Using Argumentation to Develop EFL Prospective Teachers' Writing Performance and Self-efficacy

Dr: Marwa Mourad Saleh
( )
Occasional Papers
Vol. 63: B (2017)
ISSN 1110-2721
Using Argumentation to Develop EFL Prospective Teachers' Writing Performance and Self-efficacy
By:
Dr: Marwa Mourad Saleh
Lecturer at Department of Curriculum and TEFL Instruction
Faculty of Education -Fayoum University -Egypt
Abstract
The current study aimed at developing prospective teachers' writing performance and self-efficacy through argumentation. Participants of the study were 30 EFL third year Faculty of Education students. They acted as one group. The researcher prepared a writing performance test, a self-efficacy scale and a manual. Having pre/administered the instruments of the study and taught using argumentation, the participants were post/administered the same instruments. Results showed that the use of argumentation significantly contributed to the development of students' writing performance and self-efficacy. The study presents some recommendations in the light of the results to highlight the effectiveness of argumentation in developing EFL prospective teachers' language learning. The study also suggests some topics for farther research.
Key words: argumentation, writing performance, self-efficacy, prospective teachers.
Introduction
Argumentation is a process of writing or saying an argument by compiling actual evidence to support the claim or a thesis statement. It is challenging for EFL students to write a convincing piece of topic or issue; some researchers claim this is the hardest for EFL students. Basically, writing an argument begins with taking a stance and providing strong evidence to persuade the readers or listeners to execute the action or to accept the controversial idea (Ka – Kan – dee & Kaur , 2015).
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It demands that the student makes audience aware of why his or her understanding of the issue is credible. Ultimately, he/she is successful when the audience accepts his or her beliefs on the grounds of his or her discourse (Abdel – Hamid , 2015).
Argumentation requires students to embrace a particular point of view and try to convince the reader or the listener to adopt the same perspective or to perform a certain action (Nippold , Ward – Lonergan, & Fanning , 2005). This form of essay writing requires the writer to draw upon his or her knowledge of argumentative discourse and create sub goals related to supporting a thesis. The writer must take a stance, anticipate the audience's position, justify his or her own position, consider the alternative positions, and if appropriate, rebut the opposing positions. Subsequently, a fully developed argumentative essay is structured in a certain way that includes a statement of an opinion with support, a statement of a counterargument, a rebuttal, and a conclusion (Chase, 2011).
The argumentation includes the criteria of making assertions with explicit evidence, stating the major alternative viewpoints with explicit evidence. Also,it includes evaluating the major viewpoints, providing salient rebuttals, and the ability to defend the conclusion with supports from both thesis and antithesis (Abdel – Hamid, 2015; Hew & Cheung, 2014).
Deane and Song ( 2014) added that skilled arguers consider the social context of argument including the interests and motivations of an audience, build up their knowledge about an issue, anticipate alternative perspectives, support a well – thought – out position by providing
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appropriate reasons and evidence , and structure their argument to communicate it effectively.
Academically , argumentation helps students acquire knowledge, promote scientific thinking skills and enhance comprehension of history and social studies. Also, argumentation can lead to an increase in intrinsic motivation and problem- solving performance in the academic setting (Chase , 2011).
Argumentation has been proven by researchers to be the most difficult model in writing. This genre of writing is crucial for tertiary students to articulate their own ideas in academically appropriate patterns and approaches . At the university level , students are required to argue for their standpoint in order to persuade. This difficulty and intricacy in EFL argumentative writing arises from the reality that writing includes seeking out a thesis , promoting support for the claim, drawing up , modifying and finally editing the thesis to ensure an effective , error free writing output (Ka – Kan dee & Kour, 2015).
Koh (2004 cited in Hew & Cheung, 2014 ) identified three main reasons for students' poor performance in argumentative writing . First, students lack lexical ability and depth in expressing their thoughts and arguments such as having inadequate vocabulary, incorrect use of words, and grammar . Second , students do not know what makes a good argument and are therefore unable to organize facts, results and opinions, into a coherent piece of argumentative essay . Finally, students display an absence of content knowledge, resulting in the positing of illogical arguments
Chase (2011) clarifies that the components of argumentation are categorized as functional and nonfunctional elements. The functional
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elements are: standpoint (i.e. claim or premise) for or against the topic , reasons (i.e. data) to support the premise or contrasting premise or to refute counterarguments, elaborations (i.e. warrant and backing ) for the reason and standpoint, alternative standpoint for or against the topic; reason for the alternative standpoint, counterargument, rebuttal, introductions, conclusions, and rhetorically functional repetitions. In contrast, nonfunctional elements comprise of repetitions that do not serve some rhetorical purpose and information included in the essay that is not relevant to the topic.
There are some of studies that dealt with argumentation as the study of Qin (2009) that aimed at analyzing structures of English and Chinese argumentative papers written by Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) university students and also examining how these students used source texts in English argumentative writing. The participants of the study consisted of one hundred and thirty- three Chinese sophomores majoring in English and 99 Chinese English – major graduate students studying at Chinese universities. The results of the study indicated that the majority of English argumentative papers displayed the two fundamental Toulmin's elements, data and claim , although the uses of the secondary Toulmin's elements, namely , counterargument claim, counterargument data , rebuttal claim , and rebuttal data were much less frequent.
Chen, Hand , Park ( 2016) conducted a study to examine the development in 5th grade student's practices of oral and written argumentation . The study employed a mixed methods research deign . The results revealed five salient trends in students' development of oral and written argumentative practices over time.
