The effects of task-based process writing approach on the academic writing skills among second language tertiary learners : A case study

• Main Author: Siti Katijah Johari
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: LB2300-2430 Higher education
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37462/1/24%20PAGES.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37462/2/FULLTEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/37462/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Academic writing occupies a very important place in the English language syllabus at tertiary level. However it is a skill that learners find most difficult to acquire and only a number of them manage to master the skill. This in-depth study of a pedagogical intervention attempts to investigate the effects of amalgamating a task-based approach and a process writing approach on the development of learners' academic writing skill. The participants were 138 undergraduate learners registered in the English for Academic Reading and Writing course at University Malaysia Sabah Labuan International Campus. The participants were divided into two groups: an experimental group and a control group with 69 learners in each group. In this study, both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered. A pretest, post-test and written assignments were given to the participants for assessing their improvement in their academic writing skills. The tests and the assignment were scored by three experienced ESL raters with a standardized writing assessment rubric. To determine the effects of the task-based process writing approach on the significant improvement of the experimental group's academic writing skills, their drafts and final essays were scored with the same standardized writing assessment rubric. This would verify if there are significant differences between each criteria of the writing composition. Statistical analysis, that is, the independent-samples t-tests and paired-samples t-tests via SPSS computer program were used to determine the results from the quantitative data. These quantitative results were further triangulated by analyzing the five-point Likert scale questionnaire of both groups and the students' reflection of the participants in the experimental group. Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data revealed significant effects of the task-based process writing approach on the development of learners' academic writing skills. The findings of this study have confirmed that the task-based process writing have had significant effects to the development of the undergraduate second language learners whereby they have showed improvements in their tests results and they have also given constructive responses from the questionnaire and student reflection. Hence, this study has demonstrated that teaching novice writers how to write effective academic assignments through a constructive instructional method should in fact constitute an important component in structuring and implementing English for Academic Reading and Writing course intended to promote academic literacy.