Written communication skills are often among the most important applied skills sought by employers when hiring graduates of colleges of agriculture. However, recent reports cite a gap between employers' expectations and graduates' levels of preparedness in key applied skills, among them "effective written communication." One critical…

Research findings support a relationship between writing self-efficacy and writing production. A multiple-probe across students design was used to evaluate the effects of a writing intervention, which included strategy instruction and cognitive-behavioral components, on the writing production of three middle school students. Visual analysis of…

Different students enter institutions of higher learning with varying degrees of writing apprehension. The apprehension ranges from anxiety from writing tasks to avoiding courses that involve a lot of writing. For many universities, the writing centers or academic writing courses are meant to equip students to be able to deal with the high writing…

The present study aimed to find out if Genre-Based Writing Instruction had an effect on pre-service English teachers' foreign language writing anxiety levels. The research setting was a compulsory English Literature course in an English Language Teaching (ELT) department, in which a writing module adopting a Genre-Based Approach was integrated…

This study examines the relative contributions of linguistic and affective variables to writing performance among students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in South Korea. In total, 270 middle school students completed four language tests assessing their reading comprehension, grammar knowledge, and descriptive and argumentative…

Writing anxiety is one of the most essential factors influencing language learning. The current study is to explore the effect of sentence-making practice on reducing writing anxiety of two classes of adult EFL learners, one in low-intermediate level (LI learners), the other in high-intermediate level (HI learners). Two classes received two-week…

The current educational trend strongly encourages students' active participation in learning. However, EFL writing instructions in Korea are so far detached from this approach. That is, most English writing classes in Korea are still teacher-centered and most learners remain passive throughout the classroom period. In order to bring about change…

Employers have identified oral and written communications skills to be the most important skills graduates should possess when entering the workforce. In order for faculty to better understand their students' oral and written communications skills, they should understand what apprehension the students have toward oral and written communications.…

Writing skill is seen as a cornerstone of university students' success in both academic and career life. This qualitative study was conducted to further explore the teachers' and students' perceptions on the relationship between writing apprehension and writing performance, contributing factors of writing apprehension, and strategies to reduce…

Research on anxiety in a foreign language-learning context is well-documented; however, few studies have directly focused on anxiety occurring within writing contexts despite the fact that writing anxiety is known to affect students' learning. The present study examined the effectiveness of concept mapping considering students' writing anxiety.…

This study examined the effects of collaborative blended learning writing environment on students' writing apprehension and writing performance as perceived by a selected group of EFL students enrolled in one of the international schools in Malaysia. Qualitative case study method was employed using semi-structured interview, learning diaries and…

For any curriculum area that entails writing, digital storytelling could transform students' perceptions of and their actual abilities to express themselves through the written word. The use of two Web sites has helped the students of one school go from staring apprehensively at blank pages to eagerly publishing stories.

This article investigates the development of intercultural awareness in an electronic mail (e-mail) discussion project between Hungarian learners of English and American speakers. Students discussed topics relating to cultures, languages, and pedagogical issues. The e-mails were analyzed in terms of language skill improvement, apprehensiveness…

Time and opportunity to discover truths are essential in education. Discovery takes repetition and trial and error. Discovery crosses intellectual and disciplinary boundaries as well. What is learned through the diverse experiences of one's academic and individual lives will pollinate each other if there is room left for discovery. The tyranny of…

Suggests that a grammar-based, error-correction method to teach composition may be at least partially responsible for students' perception of themselves as incompetent writers. Offers a method that uses brainstorming, free writing, looping, and cubing to help students find focus and voice in their writing. (JOW)