2011 2012 METU DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION Submitted by: lkim Merve YILDIZ Mustafa YAMAN

ELT 528 Instructional Technology in ELT

Word Processing in Second Language Writing: a Case Study at METU Department of Basic English
Submitted to: Assist. Prof. Dr. Perihan Sava January 14, 2012
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Content
1) Introduction..3 2) Research Questions...4 3) Review of literature..4 4) Methodology.....7 Background ...7 Participants ...8 Data collection instruments ..8 Data Analysis Methods ..9

5) Main Findings9 6) Discussion.17 7) Implications in ELT19 8) Limitations of the Survey .20 9) References.21 10) Appendix..24

1. Introduction The topic of this study focuses on the perceptions of the ESL students towards the use of word processing (Microsoft Word, Notepad, etc.) software while doing their writing assignments in L2 at METU Department of Basic English. Computer and internet cover a big part of peoples daily lives. Many of us observe people, especially the young generation, glue their eyes to computer screens, laptops, tablets, smart phones and other various smart devices in different outdoor and indoor environments such as work, transportation vehicles, parks, schools and many more. From this point onwards, it would not be surprising to expect language students to insert these technologies into their academic lives by reading authentic websites, chatting, watching videos in the target language as well as doing their writing assignments. As a matter of fact, word processors have recently emerged as a strong alternative to pen and paper. Each student has its own way of dealing with their writing assignments. Some of them prefer to use the traditional pen-paper based method; however, others opt for the soft version which is using a software dedicated to word processing downloaded on their personal computers, laptops, tablets, smart phones so on and so forth. In other words, while some of them type it, others prefer handwriting. As for the teachers, some of them accept both forms while some of them make it obligatory to type the assignment. There have been a number of studies that have been carried out about the effects of word processors on the writing skills of the people since the softwares such as MS Word
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and Notepad started to be used extensively. Nevertheless, few of them focused on L2 environments and why the students prefer typed or handwritten work. The purpose of this study is to determine the attitudes of the students at a preparatory school toward the application of word processing over pen-based writing in an L2 environment. METU DBE students have different tendencies while doing the assignments. Thus, this study will be carried out to find out the perceptions behind using word processors or handwriting. 2. Research Questions: The research questions are given below: 1. What are the attitudes of ESL learners at METU DBE toward the usefulness (spell check and track changes) of making use of Microsoft Word when submitting their writing projects in the printout form? a. Is there a tendency to use word processors in a L2 learning environment? 3. Review of Literature: The main studies conducted on this particular subject which is on the effects of using word processors on students composition skills are generally for native English speaking students. Few studies on word-processing-based writing have addressed the issue of composing and revising processes in L2 environment. as it has been put forward by Cumming and Li (2001, p. 128). The main reason why there is such a research topic in the literature is since these word processors provide many advantages and bring a number of disadvantages for the users as shown below. This neatly prepared table has been taken from Cumming and Lis research carried out in
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2001. Therefore, there has been a need to determine if and why the students prefer the way they are using when submitting writing outlines, drafts and final assignment paper.
Functions of word processing Spellchecking Advantages It eases students fear of making spelling error and help them to produce essays with fewer spelling errors (Warschauer, 1998) The free students from recopying texts and therefore facilitate revising and editing (Bean, 1983; Bernhardt, Wojahn, & Edwards, 1989; Collier, 1983; Daiute, 1986; Dickenson, 1986; MacArthur, 1998; Phinney & Khouri, 1993) Students can put down their thoughts in a nonpermanent mode, which eases their fear of making mistakes; they can also put their thoughts into a permanent mode so they need not fear losing their ideas nor be blocked by perfectionism (Daiute, 1983) They may heighten students pleasure and pride in their writing (MacArthur, 1988); facilitate students development of a sense of their audience (Hooper, 1987) They may prevent student writers from revising their superficially neat-looking but unfinished writing (Gerrard, 1989) Disadvantages It may encourage surfacelevel revisions that focus on spelling of words (Joram, Woodruff, Lindsey, & Bryson, 1990). Eliminating the need to recopy may make students do fewer rereadings, which may prevent in-depth revisions (Dickenson, 1986; Hawisher, 1986; Kurth, 1987)

Blocking moving, block deleting, and formatting

Storage

Highly readable screen display and neatly printed hardcopies

Motor and mnemonic skills neded for operating a computer

They can impede the writing process of students with poor typing skill and thus 5

result in poorer essays (Dalton & Hannafin, 1987; MacArthur, 1988).

