Investigating the writing strategies of fourth year Libyan university students of English: strategy differences between good and poor writers of English

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Elshawish, M.F., 2014. Investigating the writing strategies of fourth year Libyan university students of English: strategy differences between good and poor writers of English. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

The present study is an investigation of the composing processes and writing strategies of fourth year Libyan university students majoring in English as a foreign language. The study predominantly adopts a qualitative approach, using a number of research methods, namely think-aloud protocols, semi-structured interviews, and observations. The student participants involved in the investigation belonged to two groups: good writers (N=5), and poor writers (N=6). The teacher informants (N=3) are among those who teach composition classes to students in the English department, and have long experience in teaching in the university stage of education. The composing sessions were audio-taped, transcribed and coded for analysis, along with the drafts and the final written compositions. The think-aloud sessions were followed by semi-structured interviews that were conducted with both students and teachers. The research was guided by three questions: (1) What strategies do Libyan students of English as a foreign language use while writing in English? (2) Do proficient and less proficient writers differ in their strategy use? (3) If yes, how and why do they differ? Analysis of the data collected from think-aloud protocols revealed that the subjects made use of various strategies, and sub-strategies while composing. The good writers‘ use of strategies differed from the poor writers‘ in terms of frequency and quality, and there seems to be a variation in recursiveness in subjects‘ writing process in relation to their writing proficiency and language competence.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Elshawish, M.F.
Date:	2014
Rights:	This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner(s) of the Intellectual Property Rights.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Arts and Humanities
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 09:35
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2017 14:48
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/273