Background. Though research on academic writing has been in focus for many years, it has been changing recently to embraces new linguistic and pedagogical aspects. The “Publish and perish” concept went global some time ago and became the measure of academic excellence and performance for universities and faculty. Subsequently, the field has widened to include issues of writing for publication, research article structured formats, rhetoric of the scholarly text, genre-specific issues. Purpose. The editorial review aims to identify and offer the emerging landscapes in academic writing as guidelines for JLE aspiring and recurrent authors. Methods. The review covers the 167 top cited publications (articles and reviews) selected from the Scopus on the basis of the inclusion criteria (published articles and reviews in the period between 2012 and 2021 in English with more than 14 citations in Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities). Results. The initial search for publications on the “academic writing” keyword brought 1,792 as of May 21, 2022. After the inclusion criteria were applied, the list boiled down to 1,002 publications. Based on the prevailing keywords in these articles and reviews, 14 thematic clusters were formed, later increased to 15 to comply with the papers on the selected list. Then the 167 publications were distributed among the clusters, based on the keywords, and focus of the research. An in-depth analysis highlighted the popular aspects and issues within the clusters. Thus, the major directions of research were determined. The review findings contribute to better understanding of the field of AW and encourage researchers to further explore the emerging gaps and challenges in AW. 25 keywords were outlined as the most frequent in the field of academic writing. The major directions of research entail teaching and learning AW in higher education; digital issues of AW; lexical bundles and vocabulary; identity, complexity, stance, and voice; country-related research; genre issues in AW; feedback and assessment in AW; writing for publication; plagiarism and integrity; academic literacies; discourse and metadiscourse; discipline-related issues; citation issues in AW; writing a thesis; and rhetorical aspects in AW. Implications. Following the findings of the JLE editors’ review, our readers may get focused on popular and pertinent directions in their future research.
{"title":"An In-Depth Glimpse into Research on Academic Writing","authors":"Lilia K. Raitskaya, E. Tikhonova","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.14586","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.14586","url":null,"abstract":"Background. Though research on academic writing has been in focus for many years, it has been changing recently to embraces new linguistic and pedagogical aspects. The “Publish and perish” concept went global some time ago and became the measure of academic excellence and performance for universities and faculty. Subsequently, the field has widened to include issues of writing for publication, research article structured formats, rhetoric of the scholarly text, genre-specific issues. \u0000Purpose. The editorial review aims to identify and offer the emerging landscapes in academic writing as guidelines for JLE aspiring and recurrent authors. \u0000Methods. The review covers the 167 top cited publications (articles and reviews) selected from the Scopus on the basis of the inclusion criteria (published articles and reviews in the period between 2012 and 2021 in English with more than 14 citations in Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities). \u0000Results. The initial search for publications on the “academic writing” keyword brought 1,792 as of May 21, 2022. After the inclusion criteria were applied, the list boiled down to 1,002 publications. Based on the prevailing keywords in these articles and reviews, 14 thematic clusters were formed, later increased to 15 to comply with the papers on the selected list. Then the 167 publications were distributed among the clusters, based on the keywords, and focus of the research. An in-depth analysis highlighted the popular aspects and issues within the clusters. Thus, the major directions of research were determined. The review findings contribute to better understanding of the field of AW and encourage researchers to further explore the emerging gaps and challenges in AW. 25 keywords were outlined as the most frequent in the field of academic writing. The major directions of research entail teaching and learning AW in higher education; digital issues of AW; lexical bundles and vocabulary; identity, complexity, stance, and voice; country-related research; genre issues in AW; feedback and assessment in AW; writing for publication; plagiarism and integrity; academic literacies; discourse and metadiscourse; discipline-related issues; citation issues in AW; writing a thesis; and rhetorical aspects in AW. \u0000Implications. Following the findings of the JLE editors’ review, our readers may get focused on popular and pertinent directions in their future research.","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49465127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background. The study of using process-genre approach that was used to increase the writing competence had been conducted by many researchers. However, the contirbution of this learning approach for HOTs aspects has not been done by many researchers, especially on learning writing Indonesian Purpose. Many studies only focused on one research approach, consequently, the finding was not quite comprehensive. Besides, to examine the effect of