The Effects of Formula Instruction on Knowledge and Use of the Target Formulas
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17722/jell.v1i3.21Keywords:
Teaching Academic Formulas, Academic Language, Academic Writing AbilityAbstract
This study was conducted to explore the benefits of formula instruction in an academic writing class. Its main objective is to determine whether the students’ knowledge of the target formulas can be enhanced through direct instruction of the target academic formulas (DIAF) chosen from the academic formula list (AFL).In this study, twenty five formulas were selected from the Academic Formula List (Simpson-Valch & Ellis, 2010) as target formulas and were directly taught to a group of students attending an academic writing class. After five weeks of instruction, their knowledge of the target formulas was tested using an objective test and an academic essay writing test. This paper discusses the result of the study by addressing four research questions: (1) What are the effects of formula instruction on the students’ knowledge of the target formulas? (2) What are the effects of formula instruction on the students’ academic writing performance? (3) What are the effects of formula instruction on the use of the formulas in the academic essay? (4) What is the effect of target academic formula use on the scores of the academic essay writing test?
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