Incorporating Academic Writing Phrases into EFL Students’ Research Proposals
Abstract
The phrasal expressions in research proposals represent an integral semantic unit coherently, including the basic academic phrases and syntactic elements. The objectives of this research are (1) to describe the types of academic writing phrases in EFL students' research proposals, (2) to find out the benefits of academic writing phrases, and (3) the problems that EFL students faced while constructing academic writing phrases. This interpretive/qualitative research seeks to identify, classify, and analyse data pertaining to the academic writing phrases in 28 research proposals. The results show the academic writing phrases that are organised into introducing the topic using specific writing phrases and guidelines, identifying the significance of the issue, the scopes and objectives of the research, the review of literature, and the explanation of key terms. These contributions confirm the benefits of academic writing phrases for educational purposes, namely to pursue knowledge of EFL writing, encourage self-confidence, support self-awareness and modify writing practices. As reflected through the interview results, however, EFL students are afraid of making mistakes, and they find it hard to explore ideas and use academic writing phrases to enhance linguistic advancement, metalinguistic knowledge, phrasal familiarity, clarity, and acceptability. The pedagogical implications of the findings merit further considerations.
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.7.3
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Abbas, M. A., Hammad, S., Hwang, G.-J., Khan, S., & Gilani, S. M. M. (2020). An assistive environment for EAL academic writing using formulaic sequences classification. Interactive Learning Environments, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2020.1789670
Abednia, A., Hovassapian, A., Teimournezhad, S., & Ghanbari, N. (2013). Reflective journal writing: Exploring in-service EFL teachers’ perceptions. System, 41(3), 503–514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.05.003
Afshunpour, N., & Memari, M. (2014). Interlingual Transfer of Idioms by Persian Learners in EFL Sentence Writing. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.387
Akbari, N. (2017). Lexical diversity and the use of academic and lower frequency words in the academic writing of EFL students. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 40(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.40.1.02akb
Ansarifar, A., Shahriari, H., & Pishghadam, R. (2018). Phrasal complexity in academic writing: A comparison of abstracts written by graduate students and expert writers in applied linguistics. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 31, 58–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2017.12.008
Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., & Sorensen, C. (2009). Introduction to Research in Education. (C. Shortt, Ed.) (8th Editio). Belmont, California: Wadsworth.
Badley, G. F. (2019). Post-Academic Writing: Human Writing for Human Readers. Qualitative Inquiry, 25(2), 180–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800417736334
Badley, G. F. (2020). Why and How Academics Write. Qualitative Inquiry, 26(3–4), 247–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800418810722
Bai, B., Wang, J., & Nie, Y. (2020). Self-efficacy, task values and growth mindset: what has the most predictive power for primary school students’ self-regulated learning in English writing and writing competence in an Asian Confucian cultural context? Cambridge Journal of Education, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2020.1778639
Barrot, J. S. (2020). Effects of Facebook-based e-portfolio on ESL learners’ writing performance. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1745822
Beck, S. W., & Jeffery, J. V. (2007). Genres of high-stakes writing assessments and the construct of writing competence. Assessing Writing, 12(1), 60–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2007.05.001
Benelhadj, F. (2019). Discipline and genre in academic discourse: Prepositional Phrases as a focus. Journal of Pragmatics, 139, 190–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2018.07.010
Berge, K. L., Evensen, L. S., & Thygesen, R. (2016). The Wheel of Writing: a model of the writing domain for the teaching and assessing of writing as a key competency. The Curriculum Journal, 27(2), 172–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585176.2015.1129980
Biber, D., Gray, B., Staples, S., & Egbert, J. (2020). Investigating grammatical complexity in L2 English writing research: Linguistic description versus predictive measurement. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 46, 100869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2020.100869
Birjandi, P., & Hadidi Tamjid, N. (2012). The role of self-, peer and teacher assessment in promoting Iranian EFL learners’ writing performance. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 37(5), 513–533. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2010.549204