process-genre approach on academic writing competence and HOTs, this research also aimed to explore attitude and students’ expectation on their learning experience by using this approach. Method. The research used a sequential, mixed-method explanatory approach. Two grades were randomly chosen to enroll in the experimental class and a monitoring class of up to 52 students. The individual is a member of the Indonesian language education department who is currently taking the writing 1 course at the Bengkulu University, Indonesia. There are two instruments used in this analysis, the writing test & HOTs test for Quantitative statistics and semi-structured qualitative data interviews. The data from the writing test and the HOTs were quantitatively analysed for the paired sample t-test, the stand-alone sample t-test and the MANOVA, while the interview data were analysed using thematic analysis techniques. Results and Implications. The results have found that process-genre approach had a substantial positive effect on scholarly writing and student HOTs. Besides, thematic research also reveals that there are favorable views and expectations of students regarding the influence of the process-genre approach towards academic writing and student HOTs. This finding is iexpected to enrich knowledge about how students could enhance their writing ability and HOTs by using process-genre approach.
{"title":"Exploring the Impact of Process-genre Approach on Learners’ Academic Writing and Higher Order Thinking Skills","authors":"Dian Eka Candra Wardhana","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.12537","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.12537","url":null,"abstract":"Background. The study of using process-genre approach that was used to increase the writing competence had been conducted by many researchers. However, the contirbution of this learning approach for HOTs aspects has not been done by many researchers, especially on learning writing Indonesian \u0000Purpose. Many studies only focused on one research approach, consequently, the finding was not quite comprehensive. Besides, to examine the effect of process-genre approach on academic writing competence and HOTs, this research also aimed to explore attitude and students’ expectation on their learning experience by using this approach. \u0000Method. The research used a sequential, mixed-method explanatory approach. Two grades were randomly chosen to enroll in the experimental class and a monitoring class of up to 52 students. The individual is a member of the Indonesian language education department who is currently taking the writing 1 course at the Bengkulu University, Indonesia. There are two instruments used in this analysis, the writing test & HOTs test for Quantitative statistics and semi-structured qualitative data interviews. The data from the writing test and the HOTs were quantitatively analysed for the paired sample t-test, the stand-alone sample t-test and the MANOVA, while the interview data were analysed using thematic analysis techniques. \u0000Results and Implications. The results have found that process-genre approach had a substantial positive effect on scholarly writing and student HOTs. Besides, thematic research also reveals that there are favorable views and expectations of students regarding the influence of the process-genre approach towards academic writing and student HOTs. This finding is iexpected to enrich knowledge about how students could enhance their writing ability and HOTs by using process-genre approach.","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44199871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
U. Sulistiyo, Tubagus Zam Zam Al Arif, Reli Handayani, M. Faruq Ubaidillah, Mujiyono Wiryotinoyo
Background. The use of ICT in learning English can assist learners to improve their language skills, aside from empowering and motivating them in English language learning. ICT utilization can provide opportunities for collaboration and interaction in the learning process. Purpose. The present study was conducted to examine the motivation, ICT skills, equipment, and attitudes factors towards the use of ICT tools for English learning in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Methods. The quantitative method was applied involving 303 pre-service teachers of English department at a state university in Jambi, Indonesia. A questionnaire was employed to collect the data and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the proposed hypotheses developed in fulfilling the study objectives. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to examine the attitudes of student teachers toward the use of ICT for English language learning. Results. Findings suggested that the determinants of the technology acceptance model are the major factors influencing the usage of ICT. In addition, the effect of equipment, motivation, and ICT skills towards the use of ICT had been mediated by three main variables of TAM, namely perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and attitudes. Furthermore, it was found that the motivation, ICT skills and attitudes factors affect the actual use of ICT for English learning while the equipment factor does not. Implications. The results of this study are beneficial for students and teachers both in schools and universities. For students, they need to equip themselves with ICT literacy, ICT skills, motivation, and positive attitudes towards the use of ICT in English learning activities. Teachers should also equip themselves with ICT skills so that they can provide learning experiences according to the needs of students in today's digital age.
