Writing Strategies

The effect of assessment types (self, peer, and teacher) on the EFL writing strategies development was examined in this study. Sixty upper-intermediate EFL learners at Qazvin Islamic university in four groups (one control and three experimental groups) were studied. One-way ANOVA checked homogeneity of the groups prior to the treatments and, then, the participants’ records and diaries were employed to gather data. Explanatory and descriptive analyses were implemented to analyze and classify the strategies the EFL learners picked up. This provided the type, frequency, and percentage of the strategies the participants mostly employed. The results revealed that the experimental groups, namely, self-assessment group, peer assessment group, and teacher assessment group employed more cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies than the control group. Affective strategies were more appealing to the control group. Focusing on the diction of the words, concentrating on the complex structures used by different writers, and making use of the structures the participants became interested in or found suitable were the most frequently referred to strategies. Teaching strategies the participants more picked up in this study might enhance EFL learners’ writing development at TEFL centers.

As the learning of foreign languages has increasingly become learner-centered, instructors are advised to take learners' characteristics into consideration to which they can tailor their teaching practices. There are several factors that influence language learning including critical thinking dispositions and learning strategies. This study examined the relationship between critical thinking dispositions and writing strategies, as well as the extent to which Iranian English learners utilize certain writing strategies. This study adopted a correlational design. The statistical population included students majoring in English in Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, of whom 150 students were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using Ricketts' (2003) Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (2003) and Abdollahzadeh’s (2010) Writing Strategy Questionnaire. The questionnaires were completed by 101 students from which eleven students whose responses were distorted excluded and the remaining 90 responses were analyzed using a bivariate correlation analysis. According to the results, learners' critical thinking disposition was positively correlated with their writing strategy. Additionally, the results demonstrated that Iranian EFL learners occasionally used a variety of writing strategies. It is also noteworthy that metacognitive and cognitive strategies were applied at a higher frequency than others. Thus, it can be concluded that critical thinking plays a vital role in employing different writing strategies.

The present paper examines the theory of conceptual metaphor, using the theoretical framework of the cognitive writing model to improve EFL learners’ writing creativity and metacognitive writing awareness. To that end, 120 male and female EFL Bachelor-of-Arts (BA) students majoring in English language from Foreign Languages Center at Islamic Karaj Azad University in Iran voluntarily participated in this research study. The participants were randomly assigned into two equal groups, with the experimental group receiving the cognitive instruction and the control group the traditional instruction. Using a two-way analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) procedure, the researchers assessed the posttest scores of both groups. The results of the analysis indicated that the experimental group significantly enhanced its scores in the posttest of metacognitive writing strategies and writing creativity compared to the control group. Findings suggest that writing is not drafting and rewriting prefabricated patterns, but it is a recursive and interactive process in which writers attempt to construct meaning and create original ideas using real-life experiences. Findings also imply that conceptual metaphors are powerful literary devices for improving EFL learners’ idea generation, writing creativity, and metacognitive writing awareness which deserve to be taught at universities.