Boddy, C. (2012). The Nominal Group Technique: an aid to Brainstorming ideas in research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 15(1), 6–18. https://doi.org/10.1108/13522751211191964
Cai, L. J. (2016). An exploratory study on an integrated genre-based approach for the instruction of academic lexical phrases. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 24, 58–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2016.09.002
Çandarlı, D. (2018). Changes in L2 writers’ self-reported metalinguistic knowledge of lexical phrases over one academic year. The Language Learning Journal, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2018.1520914
Casanave, C. P. (2019). Does Writing for Publication Ever Get Easier? Some Reflections from an Experienced Scholar. In Novice Writers and Scholarly Publication (pp. 135–151). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95333-5_8
Chen, W. (2019). Profiling Collocations in EFL Writing of Chinese Tertiary Learners. RELC Journal, 50(1), 53–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688217716507
Clifton, C., & Frazier, L. (2012). Interpreting Conjoined noun Phrases and Conjoined Clauses: Collective versus Distributive Preferences. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65(9), 1760–1776. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2012.667425
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2000). Research Methods in Education. Fifth Edition. London: Routledge Falmer, Francis & Taylor Group
Concha, S., & Paratore, J. R. (2011). Local Coherence in Persuasive Writing: An Exploration of Chilean Students’ Metalinguistic Knowledge, Writing Process, and Writing Products. Written Communication, 28(1), 34–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088310383383
Crouch, M., & McKenzie, H. (2006). The logic of small samples in interview-based qualitative research. Social Science Information, 45(4), 483–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018406069584
Davis, M., & Morley, J. (2015). Phrasal intertextuality: The responses of academics from different disciplines to students’ re-use of phrases. Journal of Second Language Writing, 28, 20–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2015.02.004
DeCarrico, J., & Nattinger, J. R. (1988). Lexical phrases for the comprehension of academic lectures. English for Specific Purposes, 7(2), 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/0889-4906(88)90027-0
Ebadi, S., & Rahimi, M. (2018). An exploration into the impact of WebQuest-based classroom on EFL learners’ critical thinking and academic writing skills: a mixed-methods study. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 31(5–6), 617–651. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2018.1449757
Ebadi, S., & Rahimi, M. (2019). Mediating EFL learners’ academic writing skills in online dynamic assessment using Google Docs. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 32(5–6), 527–555. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2018.1527362
Elfiondri, E. (2019). Inter-lingual errors of Indonesian-English in relation to English composition: The case of Bung Hatta University EFL Students, Indonesia, Asian EFL Journal, 24(4.1), 45-60. https://www.asian-efl-journal.com/monthly-editions-new/2019-monthly-journals/volume-24-issue-4-1-2019/
Farahian, M., & Avarzamani, F. (2018). The impact of portfolio on EFL learners’ metacognition and writing performance. Cogent Education, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2018.1450918
Galloway, E.P., Stude, J., & Uccelli, P. (2015). Adolescents’ metalinguistic reflections on the academic register in speech and writing. Linguistics and Education, 31, 221–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2014.10.006
Golpour, F., Ahour, T., Ahangari, S., & Lu, X. (2019). Iranian EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding writing activities and class organization. Cogent Education, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2019.1651812
Habibie, P. (2019). To Be Native or Not to Be Native: That Is Not the Question. In Novice Writers and Scholarly Publication (pp. 35–52). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95333-5_3
Imaniah, I., Mayuni, I., & Lustyantie, N. (2019). The student’s academic writing skill in terms of academic procrastination, self-esteem and reading habit at Muhammadiyah University of Tangerang, Asian EFL Journal, 24(4.1), 118-127. https://www.asian-efl-journal.com/monthly-editions-new/2019-monthly-journals/volume-24-issue-4-1-2019/
Huang, S. (2012). The integration of ‘critical’ and ‘literacy’ education in the EFL curriculum: expanding the possibilities of critical writing practices. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 25(3), 283–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2012.723715
Hyland, K. (2008). As can be seen: Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation. English for Specific Purposes, 27(1), 4–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2007.06.001