{"title":"Determinants of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) towards ICT Use for English Language Learning","authors":"U. Sulistiyo, Tubagus Zam Zam Al Arif, Reli Handayani, M. Faruq Ubaidillah, Mujiyono Wiryotinoyo","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.12467","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.12467","url":null,"abstract":"Background. The use of ICT in learning English can assist learners to improve their language skills, aside from empowering and motivating them in English language learning. ICT utilization can provide opportunities for collaboration and interaction in the learning process. \u0000Purpose. The present study was conducted to examine the motivation, ICT skills, equipment, and attitudes factors towards the use of ICT tools for English learning in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. \u0000Methods. The quantitative method was applied involving 303 pre-service teachers of English department at a state university in Jambi, Indonesia. A questionnaire was employed to collect the data and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the proposed hypotheses developed in fulfilling the study objectives. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to examine the attitudes of student teachers toward the use of ICT for English language learning. \u0000Results. Findings suggested that the determinants of the technology acceptance model are the major factors influencing the usage of ICT. In addition, the effect of equipment, motivation, and ICT skills towards the use of ICT had been mediated by three main variables of TAM, namely perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and attitudes. Furthermore, it was found that the motivation, ICT skills and attitudes factors affect the actual use of ICT for English learning while the equipment factor does not. \u0000Implications. The results of this study are beneficial for students and teachers both in schools and universities. For students, they need to equip themselves with ICT literacy, ICT skills, motivation, and positive attitudes towards the use of ICT in English learning activities. Teachers should also equip themselves with ICT skills so that they can provide learning experiences according to the needs of students in today's digital age.","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48177277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background. Synonymous words behave differently, and language users should be aware of the fact that though near-synonyms share similar denotational meanings, they require different collocates. Further, with specific collocates, they provoke a special affective meaning called semantic prosody. To give an example of this problematic area, researchers use a lot of reporting verbs that merely describe an opinion such as argue, claim, believe, etc. or state facts such as find, confirm, cite, etc. Such verbs cannot be used interchangeably as some novice researchers usually do when they discuss their findings or compare their results with others'. Purpose. This study aimed at examining the semantic prosody of 24 research verbs commonly used by researchers. For this purpose, collocational behavior of nearly synonymous verbs was examined. Compared to previous studies, this study considered only adverbs co-occurring with such research verbs. Methods. The researcher used the Directory Open Access Journals (DOAJ), which is of 2.6 billion words and 659,132 texts, and focused on predicational adverbs that end in –ly. For the purpose of the study, adverbs with positive semantic prosody are those proving a stronger attitude towards the proposition, improving the quality, quantity, manner of a piece of information or its the relation to the topic or those suggesting a higher level of certainty. Results. Investigating 24 research verbs related to hypothesizing, reporting, and summarizing, the researcher found that such verbs have different sets of collocates and thus distinct semantic prosodies. Results showed that 12 of the research verbs were positive (i.e., quantify, argue, claim, suggest, state, mention, indicate, outline, summarize, encapsulate, recapitulate, and reveal), whereas 12 verbs (i.e., hypothesize, review, conclude, presume, posit, assume, theorize, speculate, note, report, find, and postulate) were neutral. Implications. The study has its own implications for writing instructors and researchers. Novice researchers should not use some research verbs interchangeably as they require different collocates of adverbs. Further, future research should address the relationship between word's etymology and semantic prosody as the present study showed that verbs derived from Latin (e.g., conclude, hypothesize, postulate, etc.) are neutral compared to those that are originally French.
