The effect of self-assessment on inexperienced EFL students’ writing during revision

Elgadal, Huda Amer (2017). The effect of self-assessment on inexperienced EFL students’ writing during revision. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The main aim of this thesis is to investigate the influence of self-assessment on the writing of inexperienced EFL Libyan university students’ writing. Data was collected from one hundred fourth year students majoring in English. The essays were each 300 words in length. The students were divided into experimental and control groups and 40 essays (20 from each group) were selected for analysis. The study uses a pre-self-assessment/post-self-assessment comparison of two groups of writers.
The key research instrument was a self-assessment sheet which asked students to assess the content, organisation and language of their essays. Students were asked to revise their writing after using the self-assessment sheet. In addition to the self-assessment sheet, a post- study feedback form was given to elicit the students’ attitudes towards the use of self-assessment to guide their revision of writing. Further, a questionnaire completed by Libyans in the UK was also used in this study to elicit key contextual information about the writing context of the study.
The results of the study showed that the writers in the experimental group who used self-assessment to guide their revision made more revisions than those in the control group. The result also demonstrated that the majority of students in the experimental group had a positive attitude towards the self-assessment technique.

While there are limitations mainly due to the political and social climate at the time the research was conducted, this thesis demonstrates to some extent the important role of using self-assessment in developing inexperienced students’ writing.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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