G-Case+6-+Teaching+English+for+Academic+Purposes+(Tertiary)

 Abstract In teaching English for Academic Purposes at tertiary level, teachers often encounter the problems of: one, students not being able to do proper citations and second, students plagiarizing others work. Thus, in this project, using technological resources available, we try to find solutions to overcome these problems.
 * TEACHING ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES **
 * by Norhamidah, Noorlinda, Hazlinah and Emelia. **

 =THE STORY=

I am currently teaching English in a public tertiary institution. Of course each and every subject we teach has its own perks and pain. However, the one that cause me the most distress for the time being is the BEL 311 subject, English for Academic Purposes.

Lucky for me, this semester I had a group of very engaging and active students from the Graphic Design Department. Their proficiency levels range from low to high intermediate. They seem to enjoy the class and are willing to participate in most of the class activities. However, when it comes to writing academic papers, my students tend to be more passive and do not seem to deliver good responses as oppose to other components that we did in class like listening and speaking sessions. They have not been introduced to academic writing in the prerequisite subjects. I had given them handouts of sample essays and notes but they have trouble understanding the technicality of academic writing like the structures of essays (thesis statements, topic sentences, paraphrasing, quotations, citations and most of all they don’t seem to mind plagiarizing other people works as they cut and paste their essays. I am worried that this may affect their grade as they have to produce term papers as their assignment that carries 30% of the coursework and the final paper also consist of writing academic essays.

I feel that the academic writing component in the allocated textbook is insufficient and dull. I tried to find materials from other books that suit my students’ needs but a lot of academic writing books prepared for college reading skills in European countries may not necessarily be suitable to be used by our diploma students.

Furthermore, recently I felt kind of badgered by the top honchos and my techno savvy peers to be more innovative in my teaching (more high-tech I guess) as other instructors of other subjects but I don’t see how I can do that while teaching writing. This is pretty difficult since there is no courseware on English for Academic Purposes and English for Occupational Purposes that I'm teaching this semester. Recently, I went to a demo for a courseware called Correct English which caters for writing letters, memos etc which will be very useful for my English for Occupational Purposes. However, the price to obtain the license is very expensive and I'm pretty sure that my university will not approve them within this semester. I doubt that they will approve of other courseware for Academic Writing as well. I would be very glad if I have the knowledge to develop my own courseware to teach these subjects but then even if I do, I do not have that much time to invest. Plus, I do not have the luxury of a language lab but the institution does have portable LCD projector and wifi. But then what am I to do? This is writing! It is basically straightforward, structured serious stuff that requires practice. They write I mark. What else can I do?

I.0 PHASE 1: INTRODUCTION (SITUATION)

English for Academic Purposes (BEL 311) is one of the core English courses for UiTM Diploma students. Preparatory course for MUET (BEL 260) is a pre-requisite for this course. This course is aimed at preparing students to meet the demands of their respective disciplines. This is achieved by training students to employ the four English language skills and strategies necessary to carry out their academic tasks. Basically, at the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. comprehend academic texts (reading skills) 2. write a text of an academic nature (writing skills) 3. listen and take notes accurately (listening skills) 4. communicate effectively during group discussions (speaking skills)

The breakdown of the assessments are as follows: Writing – 30% Speaking – 20% Class participation – 10% Final Exam – 40%

Writing component comprises the largest amount of marks in the overall assessment. This is done through the writing of an academic term paper in which students are required to write a 1000 word essay on an approved topic by referring to at least four, academic articles. Students need to provide in-texts citations that require them to summarize and paraphrase information from any academic sources. Students also are required to provide an end-text citation (reference list) at the end of the essay. Students will be assessed thoroughly based on the process approach of writing. Students will be graded on their outlines, drafts and the final write up of the term paper. In addition, the writing component is tested in the final exam. Students are required to write a 400 word essay on a given topic by referring to two articles provided in the reading section. Similarly, students are required to provide both in-text and end-text citations.

Horban (2005) asserts that students need to master both paraphrasing and summarizing skills to compose quality papers. Which specific words are from the author that you cite, and which ones represent your own writing? You must make this obvious to the reader if you wish to avoid the charge of plagiarism.

It is necessary to develop the skills of paraphrasing and summarizing if you want to excel at essay writing. Without these skills you are likely to end up producing pages that are merely strings of quotations which, even if they are properly referenced, cannot constitute an essay of yours.Other times you will need to summarize. Often you will want to paraphrase. Knowing which technique to use will allow you to manage your essay more effectively.