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Students came to use more critique components as they participated in more rounds of whole- class discussion focused on group presentations of arguments. By challenging each other's arguments, students came to focus on the coherence of the argument and the quality of evidence. Students came to use evidence to defend , support , and reject arguments. The quality of students' writing continuously improved over time. Students connected oral argument skills to written argument skills as they had opportunities to revise their writing after debating and developed awareness of the usefulness of critique from peers.
It is through argumentation that writing can be developed. Writing includes writing well-developed and well-organized paragraph and or essays . Clarity is a very important skill without which communication will be impossible. Clarity is meant to avoid ambiguous words and sentences that may convey more than one meaning or multiple interpretations. In order to achieve clarity in writing the learner should: eliminate ambiguity by avoiding words or phrases that have more than one possible interpretations, use powerful , precise adjectives and adverbs and be concise . This means getting right to the point without unnecessary spinning around and choose the right words.
There are two aspects the learner should consider while choosing the words to be used namely denotation which is the literal meaning of the word and connotation which is the implied meaning of the word( Mekki, 2012) .
In addition to a clear topic sentence and adequate support , a good paragraph must have unity. A paragraph has unity when all of the supporting sentences relate to the main topic and develop the controlling idea. In order to achieve unity, the writer must make sure that he does not include any information that is not relevant to the main point stated in the
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topic sentence. Any sentence that does not support the topic is considered irrelevant and should be eliminated ( Mokharar , 2016) .
Another element of a good paragraph is coherence. The Latin verb "cohere" means "hold" together ". In order to have coherence in writing , the sentences must hold together. That is the movement from one sentence to the next should be logical and smooth . A coherent paragraph is made up of sentences that have been ordered according to a certain order (e.g . chronological, spatial , or logical order) in Order to have coherence, the reader needs: a clear plan of arrangement , repetition of key words, using synonymous words and pronouns ,as well as transitions to connect your ideas( Mekki, 2012).
Cohesion deals with what is commonly called flow that is , sentences content flowing logically and naturally into the next, sentences are connected , reducing the danger of a piece of writing being a mere collection of unrelated sentences ( Mokharar , 2016) .
Mekki (2012) added that mechanics are the use of the graphic conventions of the language such as paying attention to the use of punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage and spelling.
There are some of studies that dealt with writing as the study of Siddique and Singh (2016) that was conducted to investigate the role of cooperative learning strategies on the writing skills of the intermediate students in the M.A.O. College, Lahore, Pakistan. Total 90 science students enrolled in the Said college participated in the study. In order to ascertain whether both experimental and control group students had significant difference in their overall mean scores, the pre and post-test were given to both groups. The quantitative data thus gathered was
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processed in the SPSS version 22 whereby independent samples t-test was applied to determine the difference between the overall mean scores of both groups. The findings indicated that both groups had significant difference in their overall mean scores on the post-tests. The experimental group outperformed the control group by scoring higher than the control group.
Lou, Wu1, Liu and Chen(2016) reviewed one-term experiment on integrating internet-based language laboratory (IBLL) in teaching writings kills with the know-want-learn (KWL) plus model to second-year non-English-majored college students from Yangtze University. Subjects in this study consisted of 92 non-English-majored college students in the control group (CG) and 91 non-English-majored college students in the experimental group (EG). The results showed that 1) compared with a teacher-dominated approach for CG, internet-based language laboratory with KWL plus model of meta- cognitive writing strategy instruction for EG did a better job in enhancing students’ writing skills; 2) there were significant differences between males in CG and EG, and females in CG and EG; 3) students in EG held the positive response for the combined instruction.
Self-efficacy is one of the psychological notions that influences and is influenced by writing performance. Self- efficacy is a basal notion proposed by Bandura ( 1977) as a part of social – cognitive framework. One of the basic proposition on self – efficacy concept is that individuals with same abilities may do the required task distinctively because of their efficacy beliefs . Also , the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and the behavior exhibited has been found bidirectional: while self-efficacy beliefs influence individuals' behavior , their performance can affect their
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future efficacy beliefs (Tanyer , 2015) .Students who evaluate themselves as poor writers tend to perform being reluctant to engage in writing work and making brief or incomplete pieces of writing while students with higher writing self-efficacy have been found to complete writing tasks at a higher standard(Spicer, 2012 & Hashemnejas , Zoghi , Aming 2014)
Self- beliefs about writing have received modest attention both from researchers in the field of composition and from self-efficacy researchers(Pajares , 2003). There is evidence that self-efficacy belief in writing significantly contributes to writing performance (Prat – Sala & Redford , 2012) . Better writing performance will probably eventuate in higher self-efficacy ( Tanyer , 2015& Pajares, 2003 & Chea 2014).
In a number of studies, writing self- efficacy, perceived value of writing, writing apprehension, self- efficacy for self-regulation, and previous writing performances correlated with the writing achievement of students from elementary school to college . Researches reported that writing self-efficacy beliefs were correlated with variables such as writing anxiety grade goals, depth of processing and expected outcomes ( Pajares, 2003). Findings also indicate that students anxiety and stress about writing were related to a diminished sense of writing efficacy (Pajares, Johnson, 2007).
There are some of studies that dealt with writing self-efficacy as the study of Chea and Shumow (2014) that conducted to examine writing self-efficacy , writing goal orientation, and writing achievement among ( N = 244) Cambodian university students studying English as a foreign language .The Study first examined whether writing self – efficacy and writing goal orientation were structured similarly by Cambodian student
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and western students. Second, the study investigated the relationships between writing self – efficacy, writing goal orientation and writing achievement. Pearson Product – Moment Correlations showed that writing self – efficacy was related to writing mastery and performance - avoidance goal orientations. Both writing self – efficacy and writing mastery goal orientation were shown to have positive correlations with writing achievement
Tanyer ( 2015) conducted a study to identify the relationship between perceived reading and writing self-efficacy beliefs in addition to their effect on writing performance with two surveys (self – efficacy in writing ( SEW), self – efficacy in reading (SER), Prat- Sala & Redford , 2010) . The first- year EFL preservice teacher of a state university in Turkey ( N = 116) completed SEW and SER surveys . Writing performances of the participants were evaluated by a short essay written for the final exam of Written Communication Course . The findings revealed that SEW was positively and significantly correlated with writing performance as well as SER.