{"title":"Semantic Prosody of Research Verbs: A Corpus-Informed Study","authors":"G. Al-Otaibi","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.12985","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.12985","url":null,"abstract":"Background. Synonymous words behave differently, and language users should be aware of the fact that though near-synonyms share similar denotational meanings, they require different collocates. Further, with specific collocates, they provoke a special affective meaning called semantic prosody. To give an example of this problematic area, researchers use a lot of reporting verbs that merely describe an opinion such as argue, claim, believe, etc. or state facts such as find, confirm, cite, etc. Such verbs cannot be used interchangeably as some novice researchers usually do when they discuss their findings or compare their results with others'. \u0000Purpose. This study aimed at examining the semantic prosody of 24 research verbs commonly used by researchers. For this purpose, collocational behavior of nearly synonymous verbs was examined. Compared to previous studies, this study considered only adverbs co-occurring with such research verbs. \u0000Methods. The researcher used the Directory Open Access Journals (DOAJ), which is of 2.6 billion words and 659,132 texts, and focused on predicational adverbs that end in –ly. For the purpose of the study, adverbs with positive semantic prosody are those proving a stronger attitude towards the proposition, improving the quality, quantity, manner of a piece of information or its the relation to the topic or those suggesting a higher level of certainty. \u0000Results. Investigating 24 research verbs related to hypothesizing, reporting, and summarizing, the researcher found that such verbs have different sets of collocates and thus distinct semantic prosodies. Results showed that 12 of the research verbs were positive (i.e., quantify, argue, claim, suggest, state, mention, indicate, outline, summarize, encapsulate, recapitulate, and reveal), whereas 12 verbs (i.e., hypothesize, review, conclude, presume, posit, assume, theorize, speculate, note, report, find, and postulate) were neutral. \u0000Implications. The study has its own implications for writing instructors and researchers. Novice researchers should not use some research verbs interchangeably as they require different collocates of adverbs. Further, future research should address the relationship between word's etymology and semantic prosody as the present study showed that verbs derived from Latin (e.g., conclude, hypothesize, postulate, etc.) are neutral compared to those that are originally French. ","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44989875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background. Lexical Bundles (LBs) have become the focus of many recent corpus linguistics studies. Research has found variable use of LBs in terms of quality and quantity pertaining to different linguistic groups or registers. Still, there is a paucity of research investigating Arab EFL writers’ use and development of such a feature. Purpose. This study investigates the 4-word LBs use and development by Arab EFL learners and expert writers in a corpus of 250000 words regarding their frequency, functions, and structure. Methods. Two corpora were compiled for Arab learners and scholars. The LB use of both groups was compared to investigate the development of LB use. Further, the Arab corpus was analysed against a native reference corpus extracted from the British Academic Written English (BAWE) corpus to compare LB use across the two corpora. Results and Implications. The results imply that there is no noticeable effect of postgraduate education or professional practice on using LBs. The other results, however, are in-line with the previous literature in that native speakers’ use of LBs varies in quantity and quality from non-natives’. The findings reveal that stance LBs are more frequent in the native corpus and that they tend to use more VP-based clausal LBs than their non-native counterparts. These findings offer empirical evidence that EFL writing quality is lower despite the current academic writing instruction they receive. They, therefore, indicate the need to foster academic writing instruction programs to include training on using LBs in learners’ writing at both Bachelor and postgraduate levels. Also, the results are expected to raise teachers’ awareness of how EFL learners use LBs to develop their writing quality and thus to adapt their teaching strategies accordingly. Moreover, Arab scholars are called to reconsider their use of effective writing techniques including LBs for more effective writing.