The writing component is taught using the process approach of writing which consists of the following steps; brainstorming, outlining, drafting, editing and writing the final product. Apart from that, grammar is reinforced through class exercises and self-access materials from grammar textbooks and other supplementary references and worksheets.

As such, based on the weight of the writing component of the course, the problems that students encounter in this particular course will be analysed in this e-book project.

2.0 PHASE 2: ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM
 * 2.1 Students’ Profiles **

35 Part III (Year 2 Semester I) students of Diploma in Arts and Design (Graphics Design Department) of Universiti Teknologi Mara Perak in Seri Iskandar Campus are chosen as the respondents for this project. There are 6 females and 29 males, 19 – 21 year-old, with various English proficiencies. For BEL 260 which they took in the previous semester, 15 of them scored A, 8 of them scored B and the rest obtained C and D.


 * 2.2 Examining Situation **

To ensure the effectiveness of the plan, a survey has been carried out to see the students’ perception of the subject, their dilemma in completing the writing task, their needs and topics of interest. The respondents are 35 Part III students from Diploma in Arts and Design (Graphics Design Department). The outcomes are then used to set the aims and objectives for this plan. This initial survey is important because individual differences must be taken into consideration and each obstacle is aided because learners come from diverse background with range of abilities and needs (Guhlin, 1996 as cited by Brand, 1997).


 * __Table 1: Students’ Perception of the Subject, Dilemma in Completing the Writing Task & Topics of Interest (Pre)__

Section A: Students’ Perception of the Subject Yes (%) / No (%)** I like attending the class. 83 / 17 I think English is important. 80 / 20 I like all components in this subject. 14 / 86 Components Students Like Most: Reading 22.8% Writing 14.3% Speaking & Listening 62.9%

I don’t know what actually academic writing is. 86 / 14 I don’t know how to get reliable sources for the writing task. 71 / 29 When I do get sources, I tend to copy from the original text. 80 / 20 I don’t know why even when I have changed certain words, it is still considered as plagiarism. 88 / 12 I don’t see the reason why do we need to have citations. 60 / 40
 * Section B: Students’ Dilemma in Completing Writing Task Yes (%) / No (%)**

Writing topics regarding the field of study is not fun. 40 / 60 I prefer writing about other topics. 91 / 9 It is easier to write topics related to our life and experience. 86 / 14 I feel satisfied writing about topics that I like. 100 / 0
 * Ssection C: Students’ Topics of Interest Yes (%) / No (%)**

** 2.3 Identifying Problems ** From the findings of the survey, it is concluded that the students usually encounter difficulties in completing these writing tasks because of several reasons:
 * 1) The students find it boring to write about topics related to their respective disciplines, thus they do not find any satisfaction in completing the term paper.
 * 2) For the term paper, the students find it difficult to search for informative/academic articles that can be cited to support their points, thus they end up using unreliable articles from blogs, public polls and unendorsed sources.
 * 3) In-text and end-text citations are two unfamiliar subjects for the students, thus they need time before they can really pick up this approach.
 * 4) They have negative perception towards the writing up tasks as they feel that they are only useful for the sake of the exam.


 * 2.4 Recognizing Root Causes **
 * 1) The students do not truly understand the nature of academic writing and its importance. The students are generally studying arts and the content of their course is more skill based. They do not need to use much English and they are not required to write in English much. In addition, these are diploma students - post SPM students - they have yet to grasps the full importance and relevance of learning academic English. After diploma also, most seem to seek employment rather than continuing their studies to the degree level and venturing into the academic field.
 * 2) They are not able to see the relevance of writing the term paper in EAP and their other major subjects. As mentioned above, these students need to present their creativity in their art works, thus, having to write academically in English is rather at the other end of their field/skill.
 * 3) They lack academic research skills – library database, academic scholarly journals, library portal – as they were not expose to it earlier on – not in the syllabus, cannot alter the syllabus, solution – in class tutorial session on library research skills. Not encouraging them to do at home – they will not do it because there are no teachers to assess. Although the students are not fully proficient in English, they do not lack basic English language competency skills. But, there are still room for improvement in terms of their language.
 * 4) They could not see the severity of plagiarizing. This is mainly because there has never really been any case where students were (severely) punished of this act either in the colloge itself or nationwide. In other words, there aren't much enforcement when it comes to this issue. Also, it can be argued that we are in the culture/society of plagiarism where this act is not bound to the academic filed alone but to the outside world and we do this in the form of pirating and stealing of others intellectual property.
 * 5) In doing in-text citations, students’ lack of paraphrasing and summarizing skills lead them to produce texts that looks like the original one (plagiarism). As pointed out above, these are post-SPM students therefore their reading and writing techniques perhaps still reflect their past knowledge and skills.