Context of the problem
Out of the researchers experience in teaching EFL prospective teachers find difficulty in writing an essay. This is supported by several studies some of which are Abdel – Hami ( 2015) ,Ali (2015) and Chase(2011).
To document the problem, the researcher conducted a pilot study on 20 students from third year students enrolled in English section at faculty of Education, Fayoum University, Egypt. The pilot study consisted of writing performance test where students were asked to write about two topics namely characteristics of effective teachers and women's
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work for or against. The results of the pilot study revealed that the majority have poor writing skills and they are not able to write accurately or fluently. Also, they were not able to write for an audience or a purpose . Their writing self -efficacy proved to be low as manifested by a writing self -efficacy scale designed by the researcher for that purpose.
Statement of the problem :
In spite the importance of EFL writing skills, EFL prospective teachers at Fayoum faculty of Education have difficulties in writing essays and lack several writing skills. Also, they have low writing self-efficacy that is why the current study attempt to help them develop their writing performance and self- efficacy through argumentation.
Questions of the study
1- How far is argumentation use effective in developing EFL writing performance among prospective teachers at Faculty of Education?
2- How far is argumentation use effective in developing EFL writing self efficacy among prospective teachers at Faculty of Education?
Hypotheses of the study
Based on the related studies and research questions the following hypotheses were formulated:
1- There are statistically significant differences between the study group's mean score in the writing performance pre/post test in favor of the post test.
2- There are statistically significant differences between the study group's mean score in the pre/ post administrations of self-efficacy scale in favour of the post administration.
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Significance of the Study:
The current study helps prospective teachers develop their writing performance through argumentation. Also, it directs teachers to use argumentation to develop their students' writing performance. In addition, it draws faculty's and teacher's attention to the importance of argumentation to develop students' writing performance. Furthermore, it might help in reducing EFL classroom anxiety as it helps students raise their self-efficacy.
Definition of terms
The following definitions were adopted in the current study:
Argumentation:
Argumentation is the process of writing an argument by compiling actual evidence to support the claim or a thesis statement (ka-kan- dee & kaur, 2015,p145)
Writing Performance:
The students’ ability to write a piece of writing effectively and transform thoughts and ideas into written words (Forteza Fernández & Gunashekar, 2009). The act of writing in this study involved writing a five paragraph essay. The evaluation was limited to the improvement of some writing skills: organization, clarity, unity ,coherence, mechanics and language.
Self efficacy:
According to Bandura (1997,p3): self-efficacy is the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to manage prospective situations.
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Prospective teachers.
They are EFL third year students at Faculty of Education, Fayoum University , Egypt.
Methodology :
A. Participants:
Participants of the current study consisted of thirty students ( N = 30) . They were randomly selected from third year students enrolled in English section at Faculty of Education, Fayoum University , Egypt. They acted as one group.
B. Design:
The researcher used the quasi experimental design in which one group is used.
C. Instruments and material
In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, the following instruments were designed:
1-EFL Writing Skills Test:
The EFL writing performance test was prepared by the researcher to measure writing skills among third year students at Faculty of
Education , Fayoum University , Egypt . It was used as a pre/ post test . It consisted of two questions where students were asked to write on two essays (characteristics of effective teachers) and (are you for or against women's work) (see appendix1) .The test was graded based on a rubric prepared by the researcher (see appendix 2).
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2- A Self – Efficacy Scale
The scale consisted of 20 statements where students were asked to write the appropriate number in front of each writing skill they believe they are able to. They were asked to answer the questions freely because there is no right or wrong answer (see appendix 3).
3- A Manual
The manual consisted of 8 sessions. These sessions were about the following:
1. pre administration of the writing test and writing self-efficacy scale.
2. an introductory session.
3. modeling and teaching writing skills using argumentation.
4. content and organization
5. unity ,coherence and relevance.
6. capitalization and punctuation
7. spelling
8. post administration of the writing test and writing self-efficacy scale (see appendix 4).
Determining the validity of the Study instruments
The EFL writing performance test and the self efficacy scale were submitted to a panel of jury members (see appendix 5). They were asked to determine the validity of the instruments in terms of clarity and suitability for the students level . They indicated that the test and the scale instructions were clear and suitable for students' levels ( Face Validity). To ensure the content validity of the tests, they were developed in the light of a systematic and accurate literature and previous studies. This accurate and systematic review determined the general form of the tests and the scale, their form and how they should be corrected. Therefore, the
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content of the test and the scale was representative of the skills and/or items that were intended to be measured. Thus , the test and scale were valid.
Determining the Reliability of the Study instruments:
The reliability of the instruments was measured by using the test – retest method. The instruments were administered to a group of third year students ( N = 15) enrolled in English section at Faculty of Education , Fayoum University , Egypt. Then, they were readministered to the same group after two weeks . Pearson correlation between the two administrations was (0 .6) at the 0.01 level . Therefore, the instruments were reliable.
Piloting the Study instruments
Piloting the instruments aimed at determining clarity, reliability and estimating the time needed for taking the test and the scale. The instruments were piloted on (15) students other than those of the main treatment. The test time was one hour and the scale time was 30 minutes. This toke place by computing the time taken by each student divided by the umber of the students(15).