{"title":"The Use and Development of Lexical Bundles in Arab EFL Writing: A Corpus-driven Study","authors":"Abdulaziz Sanosi","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.10826","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.10826","url":null,"abstract":"Background. Lexical Bundles (LBs) have become the focus of many recent corpus linguistics studies. Research has found variable use of LBs in terms of quality and quantity pertaining to different linguistic groups or registers. Still, there is a paucity of research investigating Arab EFL writers’ use and development of such a feature. \u0000Purpose. This study investigates the 4-word LBs use and development by Arab EFL learners and expert writers in a corpus of 250000 words regarding their frequency, functions, and structure. \u0000Methods. Two corpora were compiled for Arab learners and scholars. The LB use of both groups was compared to investigate the development of LB use. Further, the Arab corpus was analysed against a native reference corpus extracted from the British Academic Written English (BAWE) corpus to compare LB use across the two corpora. \u0000Results and Implications. The results imply that there is no noticeable effect of postgraduate education or professional practice on using LBs. The other results, however, are in-line with the previous literature in that native speakers’ use of LBs varies in quantity and quality from non-natives’. The findings reveal that stance LBs are more frequent in the native corpus and that they tend to use more VP-based clausal LBs than their non-native counterparts. These findings offer empirical evidence that EFL writing quality is lower despite the current academic writing instruction they receive. They, therefore, indicate the need to foster academic writing instruction programs to include training on using LBs in learners’ writing at both Bachelor and postgraduate levels. Also, the results are expected to raise teachers’ awareness of how EFL learners use LBs to develop their writing quality and thus to adapt their teaching strategies accordingly. Moreover, Arab scholars are called to reconsider their use of effective writing techniques including LBs for more effective writing.","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41950991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background. There is consensus in research that students' motivation and emotions are important for learning and achievement processes in the educational context, as are language competencies that, related to the demands of academic language, enable participation in education. However, the interrelationships between these aspects have hardly been empirically investigated in depth. Purpose and Methods. This systematic review addresses this research need, and aims to synthesise the existing evidence on the interrelationship between motivational/emotional and language-related variables. First, the relationship between learners’ motivation and emotions, and their language competencies is considered. Second, findings on how motivation and emotion depend on language-related factors are compiled. Results. A systematic data search conducted for this purpose yields seven studies. Five studies relate to the first concern, and confirm the effects of motivational and emotional variables on reading comprehension. Emotions, in particular, emerge as strong predictors. Two studies relate to the second concern, and report significant effects of language-related variations in text tasks on students’ motivation; however, neither study considers emotions. Implications. The findings are used to derive implications for language design in the educational context and identify important research gaps.
{"title":"Relationships Between Language-Related Variations in Text Tasks, Reading Comprehension, and Students’ Motivation and Emotions: A Systematic Review","authors":"Lina Wirth, Poldi Kuhl, T. Ehmke","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.13572","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.13572","url":null,"abstract":"Background. There is consensus in research that students' motivation and emotions are important for learning and achievement processes in the educational context, as are language competencies that, related to the demands of academic language, enable participation in education. However, the interrelationships between these aspects have hardly been empirically investigated in depth. \u0000Purpose and Methods. This systematic review addresses this research need, and aims to synthesise the existing evidence on the interrelationship between motivational/emotional and language-related variables. First, the relationship between learners’ motivation and emotions, and their language competencies is considered. Second, findings on how motivation and emotion depend on language-related factors are compiled. \u0000Results. A systematic data search conducted for this purpose yields seven studies. Five studies relate to the first concern, and confirm the effects of motivational and emotional variables on reading comprehension. Emotions, in particular, emerge as strong predictors. Two studies relate to the second concern, and report significant effects of language-related variations in text tasks on students’ motivation; however, neither study considers emotions. \u0000Implications. The findings are used to derive implications for language design in the educational context and identify important research gaps.","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47110828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background. The emergence of information and communication technology and the resulting technological devices have influenced the nature and process of composition and the level of students' engagement and participation in writing activities. Purpose. The present study reviews 50 studies published in peer-reviewed applied linguistics journals from 2000 to 2020 which have investigated the use and implications of technology for teaching and assessing writing in academic contexts. Methods. The PRIZMA model was applied for records screening and selection and systematic qualitative content analysis was used to explore the content of these studies and identify the most relevant themes. The most relevant sections of these studies (especially, designs and findings) were selected for further analysis and synthesis. Results. Results of this systematic thematic review are mainly categorized and discussed based on three main themes: (1) Technology Use in Teaching and Learning Academic Writing, (2) Some Technological Tools for Teaching and Assessing Academic Writing, and (3) Practical Implications of Using Technology in Academic Writing Classrooms. Results of this systematic review indicated that growth in the use of technological resources such as computers, applications, and web-based learning environments in teaching and assessing ELT-related writing in academic contexts can enhance the quality of instruction provided. Implications. Despite some practical limitations for applying these technologies in writing courses, most of the reviewed studies pointed to the fact that technology-mediated writing instruction and assessment can enhance the students' knowledge and use of new digital literacies and, in turn, can lead to improvements in their composing processes and writing competence while working on various genres.