(Table 1: Functions, advantages, and disadvantages of word processors)

Their study aimed to determine whether word processing changes a second language (L2) learners writing process and improve the quality of his essays over a relatively long period of time. The results showed that when word-processing is compared to pen and paper composing showed a tendency of positive results: A greater frequency of revisions made at the discourse level and at the syntactical level, which means that the students get higher scores for content and had a more extensive evaluation in return. A few studies focus on the students attitudes towards computer aided writing. One of them was about ESL writing. This particular study took place at the Department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts, King Saud University during the second semester of the academic year 2004/2005. The researcher AbuSeileek concluded that EFL learners have a facility that provides a chance for self-learning, which helps them to be more independent on teachers. They are also able to discover and correct their errors because the word processor enhances language learning, makes writing more organized, and aids in the mechanics of language. It is a known fact that well-known language tests like TOEFL and IELTS have both computer-generated internet-based and pen-paper based writing tests. Therefore, there are also studies concerning the impact of word-processors on ESL writing assessments in the literature. As Lee (2004) concludes in his comparative study based on ESL writers performance in a paper-based and a computer-delivered writing test, although there was no remarkable mean difference in holistic ratings

across both of these tests, all the analytic components of the computer-generated written works were marked noticeably higher than those of paper-based works.

4. Methodology: a) Background: The present study was carried out at Middle East technical University Department of Basic English during 2011/2012 fall semester. At this department, students are given writing tasks. These tasks start with writing basic sentence-level written assignments and expands to condensed paragraphs such as description of an object (e.g. Camera, an antique photograph album), biography (e.g. life of a famous singer), description of a process (e.g. the cycle of water, how to can fish), advantage-disadvantage (e.g. advantages of attending English medium universities), and cause-effect paragraphs (e.g. negative effects of TV adverts on young adults). The students are expected to write the same paragraph three times. The first one is written in the classroom. After they self-check and/or peer-check their paragraphs according to a checklist in which there are some criteria about the paragraphs including language, organization and content, they write the second draft outside the class according to the checklist through which they gave peer-feedback and selffeedback to their written works. Once the students hand in their second drafts to the teacher, the teacher gives written feedback to their second drafts. Eventually, they write it for the third time according to the feedback of the teacher for the third time. The final draft of the paragraph goes into their portfolio and at the end of a span (a semester consists of three spans) teacher demands their portfolio and checks the final drafts of the all written works. Finally, the teacher grades the final drafts.

The relevance of this process with this present study is that students have to write the first drafts in the classroom. That is, they do not use the word processors. However, it is up to them to write the second and third drafts via a word processor or write it by hand. Hence, the researchers will be able to find out their perceptions as to why they use word processors or write it traditionally. b) Participants: The participants are grouped according to their English competence levels which are beginner and elementary. There are 40 elementary and 60 beginner participants, a total of 100. After 1 or 2 years of language education at the Department of Basic English, they will start to attend their regular departments that they had originally enrolled in. In terms of language level, these classes are homogenous while, on the other hand, they are heterogeneous with respect to their educational and socio-economical background. As the medium of instruction is English at METU, the students are aware of the fact that they have to improve their English level. Writing skill is one of them. They tend to use different ways while they are doing their written assignments. Some of them use word processors like MS Word while some of them prefer handwriting. Therefore, 100 DBE students will be asked about their preferences while doing their written assignments through survey. c) Data Collection Instrument: To find reliable and valid results, a survey has been prepared for the present research. This quantitative data collection instrument consists of four main parts. The first part is related with the background information of the participants. It covers questions about their English level, gender, age, keyboard skills, their speed on the
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keyboard, their general preference of a word processor and whether they have easy access to a computer. The second part of the survey is related to the frequency and time they spend on using word processors and computers. The participants are expected to choose among four alternatives: Always, Often, Very rarely, Never. Part 3 is mainly about their perceptions and tendencies of utilizing such softwares. The students are provided with four options: I strongly agree, I agree, I disagree, I strongly disagree. In this part, the researchers refrained from using an alternative like I am not sure since they want the participants to take either a positive or a negative side. Finally, there are open-ended questions in the survey rather than interviews as the number of participants is high and it is difficult to hold interviews with each and every participant. This way, there is also a qualitative element in the data collection tools. d) Data Analysis Methods: The data was gathered through a survey applied on the students. Then, the analysis of the data was done through Microsoft Excel and its functions to find the relationship between the data collected.
5. Main Findings: a. Background Questions of the Survey:

1- Gender: Out of 100 hundred students, 54 of them are female and 46 of them are male.
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Gender

Female 54%

Male 46%

(Table 2.1: Gender distribution of the participants)

2. Age The age variable of the participants are given below.

PartA - Q2

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88

18 over 18

(table 2.2 : Age)

3. Keyboard Skills: The students were asked to define their keyboard skills. The result is as follows:

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K eyboardS kills

Novice 9%

Advanced 38%

Intermediate 53%

(Table 2.3: Keyboard Skills of the students)

4. Wordprocessor preferences: Most of the students use Microsoft Word as the word processor.

(Table 2.4: Wordprocessors Preferences)

5. Owning computers:

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All of the students have access to computers. While 93% of them have their own computers, 7% of them do not have personal computers. However, they use the computer labs in dormitories.

No 7%

OwningComputers

Yes 93%

(Table 2.5: owning a computer)

b) Part B of the Survey: The result of the question 2 in Part B (See Appendices ) focused on the students preferences of using a word processor is given in the table below:
Part B - Q2 Always Elementary 6 Beginner 13 Often 6 24 Very Rarely Never 14 14 20 3

(Table 3.1 : Part B Question 2)

The students were asked how often they use word processors to do their writing homework. As highlighted in the table, 49% of them (49 out of 100 students) responded in a positive way to the question and they used word processors to do their writing homework often. However, 51% of the participants (51 out of 100 students) stated that they do not use the word processors while they are doing their homework.
c) Part C of the Survey: 12

In Part C questions 5,8,9,11,12,16, and 22 are inquiring about the same topic. They are asking the tendencies of the students to use the word processors. The first relevant question to see the tendencies of the students was the fifth one. It was I like typing more than I do handwriting. The table below shows the number of students answers for this question. 52% of them (52 out of 100 students) think that they like typing while 48% (48 out of 100 students) of them disagree with the idea that they like typing.
I strongly Part C - Q5 agree Elementary 8 Beginner 17 I strongly I disagree disagree 19 2 23 4

I agree 11 16

(Table 3.2 : Part C Question 5)

The second relevant idea about their tendencies was that it is easier to type a writing text in a word processor. As can be seen in the table below, 56% of them (56 out of 100) students agree with the idea while 44% of them (44 out of 100 students) do not think that it is easier to type a writing text.
I strongly Part C - Q8 agree Elementary 6 Beginner 17 I strongly I disagree disagree 20 2 20 2

(Table 3.3 : part C Question 8)

I agree 12 21

The next one was that I like handwriting more than I do typing. As shown in Table 3, 52% of the students agree with it. However, 48% of them put forward that they do not like handwriting more than typing.
I strongly Part C - Q9 agree Elementary 7 Beginner 13 I strongly I disagree disagree 9 5 22 12

I agree 19 13

(Table 3.4 : Part C Question 9)

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The following item was that I prefer typing my writing homework. 44% of them agreed with the idea while 56% of them disagreed.
Part C Q11 Elementary Beginner I strongly agree 5 13 I strongly I disagree disagree 23 2 25 6

I agree 10 16

(Table 3.5 : Part C Question 11)

Question 12 was the next item about their tendencies. It was Handwriting is easier than typing. Table 5 shows the number of answers. 48% of them think that hand writing is easier than typing. 52% of them, however, do not think that handwriting is easier than typing.
Part C Q12 Elementary Beginner I strongly agree 5 8 I strongly I disagree disagree 14 3 25 10

(Table 3.6 : Part C question 12)

I agree 18 17

Item 16 was that I can quickly design my homework with a word processor. 68% of them think that they can do so. Nevertheless, 32% of the students do no think they can design their homework with a word processor easily.
Part C Q16 Elementary Beginner I strongly agree 5 8 I strongly I disagree disagree 6 6 18 2

I agree 24 31

(Table 3.7 : Part C question 16)

The last item that In all classes, the assignments should be written in word processors rather than by hand. 40% of the participants agree with the proposal while 60% of the students disagree.
Part C Q22 Elementary Beginner I strongly agree 7 10 I strongly I disagree disagree 17 7 26 10

(Table 3.8: Part C Question 22)

I agree 9 14

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d) Part D of the Survey: Question 1: This part solely covered open ended questions. For this part, the frequency of the occurring keywords has been counted. The first question inquires the advantages of using word processors. The vocabulary items in the table have been repeated frequently in the answers given to the question by the students.