The Treatment
After the pre administration of the study instruments , the treatment began on 4th October 2016 and ended on 4th December 2016. The researcher met the students two hours a week for eight weeks . Week I was used for pre administration of the study tools and week 8 was used for post administration.
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At the beginning of the treatment , the researcher introduced to the students what they are going to do. The researcher introduced argumentation, definition, importance and elements to students . Then, she trained them in writing skills. At the end of the treatment, the researcher assessed student's writing performance and writing self-efficacy.
Findings of the study:
The findings of the current study are presented in the light of the research hypotheses using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).
Hypothesis 1:
The first hypothesis states that there are statistically significant differences between the study group's mean score in the writing performance pre/post test in favor of the post test.
Table (1) ̋ t ̏ value of the experimental group in the pre and post administration of EFL writing skills.
Group
N
Mean
S.D
T-Value
D.F
Sig.
pre
30
3.00
1.45
11.39
29
0.01
post
30
7.03
1.80
Table (1) shows that study group students' posttest scores are significantly higher than their pretest ones in writing skills. They attained a higher mean score in the posttest( 7.03 ) than that of the pretest (3.00 . T – value is ( 11.39 ) and this difference is significant at (.01) level .Thus, the first hypothesis of the study was supported.
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Hypothesis (2)
The second hypothesis states that are statistically significant differences between the study group's mean score in the pre/ post administrations of self-efficacy scale in favour of the post administration.
Table (2) t ̏ value of the study group in the pre and post administration of self-efficacy scale.
Group
N
Mean
S.D
T-Value
D.F
Sig.
pre
30
11.074
1.23
-3.64
29
.05
post
30
12.333
1.37
Table (2) shows that study group students' post administration scores of self-efficacy scale are significantly higher than their pre administration ones. They attained a higher mean score in the post administration (12.333) than that of the pre administration (11.074 ). T – value is ( -3.64 ) and this difference is significant at (.05) level .Thus, the second hypothesis of the study was supported.
Discussion of the Results:
The aim of the current study is to develop writing skills and self- efficacy among third year students using argumentation. The results of the study reveal that the argumentation proved to be effective in developing student teachers' writing skills . These results are in line with the studies of Ali (2011);Chase (2011) ; Abdel – Hamid ( 2015) and Chen, Hand , Park (2016). Also, the results of the study show that argumentation proved to be effective in developing student teachers self –
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efficacy ,and these results are in line with the studies of Prat – Sala and Redford (2012) ; Chea and Shumow (2014) and Tanyer ( 2015).
Through the treatment , student have the opportunity to express their points of view freely , to show the alternative point of view , to rebut the alternative point of view confirming their points of view through using appropriate language and to write a convincing conclusion. This helps them to develop their self – efficacy . Thus, teachers should provide students with opportunities to share experiences, acquire knowledge, promote critical thinking skills , know what makes a good argument and organize facts, results and opinions into a coherent piece of argumentative essay. Students should be encouraged to write cohesively and coherently, and to be familiar with writing mechanics. Moreover, students should be encouraged to persevere in the face of difficulties ,to perceive a difficult situation as challenging as opposed to being a difficulty and to be able to learn from their own successes and failures in a manner that will help them to be efficient learners in the future.
Conclusion:
The results of the study showed that third year students' writing performance and self-efficacy were improved after the use of argumentation. Therefore, the significant differences found in favour of the post administration of the writing skills test and writing self – efficacy scale can be ascribed to the implementation of the treatment based on argumentation.
Recommendations of the study
In the light of previous results, the following recommendations could be presented:
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1- Curriculum designers should make use of argumentation when designing English courses.
2- Argumentative writing skills should be emphasized in different educational stages.
3- Training students on argumentative writing helps them to develop other language skills:
Suggestions for further research
Based on the findings of the current study the following suggestions are presented.
1. Investigating the effect of argumentation on developing other language skills such as speaking.
2. Investigating the effect of using argumentation on overcoming writing apprehension and classroom anxiety.
3. The effect of using argumentation on learners' self – confidence and self – esteem.
4. Investigating the relationship between reading comprehension and argumentative writing.
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References
Abdel – Hanid . H.S. (2015). The effectiveness of Relevance and confidence Motivational strategies in Developing EFL Argumentative writing skills and overcoming Apprehension Among Students teachers at faculty of Education. Journal of Arab studies in Education & Psychology (59), 271- 306.
Ali, A.A. (2011). The Effect of a suggested Multiple intelligence based training program on Developing some Argumentative writing skills of primary Education prospective teachers of English at Sohag Faculty of Education. Unpublished M.A. thesis. Sohag University, Egypt.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy in Changing Societies. Cambridge University Pres: UK.
Chase, B. (2011) . An Analysis of the Argumentative writing skills of Academically underprepared college students. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation column Bia university.
Chea , S. & Shumow , L. (2014) The Relationships Among writing self – Efficacy, Writing Goal orientation, and writing Achievement . Language Education in Asia, 5 (2), 253 – 269.
Chen, Y. C. , Hand , B., & Park, S. (2016). Examining Elementary students' development of Oral and written Argumentation Practices through Argument – Bases Inquiry . Science & Education. 25 (3), 277- 320.
Deane , P. & Song. Y(2014). A case study in principled assessment design : Designing assessments to measure and support the development of argumentative reading and writing skills Psicologia Educativa. 20, 99 – 108.
