Mejorar la Escritura Académica de Aprendices de inglés: Un efoque de multiestrategia a un desafío multideminesional

Abstract

The demands of the academic field and the constraints students have while learning how to write appropriately call for better approaches to teach academic writing. This research study examines the effect of a multifaceted academic writing module on pre-service teachers' composition skills in an English teacher preparation program at a medium sized public university in Colombia. Four written samples from sixteen students were analyzed throughout the two academic periods of 2016. Analytical rubrics measured six writing features quantitatively. Results showed that this multifaceted academic writing module significantly improved pre-service teachers' competences such as discourse, syntax, vocabulary, mechanics and language conventions.Key Words: Academic writing, peer review, tutoring, writing lab, systemized feedback, TOEFL practice, Process Approach ResumenLos requerimientos del área académica y las limitaciones de los estudiantes al aprender a escribir exigen mejores estrategias para la enseñanza de la escritura académica. Esta investigación examina el efecto de un módulo multifacético de 1

Supporting English Language Learners’ Academic Writing Development Through a Systematized Assistance Model

“…This, enables the ultimate goal of a WC to "support writers on their journey to write ever more effectively" (Boehm, 2009, p. 1). As pointed out by Marulanda and Martínez (2017) students warrant reinforcement on their academic writing skills across the curriculum on an ongoing basis in order for them to eventually internalize the process and techniques that are required for highly academic written productions. As a matter of fact, the development of highly sophisticated academic writing requires sustained guidance as the needs of each written product vary according to tasks, purposes and discourse communities (Paltridge et al, 2009).…”

“…This study was carried out in the Academic Writing course from a Bilingual English Teaching Program at a state university in Colombia. This course's focus was recently modified to adopt a process-oriented stance and also to include ongoing tutoring sessions aimed at supporting students throughout the term in the composition of their written assignments (Marulanda & Martínez, 2017). 16 students were randomly selected and four of their written products were analyzed.…”

“…descriptive, reflective, expository and argumentative). Both versions were assessed using a five-point analytical rubric comprising the following writing features: Discourse, organization, syntax, conventions and vocabulary, as previously implemented by Marulanda and Martínez (2017). This rubric allowed the professor and tutors to identify structural and form irregularities in each of the written products, making the grading process more reliable, and therefore, enabling the collection of errors with more specificity.…”

“…A support system with these characteristics started with the design of an academic writing course at an English Bilingual Teacher Preparation Program of a Colombian public university where multiple instructional and assessment strategies such as the Process Approach (PA), genre-based instruction, systematized feedback and ongoing tutoring have been used since 2016 (Marulanda & Martínez, 2017).…”

Action-research study to improve vocabulary acquisition through picture description

“…Even though writing is not a variable of the study, it was a way to measure one part of the word knowledge, which is the use in context. The written sentences gave students the opportunity to think through their answers and to put together their ideas (Marulanda et al, 2017). Similarly, the process of thinking made possible that students checked, with the classmates and the teacher, the texts they created.…”