(Table 4.1 : Advantages of using word processors)

Question 2: The second question is about the disadvantages of the word processors while writing assignments. The table below shows the results.

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(Table 4.2 : Disadvantages of using word processors)

Question 4: The participants were asked if they wanted to use word processors in the classroom for their learning. The following table represents their answers.

(Table 4.3 : using word processors when learning)

6. Discussion:
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In the light of the answers that were given to the survey questions, the margin in the percentage of the answers was not very wide. Part A showed that the gender, age, and the level of their English are not distinctive factors to determine their preferences word processors or handwritingwhen writing their assignments. However, in part D there were students who said their keyboard skills (33%) were not adequate enough to do their written assignments. From this point onwards, it can be concluded that it is not a wise decision to make use of word processors obligatory in the classrooms before the students have sufficient amount of training on how to use word processors and typing skills which was also stated by one of the participants who would prefer to use the technology if there was a training prior to their writing lessons. In Part B, the researchers grouped four answers into two as Always and Often represent a similar level of frequency as Very Rarely and Never also refers to low level of frequency. For the question How often do you use word processors? (See Appendix 1) 49% of the students said they use the word processors while 51% of them rarely used it. Unlike our expectations, this shows that there is not a dominant preference among the students regarding the use of word processors. For Part C, the researchers grouped four answers into two as I strongly agree and I agree represent a similar level of agreement, while I strongly disagree and I disagree are also grouped to show a somewhat similar agreement. the percentages for the questions 5,8,9,11,12,16, and 22 are 52%-48%, 56%-44%, 52%-48%, 44%56%, 48%-52%, 68%-32%, 40%-60% respectively. The margins are quite close to each other and the preferences of the students are not clear cut. As a result, there is not a clear positive or a negative attitude towards the use of word processors. They
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are at a transition position where we observe both fans of pen paper and word processors. We may link this to their background education related with the use of technology in the classrooms. Primary and high school students are not required to take computer skills lessons. Some schools do not even have a computer laboratory. These lessons are usually elective courses. Moreover, when they submit a written work they are mostly asked to write by hand except for term projects/assignments which is given once a semester. So, the results being too close to each other may point this in-between phase. With the questions in Part D, as they are open ended question, the attitudes of the participants were more clear and there were answers giving relevant rationale for their perceptions. In table 4.1, the repeated keywords demonstrate their basic knowledge of the advantages provided by the word processors. As the participants are beginner and elementary students their most recurring keyword was correction function of the word processors. Apparently, this sources from the fact that the competence level of the students is not very high and they need instant feedback. Therefore, correction function caters for this need. The second most frequent

keyword was copy and paste function. Some of them stated that as they are making varied mistakes, erasing those mistakes and relocating sentences are easier with this function. The least mentioned keyword was the lack of necessity in using hard

copies of their assignments. Only 3 students mentioned this positive element of having a software copy versus a hard copy made of trees. Surprisingly, for listing the disadvantages of the word processors for the second question in part D, it was revealed that 32% of the students suggested that there were no disadvantages of using word processors at all. The main disadvantage mentioned by them was lacking keyboard skills good enough to prefer typing over pen-paper. Another disadvantage
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of word processors according to the participants was causing health problems. They gave eyesight problems, headaches and backaches as examples. To our surprise, another 3 mentioned that online distractors such as facebook, twitter, online games etc. may prevent the user from fully concentrating on the task. The fourth question inquired whether they would prefer the use of word processors in their learning. 55% responded positively while 28% said no and the rest 17% was indecisive. The margin was not very wide and the percentages were quite close to each other, which proves that the use of instructional technology has not been an important and indispensable component of students learning. All in all, in this case study, all of the questions included in the survey have led us to a conclusion that these participants are neither reluctant nor highly eager to embrace the use of word processors in the classroom and outside it to submit their written assignments. It would not be wrong to say that in this case, they do not want to get rid of their pens and papers and also they are not look forward to stop using their computers and the varied word processors yet. 7. Implications in ELT: Since the preferences of the students do not show a clear cut tendency towards a specific attitude, the teachers of English should not force their students to do their writing assignments either by hand or through word processors although both of them have their own advantages. Each and every student has its own way of writing in the target language English. If there would be such a plan for applying word processors in the classroom when teaching writing skills, one must consider giving training session to the students so as to make sure that everybody has at least basic skills of using such a software and keyboard skills.
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8. Limitations of the Study One of the limitations of a case study is that the results cannot be generalized to a wide audience and in this research; the participants were all from Middle East Technical University Department of Basic English. Therefore, the results are valid for this particular environment. Another limitation was that this study conducted to a limited amount of participants which was 100. They cannot be seen as a representative for the whole preparatory school as these participants are only from beginner and elementary classes.