Forteza Fernández, R., & Gunashekar, P. (2009). A Socio-Psycholinguistic Model for English for Specific Purposes
Writing Skill Formation Diagnosis. Acimed, 20(6), 141-160.
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Hashemnejad, F. ; Zoghi, M. & Aming, D.( 2014). The Relationship between self – efficacy and writing performance across Genders. Theory and practice in Language studies, 4 (5) , 1045- 1052.
Hew, K. & Cheung. W. (2014) . Using Blended learning . Evidence-Based Practices. Springer: New York
Ka- Kan – dee , M. & Kaur, S. ( 2015). Teaching strategies used by the EFL Lecturers to teach Argumentative Writing . Procedia – social and Behavioral Sciences. 208, 143- 156.
Lou,Y. , Wu,L. , Liu,H., Chen,L. (2016). Improving Non-English-Majored College Students’ Writing Skills: Combining a
Know-Want-Learn Plus Model of Meta-Cognitive Writing Strategy Instruction and Internet-Based Language Laboratory Support. Open Journal of Social Sciences. 4, 37-44
Mekki, C. (2012). The student Awareness of writing skills: The case study of third year at Biskra university. Unpublished M.A. thesis . Biskra University, Algeria.
Mokhamar, N. (2016). The Impact of Integrating Reading and writing skills Palestine technical college students' paragraph writing and Attitudes. Unpublished M.A. Thesis the Islamic University Gaza. Palestine.
Nippold, M., Ward-Lonergan, J. & Fanning, J. (2005) .Persuasive writing in children, adolescents, and adults: A study of syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic development. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. 36, 125–38.
Pajares, F. (2003), Self – Efficacy Beliefs, Motivation, and Achievement in writing: A Review of the literature. 19, 139- 158.
Pajares, F. Johnson, M. Usher, E. (2007). Sources of writing self – efficacy beliefs of elementary, middle , and high school students. Research in the teaching of English. 42 (1), 104- 120.
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Pra- Sala , M. & Redford , P. (2012). Writing essays: does self – efficacy matter? The relationship between self – efficacy in reading and in writing and undergraduate students performance in essay writing. Educational psychology. 32 (1) , 9- 20.
Qin , J. (2009). The Analysis of Toulmin Elements and use of source in Chinese university EFL Argumentative writing . Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Northern Arizona University. U.S.A.
Siddique, M.& Singh, M. (2016). Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning in Enhancing Students’ Essay Writing Skills in Pakistani Colleges. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention ISSN (Online).5 (8), 68-70.
Spicer, C. (2012). The Written English self – Efficacy of Australian Adolescent students. Online International Journal of Arts and Humanities. 1 (5) , 82 - 88.
Tanyer, S. (2015). The role of writing and reading self – efficacy in first – year performance . Procedia – social and Behavioral sciences. 199 , 38- 43.
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Appendices
Writing skills test
Mark (50) Time (60m)
Write on the following essays:
1. Characteristics of effective teachers
2. Are you for or against women's work?
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Appendix (2 )
A Writing skills rubric
A Writing skills rubric
Scores
skills
3
2
1
0
1-Organization
 logical progression of ideas from beginning to end.
 Effective introduction and conclusion for audience and purpose
 Strong connections among ideas.
 adequate progression of ideas from beginning to end
 adequate introduction and conclusion
 adequate connection among ideas
 conclusion and introduction, if present, are weak.
 Uneven progression of ideas from beginning to end
 Weak connection among ideas
 lose ideas
 Unintelligible
 In a language other than English
 Off – topic
 Copied text
Off – purpose
2-Clarity
 Claim is clearly stated, focused and strongly maintained
 Opposing claims are clearly addressed
 Supporting sentences are
 May be clearly focused on the claim but is insufficiently sustained
 Opposing claims may not be completely addressed
 Supporting sentences
 May be very brief
 Opposing claim may be confusing or ambiguous
 Supporting sentences are to somewhat clear
 lose ideas
 Unintelligible
 In a language other than English
 Off – topic
 Copied text
Off – purpose
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clear
are to some extent clear
3-Unity and Coherence
 Claim is introduced and communicated clearly within the purpose, audience, and task
 A variety of transtions are used to effectively clarify the relationships among ideas
 Ideas are strongly coherent
 Adequate communication within purpose and audience
 Adequate use of transitions,
 Ideas are to some extent coherent
 Weak communications within purpose and audience
 Uneven progression of ideas from beginning the end
 Ideas are to somewhat coherent
 lose ideas
 Unintelligible
 In a language other than English
 Off – topic
 Copied text
Off – purpose
 Ideas are not coherent or connected
4-Mechanics
 Adequate use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization,
 Limited use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization,
 Incorrect use of sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage and
 lose ideas
 Unintelligible
 In a language other than
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grammar usage and spelling
grammar usage and spelling
spelling

English
 Off – topic
 Copied text
Off – purpose
5-Language/words
 Vocabulary is clearly appropriate for the audience and purpose the response clearly and effectively expresses ideas.
 Vocabulary are well chosen.
 Grammar and structure are wholly correct and accurate.
 Vocabulary is uneven ineffective for the audience and purpose the response expresses ideas unevenly
 Vocabulary are chosen to some extent.
Grammar and structure are correct and accurate to some extent.
 Vocabulary is appropriate for the audience and purpose the responses' expression or ideas is vague.
 Vocabulary are fierily chosen.
Grammar and structure fierily correct and accurate

 Unintelligible
 In a language other than English
 Off – topic
 Copied text
 Off – purpose

 Vocabulary and grammar
are not correct and accurate.