Pedagogy
 * This is not an ordinary English lesson in which the emphasis is on the four skills and grammar
 * Teacher present the lesson in the traditional way of chalk and talk
 * Teachers have to teach the above in addition to leading them to produce a term paper with proper APA citations

Content
 * Insufficient course materials that are suitable for the students need especially one that meet our local contexts
 * There are many references in books as well as online and some content differ (especially for APA referencing)
 * lack of interest and motivation from students to write the term paper but not learn English

Technology PC TC TP
 * Poor internet service
 * Expensive courseware
 * Teachers have to build and develop knowledge in students subject matter/area in order to guide and teach them better
 * Lack of course ware
 * Need to master the available technology/software available that could be utilized



3.0 PHASE 3: DESIGNING SOLUTIONS

1. Build awareness of the importance of the academic English - set it as a motivation to further their studies and career. 2. Encourage the students write about topics of their interest within the context of their major. Allow them to explore ideas that are new/familiar to them and encourage the students to work and build on them - e.g. designing new fashions/clothing attire etc. and how to market them. 3. Have sessions of library and academic research skills at the beginning of the semester – how to use the library resources fully, the online database, run academic searches using different search engine eg. Google Scholar, Clusty 4. Design lessons and activities that emphasize paraphrasing and summarizing skills (something that enables them to connect with the real world) as well as critical readings – reported speech: make announcement in facebook, write gossip in the blog using reported speech. 4. Build awareness of what constitutes plagiarism and the consequences and the severity of committing such crimes. Build awaresness of available softwares that detect plagiarism eg. Naked Eyes (free) 5. Show them examples of good and bad term papers and their features.
 * Proposed Solutions **

4.0 PHASE 4: IMPLEMENTATION

The activities implemented are designed in such ways to provide students with: 1. the knowledge they need (knowledge, comprehension) 2. in-class and out-class experience of employing the skills and knowledge learned (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis) 3. opportunity to create something relevant to them (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis) 4. collaborative learning as they learned from one another (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation) = = =4.1 Introduction sessions= In order for the students to produce academic papers, they first need to have the knowledge of structures and skills required in academic writing. Since they were not exposed explicitly to these structures and skills in the pre-requisite course, it is the responsibility of the instructor for the current course to fill in this knowledge gap.

Previously she taught using the chalk and talk method merely using whiteboard and handouts. However, in-class lesson gets to be a bit too taxing and dull, with students losing focus especially when given handouts or notes on whiteboard. Handouts distract students from focusing to on-going lesson as they tend to focus on their own handouts (sometimes daydreaming as they already have the notes which they feel they can refer to anytime later). Meanwhile, notes on whiteboard end up making student loses their attention as they furiously copy notes. Plus the fact that it is hard to refer to previous section or notes that have been wipe off the board (the classes are not equipped with smartboard etc) which the instructor feel is a very important aspect in teaching academic writing.

As a solution, it is decided that this can be achieved with the use of Powerpoint presentation of the items and using online interactive exercise since a portable LCD Projector iand a laptop is available. Below are the items taught and exercises used.

The instructor will start each lesson with powerpoint presentation followed by interactive exercise. (A lot of teachers' guidance is still evidencein this new approach based on numerous research on using CALL in writing. Research indicates that using CALL in writing may not be fully effective without teachers' guidance.-refer articles in references)

a) Essay structure - Thesis Statements, Topic Sentences, Introduction, Organization of main points, Supporting statements and evidence, Conclusion b) Skills needed - Paraphrasing, Summarizing, Direct & Indirect quotations, In-Text & End-text Citation c) Explain differences between in-text and end-text citation. For in-text citation – APA format is used, it is about citing sources in essay, reporting verbs and passive forms are used, include names and year of publication. For end-text citation – writing the details of the sources, for example last name of the author, year of publication, title of the article, publisher, place/city, webpage address. For end-text citation format, students are taught the template prepared in Microsoft Office 2007 on ways to write proper citations. They need to look at the menu bar and go to references, select APA style for end-text and the template will assist them in writing references, work cited or bibliography.
 * 1. Introduce students to academic writing**

Teacher uses Powerpoint presentation and numerous sites to teach these elements. [] [] [] [] ) []

[|Interactive Paraphrasing] [|Interactive paraphrasing 2] [|Interactive Paraphrase 3]
 * 2. In-class activities for paraphrasing and summarising skills**

[|Citation exercise] [|citation exercise 2] [|Citation exercise 3 (MLA)] = = =4.2 Provide Skills : Library research skills=
 * 3. In-class activities for citation skills.**

1. No research skills is embedded in the syllabus, however the syllabus could not be altered or changed.

2. A 3-hour training and workshop session was organized conducted by library representatives to teach students library research skills. Specifically, students were guided in searching for useful academic articles for their term paper.