Kaweera, C. (2013). Writing Error: A Review of Interlingual and Intralingual Interference in EFL Context. English Language Teaching, 6(7). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v6n7p9
Kerz, E., & Wiechmann, D. (2015). Register-Contingent Entrenchment of Constructional Patterns. Journal of English Linguistics, 43(1), 61–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0075424214564364
Kozawa, S., Sakai, Y., Sugiki, K., & Matsubara, S. (2010). Automatic Extraction of Phrasal Expressions for Supporting English Academic Writing (pp. 485–493). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14616-9_47
Lamb, E. (2018). Reading Children in Early Modern Culture Early Modern Literature in History. Belfast: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lan, G., Lucas, K., & Sun, Y. (2019). Does L2 writing proficiency influence noun phrase complexity? A case analysis of argumentative essays written by Chinese students in a first-year composition course. System, 85, 102116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.102116
Lan, G., & Sun, Y. (2019). A corpus-based investigation of noun phrase complexity in the L2 writings of a first-year composition course. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 38, 14–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2018.12.001
Leroy, G., Kauchak, D., & Hogue, A. (2016). Effects on Text Simplification: Evaluation of Splitting Up Noun Phrases. Journal of Health Communication, 21(sup1), 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2015.1131775
Li, J., & Schmitt, N. (2009). The acquisition of lexical phrases in academic writing: A longitudinal case study. Journal of Second Language Writing, 18(2), 85–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2009.02.001
Lin, Z. (2016). Context-model-based instruction in teaching EFL writing: A narrative inquiry. Cogent Education, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1154258
Liu, D., & Myers, D. (2020). The most-common phrasal verbs with their key meanings for spoken and academic written English: A corpus analysis. Language Teaching Research, 24(3), 403–424. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818798384
Majchrzak, O. (2018). Learner Identity and Learner Belief in EFL Writing Second Language Learning and Teaching. Lodz: Springer International Publishing AG.
Malone, K. (2018). Children in the Anthropocene Rethinking Sustainability and Child Friendliness in Cities. Milperra: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mann, S. (2016). The Research Interview. The Research Interview. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137353368
Miller, J. J., Grise-Owens, E., Drury, W., & Rickman, C. (2018). Teaching Note—Developing a Professional Writing Course Using a Holistic View of Competence. Journal of Social Work Education, 54(4), 709–714. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2018.1474152
Moret, M., Reuzel, R., van der Wilt, G. J., & Grin, J. (2007). Validity and Reliability of Qualitative Data Analysis: Interobserver Agreement in Reconstructing Interpretative Frames. Field Methods, 19(1), 24–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X06295630
Morley, J. (2015). Academic phrasebank: A compendium of commonly used phrasal elements in academic English in PDF format 2014b edition. The University of Manchester.
Morse, J. M., Barrett, M., Mayan, M., Olson, K., & Spiers, J. (2002). Verification Strategies for Establishing Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1(2), 13–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690200100202
Mostafa, T., & Crossley, S. A. (2020). Verb argument construction complexity indices and L2 writing quality: Effects of writing tasks and prompts. Journal of Second Language Writing, 49, 100730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2020.100730
Mur-Dueñas, P. (2019). The Experience of a NNES Outer Circle Novice Scholar in Scholarly Publication. In Novice Writers and Scholarly Publication (pp. 97–115). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95333-5_6
Myhill, D., Jones, S., & Wilson, A. (2016). Writing conversations: fostering metalinguistic discussion about writing. Research Papers in Education, 31(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2016.1106694
Nagao, A. (2019). The SFL genre-based approach to writing in EFL contexts. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 4(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-019-0069-3
Nuccorini, S. (2006). In search of ‘phraseologies.’ European Journal of English Studies, 10(1), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825570600590879
Oakey, D. (2020). Phrases in EAP academic writing pedagogy: Illuminating Halliday’s influence on research and practice. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 44, 100829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2019.100829
Parkinson, J., & Musgrave, J. (2014). Development of noun phrase complexity in the writing of English for Academic Purposes students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 14, 48–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2013.12.001