References: Abuseileek, A. F. (2006). The Use of Word Processor for Teaching Writing to EFL Learners in King Saud University. J. King Saud Univ., Vol 19, Edu. Sci. & Islamic Stud. (2), pp. 1-15
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Buck, A. M. (2008). The Invisible Interface: MS Word in the Writing Center. Elsevier: Computers and Composition 25. pp. 396-415.

doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2008.05.003 Lee, H. K. (2004). A comparative study of ESL writers performance in a paper-based and a computer-delivered writing test. Elsevier: Assesing Writing 9. pp. 4 -26. doi:10.1016/j.asw.2004.01.001 Li, J., & Cumming, A. (2001). Word Processing and Second Language Writing: a Longitudinal Case Study. International Journal of English Studies, vol. 1(2), 2001, pp. 127-152 Tuzi, F. (2004). The impact of e-feedback on the revisions of L2 writers in an academic writing course. Elsevier: Computers and composition 21. pp. 217235. doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2004.02.003

Appendix 1.1: Part A. Background questions Please, indicate your answer by circling the one that describes you most What gender are you? o Male 21

o Female How old are you? _______ What level are you? o Beginner o Elementary o Intermediate o Upper-intermediate o Pre-fac. How would you define your keyboard use skills? o o o Novice Intermediate Advanced

Please, rate your typing speed from 1 to 6, from slower to faster. _______ Which word processor do you use in general? o Microsoft word o Notepad o Open office o Other __________ Do you own a computer? (desktop, laptop, travel pad etc.) Yes / No If the answer is no, which facilities do you use? o Dormitory computer labs o Labs in the departments o Self-access center (SAC) labs o Internet labs

o Friends computers o Internet cafes 22

o other___________________ Appendix 1.2:

Part B.
1. How often do you use word processors (Microsoft Word, Notepad, etc.) in your daily life? 2. How often do you use word processors (Microsoft Word, Notepad, etc.) to do your writing homework? 3. How much time do you spend online? 4. Are you comfortable with other Microsoft office tools? (e.g. Microsoft Office Excel, Power Point)

Always 3
3 3 3 3

Often 2
2 2 2 2

Very rarely 1
1 1 1 1

Never 0
0 0 0 0

Appendix1.2

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Appendix 1.3

Part C.
5. I like typing more than I do handwriting. 6. Spell check feature helps me correct my spelling mistakes. 7. My handwriting is illegible. 8. It is easier to type a writing text in word processors. 9. I like handwriting more than I do typing. 10. I can easily format my homework (e.g. using listing signs , giving numbers for items 1. ) 11.I prefer typing my writing homework. 12.Handwriting is easier than typing. 13.Word processors help me not to use Turkish characters. (e.g. , , ) 14. I can easily check and correct my homework when I use handwriting 15.I use synonym dictionary features of the word processor. 16.I can quickly design my homework with a word processor. 17.I can easily count the number of words with my handwriting. 18.I look at the screen when I use the keyboard to write my writing homework. 19.I use copy and paste function to save time when I am writing my assignment in word. 20. It is easier for me to store and keep a record of my writing assignments when I write with a word processor. 21.I can make use of resources on the Internet when I am writing my assignments with a word processor. 22.In all classes, the assignments should be written in word processors rather than by hand.

I strongly agree 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

I agree 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

I disagree 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

I strongly disagree 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

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