Assisting Higher Education Learners to Acquire Self-Regulated Writing Strategies during COVID-19

Background: The abrupt transition to virtual language learning environments due to the COVID-19 pandemic has brought considerable challenges to educational practices. In the context of foreign/second language learning and teaching, it has become more difficult to ensure that learners have the necessary engagement and motivation levels along with sufficient support and guidance. As educators and researchers report, the adversities in today's online learning environments need to be challenged. Purposes: The study is meant to contribute to language learning and teaching practices by sharing the results of the implementation of a self-supporting tool, namely, Self-Monitoring Chart for Effective Writing Strategies. The chart has been developed by the researchers for an online academic English writing course at higher education level to assist learners their writing improvement and to become self-regulated learners while maintaining their engagement in their writing tasks. Methodology/Approach: The study was designed as a qualitative case study and the opinions of the participants on their experiences of using the chart were elicited using semi-structured interviews. The participants were students at English Language Teaching departments of two state universities (N=48). The qualitative data gathered was analyzed using systematic content analysis. Findings and Discussion: The results indicate that the learners greatly benefited from using the SMC. In particular, they reported to have become aware of SRL writing strategies, to have learned how to implement them, to be more engaged and more motivated in writing tasks. The implications are meant to contribute to online language learning and teaching contexts.

Exploring Peer Feedback on Writing Assignments in an Online Learning Environment

Feedback redirects or refocuses the learner's actions to achieve a goal, by aligning effort and activity with an outcome. Feedback can come from a variety of sources. Studies have shown positive effects of feedback from teachers and peers. This study explores students' perceptions towards peer feedback on writing assignments in fundamental English courses which are conducted online during the COVID-19. Qualitative data was collected from email interviews with 30 students who had completed the course. All the interviews transcripts were critically examined to draw out the aspects of peer-to-peer feedback emerging from the participants' viewpoints in relation to their experiences and perceptions as a result of engaging with peers within online discourse, and providing and/or receiving feedback. The results show that the positive perceptions outweigh the negative ones. Specifically, students can benefit from a wide range of feedback, learn from others, boost their confidence and activeness, and create cooperative and collaborative learning. However, there are a few drawbacks regarding linguistic limitation and unwillingness to provide sincere feedback, which needs to be taken into consideration if peer feedback is still applied in the next semesters. © 2022 Association for Computing Machinery. All rights reserved.