{"title":"Review of Research on the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in ELT-related Academic Writing Classrooms","authors":"Omid Mallahi","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.13395","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.13395","url":null,"abstract":"Background. The emergence of information and communication technology and the resulting technological devices have influenced the nature and process of composition and the level of students' engagement and participation in writing activities. \u0000Purpose. The present study reviews 50 studies published in peer-reviewed applied linguistics journals from 2000 to 2020 which have investigated the use and implications of technology for teaching and assessing writing in academic contexts. \u0000Methods. The PRIZMA model was applied for records screening and selection and systematic qualitative content analysis was used to explore the content of these studies and identify the most relevant themes. The most relevant sections of these studies (especially, designs and findings) were selected for further analysis and synthesis. \u0000Results. Results of this systematic thematic review are mainly categorized and discussed based on three main themes: (1) Technology Use in Teaching and Learning Academic Writing, (2) Some Technological Tools for Teaching and Assessing Academic Writing, and (3) Practical Implications of Using Technology in Academic Writing Classrooms. Results of this systematic review indicated that growth in the use of technological resources such as computers, applications, and web-based learning environments in teaching and assessing ELT-related writing in academic contexts can enhance the quality of instruction provided. \u0000Implications. Despite some practical limitations for applying these technologies in writing courses, most of the reviewed studies pointed to the fact that technology-mediated writing instruction and assessment can enhance the students' knowledge and use of new digital literacies and, in turn, can lead to improvements in their composing processes and writing competence while working on various genres.","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45120913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background. A plethora of previous studies have discussed the importance of a genre-approach move analysis because the analysis results can provide a picture of the typical conventions of research article writing across disciplines. Purpose. Nursing as a professional discipline, however, has received scant attention, particularly in the abstract section in the journals with different indexation. To fill such an empirical void, this qualitative study probes the notion of whether journal indexation matters in manifesting the rhetorical moves in the nursing abstracts. Methods. Fifty abstracts from a Scopus-indexed Q1 journal and another 50 from three Sinta-indexed journals in Indonesia were analyzed manually. This study employed a descriptive comparative approach to analyze and present the data. Findings. The findings demonstrated conformity manifestations of method and results moves along with their linguistic realizations by using simple past tense in active or passive forms. The article abstracts from the Scopus-indexed nursing journal emphasized the novelty of the research more than their counterparts from the identification of gap of previous research and highlighting the significance of the study. Implications. This study suggests writers consider the contributing role of journal indexation type in projecting a higher standard of abstract writing in preparing their abstracts to increase the acceptance rate during an initial screening stage.