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Appendix (3 )
A Writing Self-Efficacy Scale
A Writing Self-Efficacy Scale
Directions:
On a scale from 0 (can not do) ,1 (moderately can do) and 2 (certain can do), Please rate how sure you are that you can perform each of the writing skills described below by writing the appropriate number. Of course, there is no right or wrong answer, so do not spend too much time on any one statement. Thank you for your cooperation. Your answers will be kept strictly confidential, and you will not be identified by name.
0 1 2 cannot do moderately can do certain can do
1. I can write a fluent paragraph.
2. I can write a fluent essay.
3. I can correctly spell all words in an essay.
4. I can correctly punctuate an essay.
.
5. I can correctly use all parts of speech in an essay.
6. I can write simple sentences with good grammar.
7. I can correctly use singulars and plurals and prepositions.
8. I can correctly use conjunctions and transitions.
9. I can use a wide range of vocabulary in essays.
.
10. I can use synonyms instead of repeating the same words over and over again.
11. I can easily generate ideas to write about.
12. I can write a strong paragraph that has a good topic sentence or main idea.
13. I can write paragraphs with details that support the ideas in the topic sentences or main ideas.
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14. I can write a proper introduction.
15. I can write a proper conclusion.
16. I can edit essays throughout the writing process.
17. I can write a well-organized and sequenced paper with good introduction, body, and conclusion.
18. I can write on an assigned topic without difficulty.
19. I can get ideas across in a clear manner by staying focused without getting off the topic.
20. I can keep writing even when it’s difficult.
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Appendix (4 )
A manual
Session 1
Pre administration of the writing test and writing self-efficacy scale
Objectives
By the end of the session, students will take the writing skills test and self-efficacy scale before the experimentation.
Session 2
An introductory session
Objectives
By the end of the session, students will be able to:
recognize what argumentation means, importance and elements.
recognize writing performance and what the good writing essay should contain.
recognize the writing sub skills
recognize what self-efficacy means and what writing self-efficacy is.
raise students' awareness of the role argumentation plays in enhancing writing skills.
raise students' awareness of the role argumentation plays in enhancing self-efficacy.
Materials
class blackboard, flash cards and handouts
Procedure
.1warm up students3
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After the researcher welcomed students, she asked them general question about argumentation and it can be used in speaking and writing.
Students brainstormed giving many ideas about argumenting and writing skills.
The researcher distributed some handouts to students containing definition of argumentation , writing skills and self-efficacy.
Procedures
3.2 Presentations
Activity (1)
The researcher divided students into groups each of which was responsible for argumentation, writing skills and self-efficacy. Then, she introduced the following definitions:
Argumentation:
Argumentation is the process of writing an argument by compiling actual evidence to support the claim or a thesis statement (ka-kan- dee & kaur, 2015).
Elements of Argumentation:
Chase (2011) clarifies that the components of argumentation are categorized as functional and nonfunctional elements. The functional elements are: Standpoint (i.e, claim or premise) for or against the topic , reasons (i.e data) to support the premise or contrasting premise or to refute counterarguments, elaborations (i.e. warrant and backing ) for the reason and standpoint, alternative standpoint for or against the topic; reason for the alternative standpoint, counterargument, rebuttal, introductions, conclusions, and rhetorically functional repetitions. In contrast, nonfunctional elements comprise of repetitions that do not serve some rhetorical purpose and information included in the essay that is not relevant to the topic.
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Writing skills:
Skills related to the appropriable use of grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and structure of the text which includes organization and coherence of the information (Gomez, 2014) .
It is through argumentation that writing can be developed. Writing includes writing well-developed and well-organized paragraph and or essays . Clarity is a very important skill without which communication will be impossible. Clarity is meant to avoid ambiguous words and sentences that may convey more than one meaning or multiple interpretations. In order to achieve clarity in writing the learner should: eliminate ambiguity by avoiding words or phrases that have more than one possible interpretations, use powerful , precise adjectives and adverbs and be concise . This means getting right to the point without unnecessary spinning around and choose the right words.
In addition to a clear topic sentence and adequate support , a good paragraph must have unity. A paragraph has unity when all of the supporting sentences relate to the main topic and develop the controlling idea. In order to achieve unity, the writer must make sure that he does not include any information that is not relevant to the main point stated in the topic sentence. Any sentence that does not support the topic is considered irrelevant and should be eliminated.
Another element of a good paragraph is coherence. The Latin verb "cohere" means "hold" together ". In order to have coherence in writing , the sentences must hold together. That is the movement from one sentence to the next should be logical and smooth . A coherent paragraph is made up of sentences that have been ordered according to a certain order (e.g . chronological, spatial , or logical order) in Order to have coherence, the reader needs: a clear plan of arrangement , repetition of key words, using synonymous words and pronouns ,as well as transitions to connect his ideas.
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Cohesion deals with what is commonly called flow that is , sentences content flowing logically and naturally into the next, sentences are connected , reducing the dander of a piece of writing being a mere collection of unrelated sentences ( Mokharar , 2016) .
Mekki (2012) added that mechanics are the use of the graphic conventions of the language such as paying attention to the use of punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage and spelling.
Self efficacy:
According to Bandura (1995): self-efficacy is the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to manage prospective situations.
3.3 Practice
Students were given additional activities to work on independently to practice and consolidate what is presented in the previous steps.
4.4 Evaluation
Answer the following questions:
What is argumentation?
Why is argumentation important in everyday life?
What are the types of argumentation?
What is writing?
What are the characteristics of a good essay?
How can argumentation help develop writing skills?
How can argumentation help develop writing self-efficacy?
