1. BOOK1
Unit4
Relevance to the Detriment of Accuracy:
The Future of the Writing Skill
By
Oscar Ndayizeye, Agrégé TEFL
Higher Teacher Training School of Burundi
(Yogyakarta Mercu Buana University)
2. Background
The problem
Scope &Setting
Objectives
Research Questions
Research Design
Key Findings
Conclusion
3. Background….
Writing Skill:………
‘Writing’: contribution in the ‘whole-student’ development in both ESL or
in EFL settings.
Writing can also play a role in many of the activities in which the goal is
oral production, reading comprehension, etc., (Lázaro, 1996: 89)
“Writing-for-learning”= Focuses on end-product as the main thing (e.g A
student writes a grammatical paragraph)
Or “writing-for-writing”= Focuses on the process (getting learners to the
early stage of becoming professional: adds, short story, novel, ….
4. The Problem
Does YMBU teacher students’ low
performance in writing skill in English hamper
their future career as teachers of English?
How is the writing skill viewed in 21st
century?
5. Scope and setting
This case study was carried at Universitas
Mercu Buana Yogyakarta, especially in sixth
semester/English Education classes (Campus
1&2)
March-July 2015
Skill studied: Writing
6. Research objectives
To analyse the Yogyakarta Mercu Buana University sixth
semester English teacher students’ writing skill,
To shed light on the usefulness of writing skill in 21st
century,
To show that scaffolding both students’ writing relevance
and accuracy is a pillar to their holistic development
7. Research Questions
How useful is the writing skill in the 21st
century?
Is there any match between the Yogyakarta
Mercu Buana University sixth semester
English teacher students’ current writing skill
in English and the expected level of their
writing skill?
8. Research De &Methodology
• Research type: Descriptive (Qualitative) Survey
• Population: The sixth semester English Education
Teacher students, YMBU (Campus 1&2)
• Sampling: Non-probability sample
• Sampling Technique: Boosted sampling
• Instrument: Test
• Data analysis: Content Analysis
10. Discussion
Non-mastery of these aspects in the subjects’ writing is indicative:
•Purpose of writing: people writing to express something, a frequency of
35 unclear meaning is meaning-loaded!
•Audience: wrong choice of a suitable wh-question, modal verbs use
unsuitability (lack of correct register), dangling modifiers, and collocation
inappropriateness >>>> non-pragmaticality
•Vocabulary and grammar: little consideration of context , grammatical rules
( articles, pronouns, prepositions, and sentence structures ill-forms), and word
order
•Punctuation and mechanics: spelling (47 cases) and punctuation (14
cases) misuses or mistakes fall short of expectations for a learner at such
an academic level.
11. Conclusion and suggestions
There is little match between the Yogyakarta Mercu Buana University
sixth semester English teacher students performance in writing skill
and their level of study
This kind of lack is likely to jeopardise their entry-level employment
skill and may lead many but an observer to casting doubts on their
future writing skill teaching
<<<<>>> >Teachers of career courses or supportive ones in English
language education, should ensure that students’ writing is fully
monitored from low age given its paramount role in the “Holistic
student development”