Page 34 - English - Teaching Academic Esl Writing

20 CHAPTER2
Graduate faculty (Table 2.2) identified largely similar priorities in student writing with regard to the importance of information/discourse organization and examples (ranks 4.46 and 4.34, respectively), grammar, phrasing, and sentence structure (rank 4.06), and appropriate vocabulary (3.74).
On the other hand, graduate students ranked discourse organization and exemplificationat 4.32 and 3.96, respectively;grammar, phrasing, and sentence structure at 3.83; and vocabulary 3.56 (i.e., below the importance rankings assigned by graduate faculty in practically all categories).
In a separate subset of survey items, both undergraduate and graduate fac- ulty also specified the specific writing skills that in their experiences deter- minedthesuccessofNNSstudentsintheircourses.Forundergraduate faculty, the top three L2 writing skills included (in declining order of importance):
• discourse and information organization (2.40 out of 3)
• standard written English (i.e., grammar, phrasing, and sentence
structure; 2.35)
• vocabulary (2.26).
Among graduate faculty, the top three skills essential for success in aca- demic courses consisted of:
• information/discourse organization (2.49 out of 3)
TABLE 2.2
Graduate Faculty Assessments of Some WritingTasks
Mean Importance
Task Statement
Rating
Organize writing to convey major and supporting 4.46 ideas.
Use relevant reasons and examples to support 4.34 a position.
Demonstrate a command of standard written 4.06 English, including grammar, phrasing, effective
sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation.
Demonstrate facility with a range of vocabulary 3.74 appropriate to the topic.
Show awareness of audience needs and write 3.62 to a particular audience or reader.
Note. Mean Importance Rating on a scale of 0 to 5.
TLFeBOOK