{"title":"Does Journal Indexation Matter? A Genre-Approach Move Analysis of Nursing English Research Article Abstracts","authors":"A. Lubis, Eri Kurniawan, Wawan Gunawan","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.13471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.13471","url":null,"abstract":"Background. A plethora of previous studies have discussed the importance of a genre-approach move analysis because the analysis results can provide a picture of the typical conventions of research article writing across disciplines. \u0000Purpose. Nursing as a professional discipline, however, has received scant attention, particularly in the abstract section in the journals with different indexation. To fill such an empirical void, this qualitative study probes the notion of whether journal indexation matters in manifesting the rhetorical moves in the nursing abstracts. \u0000Methods. Fifty abstracts from a Scopus-indexed Q1 journal and another 50 from three Sinta-indexed journals in Indonesia were analyzed manually. This study employed a descriptive comparative approach to analyze and present the data. \u0000Findings. The findings demonstrated conformity manifestations of method and results moves along with their linguistic realizations by using simple past tense in active or passive forms. The article abstracts from the Scopus-indexed nursing journal emphasized the novelty of the research more than their counterparts from the identification of gap of previous research and highlighting the significance of the study. \u0000Implications. This study suggests writers consider the contributing role of journal indexation type in projecting a higher standard of abstract writing in preparing their abstracts to increase the acceptance rate during an initial screening stage.","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47455795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ismail Xodabande, Shima Torabzadeh, M. Ghafouri, Azadeh Emadi
Background. Generally operationalized as the words used more frequently in academic discourse for describing abstract ideas and processes, academic vocabulary poses a major learning burden for native and non-native speakers of English. Recent developments in corpus-based technologies and tools have made it possible to analyze large bodies of texts for profiling vocabulary items, and a growing number of studies investigated such vocabulary in research articles published in different disciplines. Purpose. Despite significant progress in academic word list development, research focusing on the contribution of the newly developed word lists in academic texts remained largely limited. Accordingly, the majority of studies used outdated lists for general and academic vocabulary as the starting points in their studies. Methods. The current study investigated a large corpus of applied linguistics research articles (2000 RAs, 15.5 million words, 20 journals) to identify frequently used academic words based on New Academic Word List (NAWL). In analyzing the data, predefined criteria were used and the study used flemma for counting and defining words. Results. The findings indicated that 310 out of 960 academic words in NAWL were used frequently in the corpus and provided 4.19% coverage. This coverage differs considerably with the previous studies that investigated similar corpora using the Academic Word List (AWL) and reported around and more than 10% coverage for academic vocabulary. Since the base lists used for profiling the corpus in this study were different from those employed by the previous studies, such differences mainly arise as a result of improvements in operationalizing general service and academic vocabulary. Implications. In light of these findings and recent calls for more replication research in vocabulary studies, the study draws some implications for researching and teaching academic vocabulary. Additionally, in order to facilitate academic vocabulary learning in applied linguistics, the study presents a list of frequently used NAWL items divided into six bands based on their frequency in the corpus.
{"title":"Academic Vocabulary in Applied Linguistics Research Articles: A Corpus-based Study","authors":"Ismail Xodabande, Shima Torabzadeh, M. Ghafouri, Azadeh Emadi","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.13420","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.13420","url":null,"abstract":"Background. Generally operationalized as the words used more frequently in academic discourse for describing abstract ideas and processes, academic vocabulary poses a major learning burden for native and non-native speakers of English. Recent developments in corpus-based technologies and tools have made it possible to analyze large bodies of texts for profiling vocabulary items, and a growing number of studies investigated such vocabulary in research articles published in different disciplines. \u0000Purpose. Despite significant progress in academic word list development, research focusing on the contribution of the newly developed word lists in academic texts remained largely limited. Accordingly, the majority of studies used outdated lists for general and academic vocabulary as the starting points in their studies. \u0000Methods. The current study investigated a large corpus of applied linguistics research articles (2000 RAs, 15.5 million words, 20 journals) to identify frequently used academic words based on New Academic Word List (NAWL). In analyzing the data, predefined criteria were used and the study used flemma for counting and defining words. \u0000Results. The findings indicated that 310 out of 960 academic words in NAWL were used frequently in the corpus and provided 4.19% coverage. This coverage differs considerably with the previous studies that investigated similar corpora