. “Toward An Understanding Of The Distinct Nature Of L2 Writing: The ESL Research And Its Implications.” Reprinted In Silva, T. & Matsuda, P.K. Landmark Essays On ESL Writing . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. 191-208
Writing and Learning Disabilities International: Overcoming Learning Difficulties 6.3 (2006): 347-67. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
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