Powers, D. E., Fowles, M. E., & Welsh, C. K. (2001). Relating Performance on a Standardized Writing Assessment to Performance on Selected Academic Writing Activities. Educational Assessment, 7(3), 227–253. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326977EA0703_03
Qin, W., & Uccelli, P. (2020). Beyond linguistic complexity: Assessing register flexibility in EFL writing across contexts. Assessing Writing, 45, 100465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2020.100465
Rahman, Z. A. A. A. (2013). The Use of Cohesive Devices in Descriptive Writing by Omani Student-Teachers. SAGE Open, 3(4), 215824401350671. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013506715
Rakedzon, T., & Baram-Tsabari, A. (2017). Assessing and improving L2 graduate students’ popular science and academic writing in an academic writing course. Educational Psychology, 37(1), 48–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2016.1192108
Ratminingsih, N. M., Marhaeni, A. A. I. N., & Vigayanti, L. P. D. (2018). Self-Assessment: The Effect on Students’ Independence and Writing Competence. International Journal of Instruction, 11(3), 277–290. https://doi.org/10.12973/iji.2018.11320a
Reynolds, B. L. (2016). Action Research: Applying a Bilingual Parallel Corpus Collocational Concordancer to Taiwanese Medical School EFL Academic Writing. RELC Journal, 47(2), 213–227. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688215619518
Roehr, K. (2008). Metalinguistic Knowledge and Language Ability in University-Level L2 Learners. Applied Linguistics, 29(2), 173–199. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm037
Rojo, J. L. (2018). Phraseology as indicator for translation quality assessment of museum texts: A corpus-based analysis. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2018.1442116
Ruan, Z. (2017). Lexical Bundles in Chinese Undergraduate Academic Writing at an English Medium University. RELC Journal, 48(3), 327–340. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688216631218
Sanders, C. B., & Cuneo, C. J. (2010). Social Reliability in Qualitative Team Research. Sociology, 44(2), 325–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038509357194
Smith, M. A. S (2004). In Two Minds about Grammar: on the Interaction of Linguistic and Metalinguistic Knowledge in Performance. Transactions of the Philological Society, 102(2), 255–280. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0079-1636.2004.00137.x
Sosenko, F. (2012). Non-fiction Literature and Interpretive/Qualitative Research Methods: Reflections on the Meaning of “Social Science.†Methodological Innovations Online, 7(2), 41–63. https://doi.org/10.4256/mio.2012.010
Staples, S., Egbert, J., Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2016). Academic Writing Development at the University Level. Written Communication, 33(2), 149–183. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088316631527
Surmann, A. T. (1997). The Effects of Race, Weight, and Gender on Evaluations of Writing Competence. The Journal of Social Psychology, 137(2), 173–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224549709595428
Teng, (Mark) Feng. (2019). The role of metacognitive knowledge and regulation in mediating university EFL learners’ writing performance. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2019.1615493
Thonney, T. (2012). “That’s Beyond the Scope of This Paperâ€: Analyzing the Functions of a Familiar Phrase in Academic Writing. Rhetoric Review, 31(3), 309–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350198.2012.684002
Trotter, R. T. (2012). Qualitative research sample design and sample size: Resolving and unresolved issues and inferential imperatives. Preventive Medicine, 55(5), 398–400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.07.003
Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice of Theory (Cambridge Teacher Training and Development Series). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Venuti, L. (1998). The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference. London: Routledge.
Vincent, B. (2013). Investigating academic phraseology through combinations of very frequent words: A methodological exploration. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12(1), 44–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2012.11.007
Wei, Y., & Lei Lei. (2011). Lexical Bundles in the Academic Writing of Advanced Chinese EFL Learners. RELC Journal, 42(2), 155–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688211407295
Willis, G. B. (2015). Analysis of the Cognitive Interview in Questionnaire Design Understanding Qualitative Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zarrabi, F., & Bozorgian, H. (2020). EFL Students’ Cognitive Performance during Argumentative Essay Writing: A log-file data analysis. Computers and Composition, 55, 102546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2020.102546
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
e-ISSN: 1694-2116
p-ISSN: 1694-2493