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This study explores possible benefits of freewriting for EFL students' writing anxiety and fluency. Thirty university students who were enrolled in an academic writing class participated in the study. Pre- and post-writing anxiety surveys, freewritings, pre- and post-essays, and student reflections were collected as data. The study found that EFL students experience varying degrees of writing anxiety, and anxious students tended to perform poorly on the writing test. Analysis of 540 freewritings revealed that all students' fluency improved as the semester progressed, showing a similar trend. Students generally reported positive attitudes toward the freewriting activity. They largely agreed that it improved their confidence, lessened their fear of evaluation, and deepened their thinking skills, but they disliked the absence of feedback, the topic selection, and the activity's time limits. Benefits, possible adaptations, and the pedagogic value of freewriting were also discussed in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the notion of proficiency in relation to English language teaching (ELT). Topics include the standards of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages, the relation of proficiency to higher-level language skills, and the distinction between Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Communicative Academic Language Proficiency (CALP).

There is still debate surrounding what constitutes the most effective feedback on EFL learners' writing, particularly in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) settings. Unanswered questions are found in the literature on topics such as the best formats for feedback, the role of technology, authors' authority over written texts, and ways of helping learners develop into autonomous writers. This study explores students' receptivity to an approach to giving feedback on essays which I have developed to address learners' preferences, include various delivery formats, and help students develop into independent academic writers: learner-driven feedback (LDF). In LDF, the feedback is given to the students by the teacher, but the learners 'direct' how and on what they receive feedback comments. The findings from the detailed survey data highlight a high level of student receptivity, and several other compelling reasons for piloting LDF on EAP writing courses, many of which may also justify trialling the approach in other ELT classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the state of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teaching and learning. He focuses on three EAP traditions, namely: Social/Genre, Intellectual/Rhetorical, and Academic Literacies. A number of books related to academic writing that may be used in the EAP classroom are evaluated, including "Writing: Learn to Write Better Academic Essays," "50 Steps to Improving Your Academic Writing," and "Great Writing: From Great Paragraphs to Great Essays."

Teacher-led collaborative modelling is a type of scaffolded instruction in which the teacher and learners compose and edit an academic text in a process that involves negotiation and shared responsibility. This study examined observed episodes of collaborative modelling of summaries, paraphrases, and other text types in pre-university and university academic writing courses. In interview statements, teachers pointed out a number of benefits of this instructional strategy. They included the opportunities it provided for them to support and respond immediately to learners' contributions, and the feedback it gave them about learners' current levels of ability and confidence. Despite the heavy cognitive demands it makes on teacher and learners, teacher-led collaborative modelling appears to be a useful instructional strategy that supports learning processes by focusing simultaneously on process and product components of academic writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]