The development of writing skills among English majors at two universities in Thailand

Studies on English language education in Asian context have highlighted the importance of teaching writing to students. However, the current English language teaching curriculum in Thailand includes little or no writing which can affect the EFL students to acquire English. Most of the existing liter...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bayatee, Dueraman
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
eng
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://etd.uum.edu.my/4430/1/s93025.pdf
https://etd.uum.edu.my/4430/2/s93025_abstract.pdf
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Summary:Studies on English language education in Asian context have highlighted the importance of teaching writing to students. However, the current English language teaching curriculum in Thailand includes little or no writing which can affect the EFL students to acquire English. Most of the existing literature has compartmentalized issues of EFL writing skills based on discrete L1 writing theories. Therefore, the present study aimed at exploring the multidimensional process of Thai EFL students’ writing skill development at two leading universities in Thailand using a grounded theory design. The data were obtained from seven English majors through class observation, interviews with instructors and students, and document analyses. The data were analysed qualitatively using a systematic design in order to formulate a new theory in relation to factors influencing Thai students’ process of writing development. As a result, a grounded theory of writing skill development was formulated comprising both internal and external factors which explained how the seven English majors learn writing was established. The external factors consisted of the Thai students’ educational context, perceptions towards writing, their teachers’ personality and the availability of English language resources that influenced the internal factors such as students’ learning behaviours. The intervening conditions encompassed teacher’s roles, instructional approaches, the syllabus design and the medium of instruction. The EFL learners’ strategies to develop the skills were realized in four different forms: intrapersonal, interpersonal, production process, and integration of writing knowledge and other learning skills. The present study has formulated a theory, which is Writing Skill Development Theory in learning English as a foreign language. In terms of pedagogical implications, the assumptions in this theory may provide some guidance to the teachers on the improvement of English language teaching curriculum in the process of teaching writing.