using the Academic Word List (AWL) and reported around and more than 10% coverage for academic vocabulary. Since the base lists used for profiling the corpus in this study were different from those employed by the previous studies, such differences mainly arise as a result of improvements in operationalizing general service and academic vocabulary. \u0000Implications. In light of these findings and recent calls for more replication research in vocabulary studies, the study draws some implications for researching and teaching academic vocabulary. Additionally, in order to facilitate academic vocabulary learning in applied linguistics, the study presents a list of frequently used NAWL items divided into six bands based on their frequency in the corpus.","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49146851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Background. Academic writers utilize a variety of rhetorical methods to construct their knowledge claims through hedges and boosters. These two strategies may also be affected by disciplinary, cultural, or generic contexts. Purpose. This mixed-methods contrastive research study explored how disciplinary and cultural contexts may affect the way Arab and Anglophone writers construct and modulate knowledge claims through hedges and boosters in the results and discussion sections of 90 English research articles in three disciplines: Journalism, Law, and Political Science. Methods. Instances of hedges and boosters and their pragmatic functions in context were identified, employing Liu and Tseng’s (2021) framework. This framework provides a detailed functional interpretation of the use and variation of these devices along four continuums: authorial voice, reasoning, consensus-building, and information evaluation. Results. The results showed interesting contrasts and similarities between both groups regarding the approaches they used to define their levels of commitment and detachment in their knowledge claims. The quantitative findings revealed significant differences in hedges but non-significant differences in boosters used by both groups. The qualitative analysis revealed that hedging and boosting functions in Arab and Anglophone writers’ RAs differed along the four continuums. Anglophone writers often used hedges in their writing to show humility, negotiate knowledge claims, and accommodate vagueness. These acts enabled them to sketch the realities emerging from their research. By contrast, the English-speaking Arab writers used fewer hedging strategies and demonstrated assertiveness, and assumed shared knowledge to enhance the realities constructed in their knowledge claims. Implications. These findings can benefit ESP/EAP teachers, especially those teaching writing for publication purposes to raise postgraduate students’ awareness of epistemic modality markers. A custom-made ESP/EAP course tailored to the needs of learners based on Liu and Tseng’s (2021) hedging-boosting framework can be devised to develop communicative and academic strategies in English.
{"title":"The Construction of Knowledge Claims in Three Disciplines: An Exploration of Hedging and Boosting Strategies in Research Articles Written in English by Arab and Anglophone Writers","authors":"Ghada Ali AlGhamdi, Hesham Suleiman Alyousef","doi":"10.17323/jle.2022.12363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2022.12363","url":null,"abstract":"Background. Academic writers utilize a variety of rhetorical methods to construct their knowledge claims through hedges and boosters. These two strategies may also be affected by disciplinary, cultural, or generic contexts. \u0000Purpose. This mixed-methods contrastive research study explored how disciplinary and cultural contexts may affect the way Arab and Anglophone writers construct and modulate knowledge claims through hedges and boosters in the results and discussion sections of 90 English research articles in three disciplines: Journalism, Law, and Political Science. \u0000Methods. Instances of hedges and boosters and their pragmatic functions in context were identified, employing Liu and Tseng’s (2021) framework. This framework provides a detailed functional interpretation of the use and variation of these devices along four continuums: authorial voice, reasoning, consensus-building, and information evaluation. \u0000Results. The results showed interesting contrasts and similarities between both groups regarding the approaches they used to define their levels of commitment and detachment in their knowledge claims. The quantitative findings revealed significant differences in hedges but non-significant differences in boosters used by both groups. The qualitative analysis revealed that hedging and boosting functions in Arab and Anglophone writers’ RAs differed along the four continuums. Anglophone writers often used hedges in their writing to show humility, negotiate knowledge claims, and accommodate vagueness. These acts enabled them to sketch the realities emerging from their research. By contrast, the English-speaking Arab writers used fewer hedging strategies and demonstrated assertiveness, and assumed shared knowledge to enhance the realities constructed in their knowledge claims. \u0000Implications. These findings can benefit ESP/EAP teachers, especially those teaching writing for publication purposes to raise postgraduate students’ awareness of epistemic modality markers. A custom-made ESP/EAP course tailored to the needs of learners based on Liu and Tseng’s (2021) hedging-boosting framework can be devised to develop communicative and academic strategies in English. ","PeriodicalId":37020,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language and Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48116380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}