3. They were also taught to utilize the library portal, for instance online catalogue for books, google scholar, online database subscribed by the library, for instance Academic Source Premier and Science Direct.

=4.3 Allow Freedom: Topic of their interest=

1. Give freedom to the students to choose the topic of their interests. 2. The topic may not necessarily be all about theories that they learned in their respective majors. 3. Explain that they could write about any new phenomenon which emerge, new lifestyle among people like them, any issues or problems that they wish to investigate and share. 4. Bring newspaper, magazine articles to help them generate topics for the essay. 5. Give the students time to generate ideas for their topic – through observations, readings, interviews in which they have to do outside the classroom. 6. Go through a series of consultations in approving the topic of their choice. 7. Teach them steps of process writing – brainstorming ideas, outlining, drafting, writing and editing. 8. Result – They came up with interesting topics, for example Urban Art vs Street Art, Sneaker Culture, Illegal Racing and Animation Film.

=**4.4 Provide Awareness: Plagiarism**=

1. Students are briefed on plagirism. Teacher used sites from the net to brief and provide exercise. []

2. Students were warned about consequences of the misconduct, for instance zero marks for writing section, be sent to disciplinary court and be expelled from the university for major cases like plagiarizing others’ work for project paper report.

3. Students were introduced to software like “Turn it in” and “Naked Eye” used to detect plagiarism in students’ work.

4. One student’s work was shown, which was actually plagiarized from the original sources and students were shown how the mechanism of the software functioned in detecting the level of plagiarism. []

=4.5 Employing, Sharing & Synthesizing Knowledge: Group Presentation & Writing Portfolio=

This is a group assignment. Students have to choose a topic and prepare a Powerpoint presentation to be presented in class. the presentation must contain elements of citation, paraphrasing, summarising and avoid plagirism.
 * 1. Group Presentation**

This is an individual assignment. Students were required to choose a topic to write on and need to use the correct structure, format and skills as have been introduced and practiced in class. Multiple drafts need to be submitted to the instructor before the final product is handed in,
 * 2. Writing Portfolio**

 5.0 PHASE 5: EVALUATION

The use of Powerpoint Presentation gave students a clearer view of the lesson as opposed to a handout for they have teacher guidance (Refer to article). Teacher are able to go back and forth between slides as oppose to conventional method of using whiteboard. It also saves in-class time that can then be allocated for group supervision and individual consultation. This provides maximum input for students in terms of knowledge.

Ample opportunities given to apply knowledge learnt enable student to practice and provide feedback to teacher on students' comprehension of lesson (via drafts & presentations).

Students are also more motivated to learn and understand better (refer to survey).  =5.1 Survey=

Once again the survey was carried out to see students’ perception of essay writing after they have been exposed and taught knowledge about academic essay by using different approaches.


 * __Table 2: Students' Perception of the Subject & Dilemma in Completing Writing Task ( Post )__**

I like attending the class. 89 / 11 I think English is important. 86 / 14 I like all components in this subject. 21 / 79 Components Students Like Most: Reading 20% Writing 47% Speaking & Listening 33%
 * Section A: Students’ Perception of the Subject Yes (%) / No (%)**

I know what actually academic writing is. 89 / 11 I know how to get reliable sources for the writing task. 75 / 25 When I do get sources, I tend to copy from the original text. 18 / 82 I know why even when I have changed certain words, it is still considered as plagiarism. 96 / 4 I understand the reason why do we need to have citations. 79 / 21
 * Section B: Students’ Dilemma in Completing Writing Task Yes (%) / No (%)**

=**5.2 Students' drafts**= Below are excerpts of students' earlier drafts of their writing portfolio. Mistakes can be seen in terms of formatting in citation. Students skills in citation, summarising and paraphrasing skills improved as evidence in their Powerpoint Presentation below and continues into their final drafts. [|text_1.JPG] [|text_2.JPG] [|text_3.JPG] [|text_4.JPG] = = =5.3 Students' Powerpoint Presentation= Below are students' Powerpoint Presentation after the implementation stage. Their skills have improved compared to their earlier drafts from their writing portfolio. [|Powerpoint 1.pptx] [|Powerpoint 2.ppt]



