Several past studies have pointed out that Japanese EFL students are not skilled in producing argumentative essays in English, a mode of discourse most often required in academic contexts. The present paper reports on a study conducted to explore the effects of a-year-long writing instruction method that was designed to facilitate Japanese college EFL students in making a successful transition from the “knowledge-telling” model to the “knowledge-transforming” model of writing (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987). It was found that the instruction method led the students to produce essays with both macro- and micro-level rhetorical and linguistic features that are considered to be characteristic of formal academic discourse. Specifically, after given the instruction, the students produced essays of better quality with clearer organization, logical consistency, and objective support. They also used more enumerators and logical connectors, and employed, as grammatical subjects, more third-person pronouns and inanimate nouns. It was also found that at least a year is required to ensure such improvements in the students’ academic writing. The paper exhibits a sample analysis of students’ actual essays and also provides examples of teaching materials used.
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PREVIOUS STUDIES PURPOSE OF THE STUDY METHOD Subjects Data Collection Academic Writing Instruction DATA ANALYSIS Pilot Study Measures for Macro-level Analysis Measures for Micro-level Analysis RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Results of Macro-level Analysis Results of Micro-level Analysis Sample Analysis CONCLUSION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THE AUTHORS REFERENCES APPENDIX
The goals of Asia TEFL are to promote scholarship, disseminate information, and facilitate cross-cultural understanding among persons concerned with the teaching and learning of English in Asia. In order to accomplish this, Asia TEFL will pursue the following goals:
1. To link ELT professionals in joint research on issues and concerns regarding English teaching and learning in the Asian context.
2. To publish an academic journal, The Asia TEFL Journal, as an internationally recognized journal in the field of English language teaching.
3. To host conferences and seminars addressing important issues concerning ELT in Asia.
4. To develop proficiency guidelines and assessment methods designed for the needs of the Asian context.
5. To develop programs for Asian learners and teachers of English to build their English language proficiency and cultural understanding and provide them with the skills required to be efficient English teaching professionals.