Session 3
Modeling and teaching writing skills using argumentation
Objectives
By the end of the session, students will be able to:
write an essay using argumentation elements.
write an organization
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 write a united ,coherent and relevant essay.
 use appropriate capitalization and punctuation
 use appropriate spelling
Materials
Class blackboard, flash cards and hand outs
Procedure
3.3Warm up students
 After the researcher welcomed students, she asked them some question about argumentation and writing skills to revise what is taught in the previous session.
3.2 Presentations
Activity (1)
The researcher introduced a written essay about (Do we need zoos? ) in which she explained that the first paragraph should show writer's claim. She explained how the paragraph should be organized. It should include a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence. Also, she focused on paragraph unity through developing one idea in the paragraph. In addition, she emphasized the paragraph coherence through the use of transitions.
EX:
It’s an interesting question that many people wonder about. Why have people created zoos, and why are they important now? Zoos today… serve [an] important purpose: they allow us to study and find out more about animals that we would not understand otherwise. People are curious and want to know about the world around them, and that especially includes the animals and plants with which we share the Earth. In addition to studying animals in zoos, scientists are
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also able to go out to the countries where animals live and study them in the field, or their habitat. But most people cannot do that, so zoos allow them to see and connect with what would otherwise be unavailable to them.
Activity 2
The researcher explained that the second paragraph should show the opposing claim. She explained how the paragraph should be organized. It should include a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence. Also, she focused on paragraph unity and coherence. Moreover, she emphasize the use of appropriate punctuation, capitalization and spelling.
EX:
Some people think that animals should not be kept by humans for any reason, and that if they go extinct, then that’s the way it should be. They also think that there is lots of wild space and that animals should only live there These days we also have cable TV, though, and there are lots of wild animal shows that we can watch. So why still have zoos?
Activity 3
The researcher introduced the third paragraph in which she rebut the opposing claim. She explained how the paragraph should be organized. It should include a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence. Also, she focused on paragraph unity and coherence. Moreover, she emphasize the use of appropriate punctuation, capitalization and spelling.
EX:
Zoos give people the opportunity to see animals in person, often up close, to watch them, realize how alike we are in many ways, to understand them, and to appreciate them. It’s amazing to come almost face to face with an elephant or tiger, for example, to see how big it is, to feel its power, to look in its eyes; or to see an orangutan or gorilla amble right by you, holding its baby or playing chase with its brother or sister.
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Activity4
The researcher introduced the last paragraph in which she showed a convincing conclusion.
EX:
It is said that people only love what they understand, and they only protect what they love. Zoos may be the last stand for wild species, the place where humans can grow to love them, and then work to protect them.
4.4 Evaluation
Write an essay about co-education for/against
Session4
Content and organization
Objectives
By the end of the session, students will be able to:
write a well -organized essay.
write a topic sentence.
write supporting sentences.
write a concluding sentence.
Materials
Class blackboard, flash cards and handouts
Procedure
3.3Warm up students
 After the researcher welcomed students, she asked them general question about a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentences.
 Students brainstormed giving many ideas about different types of sentences.
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The researcher distributed some hand outs to students containing definition of a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentences.
3.2 Presentations
Activity (1)
The researcher divided students into groups each of which was responsible for a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentences.. Then, she introduced the following:
It is through argumentation that writing can be developed. Writing skills include writing well-developed and well-organized paragraph and or essays . The paragraph should include a clear topic sentence. In addition to a clear topic sentence ,it should include adequate supporting sentences. At the
EX:
Advantage of video games
One major advantage of video games is that they improve a player's manual ability, as well as their computer literacy. Other games that are created with an educational theme may help the player to learn or master a few academic aspects. A player can also sharpen his/ her critical thinking skills as well as their problem – solving abilities just by playing these video games. Children can develop their motor skills , and enhance their coordination. That is why many parents prefer this kind of games.
3.3 Practice
Students were given additional activities to work on independently to practice and consolidate what is presented in the previous steps.
3.3 Evaluation
Write an essay about technology focusing on clear topic sentences, supporting sentences and concluding sentences..
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Session 5
Unity ,coherence and relevance
Objectives
By the end of the session, students will be able to:
write a coherent essay.
recognize transition words.
write a united and relevant essay.
Materials
Class blackboard, flash cards and hand outs
Procedure
3.1Warm up students
 After the researcher welcomed students, she asked them general question about unity ,coherence and relevance.
 Students brainstormed giving many ideas about unity ,coherence and relevance.
The researcher distributed some hand outs to students containing definition of unity ,coherence and relevance.
3.2 Presentations
Activity (1)
The researcher divided students into groups each of which was responsible for unity ,coherence and relevance.Then, she introduced the following:
A paragraph has unity when all of the supporting sentences relate to the main topic and develop the controlling idea. In order to achieve unity, the writer must make sure that he does not include any information that is not relevant to the main point stated in the topic sentence. Any sentence that does not support the topic is considered irrelevant and should be eliminated.
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Another element of a good paragraph is coherence. In order to have coherence in writing , the sentences must hold together. That is the movement from one sentence to the next should be logical and smooth . A coherent paragraph is made up of sentences that have been ordered according to a certain order (e.g . chronological, spatial , or logical order) in Order to have coherence, the reader needs: a clear plan of arrangement , repetition of key words, using synonymous words and pronouns ,as well as transitions to connect his ideas.
EX:
Melisa has chosen five possible future careers. Firstly, she wants to become a journalist for an English magazine. Secondly, she might become a radio announcer. Thirdly, she intends to work as interpreter. Fourthly, she is also interested in being an English teacher. Finally, she could possibly be a tourist guide. Certainly, Melisa should study hard to prepare herself for the job in the future
3.3 Practice
Students were given additional activities to work on independently to practice and consolidate what is presented in the previous steps.
