Open AccessWriting Strategies used by Malaysian ESL Undergraduates
Author(s) -
Lai Fong Lee,
Teoh Sian Hoon,
Geethanjali Narayanan,
Chan Yuen Fook,
Gurnam Kaur Sidhu
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
social and management research journal/social and management research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 0128-1089
pISSN - 1675-7017
DOI - 10.24191/smrj.v12i2.5022
Subject(s) - metacognition , rhetorical question , academic writing , second language writing , psychology , cognition , mathematics education , cognitive strategy , rhetorical modes , public university , professional writing , pedagogy , second language , linguistics , philosophy , public administration , neuroscience , political science
Writing strategies are deemed important to enable learners to write well in academic contexts in higher education. This study examined the writing strategies of English as Second Language (ESL) undergraduates in higher education to look into the type of writing strategies they use. The five categories of writing strategies focused on were rhetorical strategies, metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, communicative strategies, and social/affective strategies. The sample of this study comprised 40 students from the social science disciplines in a local public university. The instrument used to collect data was questionnaire. The results showed that the students used all five categories of writing strategies. However, metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies as well as social/affective strategies were used slightly more compared to communicative strategies and rhetorical strategies. This study has implications for ESL student writers and instructors on writing strategies that can be used to facilitate academic writing. Keywords: writing strategies, undergraduates, writing