Online self-evaluation: the EFL writing skills in focus

Abstract

Students need more independent roles to evaluate their learning performance, especially in the absence of teachers’ feedback due to some constraints such as technology and poor experience. This study investigates the potential of online self-evaluation on students’ writing skills in English as a foreign language (EFL). It examines the Preparatory Year (PY) students’ most improved EFL writing areas and perceptions when they use online self-evaluation in writing. In this quasi-experiment, two groups of PY EFL writing program students participated in the study for one semester 2020–2021. A mixed-method design was applied: Self-monitoring checklists, self-evaluation questionnaires, achievement tests, and students’ portfolios. Findings revealed that most of the learners’ mistakes were in punctuation marks, capitalization, informal language, and subject-verb agreement. It was also perceived that learners were doing fine about where and how they should be. The study proved that the students’ self-evaluation and performance in writing correlated significantly; however, the effect size was low. Based on the research findings, it is recommended that training programs on strategy are to be boosted, especially in institutions where learners receive less feedback.

Noticing Formulaic Sequence through Typographic Enhancement Technique: Using an Online Platform

“…Therefore, when a random assignment to groups is not possible to be conducted, the quasi-experiment design is commonly employed for studies conducted in a classroom or educational settings [7,[31][32][33][34][35]; or in clinical trials or practices [30,[36][37][38], as well as in several other study areas. The present study utilized a quasi-experimental approach to look into the effects of TE in a non-conflated design in order to understand the effect of typographic enhancement techniques among low proficiency ESL learners, through the use of an online platform.…”