3.3 Evaluation
Write an essay about TV. focusing on unity ,coherence and relevance.
Session 6
Capitalization and punctuation
Objectives
By the end of the session, students will be able to:
 use appropriate capitalization
 use appropriate punctuation
Materials
Class blackboard, flash cards and hand outs
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Procedure
3.1Warm up students
After the researcher welcomed students, she asked them general question about capitalization and punctuation.
 Students brainstormed giving many ideas about capitalization and punctuation.
The researcher distributed some hand outs to students containing ideas about capitalization and punctuation.
3.2 Presentation
Activity (1)
The researcher divided students into groups each of which was responsible for unity ,coherence and relevance. Then, she introduced the following:
Punctuation marks are symbols which
1. organize the structure of written language,
2. and indicate intonation and pauses to be observed when reading aloud.
the most common punctuation rules are the following:
1. Full stop , or period (.)
 Used a full stop at the end of a sentence: She stood up and went away. She was furious.
 Used for abbreviations: Co. (Company) M.P. (Member of Parliament)
2. Question marks (?)
 Question marks are used at the end of direct questions: Where do you live? Are you crazy? Did you do the homework?
 Use a question mark at the end of tag questions: You will help me, won't you? He likes soccer, doesn't he?
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3. Exclamation marks (!)
 Used to indicate strong emotions: She's so beautiful! What a nice girl! How interesting!
 Used after interjections: Oh! It's awful. Hi! What's up?
(i) Commas (,)
 Commas are used between items in a series or list. The last two items of the series usually do not need a comma between them. They are separated by "and". I like spaghetti, fish, pizza and couscous.
 Commas are also used between adjectives or adverbs: I'd like to have a big, black, German car. She speaks slowly, quietly and eloquently.
 After the street address and city in an address: 34 Hassan II Street, Rabat, Morocco.
 Before or after direct speech: He said,"I hate being treated like that." "I'm sorry", she replied.
 Before a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) He woke up late, so he had to drive to work.
(ii) Semicolons (;)
 Semicolons are used instead of a full stop or period to separate independent sentences: They woke up early; then they went jogging.
 Use a semicolon to separate items in a series when those items contain punctuation such as a comma: They visited the Eiffel Tower, Paris; Big Ben, London; and the statue of liberty, New York
(iii) Colons (:)
 Use a colon to introduce a list: He visited three cities last summer holiday: Madrid, Roma and Athens.
 To introduce an idea or an explanation: He had one idea in mind: to see her as soon as possible.
 To introduce direct speech or a quotation: The secretary whispered in his ear: "Your wife is on the phone. "
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(iv) Dashes (--)
 To introduce parenthetical information: I put on a blue jacket --the one my mother bought me-- and blue jeans.
 To show an afterthought: I explained to him my point of view-- at least I tried!
(v) Apostrophes (')
 Use an apostrophe to indicate a missing letter or letters in a contraction. I'm fed up with his stories
 Use an apostrophe plus the letter "s" to show possession. My brother's girlfriend is such a sweet girl.
(vi) Quotation marks ("")
 Quotation marks are used to quote speech, sentences or words. She said, "I love you."
The writer should capitalize the following: first word in a sentence, names of people, names of animals ,names of places ,days of the week ,months of the year ,names of buildings , personal pronoun “I” ,titles of respect, honor, rank ,names of holidays and religious days ,salutation and closing of a letter ,book titles, magazines, plays, music ,first word in a quotation ,first word in each new line of poetry and
name of the Bible
3.3 Practice
Students were given additional activities to work on independently to practice and consolidate what is presented in the previous steps.
3.3 Evaluation
Write an essay about phones at schools focusing on capitalization and punctuation.
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7Session
Spelling
Objectives
By the end of the session, students will be able to:
write some words related to the topic .
rearrange scrambled words.
Materials
Class blackboard, flash cards and hand outs
Procedure
3.1Warm up students
 After the researcher welcomed students, she asked them about
spelling activities.
 Students brainstormed giving many ideas about spelling activities.
3.2 Presentations
Activity (1)
The researcher introduced the following activity:
SCRAMBLED WORDS
This is a spelling activity in which the students are given lists of words, but with the letters scrambled. The students must rearrange them to find the original word. If the class has been working on a certain category of vocabulary items, such as food, furniture, or holiday is coming up, teacher may want to concentrate on this area for review purposes.
EX:: Parts of the Body:
KALEN (ankle) THRAE (heart) GIRENF (finger)
STRIW (wrist) WOBLE (elbow) CHOMATS (stomach)
RULEHODS (shoulder) WEREBOY (eyebrow) SITAW (waist)
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3.3 Practice
Students were given additional activities to work on independently to practice and consolidate what is presented in the previous steps.
3.3 Evaluation
Write an essay about travelling abroad focusing spelling.
Session 8
Post administration of the writing test and writing self-efficacy scale
Objectives
By the end of the session, students will take the writing skills test and self-efficacy scale after the post administration to investigate the effectiveness of argumentation in enhancing writing performance and self-efficacy.
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Appendix (5 )
Jury members
Jury members
Dr.Ahmed Hassen Seif Eldeen
Professor of curriculum and EFL instruction - Menoufia University
Dr.Eid Abed Elwahed
Professor of curriculum and EFL instruction - Minia University
Dr.Mohammed Abed Elwahed
Professor of curriculum and EFL instruction - New Valley University
Dr.Nahed Mohammed Ghonaim
Associate professor of curriculum and EFL instruction - Menoufia University
Mr. Abd Elhamid Mahmud Ahmed
General mentor of English -Fayoum Governorate
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