6.0 CONCLUSION

Generally, English has always been deem by the public as important to the point that many efforts has been taken to improve students' proficiency in English. However, the students themselves sometimes lacks the initiatives to improve themselves and take the subject for granted especially in its written form, furthermore writing academically. Thus, educators need to find ways to make students realized the importance of English and provide better ways of learning it. A lot of hype has been made about employing technology in teaching and learning. Thus, we have tried to look at such ways in terms of teaching and learning academic writing.

Wriitng, much more so academic writing, is a skill that requires much practice and has always been the least favourite of students. Unlike certain subjects that requires one to freely memorizing facts like history and geography or applications subjects like maths and science that always yield the same answer, writing is a very abstract subject that requires students to apply the skill they have learned in various ways according to context. Therefore, it is quite hard to provide a technological approach like games or extensive simulations to teach it. However, this should not be a hurdle as technology functions not as a replacement for the teacher but funtions as an aid to teaching and learning. Thus, we have tried to employ technology in terms of teaching and learning writing. While the tools and approaches used may not be as sophisticated as one expected but it serves the objectives of the lesson which is the most important aspect to be considered.

All in all, based on our experience in this case, technology can be a useful tool in T&L academic writing depeding on the context and the ways it is utilized. Thus, further probing on more ways to use it in T&L writing should be taken to provide more ideas to other teachers who may also be stuck in a similar predicament.

7.0 REFLECTION

Being involved in this project really open up new horizons for me. I now understand the implications of the use of technology in teaching and learning. It is not a one size fit all solutions but needs to be custom fitted to individuals problems. Technology is also not a replacement for teachers but are employed as an aid to make teachers' tasks easier and provide effective teaching learning enviroment. Although it takes a longer time to get to the point intended but this kind of discovery learning is something that should be practiced. It may not be 100percent perfect or efficient but it does leave a more lasting impression.
 * Norhamidah**

Basically, a lot of lessons are gained throughout several different phases in completing the e-book; in identifying problems, searching for the root causes, suggesting and implementing the solutions, evaluating the results and finally making conclusions. Though there is not much has been obtained in terms of the technology, I do believe that I have learned much more important lesson; one needs to analyze a problem from its root causes before one can look for effective solutions. This insight comes from involvement in significantly rich discussions and interactions among group members, classmates and especially the instructor. This dialogue is really meaningful because the content is very real and the purpose is to collaborate not only in identifying the precise root causes but also in formulating solutions that enable us to incorporate some technology. We are trying very hard not to view technology as tools to achieve the solutions, rather as parts of the whole framework in the proposed solutions.
 * Noorlinda**

Even though we decided to have a separate group from our originally assigned group, I found the project to be really rewarding. This is due to the fact that four of us share the same knowledge and all of us happen to teach EAP in our respective institutions. Throughout the process of analysing the rpoblems, finding the root cause, designing the solutions and actually implementing them gave me deep understanding of the apporach that I've been using to teach EAP all this while. The weekly presentations and feedback from friends in the class helped us a lot in trying to come up with the solutions to our problem.
 * Hazlinah**

The making of this e-book is indeed an interesting way of learning. Through the method of learning by design, I feel I learn a lot more and I enjoy putting the puzzles together although I do find it rather challenging and frustrating at times. At a number of occasions I must say I was totally lost. I kept asking what are we doing? But the best part is when you finally find the answer to the riddle. I must say, although the lessons were not carried out explicitly, I gained quite a bit from the work done. I have talked about this with my classmates from the other courses and I am proud to say I have managed to influence or draw their attention to this course. So Dr Tee, look out for a full class next sem!!
 * Emelia**

REFERENCES Horban, P. (2005). Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing. Retrieved October 7th, 2009 from http://www.sfu.ca/~horban/qps1.htm [|http://electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/iste2k.html] [|http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial038g.shtml] Horban, P. (2005). Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing. Retrieved October 7th, 2009 from [|http://www.sfu.ca/~horban/qps1.htm] www.ericdigests.org/1995-2/**computer**.htm www.k8accesscenter.org/training.../**computer**aided_**writing**.asp www.ericdigests.org/1995-2/**computer**.htm [| http://owl.english.purdue.edu/] [|Benefits]